The TurboGrafx-16, known as the PC Engine outside North America, is a fourth-generation home video game console designed by Hudson Soft and sold by NEC Home Electronics. It was the first console marketed in the 16-bit era, although it used a modified 8-bit CPU. It was released in Japan in 1987 and in North America in 1989. The Japanese model was officially imported and distributed in France in 1989, unofficial imports had made their way to the UK by the same year along with an unofficial PAL version called the PC Engine Plus, and in 1990 some other European countries received a PAL version based on the American model known as simply TurboGrafx. 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 S