Messages

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: TurboDuo sound issue fixed itself?]

I'm sure the problem will come back, I just wanted to know if anyone had had the same experience with redbook audio working again after not working at all.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / TurboDuo sound issue fixed itself?]

Years ago, I had a US Duo which eventually stopped outputting redbook audio.  I later got a Duo-R and have been using that as my main machine.
I was finally going to to have the capacitors in the US Duo replaced so I could sell it, but when I hooked it up and tested it last night, everything seemed to work fine.  I know it wasn't working before, so is it possible a capacitor somewhere was only mostly dead and came back to life?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine AV mod]

Whatever man.  I seriously doubt anything would convince you that using DScaler doesn't produce a crappy image, despite you not offering a shred of evidence as to why it sucks other than the minor color difference.  You've convinced me of nothing.

I'm gonna go enjoy some beautiful video games rendered on my Mitsubishi CRT in 240p with no scanlines.  I hope you stock up on RGB monitors to keep playing games your way for the next couple decades, as they're getting harder to find day by day.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine AV mod]

Well, I tried taking pictures, but I just have a crappy cellphone camera so they couldn't get an accurate picture of the screen (I also tried taking a picture of the desktop so I know it wasn't DScaler's fault).  Oh well, you'd probably just use the lack of scanlines or some other excuse to bash it.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine AV mod]

Many systems ehh...
Last I checked the Master system,Genesis,Nes,Pc Engine on up all either produced either composite,or RGB,

Really crappy composite in some cases, and RGB could only be obtained with mods or homemade/imported cables, the American branches of the companies didn't do jack to give customers RGB.  And there's plenty of video game systems that came out before the NES that only had RF.

Snes produces S-Video and RGB.

The first version of the SNES anyways.

And after even stating in your own words that your setup using Dscaler is not perfect,

I never said it wasn't perfect for obtaining a 240p image from a video game system.

Scanlines are a normal part of SDTV,and older game systems are all built around the idea of being displayed on a SDTV with a NTSC or Pal signal. IT IS THE WAY IT IS MEANT TO BE VIEWED.

This is nothing more than your opinion.  A gamer can choose to play his video games however he likes, no video game company said you always have to play their games with scanlines.  And the way games are designed isn't always absolute from an official standpoint, either.  Game Boy games were designed to be played on a Game Boy, yet Nintendo brought out several ways to play them on a TV.

As far as me saying anything specific as to why Dscaler not as good looking,well for one the color reproduction is off,

A small difference in color quality hardly makes a big difference.  The tint isn't off and colors look perfectly vibrant.

and 2 the fact that your running it into a capture card,then displaying it on a VGA monitor which has a completely different and much higher pixel per scan line count is also another reason.

So what?  All the same pixels and lines are still being displayed, nothing is being dropped.

No matter how much work you have Dscaler do,it will not look as good or even the exact same as my TV with my systems run in composite or S-video.

If you think composite is better than my setup just because it has scanlines, more power to you.  Gave me a good laugh, though.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine AV mod]

In other words you are then using Dscaler to clean the captured image up a bit to make it cleaner and more appealing to your eyes.

I'm not using a filters to clean up the image. I'm just using DScaler to deinterlace (to 240p in the case of retro video games or 480p for DVDs, etc.).  All this does is restore the original progressive image.

If so,then why are you still on here arguing with us for hours on end.....

I don't necessarily have to actually be working 100% of the time I'm at work.

No matter how well you optimize the settings on Dscaler,it will not be perfect,or as good looking on old game systems as a SDTV.

This is your opinion, and you haven't said anything specific about how a video game looks poor using DScaler so I don't see why I should count your opinion as an informed one.

To some extent you even admitted this,but you turn around and say you prefer your setup because you don't like scanlines and low refresh rates.

RGB is better than S-Video, but not by much.  As for scanlines, the only thing they do for me is to help hide the fact that I'm seeing a low-resolution video game on a big screen, which doesn't bother me in the first place. YMMV.

Well,I am sorry but old game systems were built for SDTV image capability,not to be run into AIW Pros with Dscaler and displayed on Super VGA screens.

Many weren't built with RGB output or even S-Video or composite output, either.  Just like how Nintendo crippled the later releases of the Gamecube, I doubt if any of the makers thought the majority of gamers would be using their systems on anything but ghetto TVs.

I have already had plenty of discussions like this before,and about upscalers too when I chit chatted on laser disc forums. Basically what your trying to do is improve a image that cant be improved the way your thinking it can it sounds like.

Again, be more precise.  How is DScaler not restoring a 240p image from the 480i output of a video game system?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine AV mod]

Stop talking and start taking pictures! 

Sorry, I'm at work right now.

I don't think there is anything more that can be said without pictures (except an off-topic remark that DVDs can store progressive images without telecine).

They can, yes.  But many, many are only stored as interlaced, especially TV shows, even if they're shot on film.  DScaler and other deinterlacers can reconstruct the 24 film frames per second and display them as progressive video. This is a feature built into most DVD players nowadays, but the quality can vary.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine AV mod]

Look,I think we just said a side by side comparison would prove it,but you are not willing to do that I am sure.

Considering I'd have to get an entirely new monitor that can support RGB or get both a new TV and a transcoder yeah, I don't quite feel like doing that just to see essentially the same image except with scanlines and on a display with a lower refresh rate (I run mine at 120Hz).

I have already seen it run,its not impressive,

That doesn't tell me much.
On what kind of computer/monitor/capture card?  What were the monitor and DScaler settings?  It what ways was it not impressive?

and it is not just as good as just using my tv,esp for games. I also fail to see why you would need to capture a DVD and clean up the image with Dscaler.

DScaler is not capture software.  It was designed to watch external devices in real time on a PC.  My "capture card" is also made for this specific use.  And since DVDs often contain a progressive image telecined to a 480i one, so you need some kind of deinterlacer to do this.  There are multiple ways of doing this on a computer, DScaler is but one of them.

Besides the obvious image quality problems,

I'm not seeing any.  Have any specific examples?

the fact you have to use your computer,the fact you have to start it up and run Windows first,unlike just turning on a TV,is a problem in and of itself.

Doesn't bother me as I'm often using it for other things.

Couple that with the limited viewing size of affordable VGA monitors. And when you say 22 inch I am to take it then your viewing area for your computer screen is 20-19 inch?

20 or 21 I believe, but sitting in my normal chair, the screen fills a good bit of my field of vision.  Sometimes I have to scoot back, depending on what's being displayed.

Your method to play a old game system is alot more bulky,less convenient,and takes longer to get going,

None of these things matter to me compared to the quality, which I am perfectly satisfied with for the time being.

and produces a less desirable picture quality.

You'll have to be more specific if you want this point to have any value.

I'll maybe take some pics of the display later, got some other stuff to finish first.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine AV mod]

What happened,did you try to carry this argument over at Gamefaqs

Uh, no.  I tried reading the boards there once, but I got sick of the all the fanboy flamings well before I ever posted there.

my computer with Dscaler to my whopping huge 19 inch VGA monitor

22 inch, actually.

and because I know my Dreamcast run trough s-video trough Dscaler

Actually, I only do this for games that aren't compatible with the VGA box.

As for the rest of your post....    How old are you, exactly?  Your opinion of DScaler seems to have no basis on its technical details, and your arguments against it consist of nothing but calling me names and making up stuff about me.  I by no means think DScaler is perfect, especially for deinterlacing DVDs.  But it will do until I get a standalone high-end upscaler.  If you have anything mature to say about it, I'm willing to listen.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine AV mod]

I like the monitor and setup I have, and I don't want to search around for a RGB-capable monitor (or CRT TV with component input and a transcoder) that's still in pristine condition like my Mitsubishi Diamondtron.  And while I don't hate scanlines, I prefer not having them.

I'm willing to have them if it significantly increases the quality in other areas, but the small increase in color quality RGB cables provide isn't enough for me to get another setup.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine AV mod]

Joe,there is not any point in arguing with this guy. He just clearly stated he hates normal tvs,scanlines,ect ect..and the way the stuff is intended to look and run is on normal tvs. He thinks his computer + Dscaler is Jesus and his word of it gospel. He honestly believes in everything he is saying,even if wrong,and you will never convince him to think otherwise. He is rich in stupidity on this subject,he already proved that much.

Yeah, I hate scanlines.  That's why I said the exact opposite in my previous post.

Look, I'd be perfectly willing to accept that my setup sucks if you showed me something that proves DScaler isn't doing what I say it's doing, but so far you haven't. 

I feel like I'm reading the GameFaqs boards here...

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine AV mod]

Yes, it's upscaling it, but not from 480i.  When in Old Game mode it takes the 240 lines from each 480i field to make a 240p image and THEN resizes it to my monitor.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine AV mod]

As for Dscaler,yea,I have seen it used,and I think its good software tool,but I think its laughable at best that you are running a bunch of old game systems
into a computer via capture card

Why, specifically? What technical reason is there other than the color quality difference?

,and are having to use a software program to try to get your image to resemble the original look that a good $150-200 dollar Tv is going to give you anyway for your old game systems,but its not. A better solution would be to just use a good tv.

I like the monitor and setup I have, and I don't want to search around for a RGB-capable monitor (or CRT TV with component input and a transcoder) that's still in pristine condition like my Mitsubishi Diamondtron.  And while I don't hate scanlines, I prefer not having them.

the point you keep making about how leet you are cause your using your computer and Dscaler to TRY to do what a normal tv WILL do for you instead.

Are you saying that DScaler is not in fact taking the 240 lines from each 480i field and displaying them as a 240p frame? 

Lesson for the children

Yeah, whatever.  Feel free to continue the flames, but if you have any technical evidence as to why DScaler sucks so bad for gaming, I'll be around.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine AV mod]

60 frames of 240p converted to 60 fields of 480i is the exact same video lines.

Never said it wasn't.

You said "240p sent as 480i looks like ass compared to 240p as 240p".  This is not true on a setup such as mine, as the video lines are exactly the same.  The only difference is in the color quality when comparing S-Video to RGB, which is negligible with a properly calibrated display.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine AV mod]

Sorry, you're the one who is mistaken.  60 frames of 240p converted to 60 fields of 480i is the exact same video lines. When this 480i is converted back to 240p, all a computer monitor has to do is show each interlaced field of 240 lines in sequence instead of alternating them.  Nothing retarded about it.

If you're lucky enough to have RGB output on all your systems and have a display or converters than can accept the signal, then great.  But not everyone has this option or chooses to go to the trouble of setting it up.

If you have a technical explanation for why using DScaler would be a bad idea, I'd be perfectly willing to hear it.  But paint metaphors don't accurately explain the situation.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine AV mod]

And what I've been saying all along is that 240p sent as 480i can be perfectly displayed back as 240p again.  You seem to think there's an inherent quality loss from this.  There isn't.

[General Gaming / Re: Genesis 3 system with S-video and region mod.]

After all the money spent by sending your system to Dean you could honestly just by a encoder and install it yourself if you have any solder skills at all.

I might do that, although I'd need to get a new soldering iron.  If it'd take more than 30 minutes though, I'd probably rather just spend the money since I have a half-decent job nowadays.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine AV mod]

I also think Buster D can take Dscaler and stick it up his ass. I know he thinks hes being all techie and cool and leet by running his game systems into his computer,but honestly,its not leet,or cool,and its the poorest choice to run your favorite older game systems.

Have you seen a console through S-Video using Old Game mode of DScaler for yourself, or are you basing this on others' opinions?  I don't really care what people think about me, but my setup is an easy solution for many, and is most likely easier for most than getting a secondary or new TV.  If people don't like it after trying it and want something better, that's fine, but I see little point in saying it's the worst way to display video games without giving any reason.

And the difference between S-video and VGA on Dreamcast is night and day. The majority of software for Dreamcast was designed around Super VGA quality picture,not SDTV interlaced.  All the games that support VGA look way way better in VGA. The color is correct,the detail is all there,the picture is cleaner and worlds sharper.

Naturally the details are all there and motion certianly looks better since it's a 640x480 uninterlaced image and not the same image sent as 480i and then deinterlaced.  I should've specified that I was just referring to the color quality, which isn't a massive step up from S-Video.

I cant even believe it was suggested that DC Super VGA is not much better then S-video. Laughable.

Dreamcast outputs 640x480 (or half that depending on the game IIRC).  Super VGA usually refers to 800x600 (edit: and 1078x768 as well I believe).

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine AV mod]

On what are you basing this opinion?  What specific setups have you seen 480i properly deinterlaced to the original 240p frames?

My eyeballs.  I can see.  You seem to think that I have a huge array of scalers and whatnot.  I do not. 

If you're only comparing a 240p signal sent as-is to a 480i signal displayed as-is instead of back to 240p, then you aren't making a valid comparison. 

But I guess people would rather flame and swear at me than make the comparison for themselves.  Fair enough.

[General Gaming / Re: Genesis 3 system with S-video and region mod.]

Well, there was no Model 3 Mega Drive (I'd need to be able to hook it up to my Mega CD anyways), and the Model 2 is kinda hard to find here and I don't know how many of them would have the proper chip.  Oh well, I'll get someone to do the mod for me eventually, I don't have all that many MD games right now anyways.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine AV mod]

each frame's 240 lines are simply sent as a 480i field, which is 240 lines of actual information

Very true, but it looks much worse when it is displayed as 480i instead of 240p.

On what are you basing this opinion?  What specific setups have you seen 480i properly deinterlaced to the original 240p frames?  I play my systems regularly through this method on my 22" Mitsubishi CRT monitor from 2004, and there is no easily visible loss in quality compared to PS1 games played on my PS2 hooked up through component, nor do Dreamcast games played through VGA look significantly better.

 

But the reason s-video seems so much better is simply because composite sucks so bad.  In Midnight Resistance for the Genesis, the text on the item/weapon containers between rounds is much more readable on component than it is in s-video, which itself is a hell of a lot more readable than composite.  I can take new comparison pictures of that part if you like.

When you use S-Video, unlike what DScaler does your display isn't taking the 240 lines from each 480i field and displaying it as 240p, so comparison pictures from it wouldn't be of any use to this discussion.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine AV mod]

I never said anything about a 480p signal.  Where did you get that?

I was making a comparison between the interlacing done on a 240p signal (each frame's 240 lines are simply sent as a 480i field, which is 240 lines of actual information) vs a 480p image interlaced to 480i, which looses information.

But for all intents and purposes, 240p sent as 480i looks much blockier than regular 240p, since the space between the scanlines is filled with the lines directly above it.

This does not apply to equipment such as a PC running DScaler in Old Game mode or a standalone deinterlacer that can properly create a 240p frame from a 480i field.

And that's why it's called 240p.  The 'p' is for 'progressive'.  And yes, that means progressive scan on just about any regular SDTV in the entire world.

I didn't know that TVs could recognize a 240p signal without confusing it for an 480i one (except maybe in Europe, but I don't know much about their situation), but I'll take your word for it. You have the RGB signal transcoded to YPbPr component, right?  What transcoder do you use?  What's the model of your TV?

On many of the the Sega Ages collections in Japan, there is even a 240p option to play the games in the original resolution. 

Which one?  I was thinking about getting some of them eventually, I can pick it up in Akihabara on the way home from work someday.

Why would this be there along with a 480i option if 240p was alwasy sent as an interlaced signal? 

I never said that it was.  However, the resolution lines when it's sent as 480i are exactly the same as 240p, because a 480i field has 240 active lines and they can be easily combined to make a 240p image, such as when using DScaler.  This software takes very little CPU processing in Old Game mode, and in addition has no detectable lag (unless introduced by the capture card), unlike many standalone deinterlacers and scalers in HDTVs.  I can perform moves in fighting games with exact precision.  I'm sure your setup has no lag either though.

It's not about "how many" colors NTSC can produce, it's about how well it produces those colors.  I could go into a long discussion about NTSC color bandwidth, and how it doesn't have much space.  But instead I'll just say that the luma (B&W) portion of the signal gets a lot more space than the combined red, green blue, etc get.  PAL has much better color space than NTSC and therefore the color looks much better.  Component video is free from all of this nonsense, but it has goofiness of it's own.  It does not transmit the color green.  But fortunately the way component video works, there is no theoretical loss from raw RGB.

Yes, RGB and component cables will give you slightly better color quality than S-Video, but it's not a huge improvement like the kind you get going from composite to S-Video (or better), especially since the human eye is much more sensitive to light/dark differences in video than color.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine AV mod]

Well, I think you're confusing a lot of what I was saying.  I never said a line-doubled 240p signal increased resolution.

I'm not talking about line doubling.  I'm saying that when a 240p signal is sent as 480i, the exact same video lines are still present and can be displayed as 240p with the proper equipment.  A 240p signal sent as 480i isn't quite the same as a 480p signal interlaced to 480i.

There is no flicker in a real 240p image n a CRT TV.

If it's an interlaced display and not a monitor or EDTV(480p) or HDTV, then yes, there will be flicker on a CRT.  That's how interlacing works.

Please post some pictures captured from s-video of Super Duper Castlevania IV with lots of floating hearts on the screen. 

I don't currently have a SFC, but I might be able to fill a request for a PCE game through S-Video.

Like I said, s-video is still limited to NTSC color space, which the entire world agrees isn't exactly the best.

Does this matter for the systems that output 240p?  Are there old video game systems that output colors that aren't in NTSC?

[General Gaming / Re: Genesis 3 system with S-video and region mod.]

Huh, I was talking with D-Lite about getting a Jp Mega Drive modded before he had all the problems with his house and whatnot, and he said that the Model 1 mod was easier for him.  I guess he's done a lot of the same mod for the Neo Geo AES system though.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine AV mod]

There is a flag in the 480i video signal that tells the CRT to advance to the next field.  A 240p signal simply removes that flag.  It is 60 progressive frames per second on a 240p signal, running at up to 720x243.  It is easy to interlace a 240p signal, yes, but it is pointless unless every 1/60th of a second is one half of a picture, therefore resulting in the resolution increase that 480i provides over 240p. 

I don't get what you're saying here... sending a 240p signal as 480i doesn't really increase the resolution, it just shows the lines at alternating intervals.

If every 1/60th of a second is the entire picture, it will just look blocky and therefore like complete ass.

Seeing the pixels doesn't bother me really, and if it did the flicker from a CRT SDTV would bother me more.  As for 60 frames per second, that's a good thing as lots of games are rendered that way, especially arcade games and arcade ports.

The best way is just to play old game systems on SDTVs and not HDTVs.  My SDTV has a component input and it looks RGB quality, easily.  Also someone said that component isn't much better than s-video.  I beg to differ.  S-video is still limited to NTSC color, component is not.  Reds look much better over component (depending on your set, of course).  With s-video, the red hearts and stuff like that in Super Duper Castlevania IV on the SNES still have color bleed to the right on every TV I've ever tried.  Completely gone with RGB/component.  If your source is compressed all to hell like DVD, then yeah component won't look amazingly great.  But if the source is RGB, then hell yeah it will! 

I think that's more a problem with the TVs than the signal.  I don't see any bleeding reds when S-Video is input to my computer monitor through my capture card (actually it's the PDI Deluxe aka Sweetspot, it's more of a card meant for watching external inputs on a PC).  All of my video game systems outputting S-Video look just as good as the Component from my PS2, which the card also accepts.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine AV mod]

From what I understand, the way a 240p signal works is that instead of displaying it as 480 lines split into 60 alternating fields every second, the 240 lines from each field are their own frame and aren't alternating like when they're displayed on a TV.  On DScaler's Old Game mode, they're rendered as 720x240 progressive frames and then upscaled to fill your monitor or HDTV.  On old RGB monitors, a 4:3 60fps progressive image is shown with scanlines inbetween the 240 lines of video data, but they don't alternate and create flicker like on a regular TV.

So I don't think a game console has to do anything special to make a 240p signal into a 480i one, the frames are just alternated between the top 240 lines and bottom 240 lines instead of being shown on the same 240 lines.  An RGB cable will give you slightly better quality than S-Video since the red/green/blue colors are all sent separately instead of just the chroma and luma, but if your display is properly deinterlacing a 240p signal sent over S-Video, you won't see a great difference compared to RGB.  Similarly, there's not much difference in quality between a 480i signal over S-Video and a 480i signal over component (composite is another matter, of course).

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine AV mod]

I already have my Duo-R modded to output S-Video, I was thinking about getting an RGB mod for it as well but I discovered there are ways to get the 240p signal without it if you have a capture card and use the "DScaler" freeware, which has an "Old Game" deinterlacing mode to combine the proper parts of the fields to give you 240p, up to 60fps video game goodness upscaled on your PC monitor (or HDTV if your TV accepts VGA or DVI, or if you have a video card with component out, or if you have a VGA to component transcoder).  This also works with Saturn, SNES, and PS1 games (not PS2 or most DC games though).  There are also some standalone scalers that will properly deinterlace the 480i signal to a 240p one, but they're expensive and they sometimes have delay problems, as do some HDTVs.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: I just beat Legion.........what a flaming pile, thru & thru!]

I know that Masaaki Uno the head director and producer for Wolfteam,along with the original founder Masahiro Akishino and most of the programers and staff that worked on the Megadrive/Genesis titles left in 1993 after Telenet decided to restructure and merge everything back into one name/division/company.

I was introduced to Uno-sensei a year and a half ago in a bar (his parents' house in Tokyo is near where I live).  He's a real nice guy, he even helped me a little bit when I was job hunting.  He told me about his work for the various Shining RPGs and for Camelot, but I had no idea about his work for Wolfteam. 

Damn, gonna have to give him an e-mail and buy him a couple more beers, maybe I can get him to talk some more about his old games.  He talks kinda fast so my Japanese usually can't keep up with him, but you have any questions for him (assuming he'll have the time to have a drink with me again)?  Gonna have to find something for him to autograph, too...

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Looking for info on Psychic Storm and Fray]

Hmm, Psychic Storm seemed to get mostly average reviews, but the comments here have intrigued me.

Found it on Yahoo Japan auctions with a BIN of 400 yen (about$3.50).  The seller indicated that it might be a "kusoge" (crappy/shitty game), but I'm sure it'll be worth at least what I paid for it 

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Old Turbo questions]

I had the base Genesis 1 system (the model that came with the red Genesis logo on the box and started up with the "Produced by or Under License from Sega Enterprises" screen for every game), and it definitely came with a A/V cable.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / dracula x level names]

I don't know if the translated stage names on the Dracula X faq (the one that's around 70k) at GameFaqs are accurate, but that's one source.

I was looking at said FAQ after I had already beaten the game with Richter and Maria and saw that Maria had a secret move: down, up, down-forward, II.  I was only able to pull it off a couple times with a Pad, and wasn't able to do it at all on a Fighting StickPC (my preferred controller for platformers and shooters).  Anyone know if there's a certain way you have to do it to make it work?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Sapphire on ebay]

I just got a used (pretty good condition, no obi) legit copy of Sapphire at Super Potato for about $250.  It had been there for a while, but I figured I'd better snatch it up before someone else got it, as the price was a bit less than what the game goes for on Yahoo Japan auctions.  Usually it's the other way around, Super Potato can be a bit more expensive than Yahoo Auctions for PCE titles, even more expensive than other used game stores in Japan.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Arcade card game list thread]

The Saturn version of Gulliver Boy seems a bit easier to find on the cheap, does the PCE version have any advantages over it?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Regular Turbo Duo Usage]

In theory I'd rather play games via emulation when it's on a system that doesn't have at least S-Video output (PCE/Turbo doesn't count since I got a modded Duo-R from D-Lite), or games that have major slowdown/flicker issues (does this happen in emulation too?  I honestly don't know that much about it...).  

In reality though, I've never played that many games via emulation.  Was playing through Crystalis for the NES for a while years ago, but then I used a save state at a point right before a boss that I wasn't high enough in level to beat, so I gave up on it because I kept overwriting the same save state  

But I might start back up again soon once I get a USB adapter for using PS controllers, I'm interested in playing certain Famicom games like Akumajo Densetsu (Castlevania III) that had the extra Konami sound chip not present in the NES version.  And I'd rather not have to buy another system and the game and have to live with composite video and slowdown/flicker.

I'm gonna be all over the Wii though, if the Virtual Console downloads are perfect or near-perfect emulations and don't have any digital rights management BS that make you connect the system to the internet every time you want to play them or whatever.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Music Ripping questions]

This has probably been asked before, but is there a way to get extract chip-based music and sounds from CD games?  Also interested in extracting music from Saturn games in addition to PCE/Turbo CD games.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / PC Engine (and FX) all shooter list]

dead moon already is containing, of course^^

Sorry, I meant it's another one for my list of games to buy.

Veigues Tactical Gladiator imo is much more a jump'n shoot than a shoot' em up. sorry, i can't add this one.

Since the scrolling is automatic, it seems more like a shooter to me. Plus pressing left on the d-pad makes you move left but you're still facing right like in a side-scrolling shooter.  The only part that's like a platformer is the jumping aspect, really.  And even that is sort of more like a shooter, since you press up on the d-pad and not the I or II button to jump, and when you get your boosters powered up all the way you fly for 10 seconds or so instead of jump.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / PC Engine (and FX) all shooter list]

Cool, this will come in handy.

Oooh, Dead Moon...  I remember wanting to get that game back in the day but I never was able to.  That's another one for the list.

Another one you might want to add is Veigues Tactical Gladiator, a favorite of mine when I was a kid.  Although you're in a giant robot instead of a spaceship, the game play is more like a side-scrolling shooter than a platform game IMO.  You just have to stay on the ground most of the time, and your character and the enemies are bigger.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / shaking screen while playing Ultimate Tiger?]

Perhaps it's a problem with the region switch causing one of the contacts to not function properly?  At any rate, I PM'd D-Lite to see what he thinks before I try taking my modded Duo-R apart and cleaning it or attempting to fix it.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / shaking screen while playing Ultimate Tiger?]

I still have yet to clean my system, but I took the 2 games back to the used game store so they could test them out, and they worked fine there.  So it would seem to be a problem with my system, but if that's the case then I don't quite understand why some HuCards work fine and some don't.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / shaking screen while playing Ultimate Tiger?]

Well, I just got 2 more used games today, Bloody Wolf and Jigoku Meguri.  Both had the shaking problem.  So it looks like my system might have something wrong with it after all.  None of my other games have had this problem, though...

Crap.  Well, I guess I'll try getting some vinegar or something tomorrow and try cleaning the contacts as best I can.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / shaking screen while playing Ultimate Tiger?]

Yeah, I tried that too.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / shaking screen while playing Ultimate Tiger?]

Like I mentioned above, I already cleaned it pretty thoroughly with a pencil eraser, like you had to clean the expansion port on the Genesis after using a Sega CD for a while.  I'll try some solvents, but I don't think it's going to do any good.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / shaking screen while playing Ultimate Tiger?]

Huh?  I don't think re-inserting the game 10 more times is going to make a difference at this point, whether I turn the power on after re-inserting it or not...

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / shaking screen while playing Ultimate Tiger?]

Well, I cleaned the game, and tried re-inserting it and booting it up about 20 times.  No change whatsoever.

Looks like this game is gonna get trashed if I can't get my money back.  I guess if I ever find just a working HuCard on the cheap, I'll have a nice case and manual to go with it.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / shaking screen while playing Ultimate Tiger?]

Do you mean it sometimes takes 10 times for the game to load up properly (like with the graphics and sound working like they should and not messed up), or for it to load up at all?  And is this with or without a converter?

Because my copy loads up, it's just that the graphics don't look like they should.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Dracula X on eBay.]

i bet against! since the price for a sealed & mint ADX in akiba amounts about US$500 as well!

Are you sure?  I thought I saw it sealed at Super Potato for around 25,000 or 30,000 yen.  I'll check the next time I go there.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / shaking screen while playing Ultimate Tiger?]

Hmm, the connectors all looked fine, and I tried taking the game out and re-inserting it a number of times, so I guess it's a problem inside the HuCard.  I'll try cleaning it with a pencil eraser when I get home, though.  Usually Japanese stores will clean used games, but this one seemed kinda unprofessional, like a big pawn shop.  The Dreamcast Arcade Stick I bought from them even had a little bit of rust on the metal part of the joystick...

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / shaking screen while playing Ultimate Tiger?]

I just got a used copy of Ultimate Tiger, but for some reason the screen shakes slightly when the game loads up.  It's on the title screen and during gameplay.  It kinda looks like when a film reel, old VHS tape, or poor TV reception judders or something. Everything else seems fine, and doesn't make the game totally unplayable, but it is damn annoying.

I'm having this problem on my DUO-R modded by D-Lite, and the problem occurs on both the S-Video output and the original AV output.  Don't have another system I can check it on (just a non-modded US Duo), but the problem doesn't occur on any of my other HuCard or CD games, and I'm pretty sure it's not a problem with my monitor.

I can probably get my money back for the game next time I go out to that store (if ever, they didn't have much), but I just wanted to see if anyone else has had this problem.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Rerelease of the Turbo Duo...]

There's already a Mega Drive/Genesis clone out in Asia and in specialty stores in Japan.  It's conceivable that a PC Engine clone will surface eventually, but making it capable of playing CD games as well as HuCards/TurboChips would make it considerably more expensive to manufacture than the clones of the other systems, which just play cartridges.  Plus the PC Engine wasn't very popular outside of Japan, so that would limit a clone's potential market share.  

It'd be nice, though.  Perhaps some small Japanese company will attempt it someday, they could probably make enough money if it was targeted at the Japanese market.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Replacing internal battery?]

Damn, it says the TB battery may be electrically welded and near impossible to replace.  It also confirms that opening it was really hard.