Messages

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Pat & Ian video on TurboGrafx-16 Failure - What Could Have Saved It?]

Huge for the handful of people that owned the system already, perhaps, but it wouldn't have saved the system.  Even if it was released on the same day as the PCE version (6/12/93), it was far too late to make much difference to a firmly niche system with waning retail support.

The handful of people who owned the system and only Turbo, and wanted to shell out for six button controllers to get it a few months earlier than the SNES version of Turbo Champion Edition or Genesis version Special Champion Edition (which also required buying new controllers). By that time it was far too late and the SNES version of regular Street Fighter II had been out nearly a year.

It would be a killer app exclusive... if it was the first version released on a domestic home console. But the first version of champion edition would have been a stretch.

 

They did do that for a while.  Pat and Ian touched on it a bit when they said there was a Blazing Lazers pack-in version with a sticker stuck on the box;  I don't remember a Blazing Lazers version, probably because it never happened, but they definitely did do one for Bonk.

Yep, no Blazing Lazers sticker version that I remember. But those UK PAL units definitely came with Blazing Lazers.

[General Gaming / Re: If you could only choose between two consoles (4th gen), which would it be?]

CD-i

Over the Memorex VIS?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Pat & Ian video on TurboGrafx-16 Failure - What Could Have Saved It?]

There are things that certainly could have helped.

"Saved" is a relative term.

Working with Konami to say license the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game (they'd obviously have to have someone else develop the port) as a killer app in 1989 or 1990 would have got the system off to a much greater start.

A better franchise agreement with Hudson.

Ordering fewer systems at the start and spending more money on advertising.

These all would have been things that could have turned the systems fortunes around early on.


On a side note to comment on their video, by 1993 when Street Fighter II Champion Edition came out retail support was limited to Babbages, Software Etc, Electronics Boutique, Toys R us and mom and pop retailers. Bringing out Street Fighter II, and a licensed controller when your two primary competitors would have the game in short order wouldn't have helped at that time.

By 1992 when Turbo Technologies Inc was formed. The idea was no longer to compete head to head with the Genesis and Super Nintendo but instead to create a niche platform for gamers with the assumption most owners would already have at least one of the other two major 16-bit consoles.

[General Gaming / Re: Policenauts on Saturn translation project complete]

Maybe just a *few* more than 10. 

I believe there was more total software released for the 3DO in the US than the TurboGrafx . But classifying quite a bit of it as a "game" is a stretch.

You mean it's not all Magical Dino Tour, Shermatlock, Bikini Girls, Local Girls of Hawaii, Hawaiian Island Girls?

Yes,

I'll count Sherlock or JB Harold as games. But Magical Dinosaur Tour and the various girls discs I don't count as games. Much like I don't count the various adult movies on 3DO discs as games

[General Gaming / Re: Policenauts on Saturn translation project complete]

Maybe just a *few* more than 10. 

I believe there was more total software released for the 3DO in the US than the TurboGrafx . But classifying quite a bit of it as a "game" is a stretch.

[General Gaming / Re: Policenauts on Saturn translation project complete]

And I got home and the patch link is down.

Edit: I've got it now!

[General Gaming / Re: Policenauts on Saturn translation project complete]

I bought Policenauts for Saturn after it became clear the english version wasn't coming out back in the day.  I was always sorta disappointed that the PSX one got the translation, when I had backed the Saturn camp.  This is great news!  I just got a new job and should finally have some money to throw around, so I want to get a XRGB mini and some RGB cables for my Saturn soonish. I'll definitely have to check out the translation for this.

I also have the 3DO one and Policenauts Pilot Disc too, which are also both worth checking out.  I always liked the little talking heads from Snatcher, the 3DO version of Policenauts uses them still.  The pilot disc has some cool music selections, including stuff not really on any official soundtracks.

I bought the 3DO one from a now defunct site called WolfGames circa 2000 when there was a fan campaign to get Konami to localize it, that was successfull enough to get a reply on the US forums which was something to the extent of "Hideo Kojima does not approve of the Playstation version of Policenauts. The only versions he worked on were for NEC PC and 3DO and he does not want the international release of his game to be the Playstation version"

[General Gaming / Re: Policenauts on Saturn translation project complete]

Cool.  Hopefully now they'll turn their attention to translating PCE Snatcher.

Would anyone both with the SegaCD already having a English version, not that I'd mind, just wondering.

Someone translated the MSX Snatcher as well. So people clearly do this, and there's already mostly all of the same assets available from the Sega CD one.

[General Gaming / Re: Policenauts on Saturn translation project complete]

Wow nice. I've played through it on 3DO years ago but never got around to playing entirely through the fanslation on Playstation. I may try the supposedly updated Saturn version.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: how could some PCE games achieve parallax scrolling?]

If you want to see the wrong way to do it look at Ninja Gaiden

[General Gaming / Re: Nintendo NES mini coming!]

Indeed. And any region above NJ = Southern Canada.

Yep,
We have all of your campaign speeches recorded. Mr. Future Australian Prime Minister!

[General Gaming / Re: Nintendo NES mini coming!]

New Orleans = Australia

Well, you have been quoted as saying the entire American South is "upside down" so it fits.

[General Gaming / Re: Nintendo NES mini coming!]

Bayou Billy, duh!

I forgot how popular people with fake Cajun accents are in Australia.
 https://youtu.be/dQFN4PLTVJI

[General Gaming / Re: Nintendo NES mini coming!]

I will definitely need to get both, fucking Nintendo and their nostalgic grip on me.

Does the Australian system have the same games as the U.S.?  Seems like they wouldn't care about Tecmo Bowl.

No, I would imagine it would be replaced with something like Crocodile Rugby

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

You're not missing much. The original was by far the best. MGS2 was too weird in some parts, and the blonde chic kid you play is no Snake. MGS3 was better than 2, but still doesn't come close to 1. Never played 4 or 5.

3>1>4>2

[General Gaming / Re: Retrovision component cables half ass review]

I've considered these cables, but I'm doing RGB through most of my older consoles and a lot of my monits don't take component. So no major reason to buy these at their current prices.

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

I just picked up MGS 1-4 so that I can build my way up to Phantom Pain

Ah nice, I'd also like to do a start-to-finish playthrough of all of them in one sitting.

I haven't even unwrapped "MGS:3 Snake Eater" yet. I was talking to a random clerk at a local Game Stop and the MGS series got brought up, he emphasized that 3 was a great game - I myself stopped at MGS 2 before my long-term gaming backlog set in... From rabbit, beating a game every weekend, to turtle, beating a game a year or years apart/whatever... Almost broke my PS2 also when I couldn't find the lithium battery to change, had to do plenty of soldering work for the input port, heh.

Do have a question, I stuck with PS3 purchases up to V, but how much better is the PS4 version of V/Phantom Pain ?

Snake Eater is my favorite game in the series. I own Phantom Pain for PS3 but haven't gotten around to playing it.

I highly recommend playing through Snake Eater, though I'm not sure if the subsistence updates that fix the wonky camera and what not are present in the HD remake.

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

Got this lil gem of a receiver today...

Sounds crystal clear and it's in tip-top shape for it's age.

Nice about a month or so ago I picked up a big ass Pioneer stereo receiver at a thrift. It's now in use with a basement PVM setup I have.

[General Gaming / Re: Limited Run Games]

Theres only one game out there that is digital only that I'd love to see a physical release of...

Nights HD (PS3/Steam)

Make that a physical release and you can have my moneys.

No Outrun HD?

[Off-Topic / Re: CRT longevity question]

This is true. My beloved not big brand 24" 4:3 just didn't turn on one day. It got about 15 years of good use. My aunt gifted me a 32" 16:9 Toshiba and one of the scart sockets has literally just screwed up. (Luckily not the RGB one) I feel to start hoarding but don't have the space or the strength. ( I think the toshiba weighs about 50000 kg)

CRTs are getting harder and harder to find. So if you have the space putting a few extra ones away is well worth it.

[General Gaming / Re: Looking for a decent Scart Switch]

Im going to give this a try https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301814069390

I have a couple super cheap ones, I get noise on bright screens. I picked up a Mad Catz one and it works pretty well.

[General Gaming / Re: Saturn AV issues]

You had me worried there but I checked my emails and i think I ordered the right one.
It's already been dispatched so should hopefully arrive tomorrow or Saturday.

Yep,
I think the issue is you have cables intended for a PAL system presently. Composite lines the pinout is the same.

[General Gaming / Re: Saturn AV issues]

I've ordered a cable that's model 2 specific from retrogamingcables.co.uk
Hopefully this will clear it up.

Did your order a cable for a PAL or NTSC Saturn?

This is the cable you need http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sega-Saturn-stereo-csync-RGB-SCART-cable-for-NTSC-model-Saturn-lead-cord-/161614608138?hash=item25a0fb370a:g:2j8AAOxyOMdS5Txr or https://www.retrogamingcables.co.uk/sega/saturn/sega-saturn-rgb-av-scart-ntsc-cable-tv-lead-cord-for-sale

The problem you have sounds a lot like the issues I had with a SCART cable I have for my NTSC unit intended for a PAL Saturn.

[General Gaming / Re: Saturn AV issues]

Can any AV experts help? Recently acquired a model 2 saturn. When plugged into RGB scart it flickers and moves slightly to the left. Then goes back. Almost like it is flicking back and forth between rgb & composite. Would this be a grounding issue? When plugged into a composite only scart there are no issues. I have also tried using S video. One one TV it is a red green and blue mess that scrolls from the left and on another there is no picture.

Just to make sure you're not using a PAL Saturn on a SCART cable wired for NTSC. The NTSC and PAL Saturn pinouts are different and this does effect the SCART cables.

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

my recent stuff

I'm envious of your getting DQ VII a day early

[General Gaming / Re: Dragon Quest 7 remake for the 3DS]

Have it pre-ordered. It's the only DQ game that I've started but didn't beat, so I'm hoping to rectify that. It sounds like there have been lots of improvements to the PS1 version at least.

Same here as far as the main series goes. I got a ways into the PSone game and stopped. They did some level balancing to reduce grinding and apparently some other tweaks to make this a bit smoother to play compared to the original.

[General Gaming / Re: Dragon Quest 7 remake for the 3DS]

I just picked up a new 3DS XL so I can get the best possible experience playing this game. If I'm going to put 80-100 hours into it, and I'm quite likely to I'm going to get the maximum enjoyment from the game.

The New 3DS is fantastic, just moving around the menus and Street Pass Plaza is a much faster experience. 

The 3D works a lot better since it's using the front/top camera for head tracking so the screen doesn't need to be held out to hit that 3D sweet spot.

[General Gaming / Re: Dragon Quest 7 remake for the 3DS]

I just picked up a new 3DS XL so I can get the best possible experience playing this game. If I'm going to put 80-100 hours into it, and I'm quite likely to I'm going to get the maximum enjoyment from the game.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Anyone collect VIDPRO CARDs?]

I think Dan mentioned that Happily Ever After NES game had Vidpro cards made for it, though that game was eventually just dumped and released recently. 

There's quite a few NES unreleased ones. I'm not aware of any Turbo ones however, but that doesn't mean that they aren't out there.

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

The GBA game from that era is maybe my favorite game on the system.

It's my favorite game made by Treasure too.

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

Really am enjoying rewatching the 2003 tv series of Astro Boy.  I wish I could watch it with the original japanese just to see how much was changed when it was westernized but still great production values.  I' m not a huge fan of Osamu Tezuka's work but here I feel they gave the series some love and charm.

I got six of the DVDs of this series from dollar tree of all places. I've thus far only watched the first episode though.

I really love the 1980 version of Astro Boy as well if you enjoy this one.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Anyone collect VIDPRO CARDs?]

I have a couple that are sunfaded and the lamination is coming apart.

What is kind of cool is that games that weren't released sometimes had VidPro cards produced.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Where was tg16 popular?]

My buddy and I would occasionally drive up to Raleigh, NC to check out import games at Buy-Rite (we found out about it through the Turbo List.)  The guy sold things mail order too, but he was a piece of work dealing with over the phone.  His was by far the best selection of stuff, so I assume Raleigh had some market.  We ended up getting Drac, Shubibinman 3, Nexzr, Spriggan, Cho Aniki, Metal Stoker, and a bunch of other great games from him over several years.  He gave us each a hucard converter when we bought our first import hueys.

I bought from Buy Rite a few times as well. I was fortunate and didn't have any issues but I know a lot of people did.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: PC-FX systems for sale]

Just gotta buy the peroxide in bulk and have some patience!  The PC-FX is a bit of a pain though to get the panels and stuff off compared to like a Saturn or PC-Engine though.

Gotta do the goo.
to

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Where was tg16 popular?]

in the uk it was almost non existent. I know about the pcengine express before i knew about the pcengine. I remember seeing it in a magazine and being amazed at the thing and the price tag.

Up here in Cheshire was mega drive country. quite a few peeps had a super nintendo but sega had the edge sale wise imho

It only had a very limited test market release in the UK. So no surprise there

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Where was tg16 popular?]

Semi on topic, apparently Konami had a Wooddale IL office too.  Anyone have any hint sheets like these from NES?  Didn't realize so much went on in Wooddale.

Wood Dale is right by O'Hare airport. It was/is relative to its small size a pretty popular location for foreign companies to operate their US operations from as it has easy access to railways to ship products and such a large airport in a central location.

[General Gaming / Re: Do you have any consoles you own for just ONE game?]

There's certainly other playable games on it.

But 90% of all time I've spent playing Ngage games has been with Pocket Kingdom.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Where was tg16 popular?]

It wasn't so popular anywhere that you'd know more people with a Turbob than you knew that had a NES/SNES/FEKA.  That said, it was popular enough (even in cornland) that you could find games at big retailers like Sears, Montgomery Ward, Service Merchandise, Toys R Us, Babbages, etc.

It depends on when.

In 1989-until Christmas of 1991 I knew way more people with Turbo than SNES or Genesis.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Where was tg16 popular?]

Chicago was huge.  The NEC office was in Wooddale IL.

Bingo, the suburb of Chicago I lived in was around 10 miles from Wood Dale. By 1990 I knew about 5-6 other kids who owned one (mostly from other people who were in my grade in Elementary school).

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: PC-FX systems for sale]

It's time to get some crap out of my house.



I have five PC-FX systems that I bought "broken" and fixed by increasing the power of the lasers via a tiny turn of one potentiometer. Each one has performed without error during half-hour tests, and I'll test each one again before I send anything out.

Obviously, this isn't as good as having a system that works with the original setting. There is also the fact that each system comes alone and, aside from one of them, all have yellowed to varying degrees. That's why I'm going to price them low: $20.

The dingiest looking one on the left with the memory-card door broken off, I'll let you have for $15.

The pretty one, I will combine with the box/manuals for my own system and offer for $40. Note that this still comes without a controller.

If you would like a controller, I might be able to source you a brand-new one. The supply looks limited, and it will have to be shipped to me first, but you can have it for $20 total. Please understand that this is the only source I'm willing to go through to provide a controller.

The system weighs 2.9 kilograms according to the spec sheet, so shipping from Japan to the US via EMS will probably be 8000 yen. That lets us go up to 4.5 kilograms, which we'll want for packaging. If you want a controller or the pretty one with the box, let's go with 8700 yen just to be safe (that allows 5.0 kilograms). Economy air mail looks like it will be around 6500 yen. Surface mail (2-3 months) is about 4000 yen.

Shipping might be slightly stalled while I search for suitable packaging from free sources. If you would like me to hurry, consider adding $2 so I can just buy a box at the post office. Padding will be newspaper; if you want something more fancy, that's fine, but it might incur its own fee.

If it sounds like I'm being stingy, just remember that my profit margin on this is next to nothing, and I could go in the red very easily if I get hit for a couple of dollars on each system.

I'll ship to any country, as long as you pay the cost.

If you're interested, let me know via PM. Thank you!

I'm interested. PM incoming

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: TurboFest Tour 2016 - Second Stop VGS on July 16th!!]

I was pissed that I did not do well in Battle Lode Runner or Bomberman. BUT Dan did NOT win Bomberman this year! Take solace everyone!!

I was changing channels earlier and heard chanting of "FOUR MORE YEARS" I figure that's for my run of consecutive Battle Lode Runner victories.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Motteke Tamago Title Englishification]

Legendary Quacks

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Motteke Tamago Title Englishification]

Duck, Duck, Egg:
This name fits because the game involves running around depositing eggs with ducks. It's a pun on the name of a childrens game that also involves running around called Duck, Duck Goose.

Wild Duck Chase:
It kind of describes the game in that you control a duck, who is wild and chasing eggs around. It's a pun on the phrase Wild Goose Chase.

Scramblin' Eggs or Egg Scramble:
The game involves scrambling around gathering eggs. And it's also a play on Scrambled Eggs the name of a popular dish/style of cooking eggs.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Motteke Tamago Title Englishification]

How about "Egg Scramble" or "Scrambled Eggs"

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

I agree that Anime had a totally different feel back then.  We had a little club and got new freshly taped shows as they aired for a while, and even though there's been a handful (pretty rare actually) of new shows that have come out in recent years, all of my favorites (including themes) are from yesteryear.  Cyberpunk, horror, giant robots, demons, etc. etc. etc. vs. now the cute and bubbly Chris Hansen from Dateline NBC summoning fare of late.  I admit my favorite of all time is Urusei Yatsura though, which is pretty cute and bubbly.  But great!

I am actually trying to watch all 190+ episodes of the TV series right now and currently up to 35 so some ways off.

Watching this today I really miss this kind of animation although I can see imperfections and rough bits here and there which is what I think gives it that charm.  The show is really bizarre to say the least and the pacing feels forced at times as in it flows to quickly and there is a lot to take in.  Each show is around 25 mins but they never seem to drag.

The japanese voice acting is superb and while the stories and supporting characters feel a bit insane at times if you stick to it you might find you end up craving to see more episodes.
I've no doubt the influence this anime show had on video games and sci fi anime at that time.
 I love the 80's music in this and somehow I feel this show had influenced a lot of the music you hear on pc engine CD-Rom tracks and some of Konami's crazier games such as Parodius...cute girls, aliens, space ships, japanese cultural references and underworld folklore all in one show...

Try and get it if you can. They don't make em' like they used to.

I picked up the first 25 volumes on DVD inexpensively a few years back. After about 15 episodes they get kind of repetitive. But I love that 80s animation

[General Gaming / Re: Limited Run Games]

I'd love them to do:

Scott  pilgrim vs the world
Duke Nukem (since the PC port is now on PSN)
Maiden of Blackwater (come on Nintendo snubbing NA with digital only?)
Mega man 9&10
Some kind of TG-16/Neo Geo compilation of the digital games available
Fez


You know stuff at the caliber of the Odd World which to date feels like the onlly highly polished game they have released physically.

Castle Crashers

[General Gaming / Re: Your Daily Dose of Gaming.]

Been playing Castlevania: Circle of the moon for GBA. Its one I've never beaten. I always seem to lose interest in it, but this time I'm determined to finally beat it. I have to say that Harmony and Aria are much better Castlevania games, but this one is still good.

Harmony is my favourite to play but it and aria have terrible music. It hurts my ears. Circle of the moon sounds better.

From what i remember, i can agree with that.

Harmony had big empty rooms. It was like 'We've got this new castlevania game but didn't add any assets. Let's just rush it out the door".

I think Aria is the best playing of the GBA ones followed by Circle of the Moon.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Number of Turbografx CD attachments sold?]

From my understanding they had actually sold their rights tied to the series (first right or refusal) back to Game Arts along with the English localization of the Sega CD Lunar's which Game Arts then packaged to allow Ubisoft to use the Working Designs town/character names.

[Off-Topic / Re: Happy Birthday majors!]

Happy Birthday.

I am going to go totally out on a limb and guess that he'll be celebrating by injesting some of that beer beverage he seemed moderately fond of.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Popful Mail versions?]

I finished it a few years ago on real hardware with the arcade card in. I don't recall any glitches, so it's either tied to the disc or image. Or the emulator.