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PC Engine/TG Appreciation and Collecting Thread, Because who needs a 2nd controller?

P

Pepsiman

@iiotenki on Twitter!
Yes Boss! said:
I can't wrap my head around the numbering system. Easier for me is just:

Atari and Coleco
NES and SMS
TG-16/Genesis/SNES/Jaguar
PS/N64/Saturn
DC/GCN/PS2/XBOX
Wii/360/PS3
Wii U/XB1/PS4



Also, can somebody who speaks japanese let me know what this little flyer says. It was in my Lords of Thunder (the back side of a Hudson Bose speaker ad). I'm just curious if this was the dude who did the music?

Click to expand...

Didn't realize you'd posted this nearly a month ago when I whipped up my translation of that flyer just now, but since it's all done and nobody else seems to have chimed in, I'll throw it up anyway. Some editing was done on my part to make the writing a bit smooth since the original Japanese copy isn't super great and some other members of Japan GAF might take issue with the semantics of a few areas, but you'll catch my drift either way.

"The Far East of Eden series is something where we treat the production of music and voice acting with great care. The thing is, though, is that TV speakers have a knack for lessening the impact and sense of realism behind those things, which is a real shame! But eventually we were introduced to this hardware. [I'm guessing he means the Hudson Bose speaker?] When I first heard the sound come out of that thing, it came as a real surprise! With this thing, we can totally immerse players in the game world! It's really something! After that, I immediately went out and hooked up my own PC Engine to it. I hope you guys will give it a shot, too! -Ouji Hiroi, Red Company Leader [now known as Red Entertainment]"
 
Y

Yes Boss!

Member
Ah, thanks!

So in the Red boss doing the upsell on a speaker. Makes sense since the other side is an advert for the speakers.
 
C

Celine

Member
Yes Boss! said:
Ah, thanks!

So in the Red boss doing the upsell on a speaker. Makes sense since the other side is an advert for the speakers.
Click to expand...
Speaking of Red, I was thinking to create an appreciation thread about the company.
They were on fire in the nineties:
Tengai Makyou series, Bonk games, Gate of Thunder, Lords of Thunder, Tempo games on Sega systems, Hagane for SNES, Thousand Arms on PS1 and the Sakura Taisen series on Sega Saturn and Dreamcast.
 
IrishNinja

IrishNinja

Member
C

Celine

Member
How is Kabuki Itouryodan?
Is it worth to pay for the six button pad and the Arcade Card Duo?

IrishNinja said:
oh my god, want so hard....looks like $300 shipped for an unboxed one, lacking only AC adapter. speaking of, dumb question but will a US one give any problems? same region, no?

looking at the YT video in this auction, putting the region switch in the card slot... this dude's good

oh man i gotta go look at my budget then see if my US ebay account even works haha
Click to expand...
Quick, a new one is in:
http://www.ebay.it/itm/NEC-PC-Engin...736?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ec8ecc8e0
 
SmokedMeat

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
I had the privilege of getting paid paid to focus test Bonk's Adventure. Even though I had already been into gaming it was this experience, going into the 16-bit generation. Where my love for the hobby exploded.

Right after the focus test I ran out and bought...a Sega Genesis. But after playing that for some time I also bought a Turbografx. The 16-bit era was the start of me buying my own systems, and with the Turbo I received Keith Courage. It was actually a pretty decent game. I was in high school at the time so I got to borrow and loan games to friends. So overall during the course of ownership I played and owned...

Bonk
Bonk 2
Bloody Wolf
Legendary Axe 2
Vigilante
Splatterhouse
Ninja Spirit (best game on the system)
Space Harrier
China Warrior (worst game on the system)
Rtype
Psychosis and a bunch of other shooters

Awesome system, but When Super Famicom showed up I packed my system up and mailed it to Die Hard Gamers Club, and put it towards that and Super Mario World.
 
SmokedMeat

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
Oh god, I forgot Devils Crush! Another badass game I owned for the system!

And years later in the PSP emulator scene I installed Legendary Axe on my Turbo emulator. Couldn't believe how damn good it was! Really regret not checking that out during my Turbo owning days.
 
T

Teknoman

Member
Whoo finally:

iA7Yg2clTRE7l.jpg


iH3vuFPILpPli.jpg


ixbsqsPQtCtS5.jpg


RIP in pieces.

i27ARdt2BPgqY.jpg
 
IrishNinja

IrishNinja

Member
lookin gorgeous, tekno!

and i totally bought a RGB modded, region-free PC Engine Duo R off that doujindace from ebay, should be in next week or so...comes with the SCART cable, but no AC adapter. seller says i just gotta dig up my genesis model 2 AC and that should work, hope i can find it! can't wait
 
T

Teknoman

Member
IrishNinja said:
lookin gorgeous, tekno!

and i totally bought a RGB modded, region-free PC Engine Duo R off that doujindace from ebay, should be in next week or so...comes with the SCART cable, but no AC adapter. seller says i just gotta dig up my genesis model 2 AC and that should work, hope i can find it! can't wait
Click to expand...

agreebyrd.gif


Congrats, I was thinking about going that route too...but I like the style of the original Duo more. RGB though, going to be so sharp.

That being said, I think im going to continue this route of rotating between systems, picking one game, and sticking with it till I finish.
 
Y

Yes Boss!

Member
IrishNinja said:
lookin gorgeous, tekno!

and i totally bought a RGB modded, region-free PC Engine Duo R off that doujindace from ebay, should be in next week or so...comes with the SCART cable, but no AC adapter. seller says i just gotta dig up my genesis model 2 AC and that should work, hope i can find it! can't wait
Click to expand...

Retrogamecave has their adapter back in stock. It was out-of-stock when I picked up my Duo month or two ago. A little over $20.

http://www.retrogamecave.com/nec-ac_adapter.html

A lot of adapters work...I just bought a PSONE adapter for the time being.
 
IrishNinja

IrishNinja

Member
yeah i too think the TG duo is sleeker, but too late now!

Yes Boss! said:
Retrogamecave has their adapter back in stock. It was out-of-stock when I picked up my Duo month or two ago. A little over $20.

http://www.retrogamecave.com/nec-ac_adapter.html

A lot of adapters work...I just bought a PSONE adapter for the time being.
Click to expand...

hmm...looking through my cable box, cant find much at the moment...came across an AC that says RECOTON (presumably 3rd party)

input 120W 60 hz 22va
output 12 vac 13a

will this work for my purposes? assuming i read it right, heh
 
Y

Yes Boss!

Member
Not really sure about that. Best thing is to email him and ask. I guessing it can be higher and the unit will just draw what is needed but I'd probably check.

Only thing I really found online when I went looking for an adapter was that doujindance recommended either a Genny Model 2 adapter or a PSOne/PS2 Slim adapter. Here are the list of actual output volts and amps:

http://www.gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=repair:pcepowersupplies

Says the Duo needs 9V and 1 amp but I'm running 7.5/2.2 and it works perfectly.
 
IrishNinja

IrishNinja

Member
yeah, i looked high & low for a model 2 genny AC today (was so sure id had one for my 32x prior to buying a triple from retrogamecave) but no dice, might just grab a quick one on ebay if this doesn't pan out.

on the plus side: a gracious gaffer saw my post in BST and offered to send Alien Crush, Bonk & 3 others over for free since his TG16 died, so hyped! looks like Blazing Lazers, Ninja Spirits & a few others rise to the top of my list.
 
V

Viola of the Abyss

Member
IrishNinja said:
yeah, i looked high & low for a model 2 genny AC today (was so sure id had one for my 32x prior to buying a triple from retrogamecave) but no dice, might just grab a quick one on ebay if this doesn't pan out.

on the plus side: a gracious gaffer saw my post in BST and offered to send Alien Crush, Bonk & 3 others over for free since his TG16 died, so hyped! looks like Blazing Lazers, Ninja Spirits & a few others rise to the top of my list.
Click to expand...

Bonk is amazing, enjoy one of the best 2D platformers on the system, try to get the second one as well.
 
S

sixteen-bit

Member
The downside to ordering cheap PCE games in bulk is how many of them smell like fucking ashtrays lol. Gotta try the dryer sheets method.
 
C

Celine

Member
From platform game to platform game.

x6S8UAx.jpg
Click to expand...

This is Momotaro Katsugeki.
Part of Hudson Soft popular Momotaro series (more than 10 million units sold) this game is neither a RPG (Momotaro Densetsu) nor a board game (Momotaro Dentetsu) but a full sidescrolling action game starring the peach boy from the japanese folk tales.

This hucard features nice and colourful graphics, catchy music and tight gameplay (although you need to learn the protagonist inertia since you can't change direction while jumping and Momotaro can jump higher when he is running but he run after 2-3 seconds pressing left or right).
The levels are all varied and challenging and the light RPG elements available (you can buy more powerful swords and armors or find items that heals) are welcome additions.
As a welcome addition is the possibility to save your progress on the system memory so to retain your newly acquired equipment (or else there is a very long and cumbersome password system)

Momotaro Katsugeki isn't just a good game in itself but it is also a very charming one.
You can only smile at the joyful ogres that just dances for no reason what so ever.
The only complain I have is that the bosses could have been better.

Momotaro Katsugeki can easily rank up there with the best the system has to offer in the platform genre (Bonk Revenge, New Adventure Island, Liquid Kids) but its "hidden gem" status means that you can find it for much cheaper than all those games (mine was 15 bucks, shipping included).

Yes Boss! said:
Fairly inexpensive and one of my absolute favorites is Pomping World (Buster Bros.) in the west.
Click to expand...
Indeed an excellent port of the Mitchell arcade hit.

sixteen-bit said:
The downside to ordering cheap PCE games in bulk is how many of them smell like fucking ashtrays lol. Gotta try the dryer sheets method.
Click to expand...
Well that and the fact that usually most of them in the lot are undesirable games.
 
IrishNinja

IrishNinja

Member
cross posting from pick-up thread cause its more likely to be cared about here, heh

my latest retro addition!

j3w4ZGS.jpg
Click to expand...

PC-Engine Duo R - Region-free (switch for cards is in the slot), new lens installed & RGB modded for XRGB mini goodness. i couldn't find my genesis model 2 AC adapter (same voltage) so im waiting on another from ebay, but i don't even have games for this thing yet, haha...

fortunately, fellow gaffer DJ Lushious donated

Bonk's Revenge
Galaga '90
Final Lap Twin
Bonk's Adventure
Alien Crush
Keith Courage

so hopefully soon i'll finally get to start exploring the TG-16's library (a neighbor had the CD unit but we only had Cosmic Fantasy 2 & Air Zonk, both of which i need to pick up). so hyped!

now to make shelf space for it, heh
 
IrishNinja

IrishNinja

Member
oh man, i had no idea...i remember having some fun with the CD one, so now i really gotta track down the card - thanks celine!
 
D

Devilgunman

Member
C

Celine

Member
Dicer said:
$2325 now, and to think I used to own that :(
Click to expand...
Don't know if it is more crazy spend that amount for a game or spend almost 200 euro for a bootleg (currently available at much less).

(My wallet is suggesting me that both are equally crazy).

Bar81 said:
I would say that's retarded considering it's not even mint, but then again I collect Neo...
Click to expand...
I dread the day I will start collecting Neo Geo stuff.
 
B

bishopcruz

Member
Gah, looking at ebay why are Duos so damned expensive? It's not like they are particularly rare. Also, did the Duo-R have the arcade card automatically, or did you still need to add it? It's been a long time since I looked into these and I forgot.
 
W

woodypop

Member
IrishNinja said:
PC-Engine Duo R - Region-free (switch for cards is in the slot), new lens installed & RGB modded for XRGB mini goodness
Click to expand...
What, region-free card slot? I've not heard of this. How does it work? I thought the pinouts were different between the regions?
fortunately, fellow gaffer DJ Lushious donated

Bonk's Revenge
Galaga '90
Final Lap Twin
Bonk's Adventure
Alien Crush
Keith Courage
Click to expand...
That's awesome of him! Crush, Galaga, and the Bonks are great. I'd always heard of how terribad Keith Courage is, but didn't really believe until I played it. Ugh, can't believe it was a pack-in. =P
 
Y

Yes Boss!

Member
Nice pick-up Irish!

He does a good job on the system and it has at least $50 worth of mods which is nice. Don't forget the blue light when playing CD games, nice touch!

Also, tonight is a drinking night for me so I might just pick up some Yeungling lager.
 
B

bishopcruz

Member
woodypop said:
That's awesome of him! Crush, Galaga, and the Bonks are great. I'd always heard of how terribad Keith Courage is, but didn't really believe until I played it. Ugh, can't believe it was a pack-in. =P
Click to expand...

Jealous as hell of Ninja too. As far as Keith courage, gah, played the hell out of it. But it really did make Altered Beast look like a masterpiece. It's a shame the Dup never caught on here because that had possibly the best set of pack-ins for any system ever:

CD1:
Ys I and II

CD2:
Bonk's Adventure
Bonk's Revenge
Gates of Thunder
and a hidden code to play Bomberman

and a pack in of the HuCard Dungeon Explorer

Christ that was awesome
 
C

Celine

Member
bishopcruz said:
Gah, looking at ebay why are Duos so damned expensive? It's not like they are particularly rare. Also, did the Duo-R have the arcade card automatically, or did you still need to add it? It's been a long time since I looked into these and I forgot.
Click to expand...
Nope, Duo (R and so on) have the system card ver. 3.0.
That means it will run any game except Altered Beast and the Arcade games.

Arcade Card Duo (the one used by Duo models) prices on ebay usually range between $20 and $40 depending by the condition (if loose or not).
Bought a complete arcade card duo recently for $31,00(+ shipping) the other day on ebay.

Of course if you need an arcade card pro (the one required for the CD attachment) the prices rise.
 
B

bishopcruz

Member
Celine said:
Nope, Duo (R and so on) have the system card ver. 3.0.
That means it will run any game except Altered Beast and the Arcade games.

Arcade Card Duo (the one used by Duo models) prices on ebay usually range between $20 and $40 depending by the condition (if loose or not).
Bought a complete arcade card duo recently for $31,00(+ shipping) the other day on ebay.

Of course if you need an arcade card pro (the one required for the CD attachment) the prices rise.
Click to expand...

Good info, so what is the advantage of a Duo-R compared to a regular Duo?
 
C

Celine

Member
bishopcruz said:
Good info, so what is the advantage of a Duo-R compared to a regular Duo?
Click to expand...

Essentially (apart from aesthetic) Duo-R and RX models are more reliable than Duo model.
Also RX model came with 6 button pad since it was released the year of the Arcade Card games (mostly fighting games).

I think Nec released the Duo-R/RX model because they were cheaper to produce than the Duo.
 
A Black Falcon

A Black Falcon

Member
bishopcruz said:
What, the lasers dying out on them now? Damn. They seemed pretty sturdy for years, when did they start dying? (I still have my Turbografx-CD unit, it was working fine a few years back last time I tried it.)
Click to expand...

Duos have bad capacitors, like TurboExpresses and Game Gears. (Duo-Rs and Duo-RXes are not affected and are more reliable). As for the Turbo CD, one of the drive gears is fragile and eventually is sure to break. They can be replaced, though. So can Duo capacitors, but that's harder to do. Regular Duos, but not Turbo CD drives and I think not Duo-R or RXes either, also seem to frequently have issues with CD-Rs, so playing backups on Duos isn't recommended.

And no, no system includes an Arcade Card. You need the Arcade Card Duo for a Super CD, Duo, Duo-R, or Duo-RX system (since they have the Super System Card built in), or an Arcade Card Pro for the regular CD drive.

Celine said:
Essentially (apart from aesthetic) Duo-R and RX models are more reliable than Duo model.
Also RX model came with 6 button pad since it was released the year of the Arcade Card games (mostly fighting games).

I think Nec released the Duo-R/RX model because they were cheaper to produce than the Duo.
Click to expand...
One final note, the main difference between the R and RX is that the RX came with a 6-button controller, not 2-button.
 
B

bishopcruz

Member
A Black Falcon said:
Duos have bad capacitors, like TurboExpresses and Game Gears. (Duo-Rs and Duo-RXes are not affected and are more reliable). As for the Turbo CD, one of the drive gears is fragile and eventually is sure to break. They can be replaced, though. So can Duo capacitors, but that's harder to do. Regular Duos, but not Turbo CD drives and I think not Duo-R or RXes either, also seem to frequently have issues with CD-Rs, so playing backups on Duos isn't recommended.

And no, no system includes an Arcade Card. You need the Arcade Card Duo for a Super CD, Duo, Duo-R, or Duo-RX system (since they have the Super System Card built in), or an Arcade Card Pro for the regular CD drive.


One final note, the main difference between the R and RX is that the RX came with a 6-button controller, not 2-button.
Click to expand...

Good info to know. So what's generally a fair price for a Duo R/RX then? Because the ebay rates of $299 or more seem pretty ridiculous.
 
D

Devilgunman

Member
bishopcruz said:
Good info to know. So what's generally a fair price for a Duo R/RX then? Because the ebay rates of $299 or more seem pretty ridiculous.
Click to expand...

Not ridiculous at all. I've been looking for Duo R/RX on eBay, Amazon JP and in stores in Japan and I have rarely seen one sold less than $300. I got mine recently for $250 w/o box and cables. According to a seller at a store in Japan, R/RX are the highest demand PC-Engine so you have to pay premium for it.
 
IrishNinja

IrishNinja

Member
for what it's worth, my best offer of $215 was accepted but the shipping added quite a bit too

Devilgunman said:
Buy an adapter from retrogamecave.com. I bought it for my RX and it worked flawlessly.
Click to expand...

ah, i debated it & perhaps i should've, but the modder/seller said both genesis model 1 and PS1 adapters worked, and offered the same voltage. ended up grabbing a cheap PS1 plug that should be here soon - i adore my trio, but game cave shipping for me was quite slow

Yes Boss! said:
Nice pick-up Irish!

He does a good job on the system and it has at least $50 worth of mods which is nice. Don't forget the blue light when playing CD games, nice touch!

Also, tonight is a drinking night for me so I might just pick up some Yeungling lager.
Click to expand...

ah, that's the spot in the center, right? gonna look cool! thanks boss, and yeah i'm off tonight as well, so after a run it's booze + retro night like usual, haha

Celine said:
Nope, Duo (R and so on) have the system card ver. 3.0.
That means it will run any game except Altered Beast and the Arcade games.

Arcade Card Duo (the one used by Duo models) prices on ebay usually range between $20 and $40 depending by the condition (if loose or not).
Bought a complete arcade card duo recently for $31,00(+ shipping) the other day on ebay.

Of course if you need an arcade card pro (the one required for the CD attachment) the prices rise.
Click to expand...

interesting - is it generally worth it for the arcade games? Strider looked interesting but some on here have said the genesis version was mostly better. i like how SNK stuff looks but still intend to get an AES down the road so i don't know if it's worth it, for me

edit
woodypop said:
What, region-free card slot? I've not heard of this. How does it work? I thought the pinouts were different between the regions?
Click to expand...

sorry woddy for some reason i cannot find that video the seller had up before where he shows the region switch in the card slot in action, ill keep looking though...it was a big part of the sell for me
 
C

Celine

Member
IrishNinja said:
interesting - is it generally worth it for the arcade games? Strider looked interesting but some on here have said the genesis version was mostly better. i like how SNK stuff looks but still intend to get an AES down the road so i don't know if it's worth it, for me
Click to expand...
Well, I'm still waiting for my Arcade card to show up in the mail so I never tried it but from the research I did the Arcade Card is a must if you want to play:

- Neo Geo ports (Art of Fighting, World of Heroes 2 and Fatal Fury Special since it's superior in every way to Fatal Fury 2): they are the best ports of those game to an home system of that era, strangely enough if you think the PCE came out in 1987.
AoF even had the zoom effect somewhat preserved with a smart trick.
The developer changed on the fly the PCE output resolution to simulate the changed size.

- Original games that maxed out the system (Sapphire and Kabuki Ittoryoudan):
Sapphire is a good vertical shooter with incredible graphics.
Kabuki is a pretty good SF2 clone starring Tengai Makyo characters.

- Enhanced cutscene/shorter loading times (example: 3x3):
Some games had shorter loading times or enhanced cutscenes like 3x3.

- Strider: This game conversion had a long story behind it.
Initially was announced for the Supergrafx in 1991 then moved to Super CD and finally was released very late in 1994 for the Arcade format.
The game has nice cutscenes and two exclusive levels but the conversion is underwhelming.

Of course for the fighting games it is recommended a 6 button pad (the only exception is Asuka 120% burning)

EDIT:
Forgot Strider.
 
Y

Yes Boss!

Member
IrishNinja said:
ah, that's the spot in the center, right? gonna look cool! thanks boss, and yeah i'm off tonight as well, so after a run it's booze + retro night like usual, haha
Click to expand...

Yep, it lights up! Duo-R is one sexy beast.

Indeed, the region-free on Hu is especially nice. Not an easy mod to do.

I passed on the Yeungling and went for my standard Dogfish sixer. Keepin' it real with beer from the east coast. I'll be spinning Lords of Thunder tonight for a game or two! I need more CD games. Buster Bros probably next!
 
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