Messages

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: CD-ROM2 memory]

So how do you explain the bit about the Super System Card's memory not adding up? If it's correct, it's quite ambiguous and hard to fathom.

(Core unit has 8 + 64k = 72k.
Super system card has 192k. 8 + 64 + 192 = 264k.
Duo has 256k - what happened to the other 8k? Is it included in the 256K or not, or maybe it wasn't even used in CD games at all - I can't tell from the article. And what happened to the 64K of audio sample RAM? Was that included in the 192K, or is it totally separate, or was it in the CD system instead of the card, or... etc...)

And, upon re-reading the article, it appears that the Super System Card also has access to all the extra RAM from the original CD-ROM2 system, because the RAM was in the CD player and/or the interface rather than on the card. So there's an even bigger discrepancy between the 192K and the 256K.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: CD-ROM2 memory]

I see. Makes more sense. Strange I've never heard about it before. Everyone probably gets their facts from Wikipedia - speaking of which, they claim that the super system card adds 192K, taking the total up to (apparently) 256K. Yet the base unit has 72k total, which would make the total amount 264K. Wat??

Perhaps the extra went entirely on graphics, and they weren't counting work RAM at all in those figures... in which case, how do they maintain compatibility with the CDROM2, with its 64K for ADPCM? Was the other 64K in the CDROM2 for CPU or graphics?

And according to the same page the Duo had a single 256K DRAM... is that possible, given the separation between main and video memory (also, admittedly, something I got off Wikipedia). Something on that website needs a bit of clarification, I think. Either that or I'm failing to understand something. =|

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / CD-ROM2 memory]

I've never seen any suggestion that the original CD expansion contained any extra RAM over the base console (8k work + 64k video). How on earth did it manage with such a tiny amount of space to work in? Is 72k enough for a level of a typical game, plus al graphical and sound assets? 

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Differences between Duo and Duo-R?]

I'm currently bidding on a nice-looking Japanese Duo-R for my first (and hopefully only, as I don't want to be in the position of needing another...) NEC system. I read in an old Edge Retro compendium that was released back in 2003 that the PC Engine Duo was actually superior to the Duo-R in some way or other, as it had apparently had some cost-cutting applied to it.

I've been unable to find any specific information though. Anyone know what the practical (i.e. apart from the case design) differences are?

[Fighting Street / Re: Imperial System! WHAT THE FUCK!]

Let's go all the way and use only SI units.

All time should be measured in seconds, damn it. Seconds!

[General Gaming / Re: SNES, Genesis, N64, Repro game boxes - go in on an order of 100 with Duo!!!!!]

I tried buying some of these but they would only accept orders from the USA and Canada.

I'm telling you, flog them on ebay UK and you'll make a mint ;)

Failing that I'll take the fifty off you and do it myself 

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Name the angry PCE CD…]

Googlingthe product code HCD9008 suggests it's Gambler Jiko Chuushinha, but the pictures of the CD on Google Images look different. The title in Japanese script is the same though (although I can't read Japanese).

There must have been more than one edition.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: PC Engine Screen-shot quiz]

I'm going to take a punt on this one and say Super Darius, because it has little red text, but I'm 90% sure I'm wrong.

It doesn't cost anything to have a guess 

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

Tatsujin, that doorstop must be a pain to vacuum around.  Here in America they are attached to the wall with a little springy thing!  We have superior minds here and it is thinking like that which allowed us to create inventions to win World War 2.  USA!  USA!  USA! 

Oh, that thing. I thought you meant the Satellaview.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Playing TG16 or PCE with CD in the UK]

I've been here a while but I haven't yet taken the plunge and bought an actual TG16 or PC Engine (yet!). I live in the UK so I have a slight issue with the best way to get hold of a NEC machine and a CD that will work with it.

For a start, it's probably a bit impracticable to have an NTSC machine that outputs over RF. I have a TV that will take NTSC fine but only through one of its SCART sockets. I severely doubt it will accept it over RF. So that's the PC Engine and the US turbo ruled out. It's also this bad boy ruled out. Now, I could instead go for the PCE+CD (or a CD if one comes up) and the CoreGrafx, which I'm hoping will work just dandy with an RCA-to-SCART converter robbed from my Gamecube, but shee-yit, have you seen the price of those things? Also, I want to be able to play US games and I don't think they make those converters in reverse. It would also be even more £££.

So let's say I went with the easy-peasy numpty option and got a PAL-output Turbo Grafx. I would be able to play US chip games to my heart's content but it would be very difficult to connect it to a CD. For a start, there are no US CD machines on UK Ebay, and I am a bit reluctant to bid on US sales where the seller may not be expecting bids from abroad. In fact, CD machines of any kind are quite rare. If I got a Turbo Grafx of either variety though, I don't hold much hope of connecting it to a Japanese CD add-on. I've heard that you can play Japanese games on a US CD machine with a converter for the system card, but what I want is any CD machine that I can find - availability and price are the key things here - and that I can physically connect to whatever console I get.

Duos are pretty scarce too, and very expensive. I can get an ex-display one for £200 from Telegames, but I don't know if it comes with all the right connections. Also I don't much trust only slightly-disguised installations of OsCommerce or Zencart, especially when there's no info on the product description page.

Or perhaps I should just stick to emulation? 

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: TG-16 in Top 5 Forgotten Consoles..bout time]

Since it said "Top Five,"  I just assumed that meant the BEST 5 forgotten consoles, not necessarily the least remembered forgotten consoles,  so the only big gripe I have with the article is including the Game Cube.  While it may not have been number one in it's day, it was still extremely popular if I remember correctly, and shouldn't be considered to be a forgotten console at all.  I loved my Saturn and Dreamcast, and wholeheartedly agree with those choices.

I'm not so sure Gamecube was as popular as you think it was.

Had Dreamcast been around for the entire PS2/GC/Xbox generation I'm fairly sure it would have outsold Gamecube. Sega would have made a mint out of me anyway
DC sold 10 million units in a year or two. GC sold 20 million in five years. By Nintendo's standards they did very poorly that generation. I'm not sure they even made money on the Gamecube.

Having said all that, I agree with your disinclination to put Gamecube in the list, because I don't think the first party support was all that good. I've been feeling very meh over Mario and Zelda these past two generations, and I think any developer with a genuine care for quality could surpass Nintendo's efforts these days.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: I HATE EBAY!!!!!!!! and hi i'm new here]

Will they not even accept output mods? (Like a console modded for RGB output?)

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: TG-16 in Top 5 Forgotten Consoles..bout time]

Interesting you should say that, because he really bad mouths the Saturn entry. Heck, the Dreamcast and the TG-16 get the most glowing praise.

You think? I thought he was being sarcastic about the TG16.

Maybe I read it wrong though.

[Off-Topic / Re: As if Zimbabwe weren't evil enough]

Right, Zimbabwe are really on my shit list now 

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Graphics: Turbo vs. Genesis - ye old debate]

The whole bit war thing was stupid from the start and had no bearing on how the games were. I've played many an NES game that was superior to anything I've seen on the PS3. The bit thing was just marketing hype that they eventually had to abandon once consoles got too complex to measure in bits.

It might have been bogus but it wasn't stupid - at least on Sega's part anyway, and on Atari and Commodore's in the computer market. It was a good marketing move that summed up in a single term what made - or was alleged to make - the Genesis better than the competition.

Perhaps NEC shouldn't have pushed it quite so much though. I do wonder how much of it was an attempt to compete with Sega though: by the time NEC started shouting about 16-bit with the Turbo's release in '89, the Japanese Mega Drive with its massive 16-Bit sign had already been out a year. I don't remember ever seeing "16-Bit" being used in relation to the PC Engine. It certainly seems as if pushing the 16-bit angle didn't occur to them until Sega started it.

[Off-Topic / Re: Meet the world's first Lesbian head of state]

incidentally, I goofed on the subject; she's the head of government, not of state.

She wouldn't have been the first gay head of state anyway. King William II has her beaten by over 900 years.

[General Gaming / Re: Japanese magazine scans (and translation)]

Hi Chris, if you're going to translate anything please do the prototype Super Famicom article. I know you have a lot of notes on it but it would be great to have a full translation

All your scans are amazing. Thanks for sharing them with us

[Off-Topic / Re: Hey kids....]

Is that an Intellivision II I can just about see in the first pic?

The original Next Gen console!