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The GPUs are capable of displaying 482 colors simultaneously, out of 512. The TurboGrafx-16 has an 8-bit CPU, a 16-bit video color encoder, and a 16-bit video display controller. In Japan, the system was launched as a competitor to the Famicom, but the delayed United States release meant that it ended up competing with the Sega Genesis and later the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.
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It was the first console released in the 16-bit era, although it used a modified 8-bit CPU. The Japanese model was imported and distributed in France in 1989, and the United Kingdom and Spain received a version based on the American model known as the PC Engine COREGrafx. It was released in Japan on October 30, 1987, and in the United States on August 29, 1989. The TurboGrafx-16, known in Japan and France as the PC Engine, is a cartridge-based home video game console manufactured and marketed by NEC Home Electronics and designed by Hudson Soft.
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