The is a ROM cartridge in the form of a card, designed by Hudson Soft for

NEC is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. The company was known as the Nippon Electric Company, Limited, before rebranding in 1983 as NEC. It provides IT and network soluti ...

PC Engine The TurboGrafx-16, known as the outside North America, is a home video game console designed by Hudson Soft and sold by NEC Home Electronics. It was the first console marketed in the fourth generation, commonly known as the 16-bit era, thoug ...

and

PC Engine SuperGrafx The , also known as simply the SuperGrafx, is a fourth-generation home video game console manufactured by NEC Home Electronics and released in Japan in 1989. It is the successor system to the PC Engine, released two years prior. Originally know ...

video game console A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connected to ...

s, which were originally released in 1987 and 1989, respectively. In the United States, where the PC Engine was marketed as the

TurboGrafx-16 The TurboGrafx-16, known as the outside North America, is a home video game console designed by Hudson Soft and sold by NEC Home Electronics. It was the first console marketed in the fourth generation, commonly known as the 16-bit era, thoug ...

, the HuCard is alternately called the TurboChip. The HuCard is an evolution from an earlier Hudson Soft technology, the Bee Card, which it developed in the early 1980s as a distribution medium for MSX

computer software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...

. The Bee Card is an EEPROM device that is slightly thinner than the HuCard. It has 32 connectors whereas the HuCard has 38. Most video game cartridges have a large plastic housing to protect the PCB while providing enough space inside for radiant heat and, less often, a

button cell A button cell, watch battery, or coin battery is a small single-cell battery shaped as a squat cylinder typically in diameter and high — resembling a button. Stainless steel usually forms the bottom body and positive terminal of the cell; i ...

. The PCB in a HuCard or Bee Card is protected by a rigid, glossy polymer that conducts heat; since the PC Engine and TurboGrafx-16 leave one side of the card partially exposed while inserted in the console, heat disperses with less obstruction. Hudson Soft, NEC, and other vendors published seven HuCard games specifically for the PC Engine SuperGrafx. Hudson Soft called this enhanced medium the Super HuCard. Video game developers made new releases on HuCard until December 1994, when ''21 Emon: Mezase! Hotel Ō'' was released in Japan for the PC Engine. It was the last official release for the platform in any region. ''Atlantean'', an independent game released on a HuCard, was made available in August 2014. ''Jessie Jaeger in Cleopatra's Curse'' is a new title in development with a planned release in 2022. Ugami
Access date: November 30, 2022.

References

{{NEC video game consoles Computer-related introductions in 1987 Solid-state computer storage media TurboGrafx-16 Video game distribution Video game storage media

See also

References