Messages

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: ElkinFencer10 BST (Insert witty title that stands out here; buy my games)]

I know a guy who makes games and occasionally free phone games where they use the Clash of Clans model to keep the game free for everyone by charging to speed the game up, basically.

I asked him why they don't just sell a "real" version of the game for a set price instead of ruining it with the grinding, a dozen currencies, etc, and basically he said its because there's usually more rich weirdo a$$holes dropping $3000 on the thing than what you'd need for normal people who would pay $20. Its sad but true.

I guess these sales are similar. They leave the prices off because they're holding out for some a$$holes who will pay them $400 for Contra. Like free phone games though the whole thing just becomes too much of a pain in the ass for people who have a life to deal with so...the shitty customers and the shitty sellers tend to get what they deserve, each other, and people who don't have time to be wasting time just buy from real shops/dudes.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: ElkinFencer10 BST]

Nah, that's OK. A thread name that wasn't just a three letter acronym with your username might be nice though. I mean, are you famous or something? Your name is already on every thread. "Games for sale, most systems" or something that actually describes the content of the thread in some way that makes sense to someone other than yourself, that kind of thing. For example, every other thread here.

[Off-Topic / Re: The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime]

Yeah, I'd rather watch Wingman, Video Girl Ai, or something else the guy did. Wingman was a big deal for me as a kid.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: ElkinFencer10 BST]

I keep opening this thread because I forget what "BST" is and Elkinfencer sounds like woodland porn which makes me wonder "WTF!" and then I open it and it's just games, like last time.

[General Gaming / Re: Limited Run Games]

Exodus do you think a physical Switch copy will happen through LRG? I'm converting pretty hard to Switch. God I love Nintendo. The Wii U almost made me forget.

I happen to agree at the moment because I happen to be playing through Metroid Fusion on a GBA SP (Mk1) and it's hard not to notice how great it all is. Like my original rechargeable battery still giving hours of play after FIFTEEN YEARS of use/neglect. No loading, no tutorial, no logging in, no obvious bugs despite no updates, and it's far too short to ever get bored of. I need more shit like that.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Duo R - Misc Issues/Questions (new to the system)]

It's odd that this is the second or third time that someone has recently asked about the sound chip getting stuck on soft resets in the last month or so. That's not the most common PCE question historically and the forum is virtually dead these days.

As for the skipping, some Duos will skip easier than others for sure from my experience. When they were new none of them skipped as easily as mine do now so...I was assuming that's something that could be dialed out, but I've never tried. As long as stuff works I leave it alone usually.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Duo R - Misc Issues/Questions (new to the system)]

1: Normal, more or less. There is no skip buffer in an 80s CD player so if you bump it enough to skip the music will stop. It will only come back the next time you load a level or whatever. If the system is *really* sensative then your laser isn't calibrated quite right yet. It should survive people walking around the room and very light taps but if you shove it an inch or two it's going to skip. (In the 80s people were nicer to stuff.)

2: Totally normal

3: Probably normal. I've never measured before but since that chip is doing more work than most of the others I'm not surprised it's hot. The regulators are probably hotter but that chip controlls all the current going through the spindle motor.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Best hu card converter?]

Sorry guys been super busy.. Anyhow i decided to buy a supergrafx to play supergrafx games and import pc engine games..  That was the best solution i could come up with to hell with paying converter prices..

Now i just need to find a supergrafx not many popping up on ebay even ..

Congrats. You picked the most expensive and physically largest way of doing it.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Duo R & RX perform well after Audio CD plays (Only)]

Man. We've heard about so many mangled systems lately. I'm really depressed. These things are *really* reliable normally!

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Duo R & RX perform well after Audio CD plays (Only)]

If a game boots, there's just too much time between cut scenes.  For example, on one game 3x3 Eyes, the boot screen will come up as NEC, and has a lot of visual JP Kanji that go from scene to scene.  Normally these scenes should take a few seconds, but I'm getting a 7-8 second lag.  Again, if an audio CD is popped in before booting a game, the game will play with zero lag.

  My thought was the same, maybe caps but just seems unusual.

"Long load times" is what you mean then. Lag is usually in reference to input/output latency. If a data read doesn't go well it will do it over and over until it gets it right. Audio CDs don't have error correction and it's impossible to hear a few busted samples out of 44,100 per second so audio discs will do better.

I'd make sure the board was really clean and if you don't find anything do all the caps in the CD section and see if you can adjust the pots enough after that to get it working better than it is now. Caps don't fail offten in white Duos but who knows what thing has seen? It's not hard to melt a cap or bend it too far. It could also be the laser.


Wait...just to be clear...we're talking about real pressed discs, right?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Duo R & RX perform well after Audio CD plays (Only)]

If it can be "warmed up" to like games I wouldn't be surprised if a capacitance problem was the issue. CDDA reads well if it's mildly f*cked up but games pretty much need every bit to come over in tact.

Define "laggy".

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: THS7316 AMP Framemeister issue]

Anything from Micomsoft should sync even an unamplified PCE. Something is f-ed.

Someone here recently mentioned that the OG PCE has an unbuffered output. That may be the brightness issue right there. Personally I'd never waste my time building an RGB circuit without trim pots.

[Off-Topic / Re: The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime]

I thought I heard somewhere that they were responsible for %35 of the release schedule after that last wave. I just hope they don't screw up and go out of business like so many others. At least not before they release everything ever.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Best hu card converter?]

I'm late to the party but, yeah, converters suck and for the stupid prices people pay for them you could just get a Core Grafx II. Internal mods are the best though since you'll probably want to waste $1000 on pirate copy of Sapphire and that needs an Arcade Card. Another option would be to trade the US Duo for two JP Duos and mod one of those...or maybe even not. If you're a noob there is no reason to buy a US version of a HuCARD other than the text heavy ones, of which there are like a half dozen, maybe. Save %50 one more by how buying JP ones and get way better cases as well.

[General Gaming / Re: Limited Run Games]

I'm buying it.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Schem for adding composite video to original PCE]

None of these are the correct way to make the connections. They are missing proper decoupling capacitors and other parts. Yes, it "works" but it is still incorrect (and somewhat unsafe for your television).  The Core Grafx II has these parts coming from the expansion bus and creates a proper AC-level composite and audio video signals in line with proper NTSC standards.

I wanted my original PCE to have a proper output /exactly/ like the Core Grafx II.  Happy to post info for others that might be interested in this.

-Segasonicfan

So you're saying the CGII has the composite coming from the expansion bus buffered but the OG PCE does not? Doesn't that mean that when the CGII is used in an IFU-30 it will be double buffered and have a dimmer output?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: 魔神英雄伝ワタル 30th Anniversary (Wataru/Keith Courage)]

Hey, I know that Super Robot X usually has chibi stuff already, but at least Wataru's chubby diminutive PCE designs work well in the new format, ha.

Yeah, he's already SD so they just draw them as normal. This series is barely SD anymore so even though Wataru stuff wasn't changed at all it still looks more SD than almost anything else.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: F1 Circus series?]

A circuit is a race track. The "F1 circus" refers to this:

When there is only three days between the conclusion of the race on Sunday and the whole circus starting up again the next Thursday it requires meticulous planning and organisation from everybody involved to make sure that everything arrives at the right place at the right time and is accessible in the right order to have the entire paddock ready for the next event.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: F1 Circus series?]

F1 is routinely called a "circus" or the "F1 circus" in the US and UK since probably the late 70s or earlier. There's no mistake here.

Lol.

Edit: Italian too, it seems:

https://www.circusf1.com

[Off-Topic / Re: The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime]

Yeah. That's exactly why. There are shows with hard subs for the same reason, I think that may have been 999 also.

[Off-Topic / Re: The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime]

That may be true about SDBRs but some cheap Western releases are made with much lower bit rates. I know some 999 stuff is like that and the newer Gundam OVAs as well. I'm not expert on it though.

[Off-Topic / Re: The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime]

Historically US versions of Patlabor start out at $$$ and make it all the way down to ¢¢¢ before they disappear. Nobody seems to value it here, which is fucked because taken as a whole Patlabor is better than %75 of Gundam and all of Macross but nobody seems to care. It also didn't get shitty until WXIII which is a very long time to maintain a consistently high level of quality.

I paid half as much for this box set as I did for one Patlabor movie on VHS. I'm not bitter.

The timing of this is pretty good, btw. I was watching a VHS copy of Patlabor Music Clips just the other night. It reminded me how great the animation is in that show and how most of it I haven't seen in the last 20 years. I guess I know how to watch it next time.

[Off-Topic / Re: The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime]

https://www.rightstufanime.com/Patlabor-the-Mobile-Police-Ultimate-Collection-Blu-ray

Just discovered this upcoming release, and pre-ordered it.

That's a suspiciously good deal. Is it SDBR or some half-bit rate bullshit for gainjin?

I guess that third Patlabor movie isn't going away, ehh?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: PCE Duo-R hum]

I don't know much about flash stuff but every PCE I've ever used is squeaker and squaukier than other machines. They can't produce silence from my experience and yeah the game does matter. I can't remember which PCE have the "fixed" (not really) soundchip or if it's related to this. I think the Core 2 is one of the updated ones though so...I'm still not sure we aren't taking about regular PCE noise.

When you soft reset a game sometimes, as you sort of are saying, the last sound gets stuck on slightly. Hard power cycles fix it. Ninja Spirit in particular does this, IIRC. However because flash carts usually use a multi game loader app I'm not really sure how soft resetting is affected. It could be a related thing to what I'm familiar with or not.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: PCE Duo-R hum]

How long have you had a PCE? I ask because none of these systems are quiet so I'd hate to have you tracking down an unfixable problem.

[Off-Topic / Re: Retro controllers and mods.]

I guess, for some kind of authenticity's sake. I've always hated that pad though. The d-pads get so sloppy after not that long that even Phantasy Star starts to become too demanding for it.

The Saturn pad makes some sense since it's a really solid basic pad for anything that doesn't need analog input. I have a USB one of those though...I've used it on PS3 Windows, OSX, I've never recharged it.

[Off-Topic / Re: Retro controllers and mods.]

Yeah. Making something BT makes it worse for me. It will need charging, paring, and eventually replacement (keep the old guts around, they'll still work) whereas a stock PCE pad is...still exactly as shipped and still working %100.

I'm at the point where just having to hold a power button down for two seconds, as opposed to it being instantly and totally on via a DPDT switch, makes me want to kill someone. I'm so sick of the latency of modern tech...and I'm not talking about input lag exactly but almost EVERYTHING  takes longer or demands a extra step or in some other way makes a complete BITCH out of the user by forcing them to endure load times, software updates, EULAs, passwords, bot detectors, and increasingly fingerprint and face scans just to access what is overall pretty much a toy.

I've never loved Laserdiscs and 16 bit games more for their total lack of this kind of crap so I won't be signing up. I recently bought a new Walkman to escape Apple's constantly changing music experience. When I was doing this something occurred to me that if someone bought a gaudy new pair of BT Beats for $300 or whatever a few years ago that to take advantage of this Walkman, which plays DSDs, and other high res formats, you'd have to buy an entirely brand new $300 pair of BT Beats to take advantage of the high res sound since old BT will just be fed something close to CD quality. If that person had bought wired headphones it wouldn't be an issue. They'd just hear better sound than before out of the same cans they may have had for ages. I know people who have rebuilt the same pair of headphones for 40 years because that wire is %100 future proof unless you let someone take it from you, after which they own just a little bit more of the experience and a bit more of your time and therefore you as you fumble for passwords and wait for shit to load and try to unlock your phone with wet hands, or lose your company web page because it got blocked byFacebook after false claims of hate speech or whatever.

Sorry about crapping on your post but it has to be said, by me, to a forum that is very nearly dead, that if all the modern conveniences of the last 80 years actually saved us all the time they said they do and made our lives that much easier we'd all be retired and not on anti-depresents when in fact that average American works more than ever and is nuts. It's clearly a scam.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Sapphire DEBUG mode & hidden things]

That looks more like "before the character designer was hired" art.

This is really cool, btw. I hope someone will figure out a way to make it available via a patch.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Why doesn't the LT work on a CDRom2?]

It's for the Super CDROM2.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Why doesn't the LT work on a CDRom2?]

I'm confused. The LT plugs into the IFU. I've seen it a million times. That's why it's the same size and shape as the Core systems. What exactly is your question?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: First time in probably twenty years: a find in the wild!]

That stick is one of those things TRU had sitting around in heaps on clearance for ages. Kaybee toys had them as their last TG-16 item after everything else had gone. I'd say it's probably the most overproduced item they made that wasn't a sports game or the system itself. The odds of you finding even a loose Kieth Courage chip in that same store are 1000x higher than finding that stick. You think seeing that stick means someone around there has more TG-16 but all it means is that there aren't any Kaybee toys anymore to store NIB Turbosticks and they have to go somewhere. It may have not been in the same room with other Turbo stuff for 23 years. This is actually possible.

I'm glad you like it. I consider the standard pad to way bettter.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: TE/PCE GT 5v mod?]

So you'll get more battery life?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: TE/PCE GT 5v mod?]

What exactly is the point of this?

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: PCE Dev kits on yahoo auctions]

Maybe if I had bought the 5K iMac instead of the 4K one, maybe then those pics would fit on my screen.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: What RGB Mod Is This?]

It looks to have some kind of amplifier, one of the earlier versions, bugged together under heat shrink, it looks like.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / 魔神英雄伝ワタル 30th Anniversary (Wataru/Keith Courage)]

This is Wataru's 30th. I was never a fan of this show but I thought I'd mention that Bandai is making some related stuff. Earlier this year much of the Wataru cast made an appearance in Super Robot Wars X, which is a game with a shitty cover and no other flaws. I exaggerate, but it's good. They didn't cheap out on the Wataru animations so my assumption is that they will be in at least one other game in order to pay for themselves.

Also:

http://hlj.com/product/SET88876?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=metamor-force%20mashin%20hero%20wataru:%20ryuomaru&utm_content=main%20page ...for the hardcore.

Anyone who finds more celebratory crap for Wataru should add to the thread. Poor TG-16 fans have so little to cling to so this is maybe a great event for them. I think there are some much cheaper items than the $200 robot but I can't rememebr what they were.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Replacement Screws for DUO]

You could steal them from a white Duo, I guess. I think the weird screws are only on black Duos.

These are dead standard as can be fasteners though. Every town in America has what you need. Don't video game nerds know about hardware stores? Just go in there, find someone who smells like tobacco and has a penis, and hand him one of the screws you have and tell him you want Phillips, square, Torx, whatever. The same dude can probably tell you how to stop your toilet from running too.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Schem for adding composite video to original PCE]

The all Core systems have complete composite video coming from the expansion bus from the factory. All you need is two conductor wire, an RCA jack, and some sort of terminal end. You don't even need to open the machine.

[Off-Topic / The “What-Did-You-Buy-Today?” Thread]

I think it's on Saturn in some way, isn't it?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine Core Grafx II pink screen]

Update: I had a look at the machines internal. Visually all looks good. I used some WD40 spray on the connectors and the machine works! However, I do have a very bad green tint on all picture output. No reds it seems. Cable do you think?

Ok, it was just a dirty slot. Please don't use WD-40 though. It may melt things. Use a electrical contact cleaner.

If you have no red or blue this is an issue with the mod, the cable, or the display since the machine only puts out composite from the factory.

[Off-Topic / Re: That TV Series You're Watching]

I pretty much just watch Trailer Park Boys and old anime.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: What RGB Mod Is This?]

Ok well, fair warning, this could be hard to solve. The PCE doesn't natively output a useful RGB signal so it is usually amplified in some way and there are like 20 different versions out there. My history with cheap scalers and PCE RGB has been pretty shitty. Not with Micomsoft stuff but with others.

So what I'm saying is that it's going to be hard to tell if the wires are hooked up rignt if your box won't sync to it and show a picture even if they are. This is a situation where having an actual analog RGB display is invaluable.

Do you at least have other RGB sources so you can say the scaled and display work for sure?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Nec Super CDROM2 Scrambling sound fix]

Great work!

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: What RGB Mod Is This?]

You didn't mention what you are plugging the system into. If it's a VGA monitor it isn't going ever work with low res RGB.

The thing with the dip switches...is that for impedance or something? Running NEC monitors on 90s Macs? Either way, you don't need it.

I have a Genlock with a DB15 on the cable. It was a thing for some time in 90s pro video in certain areas. Perhaps the guy who worked on it had that in mind. You certainly don't need 15 pins...but I'm not sure if anything that  accepts a DB15 actually needs 15 pins...

As others have said, open it up and follow the wires.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC engine Duo-RX plays hu-cards but get either pink, green or cyan screen for CD]

Does your machine not load it's own BIOS? That's the current issue the OP has. He hasn't gotten as far as you yet, as far as we know.

You may indeed have the same problem, but we won't know until he gets a System Card. Please, both of you, we need more info. I'm assuming these are systems that have been messed with in the past. Did you ever see the system work? What does it look like inside? How long have you had it? Has it ever worked?

If there are any mods or repairs I'd look real close in that area or for fuckups. Solder drips, anything crimped buged or glued. This is a VERY uncommon problem and all three instances I've heard of it were in the last year, and yes that does make me wonder if we're even taking about three different Duos. If these are three virgin RXs we're talking about that all have this problem it would be very surprising.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC engine Duo-RX plays hu-cards but get either pink, green or cyan screen for CD]

You have a different problem. If it says "Please Wait..." then you don't have an issue loading the card at all like the OP. Also if it says "Please Wait" then and not "Please Set Disc" then obviously the door switch works.

What you have is an actual CDROM loading issue, totally different. I'd start a new thread for it.

It sounds like you are new to the system. My advice is to go to YouTube and watch some videos of Duos in action to learn what normal operation is, then you can compare what you have.

If you want to see if the door switch is working, try playing the disc with it open and with it shut. See? Diagnosis is fun!

[Off-Topic / Re: The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime]

It exactly the same. Its an "SDBR". They only put it on on BR to save them from pressing dozens of discs.

[Off-Topic / Re: The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime]

I never thought of trying that before. I have a cel from Only Yesterday that could benifit from that sort of thing greatly.

[Off-Topic / Re: The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime]

I probably would have gotten the Robot Carnival BR if they hadn't decided to crop the thing to wide screen.  I know they say it was "always meant to be" wide but I've been watching it for decades in with the variable ratios, usually 4:3 so it would probably drive me nuts to watch it cropped.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: PCE Dev kits on yahoo auctions]

Yeah, HDs. Something that isn't here anyway. I do like the the mini-rack layout. Totally PCE to the bone.