3X3 Eyes and the Arcade Card

[Ceti Alpha]

I was just wondering what the difference is between the cut scenes on 3X3 Eyes with the Arcade Card. I've checked out the Youtube video, but that's without the Arcade Card. Anyway, the intro to that game is awesome. The music is so surreal.

[Joe Redifer]

Send me the disc and I will make detailed comparisons for you.

[Nazi NecroPhile]

Just send me the disc. 

[spenoza]

Actually, you can find YouTube videos of the introduction both with and without ACD support. They are indeed quite different.

[Joe Redifer]

Thanks for the links!

[Ceti Alpha]

Thanks for the links!

Haha. Really though.   

Seriously, I found the other one really quick:

http://uk.youtube.com/results?search_query=3X3+eyes+pc+engine&search=Search

Send me the disc and I will make detailed comparisons for you.

Nice. I might have even considered it if I actually had the disc.  It's going for pretty cheap on eBay.

[SignOfZeta]

With the AC the intro has so much animation that it looks like video. Its fucking amazing. It also has so much load time that your PCE looks like a Playstation.

Without the AC the load times is the usual super-quick PCE stuff, but the intros are regular SCD quality.

[Ceti Alpha]

With the AC the intro has so much animation that it looks like video. Its fucking amazing. It also has so much load time that your PCE looks like a Playstation.

Without the AC the load times is the usual super-quick PCE stuff, but the intros are regular SCD quality.

I'm just watching it now and the difference is amazing. 

[Keranu]

Runin will agree with me here that 3x3 Eyes with the Arcade Card has probably the nicest cinemas of any Turbo game. The load time is a real bitch, but it's extremely impressive. And you thought Valis II was mindblowing from what you read in those old magazines!

[CrackTiger]

It looks like the Arcade Card just eliminates the occasional load time in the regular game.

For the first animated cinema before the title screen, it adds some extra animation and eliminates a couple short loads, but there is still a bunch of smooth animation running as a Super CD.

For the cinema after the title screen, it looks like it only eliminates the short loads since its pretty much the same as Super CD mode.

However, before each of these cinemas, you have to wait a very long time for the Arcade Card to preload, probably ten times as long as the combined individual load times you're saving.

When I played through the game a ways for what seemed like hours, it was pretty much all still screens.

The animated cinemas mentioned above have some decent animation, but its not much (if any) better than Lunar EB and Popful Mail on Sega-CD from what I remember. Also, they're heavily dithered and look like a Sega-CD game color-wise. I remember both Lunar EB and Popful Mail looking cleaner overall.

[spenoza]

Joe, I didn't have them bookmarked, and I didn't even remember much about them, just that one of them was harder to find (don't remember which one) and that there was a stark difference. You're all keen googlers. You don't need me holding your hands.

[Joe Redifer]

Yes, I'm afraid we do.

[Keranu]

Joe, I didn't have them bookmarked, and I didn't even remember much about them, just that one of them was harder to find (don't remember which one) and that there was a stark difference. You're all keen googlers. You don't need me holding your hands.

Will you hold my hand and help me cross the street? 

[nat]

You don't need me holding your hands.

My ass needs a wipe.

[CrackTiger]

I don't have time to completely finish this video tonight, but here's the side by side comparison of the two intro cinemas.

Some of the Super CD load pauses were trimmed to keep the videos lined up better.

The Arcade Card adds very little new content (it mostly arranges things different), but the first cinema takes 1 minute and 14.5 seconds to preload using the Arcade Card, while the Super CD cinema is only 23.5 seconds longer (not including the ACD's preload)with its added load pauses.

[MissaFX]

I like all that extra animation.  It reminds me of the digital comics on the PSX, they were full of animated scenes where traditionally single static screens had been used.  I'm glad I have the arcade card.

[Tatsujin]

believe me, everybody who owns one, is glad about

[nat]

I'm not. I want to run over mine with my car and eat the pieces on a sandwich. I'll show that Arcade Card who's boss.

[Tatsujin]

did it something bad to you?

[nat]

Not really.

[Tatsujin]

it allows you to play the uber awesome sapphire! it's made of pure unbelivable magic! respect is due!

[nat]

 

[Ceti Alpha]

I'll adopt your Arcade Card nat.  Are there any papers I need to sign? How big is the waiting list? No doubt there is an endless line of interviews.

Seriously though, once I get my Duo region modded - or at least with the distinct prospect of the Duo getting modded - I'll be getting my hands on an Arcade Card Duo. It's just too awesome not to have one. 

As for 3X3 Eyes, the music seemed to be a little different after the first minute or so into the intro with the Arcade Card. Same melody, but minor changes in the sounds playing the "instruments" - I guess a more realistic sound. I'll have to look at B_T's side by side.

[SignOfZeta]

I think with the ACD all the animation is loaded at once so it can play redbook over the intro. With it running in SCD mode it plays chip tunes to the CD can load data.


...I think...

So that would be another big difference.

Its too bad the game runs almost the same in either mode. If the game looked like the intro...wow...

[Ceti Alpha]

Its too bad the game runs almost the same in either mode. If the game looked like the intro...wow...

Yeah, I don't even know what the actual gameplay looks like.

[SignOfZeta]

Its the same as any other anime digital comic on PCE; Yuna, Nadia, Yawara!, etc.

[CrackTiger]

I think with the ACD all the animation is loaded at once so it can play redbook over the intro. With it running in SCD mode it plays chip tunes to the CD can load data.


...I think...

So that would be another big difference.

Its too bad the game runs almost the same in either mode. If the game looked like the intro...wow...

Yeah, the Super CD cinemas run PSG music so the loads don't seem so intrusive.

[CrackTiger]

I finished the 3 x 3 Eyes ACD/SCD video.

It shows the spitscreen comparison, then cinema 1 ACD, cinema 1 SCD, cinema 2 ACD, cinema 2 SCD.

The fullscreen cinemas are unedited once they begin and show the difference in load times.

[Ceti Alpha]

Awesome! Thanks B_T.  I'm just at work right now, but I'll check when I get home.

[Nazi NecroPhile]

Awesome! Thanks B_T.  I'm just at work right now, but I'll check when I get home.

Ditto.  Much thanks Black Tiger.

[schnuth]

Great video thanks for putting it together.  Are there any other games that utilize the Arcade Card in this way?  Is 3X3 Eyes a good game?  Those intros are pretty kick ass. 

[SignOfZeta]

No game is enhanced as much as 3x3 Eyes is.

[Ceti Alpha]

Yeah, that video was great. I haven't played any of those comic type games so I have no idea what the actual gameplay is like - I have my guesses but...

The intro is awesome though.

[CrackTiger]

Yeah, that video was great. I haven't played any of those comic type games so I have no idea what the actual gameplay is like - I have my guesses but...

The intro is awesome though.

Unfortunately, the game was pretty much all stills for as long as I played it. Very nice art though.

[Keranu]

From the little I played, there were a couple of nice animated sequences during the game (like a baseball part and part with a cockroach or something crawling out of the dude's head). But yeah, mostly just still screens. I might play through it soon.

[Joe Redifer]

So there aren't any action scenes that used the Konami Justifier or the Sega Sports Pad?

[Keranu]

Ask Runin about that, he's the only person I know that has played through it . He has mentioned something about a tricky maze in the game or something.

I really want to get a Sega Sports Pad one day! Did any cool games actually use it though?

[RuninRuder]

3x3 Eyes is a cool comic.  Here's my review of it.

[schnuth]

3x3 Eyes is a cool comic.  Here's my review of it.

Awesome review, I must had missed this one.  I just picked up a copy from eBay for $7 so now I'm even more excited to play through it.   

[Ceti Alpha]

Nice review runin.  I'm not sure if I'll like the digital comic thing or not, but this game will definitely be a purchase - especially if you can get it for $7 smackaroonies.

[OceanBlueKirby]

I finished the 3 x 3 Eyes ACD/SCD video.

It shows the spitscreen comparison, then cinema 1 ACD, cinema 1 SCD, cinema 2 ACD, cinema 2 SCD.

The fullscreen cinemas are unedited once they begin and show the difference in load times.

I cannot view the comparision since Windows Media Player is having some difficulty connecting to the Internet at the moment. Boo .

I may be asking much for this, but do you think you could put this up on YouTube so that I may be able to see it? From the responses from the other users, it sound like yet another one of your great works and is worth seeing. I would greatly appreciate it, SuperPCEngineGrafx.

[Ceti Alpha]

I cannot view the comparision since Windows Media Player is having some difficulty connecting to the Internet at the moment. Boo Sad.

Download divx and play it through that. Avoid WMP at all cost. The video quality sucks on WMP, along with countless other issues. VLC is also a really good player.

https://divx.com/en/software/divx/

[OceanBlueKirby]

I cannot view the comparision since Windows Media Player is having some difficulty connecting to the Internet at the moment. Boo Sad.

Download divx and play it through that. Avoid WMP at all cost. The video quality sucks on WMP, along with countless other issues. VLC is also a really good player.

https://divx.com/en/software/divx/

Thanks, but I'm just fine with Windows Media Player. I don't wish to fill my hard drive with any more programs since I want plenty of room on it for the videos that I make. I'm sure, in time, this problem will be resolved.

[Keranu]

I highly recommend installing VLC sometime, Kirby. It comes loaded with practically every video codec so you can easily watch any video you see. I don't think it's that large either, certainly smaller than WMP.

[SignOfZeta]

What kind of computer do you have? Divx is like 5MB or something. Thats like one millionth of your average modern hard drive.

I'm all for standards. I hate it when people post shit in ogg format or something, but Divx pretty much is the standard for %99 of what I play. If you download the codec WMP will play it seamlessly...well, I shouldn't say that since its probably giving MS too much credit. Its supposed to work that way though, and usually does. It does the same thing for Quicktime if one is running OSX.

He could put it on Youtube, and probably should, but Youtube will really screw up the quality of the video which is kind of too heavily matted anyway (IMHO).

BTW, do you also use Internet Explorer? Statistically most of the people online do, and I'm trying to find out who these people are because I know almost none of them.

And...do you drive a Ford, Chrysler or GM product that isn't a work truck or a sports car?

I have all these ideas for non-fiction books yet I never end up writing them...

[Ceti Alpha]

BTW, do you also use Internet Explorer? Statistically most of the people online do, and I'm trying to find out who these people are because I know almost none of them.

My manager at work uses IE, but he also has Vista so he probably didn't even want to bother getting past the security features on Vista. Vista won't even let you download and install Firefox.  And then there's people I know that just refuse to use Firefox for some reason. They'll even lie or make excuses that Firefox won't let them go to certain pages. I don't know what sites they were trying to go to, but I've never had that problem in Firefox. Even if that problem ever arose all you have to do is press the IE button on Firefox to switch and voila, problem solved.

How people can use IE at this point in the game is beyond me. Why you would choose to be inundated by banner ads and pop ups is beyond me - not to mention the countless other features Firefox offers. I laugh when I see people with IE and a slew of toolbars with pop up swatters and other worthless junk. 

[OceanBlueKirby]

What kind of computer do you have? Divx is like 5MB or something. Thats like one millionth of your average modern hard drive.

I'm all for standards. I hate it when people post shit in ogg format or something, but Divx pretty much is the standard for %99 of what I play. If you download the codec WMP will play it seamlessly...well, I shouldn't say that since its probably giving MS too much credit. Its supposed to work that way though, and usually does. It does the same thing for Quicktime if one is running OSX.

He could put it on Youtube, and probably should, but Youtube will really screw up the quality of the video which is kind of too heavily matted anyway (IMHO).

BTW, do you also use Internet Explorer? Statistically most of the people online do, and I'm trying to find out who these people are because I know almost none of them.

And...do you drive a Ford, Chrysler or GM product that isn't a work truck or a sports car?

I have all these ideas for non-fiction books yet I never end up writing them...

I have a Gateway 560GE that was bought in August 2005. I know I have around 179 GB on my  hard drive, but I want to have as few programs as possible. It's especially incovienient if I have two or more programs that do similar aspects.

Essentially, I do use Microsoft Internet Explorer (7.0, to be more percise), but to connect to the Internet with, I use AOL 9.0 VR. It seems that I use both at the same time.

I don't exactly drive yet, as I only have my permit. Within a few months, I should be able to get my driver's license. If I were to get a type of car, it would probably be one that was manufactured in Japan, such as a Toyota.

[OceanBlueKirby]

I've managed to deal with the problem! All I needed to do was to log onto another username (this computer is shared by others). As I am not the Administrator, Internet connectivity issues such as this can occasionally arise.

Another one of your great works, SuperPCEngineGrafx. The Arcade Card version was almost much faster, mostly due to the ending having an extra scene in it. I've also noticed that some of the scenes were switched around between the two versions. It's interesting, too, that the Arcade Card version was using more advanced sound than the Super CD version, which could indicate that the Super CD-ROM was using the ADPCM format of sound. I felt that the "One Minute Later" intermission were a bit unfitting, though. They may be better without any, or different, music. A very interesting intro, nonetheless.

I still look forward to seeing this on YouTube. That is, if he wants to put it up there .

[SignOfZeta]

Essentially, I do use Microsoft Internet Explorer (7.0, to be more percise), but to connect to the Internet with, I use AOL 9.0 VR. It seems that I use both at the same time.

OK, I get it now.

I don't exactly drive yet, as I only have my permit. Within a few months, I should be able to get my driver's license. If I were to get a type of car, it would probably be one that was manufactured in Japan, such as a Toyota.

Well, when I was your age "Japanese" cars were actually made in Japan. Nowadays though...not very often. Almost all Hondas and Toyotas that are sold in North America are made in North America. Currently the only Hondas that are made in Japan but sold in the US are the S2000, Fit, Civic Hybrid, and some CR-Vs. By now CR-V production for NA might be all NA. Not sure. Some Acura's might be JP made, but not the ones that are re-badges (MDX, CTX) because those aren't even sold in Japan.

BTW, in this day and age my advice is to learn to drive, very well, but don't actually drive if you can avoid it. If you live in a city with good mass transit, use that. Cars are an expensive pain in the ass that waste your money, kill the planet, and possibly you also.

If I could I'd just drive a sports car on the weekend and take a bus to work. Most of the US can't though because mass transit is either Communist or gay, I'm not sure which. Maybe both.

[Ceti Alpha]

It's pretty much the same with Volkswagen. If you want a German built VW you have to buy a Passat, though I'm not sure aboot the new GTI.  The new GTI is teh awesome.