PC Engine
Image: Damien McFerran / Time Extension

Hyperkin has created a fair few clone systems over the years, with the Retron5 being perhaps its most famous work. For its next trick, the company is producing a clone system called the RetronGX which plays PC Engine and TurboGrafx-16 games – and it has been showing it off at the recent Tokyo Game Show.

According to Twitter user and TGS attendee rhythmsift, the console outputs 1080p over HDMI and comes with two standard controller ports as well as two USB ports. Hyperkin has created its own bespoke controller for the system – it's even live on the company's site – but the RetronGX will also support original pads. The system only has a HuCard slot so it won't support CD games, but who knows – there might be a way to hack it. We don't know for sure if the RetronGX uses software emulation or FPGA, either.

It is being reported that the system won't be available until next year due to component shortages.

The RetronGX isn't the only clone console based on the PC Engine hardware; the FPGA-based Analogue Duo is also in development and should launch soon.

Released in 1987, the PC Engine was a collaboration between Hudson Soft and NEC, and was the first console to truly challenge the might of the Famicom in Japan. It would come to the US as the TurboGrafx-16, but failed to find commercial success against Nintendo's SNES and Sega's Genesis. The PC Engine Mini was recently released and comes pre-loaded with HuCard and CD-based titles.

[source twitter.com, via youtube.com]