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PC Engine/TG Appreciation and Collecting Thread, Because who needs a 2nd controller?
- Thread starter gryz
- Start date
Is there an affordable way to play PC Engine HuCards on a US Turbo unit? Friend of mine cut me an offer for a Turbografx-16. He said he's trying to find the CD unit for me.
Also, can the PC Engine Super CD system cards in a US system with a converter allow to play CDs/Super CDs regardless of origin?
Also, can the PC Engine Super CD system cards in a US system with a converter allow to play CDs/Super CDs regardless of origin?
A Black Falcon
Member
The cheapest way to do both of these things is to get a region mod done on your system. Region mod + Japanese Super System Card is cheaper than a US Super System Card, and it allows you to play the large and great (and cheaper than US games) Japanese HuCard library too, and also to maybe get an Arcade Card as well.
You could also get a converter, but honestly those things are so expensive that a region mod will probably cost about the same amount, and it'll be more reliable and easier to use for sure.
As for the CD system, CDs are region free. It's only the cards which are region-locked. You need a converter, region-modded system, or PC Engine to play all CD games though, because the Arcade CD card was not released in the US of course.
PassiveObserver
Member
Don't have a Turbo system, but the latest Game Sack episode mentioned how the capacitors on all the Turbo consoles are notoriously bad and leak like crazy. Not sure if that's truly the case. Have you guys experience this issue and went through the trouble of fully modding the system?
Game Sack - Console Modding
Game Sack - Console Modding
A Black Falcon
Member
No, no. It's only the PCE/Turbo Duo, the PC Engine Super CD Drive, and TurboExpress/PC Engine GT that have the horrible capacitors. All other models are okay -- any regular PC Engine or Turbografx, the regular PC Engine CD or Turbo CD drive (it has its own problems, but not the capacitors usually, it's the disc drive gears which are its most common failure point), and the PCE Duo-R and Duo-RX are better as well.
sixteen-bit
Member
That's definitely true for Turboduos and Turbo Expresses. Not sure if it affects other models.
Thanks for the reply Black Falcon. I'm glad that there's chip mods for region free play cause if this guy come back saying he has the CD Rom attatchment I can get it modded and get an arcade card to play all CDs.
I saw two different Arcade card models. What are the differences between the two?
A Black Falcon
Member
TG16 region-modding doesn't actually use a chip -- it just needs to flip some lines on the card-input port, basically. I got my TG16 region-modded last year, and it has a switch on the side which flips between regions. Of course, the mod is only for the TG16 itself -- the CD drive is region-free.
The Arcade Card Pro is for any system which is using a regular PC Engine CD drive, or, since they're the same, a Turbo CD drive. So, a US TG16+TCD+region mod needs the Arcade Card Pro, as does a Japanese briefcase unit PCE (any variant)+CD unit. This has to include the 256KB of RAM for the Super System Card, and also the 2MB of RAM for the Arcade Card.
Any system with a PCE Super CD drive (this is an addon drive which plugs onto the back of a PC Engine or Supergrafx; they are somewhat uncommon and quite pricey) or any type of PCE or Turbo Duo (Duo, Duo-R, or Duo-RX) has the 256KB of Super System Card memory built in to the unit, so to save a bit of money NEC issued a card with just the 2MB of new RAM on it. This is the Arcade Card Duo, and it's useless for anyone like me with a regular TG16+CD. The Arcade Card Duo is a little bit cheaper than the Arcade Card Pro, unfortunately.
Ban Puncher
Member
Just did a Google search on Toilet Kids.
I think I'm on several government watch lists now.
I think I'm on several government watch lists now.
Hey Guys
Thought if there were any obscenely rich people here they might be interested in this.
Super rare Turbo-Pac for the Pioneer Laseractive. Allows you to play LD-Rom2's as well a the standard Turbo Hucards and TurboCD games. Without modding your Turbo, this is the best quality you can get (again...without a mod.) It's still composite, but there exist comparisons that show that it's a significantly better composite signal than the standard Turbo16. Reserve price is somewhere over $400. I kind of wish I could afford it for the novelty, but alas.
Thought if there were any obscenely rich people here they might be interested in this.
Super rare Turbo-Pac for the Pioneer Laseractive. Allows you to play LD-Rom2's as well a the standard Turbo Hucards and TurboCD games. Without modding your Turbo, this is the best quality you can get (again...without a mod.) It's still composite, but there exist comparisons that show that it's a significantly better composite signal than the standard Turbo16. Reserve price is somewhere over $400. I kind of wish I could afford it for the novelty, but alas.
sixteen-bit
Member
Laseractive + NEC Pac sounds like it's the Bentley of PC Engines...
Well, if the PC Engine LT didn't exist.
...or the Sharp X1 Twin!
Well, if the PC Engine LT didn't exist.
...or the Sharp X1 Twin!
Don't worry you were already on those watch lists for having purchased two Neo Geo X.
Ban Puncher
Member
Whenever I move into a new place, I have to go around to my neighbours and inform them I am a repeat Neo Geo X offender.
PixyJunket
Member
Woo, I birthed a new PC-Engine fan last night.
So a good friend of mine comes over often and we drink craft beer and play NES games. This has been going on for years and year (and years and years). So last night, we decide to look beyond the NES (probably because I was talking about buying Genesis games at dinner). We play a few SNES games first (King of Dragons, Wild Guns, etc.) and then he finally says "Hey I've never played anything on TurboGrafx before."
Boom.
I show him my PC-Engine stack and he grabs a bunch of games. He flips out over how awesome the HuCards were. Then the first game he plops into my Duo was Side Arms. After that? Ninja Spirit. He was pretty much sold right then. He also picked up Rabio Lepus, Violent Solider, Momotaro in Monster Land, Genji Tsushin Agedama, Doremon (which might have been his favorite), Bikkuriman World (which I played a sample and he said I had problems because I knew it so well) and Dynastic Hero. I pulled a couple he passed by, Cadash and Parasol Stars (yay multi-tap).
I actually told him that a lot of this stuff was on Wii but he said he wanted me to fill a box up when I went to Japan next year (great, so now I'm a mule).
Anyway, twas a good night and now I'm back on eBay looking for more games. I was actually disappointed in myself that I didn't have a single Compile game to show off to him and I just got a raise so I guess now's time to drop the cash on them.
So a good friend of mine comes over often and we drink craft beer and play NES games. This has been going on for years and year (and years and years). So last night, we decide to look beyond the NES (probably because I was talking about buying Genesis games at dinner). We play a few SNES games first (King of Dragons, Wild Guns, etc.) and then he finally says "Hey I've never played anything on TurboGrafx before."
Boom.
I show him my PC-Engine stack and he grabs a bunch of games. He flips out over how awesome the HuCards were. Then the first game he plops into my Duo was Side Arms. After that? Ninja Spirit. He was pretty much sold right then. He also picked up Rabio Lepus, Violent Solider, Momotaro in Monster Land, Genji Tsushin Agedama, Doremon (which might have been his favorite), Bikkuriman World (which I played a sample and he said I had problems because I knew it so well) and Dynastic Hero. I pulled a couple he passed by, Cadash and Parasol Stars (yay multi-tap).
I actually told him that a lot of this stuff was on Wii but he said he wanted me to fill a box up when I went to Japan next year (great, so now I'm a mule).
Anyway, twas a good night and now I'm back on eBay looking for more games. I was actually disappointed in myself that I didn't have a single Compile game to show off to him and I just got a raise so I guess now's time to drop the cash on them.
Ban Puncher
Member
Got a lovely complete copy of Kiki Kaikai for only ¥1500. Been chasing it for a while now.
Eat me $100+ 'mint condition' eBay listings.
Eat me $100+ 'mint condition' eBay listings.
sixteen-bit
Member
Neat. How does it compare to the SNES version?
*sigh* Oh NEC. I just discovered that my PCE Duo R had been on for a day and a half, because there's no light to tell you when it's on with a HuCard inside! Seems so dumb to only have one with the CD section going.
System and the copy of Bomberman 94 inside both seem fine, though the left half of the unit got a little warm by the end.
System and the copy of Bomberman 94 inside both seem fine, though the left half of the unit got a little warm by the end.
Ban Puncher
Member
The PCE version is based off of the original arcade game.
The SNES game (and its sequel) are all new.
sixteen-bit
Member
I saw a neat LED tutorial for the vanilla PCE recently.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91EhJdNsZVM
I wonder if you can do something similar with the Duo R
Oh, that's a great price. Congrats!
I just watched that myself!
I dunno about modding my Duo. It's absolutely mint, and appeared to have never been used before I bought it. I'm even questioning having RGB mods done to it at some point, since I have all the original packaging and manuals etc.
sixteen-bit
Member
Yeah I can definitely understand where you're coming from. I don't mod my original systems I grew up with. I use second-hand ones for that purpose, lol.
Still I'm curious if its possible to do a mod that's totally unnoticeable from the outside and makes the CD LED operate when you're using Hu-cards.
I suppose a really careful mod could do two LEDs in the LED bank in the middle. One color for HuCards, and the red one is added when it goes Disc.
baphomet
Member
Yea it would be quite easy to do that. Don't know why it wasn't designed that way to begin with though. I've done the same thing and left my duo on because I didn't realize it was on.
The Duo R seems fairly durable, right? I'm hoping my leaving it on won't have any long-term impact. I know the original Duo fries the capacitors fairly easily.
IrishNinja
Member
Looking at my shelves come along, the biggest thing I'm waiting on is those replacement hucard cases..I swear I'd order like 10-15 right now if I could, then those sticker labels from PCE forum too hnnngghh
PixyJunket
Member
Word on the street is that Duo-Rs and Duo-RXs are pretty reliable.
My Duo-R is still fairly healthy, although it doesn't read CDRs (it never did though).
Have you tried other burners? My Duo R reads CDRs from my PC fine, but my Sega CD can't read anything I burn from that particular drive. Meanwhile, my friend's crappy laptop burns perfect Sega CDs without issues. I'm paranoid about harming the lens of the Duo R though, so I only play legit stuff on it, or those extremely well made bootlegs.
Speaking of legit software, what the hell is going on with Dracula X? I bought a copy mint with spinecard in April for $100, and now I'm seeing them in iffy condition WITHOUT spinecard selling for $140! Some Buy it Nows are set at $200!?
sixteen-bit
Member
Maybe someone made a Youtube video?
I haven't seen any new ones pop up between April and now, I don't think. At least not on the popular "Taste Maker" channels. Game Grumps did one of the Super Nintendo version, and man, that game sucks so hard in comparison. The PCE Drac X is one of a handful of games that I feel is worth any price. Snatcher on Sega CD might be another.
I also find it very hard to believe that the game is actually becoming "scarce." It seems to still be readily available, the prices are just way higher.
IrishNinja
Member
ya'll are still just witnessing the bubble. my Dracula X was like $55 i wanna say back in march or so? check forums, not ebay
related: PCE forum has an entire thread on how stupid the prices on turbo/PCE shit is getting though
related: PCE forum has an entire thread on how stupid the prices on turbo/PCE shit is getting though
sixteen-bit
Member
were they able to speculate why?
So watching the latest Game Sack video, the one about console modding, has me worried over my US Turbo Duo and its transistors. I don't know the first thing about electrical engineering or hardware modding, so I was wondering - has anyone shipped out their Duo to be modded? Any reputable people offering these mods, and at what price? And is this really necessary or only after the system stops functioning/appears externally flawed?
Do it as soon as you possibly can. The issue isn't necessarily the sound going out (which means a capacitor is bad) but what happens on the WAY to that. Even if your system seems to be working well, those capacitors might be leaking onto the board, and that stuff burns through things. Replacing the caps isn't too hard if you have a clean soldering iron and patience, but the unit I tried to repair had horrible board damage in very sensitive areas with short traces.
IrishNinja
Member
my man you can't go wrong with the wizards at PCEngineFX, for real hit them up
ehh turbo saw actually quite limited release #'s in the states so i guess the hike there actually makes sense since there's genuine scarcity (unlike earthbound/etc), PCE stuff going up seems to point to some of the bigger sellers (hit-japan etc) simply catching on to US import demands over the years & other factors
take a look here
sixteen-bit
Member
seems like I need an account to view that thread
if u see a nub on there in the future u know it's me
I'm really looking forward to this one.
Love the music... some tracks are pure 90's house mixed up with Arabic motifs. It's a really fun game, though extremely short and easy (you can put a rubberband around the controller in the first dungeon and fight the constantly respawning ants for an hour and be max level if you are inclined).
Hah! Yeah, I had heard it was easy. Better easy than impossible, I hear the sequel's programming was botched for the Working Designs release and unintentionally crazy hard.
I really like it so far! It plays very well.
Polioliolio
Member
Here ye Here ye!
I never considered myself part of your little community here in the PC Engine appreciation thread...
But Lo! I was databasing my collection and found a semi respectable collection.. Pulled from the loins of Hard Off at 105yen throughout a few years in Japan.
BEHOLD:
What say you?
I'm pretty happy with it. I unexpectedly have more of these games than I do in my Megadrive collection. Those cards add up!
I never considered myself part of your little community here in the PC Engine appreciation thread...
But Lo! I was databasing my collection and found a semi respectable collection.. Pulled from the loins of Hard Off at 105yen throughout a few years in Japan.
BEHOLD:
What say you?
I'm pretty happy with it. I unexpectedly have more of these games than I do in my Megadrive collection. Those cards add up!
Has anyone posted this guy yet?
http://www.usgamer.net/articles/turbografx-16-at-25-remembering-the-little-pc-engine-that-could
It's absolutely wonderful, but I predict a rise in the price of Kato Chan and Ken Chan.
http://www.usgamer.net/articles/turbografx-16-at-25-remembering-the-little-pc-engine-that-could
It's absolutely wonderful, but I predict a rise in the price of Kato Chan and Ken Chan.
IrishNinja
Member
Parish,right? Great piece, gonna have to see what PCEFX is up to today!
IrishNinja
Member
i always figure sales data was sketchy back then (Sega-16 makes a case for way more mega drives sold than most places claim), but where do you think the #'s are coming from then?
From a bad article written by gamepro.
Reliable japanese figures:
PC Engine: 5.84 million (of which 1.92 million are PC Engine CD-ROM2 or Duo models)
Mega Drive LTD provided by Sega to CESA (japanese gaming industry association) is 30.75 million.
Hu version of the Super Darius CD game. As time goes by I like Plus much better that Super...simply for the chiptune music. Both games are fantastic. Super Darius adds a few minor things and has the redbook audio.