Building a gaming console to commercial standard production is tough work. It comes with lots of trial and error and a dependence on outside help, expertise and collaboration. With little money, this process is glacial, but with dedication and tenacity, at least some of you will enjoy portable arcade gaming with the STARFORCE PI in the future! Until that time, I continue my quest to reinvent old consoles and bring them into the future. My latest creation: the PC Engine SD
Built inside a converted 1990 Amstrad GX4000 case, the system features an original first-model PC Engine motherboard which means the games aren’t emulated, the best RGB analog audio/video signal through component, composite or SCART output, full compatibility with PC Engine peripherals such as controllers and multitaps, and an SD-to-HuCard reader using the Turbo Everdrive V2.5 supporting all PC Engine and TurboGrafx-16 games. The SD card simply slots in the front, together with the controller (or controllers via a multitap), and the system is ready to be used. No load times – Plug’n’Play!
Relative to my other builds, like the STARFORCE NEO or the upcoming Sega Omega Drive, this was a relatively fast and straightforward build. It took 2 months in total to finish, and cost about €225 to build, including controllers, SCART cable, adapter, and multitap. I would’ve liked to collect for this system, but I noticed prices for PC engine games were just becoming ridiculous, and because I don’t have a childhood connection to the system, I had no problem simply switching to SD cards.
It turned out rather nice! Very simple, still quite compact and attractive, and with a really 1990s edge to the look.
About PC Engine:
It it one of the lesser-known 4th generation video gaming consoles but it was in fact the first released in the era of 16-bit systems. Known as the TurboGrafx-16 in the US, it went after the video gaming juggernaut Nintendo and their 8-bit entertainment system, but ended up competing with the Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) and the SNES in the Console Wars of the early 90s. Sadly, its tiny 8-bit CPU and limited success outside Japan was no match, and faded away by the mid-90s. But it’s a great system and deserves some retrogaming love!
PC Engine SD SPECS:
- Authentic NEC PC Engine Model 1 Hardware
- PC Engine & TurboGrafx-16 Compatible
- 1x PC Engine Controller Input (Compatible with 5 Player Multitap)
- Composite/Component/SCART RGB Audio/Video Output
- SD-to-HuCard Conversion via Turbo EverDrive 2.5
- Standard SD Card Compatible (Up to 32GB)
- Vintage 1990 Amstrad GX4000 Converted Case
- Dimensions: 25 x 4.4 x 18.4 cm, Weight: 0.9kg (2lbs)
STARFORCE PI 
Awesome. I would love to have one when completed. Will the sd card and system work like the TurboEverdrive?
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Thanks Mike! The PC Engine SD was a very simple build, it’s in fact an TurboEverdrive in a PC engine connected to a cardreader – that’s it. It was a sideproject to my main Sega system, so this won’t go into production or anything. I am working on bringing the StarForce Pi to production however.
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Well, that’s a shame. I love this and would buy one. Good on you. How did you produce the box? Thanks !
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Some creative photopaper printing and recutting an old box that had printer paper in it 😛 You can get pretty decent results with just tape, carboard and patience.
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Hi:
Is a great idea. I want a Pc Engine Sd. Its possible that you sell me this prototype, or the console case?. I Can buy a pc engine (coregrafx 2, the Control and the turbo everdrive) and make this awesome prototype.
One question: how look th menu of the game with the turbo everdrive and with the sd card only with one game????
Mario
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Cheers man, I’m not selling this bad-boy though, it’s part of the showcase and portfolio for my later gameconsole, but I will share the build process in a blog fairly soon, with components and such. It’s a simple build, all you need is a PC Engine, Turbo Everdrive, AV/Component booster (look on ebay for this), the GX 4000 case, a few buttons and plugs etc. and done. Simple menu on the everdrive gives you access to the entire library via SD.
All the best!
Marcel
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Cool idea dude 👍
Looks ace!
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Cheers man! Your blogs are great, very informative!
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Thanks 😊
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Wow am doing a vid on the TG16 but will be going back to the roots PC Engine, this is great would like to include what you are doing.
If ok with you could you email me with some more photos and give me a bit of a background on your project and let me know when you go into production, am only small YouTube’r
Looks fantastic and I do love the retro Amstrad GX4000 look (have got one)
Bill
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Hai Bill, thanks for the support. I’m happy to give you some more information and higher-res pictures, but please note: the PC Engine SD will not go into production. It was a one-off project I did whilst I was waiting for parts for the Sega Omega Drive. I am, however, working to bring the STARFORCE PI into production. Let me know if you want to know anything more, but I built the PC Engine SD to experience PC Engine games for the first time, so I am by no means an expert on the platform, much more into the realm of SEGA. Thanks!
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Please sell this! It wouldn’t make you Rich, but I know at least ten people who would buy it including me. Failing that, I would like to do this myself, I have two spare GX4000 consoles that are ready for such a project, so any updates or information you can share would be absolutely amazing! Well done 👍🏻
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Cheers man! Glad you like it, I was quite pleased with it, yet the board I bought was a little bit crappy, and I was getting some line-noise on the audio and video channels, so I’m going to replace this board with a higher quality one and then make a build-blog about it, with some pictures and a walkthrough of how I built it, hopefully that’ll help you with building your own! If you have an AV booster card, the PCEngine board, a microSD to SD adapter, a Turbo EverDrive, and the GX4000 shell, you’re pretty much good to go!
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