The saga of Johnny Turbo begins, as most stories do, during the great Sega-Nintendo conflict of the early 90's. What most people don't remember is that there was a third party involved in that generation of home consoles. The TurboGrafx-16, made by NEC, was also competing for gamers' dollars.

In September of 1989, the TurboGrafx-16 was introduced to American gamers. NEC had high expectations for their console, since the TurboGrafx's Japanese counterpart, the PC Engine, had managed to stand toe to toe with the Famicom, even outselling the Nintendo console at one point. It was assumed that the TurboGrafx would have similar success against the aging NES. However, NEC's thunder was stolen by the new 16-bit Sega Genesis, which was released only 2 weeks after the TurboGrafx. Sega immediately launched a marketing blitz against Nintendo, prompting NIntendo to respond in kind. All attention became focused on the two giants battling each other for supremacy, and NEC's entry was mostly ignored. A few years later Nintendo would release the SNES, further escalating the conflict.

The TurboGrafx never became a factor in the 16-bit console war. NEC had blundered by refusing to port over any of the excellent PC Engine titles developed in Japan, instead choosing to focus on games that they thought would appeal to American audiences. Third party developers shunned the TurboGrafx for the more popular Sega and Nintendo consoles, further sealing NEC's doom. (At one point, not only were the SNES and Genesis outselling the TurboGrafx, but even the retired NES was doing better. This gave NEC the embarassing distinction of finishing 4th in a 3 company contest.)

NEC wasn't ready to give up just yet. The PC engine's CD-ROM add-on was selling well in Japan, and there were no competing CD systems out yet in America. In October 1992, NEC released the TurboDuo, the very first CD-based home console in the States. The TurboDuo played both classic TurboGrafx-16 games and new TurboGrafx-CD titles. Things were looking up for NEC as the crucial holiday shopping season approached. However, their hopes would be dashed for a second time as Sega decided to rain on their parade once again.

Less than a month after the TurboDuo his retail shelves, Sega introduced the Sega CD add-on for the Genesis. The Sega CD, known as the Mega-CD in Japan, benefitted from Sega's superior marketing and stronger brand recognition. This combined with the TurboDuo's higher price allowed Sega to soundly beat NEC during the '92 holiday season. This would be the second straight time that Sega crippled NEC just as they were getting out of the gate.

NEC was not going to let Sega walk all over them a second time. The marketing team at NEC took out their frustrations by creating a character that embodied all of the hate and envy that TurboGrafx fans felt toward Sega. That character would be known as Johnny Turbo.

In late 1992, mild-mannered "computer expert" Jonathan Brandstetter and his sidekick Tony were spending a leisurely evening discussing the finer points of CD-based consoles when they heard the news of a hot new video game system from Feka, the evil gaming corporation.

Feka, not to be confused with another gaming company with a similar name, was claiming that their new console was the only CD based system on the market.

Younger gamers might not be aware of this, but back before the days of hip game stores like PG, you couldn't just go out and buy a new console at a store. Instead, you would have to seek out shady men in black suits who hung out on streetcorners.

Kids lined up at streetcorners across the country, cash in hand, to buy the Feka CD from the creepy salesmen. However, the Feka CD had a horrible secret, it wasn't a stand-alone system. Without the original Feka Genesis, the CD add-on was useless. One can only imagine the heartbreak this caused when the poor kids found out this awful truth.

If only little Billy had paid attention to the gaming magazines and ads and read the side of the console box. Then he would have known that, despite their vague sounding names, peripherals and add-ons aren't really stand-alone consoles.

Feka's deception was too much for Johnathan to handle. Driven by a sense of justice and brand loyalty, Jonathan Brandstetter assumed the identity of Johnny Turbo, defender of NEC and scourge of the Feka Empire!

The Feka goons were no match for Johnny Turbo (and Sherlock Holmes for the TurboDuo). Johnny tore through the Feka gang and drove them out of town.

When Johnny wasn't assaulting Feka employees, he was busy preaching the gospel of NEC and the TurboDuo.

Johnny was successful in driving the Feka hordes out of his town and paving the way for the TurboDuo. Unfortunately, Johnny's town might have been the only place in the country where the TurboDuo outsold the Sega CD. The TurboDuo was crushed by both Sega and Nintendo and NEC would not release another console in America. (NEC would release another console in Japan, the PC-FX, but it did not sell very well and marked the end of NEC's video game dreams).

Johnny Turbo disappeared from the gaming scene just as suddenly as he had appeared. Some say he retired after saving his town from Feka, satisfied with a job well done. Others say he went to Japan to visit NEC's headquarters where he was ambushed by a vengeful Segata Sanshiro, who was displeased at Johnny's mocking of his favorite company. Regardless of where he ended up, Johnny Turbo will always be an important part of gaming history.

Although his quest was ultimately unsuccessful, Johnny Turbo taught us an important life lesson. He showed us that If you don't like somebody's products or services, you shouldn't just complain about it, but instead go assault their employees and harass their customers.