Messages

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / LD-ROM2 collectors STAND UP!!!!!!]

Finally got mine.

Man does Vajra suck!  Move the cursor around to shoot at the giant flying robot sprite.  Of course, it's impossible since he's shooting at you and you have to shoot the incoming bullets while also trying to hit the robot.  Each level is a 1 on 1 duel with a big flying robot sprite, laid over some rudimentary CG city fly through laserdisc footage.

Some guy is selling Vajra 2 on ebay for $850!!!!!!!  No thanks.  Next Japan trip I'll scour the used LD stores for it, I guess.

Anyway--I find it hilarious that this system was so expensive at launch, but yet has no S-Video out.  The composite that comes out of this thing looks awful!  Considering the fact that this LD has AC-3 optical out (a rarity for the time), it's strange that it doesn't have S-Video.

Anyway, LaserActive games show up on ebay from time to time, but usually for outrageous prices.  It will probably take me awhile to build up a reasonable collection--but there are very few games anyway so it works out.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / LD-ROM2 collectors STAND UP!!!!!!]

So--one fateful day in 1997, I found a copy of Vajra in the used bin at a laserdisc store in Waltham, MA.  I bought it thinking I'd eventually get a LaserActive one day.  That's been sitting in my old laserdisc milk crate for nearly 10 years.

I finally found a LaserActive with PCE-LD module for sale on ebay and snapped it up.   Finally I'll be able to play Vajra--which is made by DataWest...same dudes who brought you Rayxanber.

Anyway--anyone else into LD-ROM2 collecting?  I've noticed it's impossible to find anything online.  Back in the day I knew this one electronics store that had EVERY LaserActive game...even the 3D module.  But back then I was broke and passed it up.  Aaargh.

Oh well.

Anyway--I'd like to get my hands on Vajra 2...seems an impossibility.  Granted, I wasn't in my LaserActive collecting phase on my last trip to Japan (a few weeks ago).  I'm wondering how tough this stuff is to find...I'll have to excavate the used Laserdisc shops in Akihabara next trip out there.

Anyone out there got any LD-ROM2s to recommend?  Is there a definitive list out there?  I don't think many were made...at least many legit games.  I find a lot of crappy porn discs...but as for games, they seem few and far between.

Seems like more MegaLDs were made than LD-ROM2s.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / S: AV Tanjou]

What is this?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Valis III - Bell boss]

I used the princess sister chick.

Her freeze attack is easier to use in this level because it has little homing bits o' ice.  The thing is, you really need to do it in one take because if you don't do the last part without a full tank of magic, you'll get stuck halfway through.

The strategy is to shoot off your ice attack (at the part near the end where you have the big jumps), and try to jump on as many frozen enemies as possible to the next perch.  You can maybe cross over 2 or 3 perches in one shot someitmes.  It's tricky because sometimes dudes will be frozen right over your perch and you're going to die when they wake up.

The boss is easy in retrospect.  The green guys won't jump at you if you are right on top of them.  And you can otherwise slide through the knights.  So I just slid through the enemies, got on the rising platform, made sure I was on top of the green dudes so they don't jump out. Then hop on the other platform and wack the bell a bunch of times.  Rinse, wash, repeat.  You need to get it to ring 3 times.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Vails IV is impossible]

Seriously.

It was all going well until I met Yuko in the spirt world or whatever.  Then you have to go through this ENORMOUS vertical platform HELL which takes FOREVER.  Only to be met with even more levels after it.  I think this might be a shelf moment--this level is so irritating, I might never finish the game.

Too bad because this game is great looking and it's not so bad until this point.

Aside from the ATROCIOUS load times.  It must take 5 minutes to load each cinematic.  And most cinematics have multiple loads in them.

Has anyone beaten Valis IV?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Is Riot Zone better than its Japanese version?]

I just don't see how you can say the graphics aren't great.  The sprites are HUGE and the backgorunds have plenty of detail.  If there's one saving grace of the game, it's graphics.

[General Gaming / Game Boy Micro]

I love the micro.  Nintendo is making a healthy profit margin on the hardware, and all it does is spike more GBA game sales.  Nintendo makes most of thier money from the GBA, and I'm sure this is driving up sales of a lot of new titles as buyers snatch up games to go with this neat little device.

In Japan, the Micro was sold out everywhere after the first few days. (I was lucky and got my Famicom micro a day or so after the release).  I think it's going to do well.

And it's cool!

BTW--buy the Japanese ones, they are way cooler than the American ones.  They have actual different color schemes instead of dumb stickers.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Deadbeat sellers on ebay]

I've ordered a lot of stuff in the past from loongsf or whatever.  I haven't ordered anything recently, but I never had a problem with him.

I *EVENTUALLY* got my stuff from Bullseye--but it took FOREVER.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Memory for Saves]

I'd rather just like if someone could mod a ten no koe bank so it saves to a SD card or something.

Or--if someone hacked a cable from the Turbo Pad port to a PC via RS232 or something.  And then wrote PC software which emulated the Memory Base 128--that would be awesome.  All you'd need is the software, a cable, and a game that supports the Memory Base 128 (like Vasteel 2).

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Valis III - Bell boss]

Oh never mind--just beat it.  As usual, as soon as I post I figure it out myself.

Now I'm on the Rougless boss.  Anyone got any pointers for avoiding his second knife attack?  The one where he moves left and right on the ground and shoots knives?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Valis III - Bell boss]

How do you defeat the bell boss? You know, the one after the SUPER irritating water/ice level where you freeze the dudes and jump on them?  I keep attacking the bell and it says "The Bell of Justice has Rung"  Do I just need to keep hitting it?

It seems rather impossible to avoid being killed by the knights/monsters in the level while trying to get back up to the bell.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Yohko is a Nec Console Player ^^]

Obscure movie reference:

Thier's an Air Zonk sticker on the dresser in the skinhead's room (Michael Rappaport) in the awful mid-90's john singleton movie, Higher Learning.

[General Gaming / Discount at JapanGameStock.com]

It's a recent thing.  I tried to order from them 2-3 weeks back and they said no paypal.  I noticed there's some other payment scheme listed on their site, WorldPay or something.  Haven't tried it though.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Memory for Saves]

My one question about the ten no koe is the battery.  Do these things still work?  Supposedly it's battery backed RAM--and it's been like 10 years.  Can you hack a new battery in somehow?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Memory for Saves]

Yeah I've never actually used one--but I might have to buy one now that I'm using my PCE more.

I'm not sure how much extra RAM it has, but I think it has the ability to save several times the save RAM in your PCE.  It's been awhile since I've seen one, but as I recall it's a HUCARD with some save memory in it or something.  And you put it in your PCE and it will let you copy the contents of your save RAM to the hucard.  You can then later copy the file back over your PCE save RAM.

There's some other more heavy-duty solution called the Memory 128 or something? I've seen it discussed here, but never seen one in person.

Here's some info on the Tennokoe Bank.  They're fairly common--might set you back $30-40 max on ebay.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Best PC Engine Games]

Hmm.

Well I'm a fan of Valis Fantasm Soldier and Valis III.  (Haven't tried Valis IV yet).  I like platform action/adventure type games, but there aren't a lot of them out there for the PCE it seems.

Dynastic Hero is awesome--if you can find it. (I have an oooooooold burn from 1993 or so)

Wonder Boy II is good--what's that on the TG-16? Dragon's Curse? They changed all the names around.  Dragon's Curse might be Wonderboy III however....but that's also good. (But I think Dynastic Hero is actually Wonderboy III)

Kaze Kiri is a decent side scrolling platform/brawler.  I got it in Japan for $65 or so sealed, but online it's $160.  Might wait until you can get to Japan.

As for shooters, I dig Darius Plus.  Graidus II GOFER is decent.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Memory for Saves]

That's what the Ten No Koe bank is for.

Too bad there's no way to get the saves on your PC (or is there?)

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Due to the habbits of Bullseye Videogames......]

Well--I finally got the game.  It only took a mere 17 days.  No communication with him at all, even after filing a paypal complaint.

Needless to say, I won't be buying anything from him again.

[General Gaming / Playing Gameboy games on the DS??]

I dunno, a friend of mine told me he got a GBC game to run by copying it to a GBA flash cart and using that in the DS.  I haven't verified this though.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Double Dragon II]

Actually, I'll slightly rephrase that--you can be sued for anything.  However, there's no grounds for a lawsuit if you just do a similar game. It's totally legal (as seen in Data East vs. Epyx and Capcom vs. Data East).  It didn't stop Capcom for trying to sue Data East--even though it was totally groundless. The legal process still cost both of them money even though Data East won.

It's when you start ripping graphics, sound, and using other peoples trademarks that you're violating the law.

Oh, and I'm not trying to be a dick--just telling you the truth.  So there's no need to flip out on me.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Double Dragon II]

I suggest you get a new lawyer.   You can't be sued for making a similar game (like if you made a game with original graphics, sound, and similar gameplay)--but if you're going to call the game Double Dragon (Which is a trademark) and you're going to rip graphics from the original game (which are copyrighted) and release it on the net, you're asking for trouble.  Even keeping it to yourself isn't legal, but nobody is going to find out so it's no big deal.

The game concept itself is not copyrightable, but the expression of the game is--the expression includes music, graphics, and even level layouts in some cases.

But anyway, I've only been making games professionally for 10 years, and have fended off a cease and desist in my time--Don't take my word for it.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Double Dragon II]

You don't understand how copyright and trademark law works.  You don't need to charge anything to be in violation of it.

Some of the classic system remakes are kind of neat--like that dude who-remade pac man on the Atari 2600 just to prove it could be done.  Of course, the guy had 20 extra years over Todd Frye's 5 weeks.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Is Riot Zone better than its Japanese version?]

Yeah it's a coin-op running on Sega's System 16 hardware.  You can play the original in MAME.

I can understand why each level only has 2-3 guys with color changes adding to the mix.  There's not enough memory for more--especially with sprites that huge.  But they could have added new characters between scene loads.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Double Dragon II]

I don't get why you guys copy old games.  What's the point?  There's already emulators out there.  And all that's going to happen is you're going to remake an old game, and then get a cease and desist letter from whoever owns the rights, and it will get shut down.

Why not just make your own double-dragon style brawler?

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Due to the habbits of Bullseye Videogames......]

It wasn't so bad, mint or maybe even new (sealed)--$29.99.  I've seen it for cheaper, but I honestly didn't look around and bought it on impulse. I probably could have gotten it for $22 or so. But most of those were Japanese sellers that have higher shipping.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Is Riot Zone better than its Japanese version?]

I recently played through this whole game. It's funny--I bought it, and beat it in one night. (Who says games today are getting shorter?)

The game is a standard beat 'em up--but missing a lot of stuff. The coin-op had breakable items etc.  The levels just feel bare without any breakables.

Anyway--I gotta say, graphically this is one of the best PCE games I've seen. HUGE sprites, detailed backgrounds etc.  Towards the end it gets really repetitive--the same 2 or 3 bad guys over and over and over.  

Every single boss can be beaten with a jump kick.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Due to the habbits of Bullseye Videogames......]

If only I knew about BULLSEYE before I bid on Download 2.  I've been waiting for him to send it for like 2 weeks. If I don't hear from him by Monday (unlikely), then I'm going to try and get my money back from paypal etc.  

I've had very few problems with ebay--really this is the only one.  The other time I had a problem, the guy was kind of a dick, but we resolved the issue anyway.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Valis II is impossible]

I got stuck on the level with those little spike balls that float around.  It was so frustrating tht I just cheated using the weapon/magic code and froze the enemies half the time.

I'm going to do Valis III next.  I have vague memories of spending 6 hours or so in the early '90s trying to do that ice level!  

I have Valis IV and haven't played it yet--but I wanted to go through the rest of the series in order.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Valis II is impossible]

Seriously.  Has anyone beaten this game without cheats?  It got so hard at Level 6, I just had to start cheating with the weapon/magic select code.  It's really easy until 6, then it hits a brick wall!

[PC-FX Discussion / Some random PC-FX photos...]

Hah this is funny--I took nearly these EXACT same photos when I was there for TGS.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / VALIS: FANTASM SOLDIER HELP!]

Nevermind--just beat her.

Now I'm stuck on the final boss.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / VALIS: FANTASM SOLDIER HELP!]

Hey--anyone got a good technique for beating the chick near the end of the game?  (Is it Cham?) Anyway--the one after the stage where you fall from the cliff grabbing all the powerups.  She's the chick that shoots that chain of flame crescents or whatever.

She's driving me nuts!  This game was pretty easy until this boss.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / The worst rare games]

Hey which games that are rare/semi-rare/sorta expensive actually suck?

I'd start off wiht City Hunter.  This game goes for $30+ on Ebay and JapanGameStock.  I found a loose HuCard for $16 in Japan recently.  Supposedly it's a good Rolling Thunder type game.

But I think it blows big-time.  It has some kind of story, so maybe I'm just not following it as I can't read Japanese.  But it's too adventury/boring to be any good for a gaijin such as myself.

Any other games that don't deserve their reputation?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Super CDROM2 -> SuperGrafx missing cable]

Well, I got Gain Ground at "Friends", not Super Potato.  Which reminds me, I think someone also nabbed the copy of Godzilla Super Potato had.  Or maybe I saw it somewhere else.  I think that's the one game I wanted that I forgot to buy.

Granted--I'd prefer finding the English US release somehow.

This was my first time in Japan--and I was kind of curious about the surprisingly small PCE sections. So they're getting smaller, eh?  Seems like these used game stores are dominated by Dreamcast and Saturn stuff now.

Anyway--I took a lot of pictures too.  Maybe we can collaborate on that article or something.  A veteran and a newbie's perspective of Aki.

I used Kohler's "Power+Up" book's Aki shopping guide to get me around.  But he doesnt' really list the specific location of any of the shops.  So it was quite an adventure.  Something more comprehensive needs to be written.

Of course--if we do that, then the secret's out!!!

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Super CDROM2 -> SuperGrafx missing cable]

Hahah!

I indeed bought a copy of Dracula X--but I got it at Sofmap instead.  So did my friend.  They had 1 copy left.  Sofmap had a lot of good PCE stuff.

So it was YOU that bought that loose HUCARD of Strip Fighter II wasn't it!!!!  I think it was at Super Potato, and when I went back the next day to get it--it was gone!!!!!

So--all's fair!

Man--I got such a haul...both Spriggans, Dracula X, Gain Ground, Cho Akibi....everything I wanted pretty much.  Can't wait to go next year!

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Toy Shop Boys: As bad as the Internet says it is?]

I picked this game up in Japan last week for like $2. I think it's kind of a nifty little shooter--it has a neat concept.  Flying toys fighting evil toy trains, army men, etc.  The graphics are kind of simplistic, but it's kind of the style of the game--sort of toyland/cartoony or whatever.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Super CDROM2 -> SuperGrafx missing cable]

Oh wait, I'm stupid.  I had the Super CDROM2 PS plugged into the SGX and vice versa.

Now it works fine.

But is an unwieldy piece of kit, that's for sure!

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Super CDROM2 -> SuperGrafx missing cable]

I have both power supplies, but the SGX power supply doesn't really fit (it's too fat) once the Super CDROM 2 is overlaid on top of the port.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Super CDROM2 -> SuperGrafx missing cable]

So what do you mean--I need to somehow fit the Supergrafx power supply through that little hole in the Super CDROM2 and use 2 power supplies with it?

I think I'll stick to my Duo RX and break out the SG on special occasions then.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Super CDROM2 -> SuperGrafx missing cable]

Just got back from a whirlwind shopping trip in Japan.  (For a collector of any sort--Japan is just totally unreal!)  I basically went hunting for PCE stuff.  I got a PC Engine Super CDROM 2 unit at Superpotato--but it doesn't have the little lead cable that goes from the SGX to the Super CDROM2.

Does anyone have the specs on this cable?  It sounds like it should be easy to reproduce somehow.  Or--can I just plug in both the SGX and the Super CDROM2 and not use the AC lead?  The SGX power supply doesn't fit in the smaller hole once the CDROM is plugged in and overlaid on the original AC adapter port. But I think I can either buy a new power supply with a smaller plug or shave off some plastic from the existing one to get it to work.