Is it just me or are there just a few of us posting anymore?

PCEngineHell · 01/22/2006, 07:33 PM

I know there is a ton of members,but I can count the people who have been posting as of late,past few weeks,with my fingers it feels like.When I joined it was too many it seemed like,and now not enough. Feels more like we are some kinda private mob ring meeting at the back of some super swank bar thats all dark and shadowey,with bland drinks and a crappy piano guy going at it while a knock off chick in a shity red dress with breast implants tries to sing Blue Velvet on the mic. Ok maybe that description is overdoing it but man it has been feeling like a ghost town as of late. Has everyone found a new club I dont know about or something?

dj898 · 01/22/2006, 09:06 PM

i'd say it's the beginning of the year and things could be busy - heck I'm busy right now all the things business and family life and video gaming has taken bit of holiday at the moment - it's been almost a month last time I fire up the console..

NightWolve · 01/22/2006, 09:15 PM

I was getting the opposite sense having just arrived, so I can't speak of how much more frequent activity the board had before obviously. I do know that it's much better from what I remember when I first ran into it. :\ Anyway, I trust that the apparent slump is a temporary thing, hopefully.

esteban · 01/23/2006, 04:23 AM

Yeah, the forums have been waning a bit... but dj898 is probably right: folks are probably busy.

That and the fact that we need some new juicy topics

to get folks talking again.

Personally, for the past 2-3 weeks, I've barely had time to check any of the forums I frequent.

TJ · 01/23/2006, 11:21 AM

I'm still checking almost every day...I know I'm a newer member, but hopefully a member in good standing. Anyway, I'll chime in if I have something to add to a thread but I guess I haven't lately. Haven't made any PCE/Turbo purchases lately, so nothing to brag about really either.

Even the current videogame business is slow. I can't think of anything coming out anytime soon that I'm even interested in until Zelda this spring. And since all I've been playing lately is DQ8 and Phoenix Wright, I don't have that much game-related stuff to discuss I guess!

But yes, we could always try to start some new topics. Whatcha wanna talk about?

esteban · 01/23/2006, 12:02 PM

Quote from: TJEven the current videogame business is slow. I can't think of anything coming out anytime soon that I'm even interested in until Zelda this spring. And since all I've been playing lately is DQ8 and Phoenix Wright, I don't have that much game-related stuff to discuss I guess!

I don't mind hearing about DQ8 if you don't mind hearing about all the stupid words that they put in the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary

.

rolins · 01/23/2006, 12:56 PM

Quote from: dj898i'd say it's the beginning of the year and things could be busy - heck I'm busy right now all the things business and family life and video gaming has taken bit of holiday at the moment - it's been almost a month last time I fire up the console..

I agree, but I think there is another reason for the low attendance. Members leave because their interest in the system is more like a phase in their life. Not all members here are die-hard turbo/pce fans, and many got into the system after playing DracX on ME. I bet more than half of the registered members here have never actually played a real turbo/pce game untill ebay appeared. Players have this compulsive desire to waste their money on buying the most rarest games and they don't really play them. Instead the pce and games are just being used as show pieces to their friends. I've already seen one member here who joined several month ago and had just started his tg16 collection. I remember he bought a bunch of expensive hucards and was very excited entering the turbo community. About 2 or 3 months afterwards he posted his entire collection for sale because lack of interest.

PCEngineHell · 01/23/2006, 01:48 PM

I have a new interesting thread for you,one Keranu would like to read for sure.

esteban · 01/23/2006, 03:44 PM

Quote from: rolins
Quote from: dj898i'd say it's the beginning of the year and things could be busy - heck I'm busy right now all the things business and family life and video gaming has taken bit of holiday at the moment - it's been almost a month last time I fire up the console..

I agree, but I think there is another reason for the low attendance. Members leave because their interest in the system is more like a phase in their life. Not all members here are die-hard turbo/pce fans, and many got into the system after playing DracX on ME. I bet more than half of the registered members here have never actually played a real turbo/pce game untill ebay appeared. Players have this compulsive desire to waste their money on buying the most rarest games and they don't really play them. Instead the pce and games are just being used as show pieces to their friends. I've already seen one member here who joined several month ago and had just started his tg16 collection. I remember he bought a bunch of expensive hucards and was very excited entering the turbo community. About 2 or 3 months afterwards he posted his entire collection for sale because lack of interest.

Yeah, I wonder how much traffic to pcefx and magicengine is driven solely by interest in Dracula X and the Ys games? The fanbase for shooters is relatively small compared to the audience for Castlevania and Ys, I'd reckon.

PCEngineHell · 01/26/2006, 09:06 AM

Now we have people posting.

doomfarer75 · 02/06/2006, 10:47 AM

Hey everyone, I am still here, but as others have said before, things are busy for me and I haven't fired up my system since just before X-mas..the turbo lives in my heart however, and I continue weekly battles at my friend's house in TV sports Basketball.

Dark Fact · 02/06/2006, 04:41 PM

Hi, new guy here!

First off, I've been browsing the pcengine-fx.com site for many moons now but never got around to posting in the community.

I've been a big fan of TurboGrafx 16 since the early 90's and played some great games for it at my local RADIO SHACK like Keith Courage in Alpha Zones (Mahou Choujin Wataru), Dungeon Explorer, and Bonk's Adventure!

I for one am glad to see that there are other fellow TG16/PCE fans out there with the same interests and addiction for the system!

As you can see, I've taken the avatar of one of my favorite villains in the Ys games and video gaming itself, Dark Fact. Why? He's blue and badass, that's why!

Aside from this forum, I'm also a member of the Winnipeg Anime Club and go by the name of "Tylor" on the boards. So, if you want to join and talk it up, go there! WINNIPEG ANIME CLUB

I also post on TOONZONE, which is a popular discussion forum for cartoon buffs and VAN VON HUNTER, which is a popular webcomic.

Looking forward to some great discussion and every once in a while, I'll put up a few goody topics myself!

Seldane · 02/06/2006, 04:58 PM

Quote from: Dark FactHi, new guy here!

First off, I've been browsing the pcengine-fx.com site for many moons now but never got around to posting in the community.

I've been a big fan of TurboGrafx 16 since the early 90's and played some great games for it at my local RADIO SHACK like Keith Courage in Alpha Zones (Mahou Choujin Wataru), Dungeon Explorer, and Bonk's Adventure!

I for one am glad to see that there are other fellow TG16/PCE fans out there with the same interests and addiction for the system!

As you can see, I've taken the avatar of one of my favorite villains in the Ys games and video gaming itself, Dark Fact. Why? He's blue and badass, that's why!

Aside from this forum, I'm also a member of the Winnipeg Anime Club and go by the name of "Tylor" on the boards. So, if you want to join and talk it up, go there! WINNIPEG ANIME CLUB

I also post on TOONZONE, which is a popular discussion forum for cartoon buffs and VAN VON HUNTER, which is a popular webcomic.

Looking forward to some great discussion and every once in a while, I'll put up a few goody topics myself!

Welcome Dark Fact! ;)

That's all I got.

It's Darm Tower, by the way. ;)

Dark Fact · 02/06/2006, 05:06 PM

Fixed. Thanks for the clarification.

Keranu · 02/06/2006, 06:49 PM

Welcome aboard, HAR HAAAAR HAAAAARRRR!

By the way, Dark Fact is certainly one of the most badass villians of all time, but I'm afraid my heart goes to Darm just a little more ;) . It was just so awesome how Ys hid Darm's character in Ys I and information about him was slowly revealed in Ys II and then once you finally got me meet him by the end of Ys II, it was just so awesome. And can't forget about Dalles, he rocked my world too. I can't express how Ys I & II had the best villians than any other game. (along with best story, music, and atmosphere ;) )

Dark Fact · 02/07/2006, 12:17 AM

This will come as a shock:

I've never played Ys: Books I & II for the Turbo Duo. Yup, you've heard me.

I only know about this game from reading a ton of articles about it, listening to mp3s and looking at all the pretty pictures.

Now, for the record, I DID play both Ys games...but only their Famicom versions.

I expect to get around to playing Ys I & II on Magicengine sometime down the road (when I'm not busy with university!)

One more thing, I also own the Ys I & II anime OAV's that Media Blasters licensed a couple years back. The first OAV is pretty mediocre but the second one really picked up the pace and made it more interesting. Although, I don't like the fact that they made Dark Fact in the anime look more human instead of gamilon!

True blue, baby!

You also mention Dalles. Funny, in the anime they call him Dares.

He also looks like a shrunken prune-faced old man than the oversized jawa in the game.

But, thanks again for the welcome and I hope we'll all get around to making this board more lively again.

Keranu · 02/07/2006, 01:01 AM

Haha, I thought you would be the kind of guy who has played through tons of different versions of Ys

. If the Famicom versions are the only versions you have played, you won't believe how awesome the other versions are.

In my opinion (along with many others), the TGCD version is the best by a pretty good shot. Other versions like Eternal are great too, but the one that makes me like the TGCD version the most is because the music is by far the best than any other version, I think this is the only version that actually has voice acting and the voice acting in it is outstanding (you will melt when you hear the villian's voice actors in this game), has both games on one CD, excellent old-skool CD cinemas (plus a bonus one not shown before), a nice treat for the ending credits, excellent English translation, and of course, to me it had the best atmosphere, plus it plays at a nice paste (the ones before it could be quite slow, which might turn a casual gamer off).

I hope you are able to play the TGCD version soon.

TR0N · 02/07/2006, 05:24 AM

Quote from: Dark FactThis will come as a shock:

I've never played Ys: Books I & II for the Turbo Duo. Yup, you've heard me.

I only know about this game from reading a ton of articles about it, listening to mp3s and looking at all the pretty pictures.

Now, for the record, I DID play both Ys games...but only their Famicom versions.

I expect to get around to playing Ys I & II on Magicengine sometime down the road (when I'm not busy with university!)

One more thing, I also own the Ys I & II anime OAV's that Media Blasters licensed a couple years back. The first OAV is pretty mediocre but the second one really picked up the pace and made it more interesting. Although, I don't like the fact that they made Dark Fact in the anime look more human instead of gamilon! True blue, baby!

You also mention Dalles. Funny, in the anime they call him Dares. He also looks like a shrunken prune-faced old man than the oversized jawa in the game.

But, thanks again for the welcome and I hope we'll all get around to making this board more lively again.

Another Ys fan joins the site.

Btw if you enjoy the serise that much you should consider importing, Ys:The Oath in Felghana.

It's for the pc and nightwolves is doing a fan translatetion for it.

Dark Fact · 02/07/2006, 12:07 PM

Quote from: KeranuIn my opinion (along with many others), the TGCD version is the best by a pretty good shot. Other versions like Eternal are great too, but the one that makes me like the TGCD version the most is because the music is by far the best than any other version, I think this is the only version that actually has voice acting and the voice acting in it is outstanding (you will melt when you hear the villian's voice actors in this game), has both games on one CD, excellent old-skool CD cinemas (plus a bonus one not shown before), a nice treat for the ending credits, excellent English translation, and of course, to me it had the best atmosphere, plus it plays at a nice paste (the ones before it could be quite slow, which might turn a casual gamer off).

I really, really want to play the TGCD version so bad it hurts!

And for the record, you say that the TGCD version is the best. Did you also happen to look and try out the PC remake of the game? The PC version is just stunningly beautiful. Heck, Adol's meeting with Dark Fact is my sig picture from that version!

TR0N · 02/08/2006, 05:08 AM

Quote from: Dark Fact
Quote from: KeranuIn my opinion (along with many others), the TGCD version is the best by a pretty good shot. Other versions like Eternal are great too, but the one that makes me like the TGCD version the most is because the music is by far the best than any other version, I think this is the only version that actually has voice acting and the voice acting in it is outstanding (you will melt when you hear the villian's voice actors in this game), has both games on one CD, excellent old-skool CD cinemas (plus a bonus one not shown before), a nice treat for the ending credits, excellent English translation, and of course, to me it had the best atmosphere, plus it plays at a nice paste (the ones before it could be quite slow, which might turn a casual gamer off).
I really, really want to play the TGCD version so bad it hurts!

And for the record, you say that the TGCD version is the best. Did you also happen to look and try out the PC remake of the game? The PC version is just stunningly beautiful. Heck, Adol's meeting with Dark Fact is my sig picture from that version!

To bad i can't find a copy of the... pc version any more

I miss my chance to buy it, still i might a get burn of it from a friend.

Only problem is i need to put a dvd player in frist

Dark Fact · 02/08/2006, 09:19 AM

Also just wondering, is the latest PC version of Ys strictly for PC or did it also get a PS2 release?

pixeljunkie · 02/08/2006, 03:56 PM

Quote from: Dark FactAlso just wondering, is the latest PC version of Ys strictly for PC or did it also get a PS2 release?

Oath in Felghana is PC only. And INCREDIBLE. I have Ys 1 remake, and Ys 1 and 2 eternal, and OIF. Oath in Felghana can be played with no Japanese knowledge pretty easily.

Keranu · 02/08/2006, 03:58 PM

Quote from: Dark FactI really, really want to play the TGCD version so bad it hurts!

And for the record, you say that the TGCD version is the best. Did you also happen to look and try out the PC remake of the game? The PC version is just stunningly beautiful. Heck, Adol's meeting with Dark Fact is my sig picture from that version!

I've played through all of Ys I from the Ys Eternal Complete PC remake, and some of Ys II. It's a pretty nice remake, the graphics being my favorite part about it, but there are a few reasons why I don't like it as much as the TGCD version or even maybe some other versions, though it's still a favorite. The main reason being is because the music is just no where near as good

. It's still decent and all, but it's just too "soft" for an Ys game now, I gotta go 80's style and bust on the TGCD ;) . Eternal also doesn't offer any voice acting and as far as voice acting went, the American TGCD version had outstanding voice actors. The gameplay in Eternal is really cool though, though you could say it lost the classic touch from the originals, so that's a debatable subject, I am really cool with either version's game play. I myself also prefer the original graphic style with the cinemas, face portraits, and even the gameplay. And lastly, I get nostalgia for the TGCD version

.

Ys Eternal Complete is an excellent remake, but for the reasons I gave for a person like me, I just gotta prefer the TGCD version.

Ninja Spirit · 02/08/2006, 06:57 PM

Where do y'all get Oath in Felghana at? Is it a downloadable or a copy you actually have to buy?

GUTS · 02/08/2006, 09:11 PM

There was a torrent for an ISO of it up a few months ago, that's where I snagged it, it might still be active. I know some people like zigfried actually bought a real one since it came with some awesome bonus materials (like the whole Ys series on disc or something).

Ninja Spirit · 02/08/2006, 09:14 PM

OK I found a torrent on torrentspy, but it would take a week to download

TR0N · 02/09/2006, 01:03 AM

Quote from: Ninja SpiritWhere do y'all get Oath in Felghana at? Is it a downloadable or a copy you actually have to buy?

http://www.play-asia.com
http://www.himeyashop.com

Dark Fact · 02/09/2006, 10:40 AM

Where exactly does Oath of Felghana take place in the Ys timeline? I hear it's supposed to be after Wanderers from Ys but before what other game?

:

TR0N · 02/10/2006, 01:35 AM

Quote from: Dark FactWhere exactly does Oath of Felghana take place in the Ys timeline? I hear it's supposed to be after Wanderers from Ys but before what other game? :

It's a remake of, Ys III a different take then what, Taito did for the PS2 version.

Dark Fact · 02/10/2006, 11:44 PM

But does it still take place before Ys IV or after or what?

NightWolve · 02/11/2006, 08:17 AM

Quote from: KeranuThe main reason being is because the music is just no where near as good . It's still decent and all, but it's just too "soft" for an Ys game now, I gotta go 80's style and bust on the TGCD ;) .

Well, we actually solved that problem for ya, Keranu, if you didn't know. Deuce and I worked on getting all of Ryo's arrangements from the TGCD version to work on the Ys I & II Complete PC remake. (It's not "ETERNAL COMPLETE" btw; that was a mistake on my part because Falcom recycled the ETERNAL versions and didn't clean up some bitmaps that still had "ETERNAL" on them which should've been changed to "COMPLETE").

Anyway, here's the link:

http://www.classicgaming.com/ninjagaiden/ys/index.html?downloads.html

There are two rar archives for both I & II. You need to register with fileplanet to download them. Basically, you goto your YS1_WIN\WAVE\WAVE_44 folder, extract the rar there, and run the batch file. That'll decode the OGGs back to wave and set it all up. All I did was hack the looping files and Deuce made the OGGs the right length and did all the picking. His ReadMe shows you where each music file came from.

QuoteOne of the more common complaints about the PC remakes of the Ys games is
that the music is not as blindingly awesome as the old TurboGrafx-CD mixes
were, so I decided to see what I could do alleviate that problem. The
Turbo/PC Engine mixes were well-funded, multi-synth layouts arranged by Ryo
Yonemitsu, whereas the default Windows mixes were just basic single-synth
MIDI files being run through a Roland sound module with a bit of production
to enrich the sound.

Where possible, I replaced the tracks with appropriate mixes from the
Turbo-CD, or from the Ys I Perfect Collection in the case of tracks that
had no CD-DA equivalent on the Turbo-CD, since that disc is also arranged
Ryo Yonemitsu.

There are a few tracks which are still using the original Windows versions,
as no suitable replacement could be found and/or Ryo Yonemitsu never made
any form of arrangement. Here is the track listing:

Example for Ys I:

Code Select

Filename   	Trackname			Source
------------------------------------------------------------------------
YS100_44.ogg	Ys Eternal Opening		Windows PC version
YS101_44.ogg	Feena				Ys I Perfect Collection
YS102_44.ogg	Fountain of Love 		Ys I Perfect Collection
YS103_44.ogg	The Syonin			Ys I Perfect Collection
YS104_44.ogg	Tears of Sylph			Ys I Perfect Collection
YS105_44.ogg	First Step Towards Wars		TurboGrafx-CD
YS106_44.ogg	Palace				TurboGrafx-CD
YS107_44.ogg	Holders of Power 		TurboGrafx-CD
YS108_44.ogg	Palace of Destruction		TurboGrafx-CD
YS109_44.ogg	Beat of the Terror		TurboGrafx-CD
YS110_44.ogg	Tower of the Shadow of Death	TurboGrafx-CD
YS111_44.ogg	The Last Moment of the Dark	TurboGrafx-CD
YS112_44.ogg	Final Battle			TurboGrafx-CD
YS113_44.ogg	Rest in Peace			TurboGrafx-CD
YS114_44.ogg	The Morning Glow		Ys I Perfect Collection
YS115_44.ogg	See You Again			TurboGrafx-CD
YS134_44.ogg	Devil's Step			Ys I Perfect Collection
YS135_44.ogg	So Much for Today		Ys I Perfect Collection
YS137_44.ogg	Event				Windows PC Version
YS138_44.ogg	Departure			Windows PC Version
YS139_44.ogg	Open Your Heart			Windows PC Version
YS140_44.ogg	Dreaming			Windows PC Version
YS141_44.ogg	Tension				Windows PC Version
YS142_44.ogg	Chase of Shadow			Windows PC Version

So if there was no TGCD Ryo Yonemitsu-arranged replacement, it stays with the PC version or he got it from one of the Falcom soundtracks like the Perfect Collection.

So yeah, that'll really make a difference, thus you'll be able to play the game the way it was meant to be played. Satisfaction guaranteed. ;)

Quote from: TronTo bad i can't find a copy of the... pc version any more

Falcom did another print run of what's now coined as "Ys I & II Complete [Popular Edition]" just this past December. You can buy that from Himeya right now if you'd like to own a real copy, unless you know how to order from Falcom directly:

http://www.himeyashop.com/product_info.php/products_id/2892/

That is what I have right now. It's a nice small box, with two DVDs in a movie-like DVD case. All they did is repackage the older separate XP releases from 2002.

Keranu · 02/11/2006, 09:43 PM

Oh yeah, Nightwolve, I remember reading about how you guys were swapping songs with the TGCD version. I think I read that on the RIGG boards.

NightWolve · 02/12/2006, 11:55 AM

Yep, we succeeded, so if you ever decide to give it another play, try it with our music upgrade.

Dark Fact · 02/12/2006, 06:16 PM

I took one look at that box from the PC version and realized: Adol sure is pimpin' it up!

TR0N · 02/14/2006, 01:12 AM

Quote from: NightWolveFalcom did another print run of what's now coined as "Ys I & II Complete [Popular Edition]" just this past December. You can buy that from Himeya right now if you'd like to own a real copy, unless you know how to order from Falcom directly:

http://www.himeyashop.com/product_info.php/products_id/2892/

That is what I have right now. It's a nice small box, with two DVDs in a movie-like DVD case. All they did is repackage the older separate XP releases from 2002.

Thanks i must have miss that last time i check (himeyashop)

I 'll probably buy a copy from them i got it bookmark all ready.

Good thing, Falcom beleaves in release... it must have sold well for that to happen.

Btw you offer the english patch for it still, NightWolve?

NightWolve · 02/14/2006, 03:56 PM

Quote from: TronBtw you offer the english patch for it still, NightWolve?

I'm close to updating the Ys I Complete patch as a matter of fact. Just taking care of some loose ends, nothing too major. Anyway, the current version works fine with that new Falcom box. Ys II, on the other hand, there's a slight problem and it won't patch unless you do something to the Ys II exe, but I'll fix that soon. The patches are and have been still available here:

http://nick.serveblog.net/translations/yscomplete/#5

TR0N · 02/15/2006, 02:33 AM

Quote from: NightWolve
Quote from: TronBtw you offer the english patch for it still, NightWolve?
I'm close to updating the Ys I Complete patch as a matter of fact. Just taking care of some loose ends, nothing too major. Anyway, the current version works fine with that new Falcom box. Ys II, on the other hand, there's a slight problem and it won't patch unless you do something to the Ys II exe, but I'll fix that soon. The patches are and have been still available here:

http://nick.serveblog.net/translations/yscomplete/#5

Thanks man

Dark Fact · 02/16/2006, 03:25 PM

Hey Tron, awesome Metal Slug sig you got there. How did you get it?

TR0N · 02/17/2006, 02:10 AM

Quote from: Dark FactHey Tron, awesome Metal Slug sig you got there. How did you get it?

From a person i know in irc.

NightWolve · 02/18/2006, 12:19 AM

Hah, you know, I still have a poster hanging of that Contra one you have in your avatar. There was some promotion from Konami way back, and you got to buy 8 for some amount like less than 10 USD or pick one for free, so I just picked the Contra one. First time I've seen in online though like that. It was weird seeing it through a PC monitor... Good choice. ;) Contra for NES was one of the greats and I was once able to even get my sister to play it with me; it managed to temporarily suspend her usual/standard resistance to video games.

TR0N · 02/19/2006, 04:31 AM

Quote from: NightWolveHah, you know, I still have a poster hanging of that Contra one you have in your avatar. There was some promotion from Konami way back, and you got to buy 8 for some amount like less than 10 USD or pick one for free, so I just picked the Contra one. First time I've seen in online though like that. It was weird seeing it through a PC monitor... Good choice. ;) Contra for NES was one of the greats and I was once able to even get my sister to play it with me; it managed to temporarily suspend her usual/standard resistance to video games.

I should say, Famicom version of, Contra is the best.

I'm getting a copy soon.... it will be nice to play the game uncut with all of it's effects.

Yeah i know about the, posters i kind of wish i bought one back then

Dark Fact · 02/20/2006, 03:54 PM

Why Konami had to edit out those cut scenes in the NES Contra is beyond me since I thought they added to the story.

:

If Konami does do a re-release of all their old games in a collection, I hope they put those scenes back.

rolins · 02/20/2006, 04:11 PM

Quote from: Dark FactWhy Konami had to edit out those cut scenes in the NES Contra is beyond me since I thought they added to the story. :

If Konami does do a re-release of all their old games in a collection, I hope they put those scenes back.

It had to do with Nintendo of America. They did not want to pay extra money for the VRC mappers that Konami made for the famicom version of Contra. Konami is well knowm for producing custom made mappers for their games on the Famicom and MSX to have more memory and better music.

Since NOA used a lower spec memory mapper on Contra they had to remove the cut-scenes to save memory.

Because Konami's custom mapper was more expensive to produce, some of their games were never released for the Nes. Examples are Gradius II and Crisis Force.

Dark Fact · 02/28/2006, 10:53 AM

Quote from: rolinsIt had to do with Nintendo of America. They did not want to pay extra money for the VRC mappers that Konami made for the famicom version of Contra. Konami is well knowm for producing custom made mappers for their games on the Famicom and MSX to have more memory and better music.

Since NOA used a lower spec memory mapper on Contra they had to remove the cut-scenes to save memory.

Because Konami's custom mapper was more expensive to produce, some of their games were never released for the Nes. Examples are Gradius II and Crisis Force.

Nintendo was making millions off of sales of the NES and they can't fork over a few extra dollars for a few maps?

Ninja Spirit · 02/28/2006, 01:44 PM

I am extremely interested in those Famicom chips. I believe Contra, Gradius II and Crisis Force all used VRC4.

Konami VRC6 and VRC7 were some incredible chips for Famicom.

VRC7 was so powerful that the soundtrack matched right up there with PC Engine quality music. Only one game ever used the VRC7 chip and that was "Lagrange Point".

Konami of Japan wasn't the only company to have their own mappers.

Namco -N106, many of Namco's Famicom games used these, for instance, take the game Rolling Thunder. First listen to Tengen's NES version, then Namco's Famicom version. BIG difference. Another Namco game with N106 actually imitated the PSG from Dungeon Explorer.

Sunsoft -FME7, only the Japanese version of the rare European NES game "Mr. Gimmick" used this chip. It had a better soundtrack. it's also said "Batman Dynamite" aka "Batman: Revenge of the Joker" used it as well). in fact this is one of the few Famicom games that run in three figures in value.

Nintendo MMC5 (Super Mario Bros 3 took advantage of its chip, and Enix's Famicom RPG Just Breed, which enabled a great soundtrack, and allowed the use of kanji in text which most Famicom games didn't have enough memory for.)

GUTS · 02/28/2006, 02:53 PM

Is that why the ROM of the euro Mr Gimmick sounds like total shit in an emulator? Have they not emulated the chip right yet? Cause the jap version sounds about 1000 times better.

Ninja Spirit · 02/28/2006, 05:04 PM

Yes and no. The reason why the ROM sounds like shit is it's a PAL ROM conflicting with a NTSC based emulator. However, one certain emulator (FCEUltra) has a feature that toggles between NTSC and PAL mode. But once you set it to PAL mode, the music's pitch will be a bit higher than in NTSC format which another reason why PAL NES sucks.

But other than that, yeah FME7 is emulated.

Dark Fact · 02/28/2006, 05:34 PM

Actually, Sunsoft games for the NES used very high quality sound chips. What were the names of those? I only remember playing such games like BATMAN and JOURNEY TO SILIUS and the sound in those games were freaking awesome!

Ninja Spirit · 02/28/2006, 05:47 PM

Could this be the Sunsoft sound you're referring to?
http://media.putfile.com/batmanrj
http://media.putfile.com/journe1

If so, many Sunsoft games had that, Batman: RotJ, Fester's Quest, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Super Spy Hunter/Battle Formula, Hebereke/Uforia, Journey to Silius, I know there's more can't name em all.

rolins · 02/28/2006, 10:30 PM

Quote from: Dark FactActually, Sunsoft games for the NES used very high quality sound chips. What were the names of those? I only remember playing such games like BATMAN and JOURNEY TO SILIUS and the sound in those games were freaking awesome!

Journey to Silius (Raf World on the Famicom) both used MMC1 mapper. The MMC1 mapper had nothing special.

Batman (Nes) used a MMC3 mapper. While the famicom version used a Sunsoft 5 mapper. The Sunsoft 5 is the one with enhanced sound. I'm not sure if this mapper works on a Nes, but I doubt it does since the Nes could not make use of the sound enhancements.

This is because NOA made another stupid move in designing the Nes. The Famicom had 2 pins that allow sound enhancements from games like Akumajou Densetsu. The Nes had these two pins removed and were placed in the bottom expansion port. For reason I have no idea.