Features
* CPU: HuC6280 (7.16 or 7.19 MHz, switchable by software)
* Video: One 16-bit HuC6260 Video Color Encoder (VCE), two 16-bit HuC6270A Video Display Controllers (VDCs), and one HuC6202 Video Priority Controller.
* Resolution: max 512 x 242 (usually games use 256 x 240)
* Sound: 8 bit PCM stereo / 6-channel stereo
* Ram: 32 Kbyte
* Video Ram: 128Kbyte
* Cart Size: 256Kbit - 20 Megabit Max. (S.F. 2) Normally 8 Mbits
* Colors Palette: 512 - (256 for sprites, 256 for the background.)
* Max # of sprites: 128
* Sprite Size: 16×16, 16×32, 16×64, 32×16, 32×32, 32×64
Usage
MESS requires a cart dump (in .pce or .bin format) in the "cartridge" (cart) device to run sgx emulation. You can launch emulation using, at command line
mess sgx -cart "C:\pathtogame\gamename.pce"
MESS also supports CD-ROM images in .chd format, using the "cdrom" (cdrm) device.
Known Issues
The emulation of this system is known to have imperfect sound.
History and Trivia
The SuperGrafx is an upgraded version of the PC-Engine. At first it was announced as the PC-Engine 2, a true 16-Bit system with improved graphics and audio capabilities, not expected to see release until 1990. However the final machine was released earlier, in late 1989, with the SuperGrafx name and only provided modestly enhanced graphics over the original PC-Engine.
Compare to the PC-Engine, the SuperGrafx featured:
* four times the amount of work RAM for the main CPU;
* a second video chip with its own video RAM;
* a priority controller chip that allowed the output of both video chips to be combined in various ways.
The SuperGrafx ended up being a commercial failure, partly due to a lack of software capable of exploiting its enhanced abilities. Indeed, only 7 titles were ever released: five of these were exclusive titles, the other two were regular PC-Engine releases capable of enhanced graphics. There were no CD, SCD, or ACD games written that took advantage of the SuperGrafx platform.
However, the SuperGrafx can play PCE HuCards, PCE CDs, PCE Super CDs, PCE Arcade CDs, and the native SuperGrafx HuCards.
One notable accessory was the Power Console, designed to add a full flight yoke, throttle and keypad to the SuperGrafx, sliding over the entire console. Besides a prototype, no Power Consoles were ever produced.
(info based on Wikipedia)
Links
* NECstasy -- http://www.necstasy.net/
* Universo PCENGINE -- http://upce.netfirms.com/index.html
* Turbo Station 16 -- http://pcenginefx.com/TS/
* Wikipedia page -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SuperGrafx
Other Emulators
* MagicEngine (commercial) -- http://www.magicengine.com/
* Hu-Go! (for DOS, Windows, Linux, BeOS, Solaris) -- http://www.zeograd.com/
* Mednafen -- http://mednafen.sourceforge.net/
