Messages

[PC-FX Discussion / Re: Oh YA!]

It's a great feeling. Just be careful not to sell it if cash ever gets tight because FX units here in Japan are becoming harder and harder to come by as many stores no longer have them.  Congratulations and enjoy!

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: To all with a shred of free time...]

Ah well...it was an exciting idea at least. 

What would happen if the flash carts got bigger, way bigger, in size?  Would anything be possible then?

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / To all with a shred of free time...]

hey all, the TML is a little quiet this week so i decided to take nat up on his excellent idea and try here (i also registered at frozenetopia but i haven't received my confirmation yet so, here i am).  i recently got my hands on the 64 meg flash cart for the turbo/pce and absolutely love it! i have two ideas/suggestions i would love to see some work on:

1. i would love to see an e-book/word pad program for the Turbo.  A
little page flip feature and the option to dump text and music would be
great.  See, with this flash cart, the Express becomes a cool way (to
me at least) to carry books, files, lesson plans, phone numbers (hell,
even photos!)whatever with me.  yeah, i could buy a pda but that is not
as cool as the express.  that flash cart has a lot of memory to carry
stuff like that around and as i spend lots of time on trains, planes
and buses, it would be ideal.  this flash cart/express combo has
possibilities aside from just games. anyone?
if no one out there is willing to do this, can you direct me to a turbo
coding tutorial?

2. the more ambitious and perhaps difficult of the two.  the 64/128 meg flash carts make porting CDs and SCDs to the Express! those of you around from the old days have likely seen the express advertisement by TTI which for some reason shows gate of thunder being played on an express.  imagine this, think about it and tell me if this is possible:

most of a turbo CD is wav files, right?
for a game like gate of thunder, what could the actual game size be (minus .wav files? 8megs? 16megs? 32?
now imagine we could make those .wav files into mp3s?
package that code up with the mp3s and the extra two or so megs of memory from a system card and dump it on a 128meg flash card and...voila! we may very easily have dracula x on the go; be it with an express or an LT!

i would love some responses on this.  mind you, i know very little about programming but would love to see someone do this. oh, please say it's possible. please oh please oh please.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Mindrec.com? What the heck is up?]

Bt's hands are full to say the least.  also remember that mindrec does other things aside form games.  in any case,  I can tell you this:  he's never far from the turbo scene.  since he set up the TML 15 years ago, he's always been aware of happenings.  it is true he just had a serious eye operation so, considering all the cool things he's done for the community (eg mindrec games, tml, pcecp, helping the TMLers get the flash carts and more), we can be patient and wish him the best.

[General Gaming / Re: Wiiware is out!]

the whole thing is surprising to me.  i interviewed 16 shot at hudson two years ago and he talked about how cool it would be to bring a game like star soldier to the wii but said he was told by programmers that it wouldn't work as he hoped. i thought that was the end of it until i found out it was on hudson's caravan this year.  a pleasant surprise.

No way -- you have to reveal more about this interview.

there is a second half to that interview which hudson has yet to post: not sure why. in any case, it was very cool being there.

[PC-FX Discussion / Re: Stranded Island Scenario]

hey Nat,
    Power League FX is a sold baseball game...it's basically just an all around improvement on the PCE PL series and plays well.  $60 for it is insane.  though iT's not often found on shelves, it should never be more than $20 and probably much less.  the first few times i saw it, it was going for $10 or so.  i'll look into it for you.
    as for shanghai the great wall...hmmm...didn't i send you that game last year or am i thinking about a different game.  i seem to remember throwing in a mahjong title.  in any case, i am not sure i even have that game.  i had better look into this one also.

    i agree with you guys on langrisser.  one of my faves though i haven't fleshed it out completely.

[PC-FX Discussion / Stranded Island Scenario]

A kind of dream-come-true, really.  I am going back to Japan for three months and will be in Tokyo by myself the whole time in a tiny apartment.  I decided to take only one console (decided on two, ultimately) and , for the first time in my life, chose the FX.  I packed it well in my suitcase (leaving the box home) with all necessary accessories and limited myself in game selection.  Part of it was so that I could test out our Miraculum translation thus far.

Now, there are many MANY games I have not finished or woud like to play again as it has been about a few years since I finished an FX title. So, here is the question.  You are in my shoes and your Japanese is not that bad (nor that great, I suppose) and you can take, say, 9 games. What would you do? Here is my list which, by the way, surprises even me:

Miraculum----------because it's probably the best RPG on the console
Power League FX---need that mindless sports fun and replayability once in a while
Chip Chan Kick-----this game is just too fun to play
Deep Blue Fleet----a really good game with a once insurmountable language barrier. can't wait to jump in
Der Langrisser FX--never beat it but i sure as hell will this summer
Team Innocent----my first FX title which i finally intend to complete
Dragon Knight 4---i stupidly lost the memory file on this one so back to the beginning we go
Blue Breaker------someone here brought it up again and it made me want to play it again.
Angelique Special-i didn't like it at first and figure it has to be worth another try.

of course, this is not a list of the best FX games but just of the games i am taking with me. i've decided to take my turbo express with me for other reasons but, the FX it is. and, in the unlikely chance i finish all of these -which i honestly doubt- i will have to set out for a new copy of last imperial prince which  have for some reason never put back into my collection after having sold it ten years ago.

[PC-FX Discussion / Re: Kishin Doji Zenki: Vajura Fight (INFO ?)]

this is a great game but definitely short.  if you want to have all of the best games in your fx library, you should buy it but $200-$300 is too much.  for $200, you can get ten very good FX games and enjoy them first.

[PC-FX Discussion / Re: Is it possible to back-up PC-FX games?]

i am as big a dreamcast fan as i am a pce/turbo/fx one and i have heard the argument about cdrs over the years.  i have a few dcs and the laser on one needs recalibration which i have had no luck with.  was this due to my rabid - and i mean rabid - use of video CDs (basically just cdrs of movies i took with me when i moved to japan)? i don't know but i doubt it cause my other DCs are fine.  it's simply not as sturdy a unit as the saturn was i guess...

anyway, to get back on topic...NERO.

[General Gaming / Re: Wiiware is out!]

the whole thing is surprising to me.  i interviewed 16 shot at hudson two years ago and he talked about how cool it would be to bring a game like star soldier to the wii but said he was told by programmers that it wouldn't work as he hoped. i thought that was the end of it until i found out it was on hudson's caravan this year.  a pleasant surprise.

[PC-FX Discussion / Re: Is it possible to back-up PC-FX games?]

i know very little about how to do this stuff but i will say that i have had very few problems backing up pc^fx titles using nero of all things! i am away from home alot and leave my zenki, chip chan kick, nirgends and zeroigar there (easily over $500 for those total). thus far, all is well and they all seem to work.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: need help with my Turbo Express]

excellent! many thanks. i can't wait to get my hands on one.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: need help with my Turbo Express]

thanks guys! now, where can i get one of these cables?  radio shack seemed to have only that stereo cable.  i don't think the pal cables sold here in greece would work.

[PC-FX Discussion / Re: Newbie presentation and question for collection PCFX]

welcome! you will love the FX the more you play it.  be careful with collecting the big boxes as one of them is ZENKI which is extremely rare.  many of them are extremely cheap though.  good luck and post if you need help.

[PC-FX Discussion / Re: Blue Breaker]

TOTALLY underrated game in the TOTALLY underrated FX RPG library.  blue breaker takes work and time.  i wasn't crazy about it at first but it pulled me in.  not the best rpg on the FX but it's such a bargain anywhere you go (or it should be) and there is just no reason to pass on it.  i never finished it because i sold my original FX years ago before doing so.  i have my FX packed for my three months in japan this summer and, plan on finishing it while taking breaks on the miraculum translation.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: 1995 PC Engine game of the year]

i voted for xanadu ii and THEN i saw anearth.  aw man, it is a toss up.  still, i think i went with my heart on this one as xanadu ii blew me away in that the SNES ws getting all the rpg props at the time in the states and xii proved the pce could more than hold its own. i didn't own anearth until years and years later. had i had them both back then though...

sapphire was obviously awesome (though unfairly short) but it had the obvious advantage of the arcade card. also,while sapphire looks and sounds incredible, i don't feel it is as exciting a shooter as lords of thunder...yep, i said it. lords has the one thing sapphire doesn't: attitude. it's an unprogrammable intangible that i have rarely (if ever) seen in any shooter.   
 
and gulliver boy's hu video cut scenes were freaking awesome (and that game is in something of a nostalgic fave category).

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Space Fantasy Zone REPRINT - Takin' one for the team...]

nat, excellent post and thanks for the pix.  i admit that this is one game i have never even seen.  toshi at dream stars (whatever it's called) japan had it once but the price was through the roof.  there are definitely a couple of other games i'd like to get before this but it's on my list.  how is it that so many of you have played it?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: PCE chip music]

stage one of magical chase is one of the best imo. 

you should also check out gulliver boy which has LOTS of good tunes though the one that sticks out in my mind is the one with the pirates.

[General Gaming / Re: What other systems do you dudes play or collect?]

in addition to the NEC line of systems, i am a huge saturn and dreamcast player/collector/fan.  while i have almost every console ever, the only other console library that stands out as unique is my colecovision one.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: The New TZD.COM]

OK. as i've stated, i know nothing about redfrog and what their intentions are (well, i know more now after reading your posts) and i should make it clear that i understand the ebay price gouging that goes on and your feelings about it.  however, i feel compelled to make a few points here:

1. if redfrog - or anyone else - sees fit to price gouge, then let them. they will eventually tire of keeping those high prices and will eventually bring them down in the guise of a huge sale to save face. if someone pays those prices then it justifies rf's making them so high in the first place. if redfrog has pockets deep enough, he/she can keep those prices up there because someone will come around eventually and snatch that up.  if rf is smart, he'll buy up as many as possible and drain the market for a while and then wait because a smart business person knows that it's better to make a slow dime than a fast nickel. those words were spoken to me by steve at tzd when he was trying to rationalize telegames usa's sometimes silly prices.  that was what the owner of telegames told him and it generally works.


did i get ripped off by paying $30 each for sealed copies of exile and cf2? i don't feel i did because expecting to pay less than half the original $50 for a rare and good turbo game almost twenty years after its release is what lies just beyond wishful thinking, dreaming and insane. as i mentioned during the controversy over steve's final tzd sale, one of the problems is that we have been spoiled for many years.  we've had lords of thunder and forgotten worlds available to us for 13 years at $30.00 when others were selling them sealed for $50 or $80. the game was originally $50 and i will bet you anything that in five years we will start seing sealed copies of those games going up again. 

is $800 too much for dynastic hero? let's think about it. i have lost track over the years of how many sapphires, dracula xs, zenkis, chip chan kicks et al i have picked up for people.  (Listers out there would back this up).  in my experience, people have been willing to pay the actual fair price of, say, sapphire which has consistently been between $280-$330 over the last ten years.  if one is willling to pay $300 for a game with a run of 5,000 copies, wouldn't they also be willing at some point to pay $800 for a game with only 1,500 copies in circulation? of course, it's a little more complicated than that and at some point there has to be a line over which even the most adamant collector/gamer will not step.  i think $800 for dynastic hero is pushing that threshhold. not even darius alpha has gone that far. in fact, the only game for the pce/turbo to really go that far and much further was indo no honou which i have seen going for $4,000.

i hate to say it but the turbo and many other things like it is no longer just a piece of entertainment (a damned good one too!) but an investment.  a lot of time goes into even finding that stuff anymore to say nothing of the money that goes into buying it.  and the truth is that there are people out there willing to pay.  it sucks for us gamers and i am almost at the point of just translating the jp vesion of dynastic hero and getting someone to patch it in over the japanese text so that people can buy the much cheapr jp version and still enjoy it in english. that would satisfy those who want to play the game only.  anyway, i am too busy for that now but we'll see what life is like after miraculum is done. anyway...

as for stocks of games coming from telegames usa, i think it is highly unlikely.  they lost tons of stuff after the tornado that ravaged their warehouse. i am almost certain it was telegames uk who suddenly started posting deals on their website about a year or so ago.  interstingly, when i contacted them in december about these games:
Exile
Exile II: Wicked Phenomenon
Vasteel
Cotton
Godzilla
Forgotten Worlds

   they replied on december 12th saying they had only two copies left each of cotton and forgotten worlds (still have the email).  they used to have a lot more though.  it is interesting that years of unsold stock would start to move in 2007. in any case, i have dealt with them once before and
while their prices suck and their inventory list is HORRIBLY inaccurate.  they no longer have everything listed on their website.  some of the titles still listed sold out ages and ages ago. however, they delivered.

and sinistro said the following:
>   "...only difference is that they're the worst kind of EBay seller..." 

the worst kind of ebay seller? is redfrog worse than that european guy who was selling fake copies of sapphire? or that french guy Adol who was not only ripping people off but selling things that were not as promised? (wonder if he's still on ebay)

>  "...on EBay itself before any true fan can get to 'em..."

the true fan, imo, wants to play the games and might happily settle for used copies. redfrog is not the only source of turbo games out there and the true fan has had a long time to get many of these games at better prices.   and my advice to the true fan is this: get your hands on what you can now because people like redfrog are only getting more and more brazen in their pricing.  if you need an alternative to buying from ebay and telegames, try these boards and the tml.  there are lots of good traders out there but be warned, if you're looking for a sealed dracula x you are probably going to be charged for a sealed dracula x and what someone feels it should go for in 2008.

>  "...and then resells them for at least double the price."

wouldn't you do the same if you were out to make money? if i gave you ten boxed pce lt units in mint condition at $600 (they go in japan for about $800-$900 now), and you knew there were people out there who couldn't get to japan but were desperate to have one and were willing to pay $1500, wouldn't you try to increase your profit margin? 

>  "...The kind that now inexplicably sells XBox stuff and other non Turbo crap on its "TZD" page.  "

i don't like seeing non-turbo stuff on there either but this was bound to happen.  you know, after the neo geo pocket color went down, tzd almost bought up a large portion of snk's stock so this almost happened anyway.

>  "...And Dynastic Hero US is rare- but not THAT rare and not THAT expensive.  They know it, the informed here know it- you would do yourself good to know it as well."
 
i am hardly new to the scene. look. today on ebay, you can find zenki fx for $386.00. in 2000, it was going for $120-$140 and that was considered by far the most expensive fx game.  should it be that much? ask the bidders on there. it's not about what the game is worth, it's about what people are willing to pay. it sucks. it's not right to charge that.  it's a shame that a retailer like tzd has to suffer a downgrade by becoming essentially a storefront for an ebay seller but any purchase we make from them justifies their existence.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / need help with my Turbo Express]

hey all, i need some of your expertise with this.  i have a tv tuner and my express and would like to use it as a monitor.  while in the states recently, i bought a cable from radio shack ($25! yikes) which was 1/8 inch on the end for the tuner and standard a/v on the other side (red/white/yellow). well, it didn't quite work as the image i got was scrambled. the cable worked only when i inserted in 3/4 of the way in. fortunately, i was able to return it and am back to square one. can anyone help with this? is there a specific cable out there someone can point me to? the TML had a few helpful replies but they involved modding which i would prefer not to do.
 anyone?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: 2 questions about Magical Chase]

and my friend nat is correct, i think it was i who had the number 3,000.  i don't know where the number 5,000 came from but it was back in the early days of the list when lots of tti people were still within reach. 

i also remember something weird about hu-card production. they had to be ordered/pressed in batches of 500 or something like that.  sega had a similar rule with the dreamcast that gd-roms were only available in batches of 50.  in any case, as they were more costly to produce than cds and obviously inferior, ordering too many of them was not warranted.

if you're wondering (as i often used to) why a game like magical chase didn't get a second print run, there are two reasons for that:

1. second print runs were rare in those days and for much of the 90s.  it's why games like radiant silvergun and sapphire remain so hard to get.  that they sold out only meant to the publishers that they had had their run in the market and if they had truly been in demand, they would have sold out immediately instead of just steadily.  the first notable exception in north america i can think of was panzer dragon saga which had an initial run of 11,000 games and a later run of 4,000. japanese publishers were even stricter when it came to print runs and some of you may remember ncs' description of what they were like in their strictness. the biggest fear among publishers and retailers was overproduction and excess inventory. given tti's horrible budget, they must have been terrified of having yet more unsold hucards when there were still so many unsold even prior to the release of games like OotG. i'm willing to bet games like somer assault only got runs of 10,000 or 20,000 tops though i obviously can't prove it.

2. as i have already mentioned, the tg16 was all but gone. tti was even making exchange offers by offering some kind of credit ($50? per tg16 unit) for duo purchases.  they were trying to re-equip the userbase.  this left the express as the only other use for hu cards in north america. with super cds kicking in and taking over as the dominant format, the early death of the sgx, the 'underuse' of the arcade card [the poor thing but wonderful thing] in japan and lots more factors and NEC's opting against backward-compatibility on the FX (believing that most would-be FX owners already owned pc engines and b/c would only make the already expensve fx even more expensive), the hu card was rendered useless as a viable medium (though i fell they could have done much more with it e.g. street fighter ii at 20 megs and the ten no koe memory banks). the moulds for hu cards back in japan were destroyed in the mid-90s and that came from steve and a few others in the know at the time.


in any case, whether at 3 or 5 thousand copies (if those numbers are even correct), magical chase and order of the griffon never sold out.  lots of turbo games wound up getting bargain prices. i was working at toys r us when i heard about the death of the duo and within days i had quite a few turbo games (including exile, exile 2, vasteel, cosmic fantasy 2) for $10 each.

not to put another question mark into the mix but it really is amazing thinking back to 94/95/96.  magical chase, ys, godzilla, dungeon explorer ii and many other hard-to-find games were sold everywhere on the internet. ebay and generations of new gamers and international gamers/collectors have just increased and put more miles between copies of each to the point that you almost feel as though they were hardly produced at all.  my personal suspicion is that magical chase in particular had to have had more than 3k copies.  with like 600 toys r us stores alone carrying the line- as well as the sears caalogue and some radio shacks (both in the duo days) not to mention a few other toy stores and some kmarts (of which there were between 1500+ at the time, i have to believe that magical chase got a little more shelf presence.  but, then again, there was alot of stuff that never got out of tti' s warehouse and wound up buried (sniffle). maybe that's just painful thinking though.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: 2 questions about Magical Chase]

i think i have just been paged. not exactly on topic but since we're on the subject...

OK. let's see if we can clear this up: especially since i am now confused. i am not george palamara but george plamantouras.  this was something of a mix-up years ago too.  it became even more of one because most of us came to know of george palamara either through the TML (of which i am also a member) or via his excellent sales on his long-gone website (geopal@gol.com [??]).  he conducted his sales from japan.  this was confusing because around a year or two after he left japan, i moved there and while i didn't run a website of sales, i did a lot of shopping for members of the TML. we have been mixed up over the years.

as far as i know, he never lived in texas. he was from new york, if i'm not mistaken.  he had a great story to tell here on pcengine-fx.com which i am certain aaron still has posted here somewhere.  actually, i think he had two memorable stories: one about meeting a designer of the pc engine who found his website and the other about trying to buy turbo express units when they debuted at fao in new york.  his website and (chris@superfami.com) were the best of the private sellers living in japan at the time.  george was an incredible seller and had one of the greatst collections of turbo and pc engine/ pc-fx stuff out there. he made a profit but his prices were so fair. his sudden departure from japan (i think he was a mortician) and subsequent disappearance from the turbo community were a little confusing.  i would love to know what he is up to these days. there have been many great members of the TML and he was one of them.

as for who lived in texas, the only active TML member i remember from those days was Paul England who i beleive also lived in japan.  he was another great trader on and contributer to The List.

now, what i'd like to know is this: who is spenoza? when i went to japan in 1999, i met up with two different Listers (Kris [perhaps the only female member of the List] in Tokyo and Takumi in Kobe and Osaka- good times indeed. spenoza, are you one of them? i later met up with a few other Listers in 2001 and several more again after i moved to tokyo in 2003 (though aaron and i were in tokyo at the same time we unfortunately didn't get to meet up).

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: 2 questions about Magical Chase]

magical chase and order of the griffon got low print runs of 3,000 (as far as i can recall).  it wasn't just because they were late releases but also late hu cards.  with the express and tg 16 on their way out and the cd and super cd seen as the way to go, i think tti saw very little point in getting too many of these out there.  i should point out that i have also heard 5,000 copies of magical chase.  not sure which is correct.

it's not that it's rare / underproduced.  it's just in-demand because it's such a good game.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: The New TZD.COM]

well, i am reading a lot of griping here but i got sealed copies of cosmic fantasy 2 and exile for $30 each and the stuff arrived a few days later.  crappy website or no, the service was dead on. never heard of redfrog and i am sure they are no steve but anyone who can score sealed copies of two great WD games and not rip us off has to be alright.

as for dynastic hero...what do you want? it's rare as hell.

i don't know where they got their stock from but i have a really good guess: i have been saying for a while that telegames.co.uk has the only real good stock of games left (outside of tzd).  ncs got a bunch of stuff in last year at STEALS but it was all PCE.  in any case, i'd rather give tzd $100 for a sealed game than ebay.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: Good Game Shops in Nagoya]

depends on what he wants to get.  i will be in nagoya in may so i will also be looking.  however, if he's looking for anything sfamicom, ps1 and sega saturn on up, there is GEO which often has great prices on used games.  yes, they are a video store but have a healthy used game section.  i got tons of saturn games there for less than a buck each.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: FS: Air Zonk TG-16 loose for $33 shipped]

$33 for a loose AIR ZONK is asking too much, imo. if i'm desperate, $22. if i'm not all that patient, $18. otherwise, not more than $15.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: Whats it worth- 1941: Counter Attack Supergrafx…]

$140 is about right for that game (is paying that much for any game is "right").  with a lot of searching in japan, you could probably get it for $120 (during the dollar's better days, that is).  i have also seen it there for $180+.  the problem with 1941 is that it's just hard-to-find.  it rarely pops up in japanese stores and often sells quickly.  i haven't checked to see what this is going for on ebay anymore but i'd say this:

try getting the guy to bring the price down a bit. ask for $105 but settle for $120 because you are getting to see the product for all its mintiness before you pay and you will never get that with ebay.  on ebay, if you pay $110 and factor in the shipping costs and the slight risk factor, it could wind up costing you the same if not more. rest assured though, at 140, he's not trying to rip you off.  good luck!

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: what about working designs?]

(jumps in really late here but...) Last I heard, Victor Ireland was talking to people at Hudson (just over a year ago). John Griener and VI met once I believe in the Turbo days when Vic was still involved with that console.  It's interesting if they are working again considering how Vic just ditched the Turbo to head for the Sega CD after all the support NEC/Hudson gave him.  In any case, they need each other now.

 Regardless of who owns the JP rights to Vasteel, Exile and such, he likely owns the English translations to those games so, either way, they would need him.  On the JP side, before Hudson sends their legal guys out to secure rights for these games, there has to be a demand for them in Japan and while it may not be an overwhelming one, they'll get around to it.  Telnet only recently went out of business (December?).  The problem with them is that they started licensing out some of their characters near the end though it shouldn't interfere with older titles.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Best & worst ACDs]

sapphire is indeed awesome and perhaps technically the best acd and because there are so few acd only games (we are talking about acd only games here, right?), it can have the gold medal for overall best.  i enjoyed all of the fighting games so much though with world heroes being my nostalgic fave.  i was never crazy about the wrestling games even though battlefield features a lot of american wrestlers.  the games were technical with tons of options but i never appreciated the depth they offered.  graphically, they are not that great and that was disappointing to me. unlike most, i had a gas with mad stalker even though the backgrounds in it just suck.  the gameplay of that title is just so cool. as for strider...i was never more determined in my life to beat a game than that one.  i was so excited when i did that i video taped it.  it pissed me off to no end for the difficulty of the last stage and its sloppy flickering but there was a lot in it to like also.  i have a feeling there is little on that disc to warrant the ACD as much of it could already be done on SCD. if you are intersted, i wrote a feature on all of the acd only titles which is still over at hudsonent.com.

[PC-FX Discussion / Re: Which demo disc has the bomberman game on it? How to you access it?]

I don't know of any Bomberman game, demo or otherwise, released on the PC-FX.

Hi-Ten Bomberman was developed for the PC-FX but instead they converted it to Saturn Bomberman and released it there instead.

Hi-Ten Bomberman was not developed for the PC-FX.


Also, Saturn Bomberman is not really a conversion of Hi-Ten at all.
--------------------------
 I know this is getting off topic here but Hi-Ten Bomberman was developed for the system that became the FX.  When it was shown and played at one of the Hudson Caravan (?) shows in Akihabara back in like '93/94, it was played on a unit with PC Engine controllers and the hardware was not visible. There is some speculation that the console under the hood was Hudson's Tetsujin which was later abandoned/merged with NEC's early FX work in progress to make the PC-FX.  When that happened, Hi-Ten Bomberman was announced for the FX. In fact, afaik, the game wasn't called Hi-Ten Bomberman when it was first shown.  The name of the game was announced with the FX announcement later.  The FX version was completed and then completely redone for the Saturn.  The only major changes being the addition of other Hudson characters which (I got the impression from an interview with Takahashi Meijin I did a while back) were not all originally in the FX version.

To get back on topic though...afaik, there is no Bomberman  demo hidden on any FX disc.  You could probably find out by getting all of Hudson's FX titles and taking a peak at what's on the disc.  But really, this info couldn't have been hidden this long.  Even the Japanese sites have nothing to say on the topic.  this would be quite a find if true.

[PC-FX Discussion / Re: PC-FXGA Videos]

This is really cool.  I had no idea anyone had any progress with these kits.  Is it easy to work with or do you need a lot of programming know-how.  NEC originally talked about this being very user-friendly.  SInce I have never actually used it, I can't be sure.  I read once on a Japanese site that all FX games work perfectly so I think it's safe for us to accept that.   

In any case, the whole idea f being able to play the FX on a PC was a wonderful idea (though I thnik Matsushita was the first to do it with the 3DO).  The FX was designed to be a console sister to the PC-98 computers after all.  I wonder if the PC-FXGA could help us on the emulation front in any way?

NEC was considering a 3d processer add-on which obviously never came out.  They probably realized too late that the world was more eager to jump to 3d than it was to remain 2d.  What intersts me is that the FX much have some extra horsepower under the hood ready to receive any such add-on.  Could this 3d chip in the FXGA be 'plugged' into an FX?

[PC-FX Discussion / Re: Misc. PC-FX question...]

The PCFXGA SDK is interesting but, AFAIK, it only works on PC98 computers which were not released outside of Japan.  I have one of those in my in-laws' closet back in Japan but am such a programming dunce I doubt I could get the FXGA SDK to to do what I wanted it to do.  Has anyone here used it successfully?  Those things have seriously come down in price over the years and are easier than ever to own. 

On that same delicate train of thought, are there any PC98 emulators out there?

[PC-FX Discussion / Re: Chip Chan Kick - W T F?]

The reason it's not called Chip Chap Kick because Chip is the main character and "Chan" is an affectionate diminutive attached to girls' (and sometimes boys' names) in Japanese.  It is in any case perhaps the funnest game on the FX.  Hard to find and a little bit pricey but so much fun to play, especially as a two-player game. It's easily my wife's favorite FX game thus far.  I did not know that this game had hentai connections but after reading SuperDeadite's post , neither one of us were surprised.  There is some kinky stuff in that game. A must-own.

[PC-FX Discussion / Re: The top 10 of most rare and expensive games for the PC-FX]

I've spent a lot of time in Japan and have been shopping FXs for people for years.  Here's my take:

1. Zenki $200-$300
2. Zeroigar $150-$200
3. Chip Chan Kick! $120-$200
4. Nirgends $60-$90
and then...

     Dragon Knight IV- I hope that no one here has spent a lot of money on it. It is a very cool game but over the last few years I have not seen it -in stores in Japan- used in mint condition for more than $50. I do remember it being hard to find at one point and getting quite a high price on ebay but $120 is extreme.  On Yahoo auctions in Japan, there were a couple of sellers pushing it for $80+ but there were no takers afaik.   In fact, it was the same two sellers who kept reposting it as they had no takers. That being said, I would still pay $50 for it if I needed it but anything much over that is unnecessary.
      The Anime Freak 4-6 titles are a little tough to come by at all anymore but, again, never more than $40 a piece- and usually less.  The Tengai Makyou Kabuki (name escapes me at the moment) game can also hit $40.
      As for Super Real Mahjong FX- again, I don't recall it being difficult to find or expensive.  It's been a long time since I looked for it though but I visit Japan again this summer, I'll be sure to keep my eyes open for updated prices.
      All in all though, FX prices are reasonable except for the big three and even then it's because those games jsut stay in people's collections.  In my almost four years in Tokyo, I probably saw each of the big three two or three times each on a shelf.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Gate of Thunder]

Well, the "gate of thunder" idea is a japanese one that makes sense to them.  in asakusa-tokyo, there is a famous gate called kaminari-mon, the thunder gate.  plus, how much sense need a title make? if it helps you, imagine there is a god of thunder who passes through a gate.

silliness aside, GOT is, even to this day, one of the most solid shooters ever.  15 years on, the soundtrack and gameplay are exciting as hell. the level 5 boss music in 5/8 time and the level 6 main stage tunes are just perfect! the difficulty is just right- not too easy but not impossible either though it took me a while to beat it.   

generally, as far as the big three 16bit consoles are concerned, the duo had most of the best shooters.  the SFC'S macross:scramble valkyrie and starfox are great. the Genny had a few greats (cotton, silpheed, and a few others). i know i'm leaving a few out but GoT outdoes all but one or two SNES/Genny shooters.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Xak!]

great RPG series! a translation patch was done for part 3, in case you don't know. not surprising though that few people talk about it since he console has SO many great rpgs.  between the cosmic fantasy, tengai makyou, babel, ys & xanadu series and other stand-alond greats such as anearth fantasies, gulliver boy, emerald dragon, and so many more, it's totally understandable that it got lost.  man, the PCE was just LOADED in the RPG genre.

[PC-FX Discussion / Re: Can the system do a fighting game like Dark Edge?]

Whoa! Super Card looks cool.  If they perfect it, you'll be able to have all HuCards on a handful of discs.

[PC-FX Discussion / Re: Can the system do a fighting game like Dark Edge?]

Well where is the homebrew community to do these things? Don't tell me that you can't get the console easily, on eBay you can find the PC-FX for $100 everyday, sometimes less.

And everybody and their dog can grab the development kit files and program for it, so why exactly do people favor the Dreamcast over this?

oh my God, i just read this post and screamed so loudly that my wife's water almost broke.  why do people refer the DC to the FX for homebrew? are you kidding me? how about 10million DC sold worldwide to about 800,000 FXs only in Japan? plus, the DC is a much more powerful unit with easier tools to work with.  in fact, the DC could probably emulate the FX. don't get me wrong now, i've long been a proponent of doing more with the FX.  i think Aaron's Lot PC port would have been a GREAT thing to bring to the FX.  i've also been hoping someone would put tons of HuCards on a disc to be played on a Duo or FX.  how cool would that be? (i'm going to have to mention it to the tml).

[PC-FX Discussion / Re: Dragon Knight 4 Question]

if you see it on the memory then yeah, you can load it up.  it's just a matter of selecting the right option.  a screenshot would be mighty helpful as i don't have my fx here with me and i don't have any fx emulators. i can't try something here though i don't know if this message board will accept japanese font.  many games usually give you the option to LOAD or CONTINUE and they would probably look like this in Japanese:

ロード　　or  続ける　.  Can you see that?  They are usually in the lower end of the save/load menu.  Get a s/s up or something and we'll take care of ya. good luck. that game is fun for sure.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Popful Mail on the PC-E?]

It wouldn't surprise me if the PCE version did have one. I remember also finding one in the first Exile game.  I believe Exile II might have had one also.  Just tape your attack button down (or rest the console on it), turn on the turbo switch and come back in a few hours for massive experience. That kind of thing wasn't so rare back then.

Btw, I thought about it and yes, the PCE version is the longest while the SFC version is the shortest. Oh man, it's been so many years.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Popful Mail on the PC-E?]

If I'm not mistaken, the PCE version has either more animation or some extra areas added to the PC98 version it was ported from.  The SFC version had the best color of the three but I seem to remember that the PCE version was the longest of the three.  All three versions are great though. I don't recall any scrolling issues.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: TE Screen Problem. Any Suggestion for a Non-Gearhead?]

about leaving the express on for ten minutes, be sure to push a buton or two because iirc, my express goes dark after a few minutes.  i guess it 's a kind of screen saver.  turn the unit on like the nice man said but if you return to it and see it blank, don't automatically assume it didn't work.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: TurboDUO prices]

The Duo in such a nice box...are the original pack-in titles included with it? the Gate of Thunder disc, Ys I & II, and whatever chip game?  that would greatly affect the amount you could get for it.  if you have all of that, expect to get no less than $250.  it's a fair price and an indication that the Duo has retained most of its original value (it originally sold for $299.99).  the barney convertor could probably bring you an extra $20-$30 at most. 

if you are thinking of keeping it, there are two excellent convertors out there. one is the kisado which you probably won't find very cheap.  the other looks very much like it.  it was made by telegames and sold by tzd a few years back.  the name escapes me at the moment but it's that long orange diving board type and works just as well as the kisado.  i believe telegames UK still has them in stock for GBP 25 (about USD50 which is half their usual price). 

i strongly recommend keeping it for two reasons:

1. it doesn't seem as though you've seen much of what made the console so great if you only have a few games and played it twice. there's a lot of gaming enjoyment and it will be virtually impossible to get a console is such good condition as yours is in again (at a fair price)

2. even if you don't want to play it or get great games for it, it's value will continue to go up.  this market has a lot of collectors in it who will want a nice console with a nice box.  these can only become rarer in time.  a word to the wise though, if and when you do sell it, make sure you define 'darn good' because buyers in this market are willing to pay but they also know what they are buying. 

a note about the mod you are considering.  i don't have a modded duo but those i know with one are thrilled with it.  i have never heard a complaint.

good luck.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Beyond Shadowgate - Worth my time?]

thanks.  beyond shadowgate was low but it wasn't the lowest.  other low print runs for the turbo that i know of were (and you may not believe this):

Bonk III
Dungeon Explorer II
Might & Magic III
and Dynastic Hero - which is perhaps the rarest US release for the console after Bonk III.  It's a little confusing but here is what I remember:

DEII was something like 2,000 copies but Hudson Japan allowed TZD 500 more copies sometime in 93-94.  I believe it had to do with Hudson getting itself absolved of any TTI obligations (companies are required by law to provide service even to a discontinued product for a certain amount of time [seven years, i think]).  How NEC and Hudson divied up their post TTI responsibilities I can't exactly recall but NEC (also not wanting to have its hands tied with warranty service and parts) had an agreement with the TZD guys (it was more than a video game store then with lots more staff) too.  I think the extra 500 copies of DExII were for services to be rendered by TZD/NEC for Hudson who basically just wanted out.  The benefit being that TZD would easily be able to sell off and profit from such a high-demand game. I'll have to check this with Steve and the few others who are still around.  I believe Bonk III was not only a US exclusive but a TZD exclusive- again, likely in exchange for giving Hudson an easy out.

Might & Magic III and Dynastic Hero weren't so lucky and, from what I remember, only got 1,500 copies each.  It's kind of shocking about M&M III because it has lingered unbought for a long time. Dynastic Hero (try buying this one today) is particularly hard to come by because it sold out ages ago- years before the other SCDs.

In any case, I believe Terraforming and Godzilla also went under the 3,000 mark.  If anyone finds out before I get to post, please let me know and\or post it here.  For those of you not sure what these numbers really mean, let me give you three points of reference:

Ikaruga for the Dreamcast had 100,000 copies run
Radiant Silvergun for the Saturn had 5,000
Panzer Dragoon Saga (NA vers.) had 10,000 (and a second run of 4,000)

[PC-FX Discussion / Re: Mednafen, now with decent PC-FX emulation.]

i agree with nat...a video game should be played in front of a tv with an ellios pizza and a pepsi. and consoles like the FX and GCN are so beautifully made that, for me, part of the joy is putting the actual software in holding the intended controller and letting it carry out its intended function.   on the regular xbox (a great system) i wouldn't care as much because it's just a step or two away from a computer anyway (yes, one could argue that the FX was intended to be the same). to have that little white FX tower standing between me and the tv and to have power coursing through it into my hands and eyes is magical.

that being said, i am happy about the emu side of things because it represents an interest in the platform and, as i learned after four years and many trips to japan, the FX is disappearing.  many stores have stopped buying them.  i've bought about 20 or so FXs for people who wre unable to find them and the last five or six were kind of a bitch to find.  the emu will give those people a chance to play this cool system.

the other good thing is programmers better understand how the console works and how the software is put together.  i've been working with someone on translating miraculum (she's doing the technical stuff) and, had it not been for the overall efforts of people like her and the emu people, testing the translations as we go would be a nightmare.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: 50% Off EVERYTHING at TZD.com!]

ok- i have to laugh at that!

i would like to point out one more thing to anyone who felt they were wrongly charged: visa, amex and i'm pretty sure mc and disc all have a consumer protection policy.  if you feel you were screwed, you just return the product and contact the company telling them of it and the merchant will not get paid.  it's a little more complicated than that but, from what i see, tzd is still around.  if they'd been out to take us all for money, there would have been a lot more bitching going on here.

my own experience with the last sale was that i accidentally submitted an order twice (and the first time was without the '50%' in the order ntoes.  i didn't get charged extra, twice or anything else other than what i asked for. just wanted to throw my fair experience into the mix. i hope everything works out for everyone on this.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Beyond Shadowgate - Worth my time?]

oh, this is definitely a rarity and a goody.  one of my all-time favorite Duo games.  i tihnk only 1,500 copies were run-off though i have heard 2,000 also.  if you want to know more, i wrote a feature on this for hudson a little over a year ago which you can find here:

wayback://hudsonent.com/feature.php?f=TOP_TURBO_GAMES__Beyond_Shadowgate

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: Very rare Sofmap PC-FX System on Ebay.]

i can't think of any other time sofmap had an exclusive package like this done.  i do remember them featuring the fx prominently in their stores but this is weird.  this is a pretty rare piece but unless you're the kind of person who agonizes over having the same items packaged in gimmicky ways, i don't think this would be worth more than $200 (a fair price to the one who knows what it is).

[Turbo Memoirs / Re: Memoirs addendum: "The R-Type Memo"]

the Cd version was disappointing.  i can't believe they didn't address the issues in these games.  btw, the strike/attack thing may be easy to explain. the japanese word for both of these is 'syageki' (among others).  whoever localized it probably (and i guess correctly thought that attack worked better.  the japanese person who put the 'strike' in was just going for a cool looking word to impress his\her non-english speaking japanese audience.  he\she opened a dictionary, looked up syageki, saw the multiple meanings (assault, attack, strike, etc) and chose the coolest sounding one.  when the game was localized, they probably put 'attack' in there to avoid any possible japanese english which was WAY too common...and still is.