FM Towns Marty

[COUNT SMRIFNACK]

So I finally got a FM Towns Marty.  I had never played one before or seen one in person.  But I had to have one for....

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It is a cool as console, I only wish I could read the menus for it.  The game menu stuff is in english but the system itself seems to have alot of stuff in it, which I don't have a clue what it is.  I did manage to set the clock in it

O.k.  So any self respecting Splatterhouse fan has to get one of these.  I played it for the first time today on the Marty at lunch, and it fucking took me back to 1989 when I played it at our local skating ring/arcade.  This game is so much different than even the PC Engine version, which is great itself.  I can't stop playing it!!

So now, on to the porn.  I have read that there were tons of anime porn put out for the Marty.  So why can't I find any?  Hell, regular games are hard enough to find, but I haven't seen any that are to be considered "dirty" for sale.  WTF?

Anyway, I'm glad I shelled out the money for this system, it has already been worth it.  If anyone here has any FM Towns links or info to contribute, please do.  I can't find a whole lot of web sites with much on this system. 

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Looks kinda like an oversized Duo R

[nectarsis]

  Congrats count.  Looks like you'll be having a lot of fun with it (once you even more games  ).

[COUNT SMRIFNACK]

Yeah, I really don't plan on collecting games for it like the TG/PC Engine though.  They are way overpriced it seems   The guy sent me a stack of CDRs with it but I ain't gonna play them in the Marty.  I'll only check them out with the UNZ emmulator.  For me the price of the system was worth it just for Splatterhouse. 

Oh yeah, the guy also sent me a loose (actual disc not cdr) Raiden Densetsu, which is a vert. scrolling shooter, which isn't too bad.  And this game...

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I don't know what it is cause I can't read Japanese and it won't play cause the disk drive belt is busted.

Oh yeah, so if anyone knows where to get disk drive belts for the Marty, please let me know.  Otherwise I'm gonna try to find a rubber band that fits accordingly

[WoodyXP]

Word life.  Splatterhouse for the Marty is uber pimp.

[Tatsujin]

very very ve~~ry nice bro. btw. how much did you pay for the splatter house?
as for the menues, do some screenies and post them in here

[COUNT SMRIFNACK]

I got Splatterhouse for $60, but it was loose.  I just couldn't see paying for a complete Splatterhouse, what I paid for a loose one and the Marty system together.

I will try and take some photos of the menu screen that don't look like the first one here this weekend.  Thanks for the offer to help btw.

[geepee16]

nice catch.  the marty is a bitch to collect for.  splatterhouse and viewpoint are two of my faves.  i don't even see a lot of games for it here in japan that much.  they are expensive but the neo geo pricier so there is a limit.  let me know if there is anything in particular yo uare looking for. enjoy

[guyjin]

And this game...
dsc0010uh7.jpg
I don't know what it is cause I can't read Japanese and it won't play cause the disk drive belt is busted.

I believe that is one of the Nobunaga's ambition games. I can't really read japanese, but two of the kanji match his name.

they're very text heavy, so you probably wouldn't be able to play it even if the drive belt worked. 

Despite that, it's an awesome setup. I'm jealous.

[COUNT SMRIFNACK]

Good tip Guyjin!  It appears the game is Nobunaga's Ambition/ Nobunaga no Yabou.  Now if I could only trade it for some porn

[Ceti Alpha]

Nice Count!! Nice pic of your console collection too. Very purdy. 

[Nazi NecroPhile]

That's a sexy looking Marty there, Count. 

Oh yeah, so if anyone knows where to get disk drive belts for the Marty, please let me know.  Otherwise I'm gonna try to find a rubber band that fits accordingly

Rubber bands are usually too stretchy to maintain enough pressure to spin a floppy drive.  I suggest that you figure out the size, then try to get a turntable belt.  You should be able to find one in the same size or even a slightly smaller belt that can be stretched to work.  If all else fails, a few peeps have had some luck using o-rings, though the size has to be almost exact, as they won't stretch much.

[COUNT SMRIFNACK]

O-rings, I hadn't thought of that.  Good input, thanks

[COUNT SMRIFNACK]

OK Tat here goes....

This is the main menu in the system itself.

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These two (piece them together) are of the menu that appears when you select "exit t-menu" on Splatterhouse's main screen.

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This is what comes up when you select the "yeah!" icon.  What's going on here?

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Thanks in advance for any translations Tat!

[jboypacman]

Sweet! Congrats on the system i just got to play one at the Midwest Gaming Classic this year and i thought it was great.

It made me so want to get one but i just dont have the cash for one at this time.

[rolins]

The Marty is a sweet console. I wish I had the money to get one, saint nick knows it been on my xmas list like forever.

Yeah, there are plenty of hentai games but I don't remember playing them much. Two pops into mind though, one was Viper V10 and the other (i can't remember the name) actually is a porn diary game with live actors but its censored. I'll check my backups and see if I can find of that name.

[Alt-Nintega]

What good games are on this console? The only other good games I know of are Rayxanber 1 and the port of Truxton II.

BTW how much you got that Marty for?! I bet that costed you your rent and bills.

[esteban]

Hey Smrifnack, there used to be a few of FM-Marty folks at the forums over here. What stinks is that the forum has changed several times over the years and I think we lost a lot (all) of the old threads (they had a lot of good info in them). I could be wrong, but I was trying to find some old stuff and it was no longer there.

I too, think the Marty is worth it for a handful of games.

How is the music in Splatterhouse? Any chance you could record it for us (I don't mind an analog recording)?

I feel like I've asked someone to do this before... rolins, was it you?

[COUNT SMRIFNACK]

I paid $250 for the Marty, all the cables, two controllers and the two games I previously posted.

The music and sound effects are great in comparison to the TG/PC Engine version.  My favorite is the sound effect the meat cleaver makes when chopping an enemy. I can't describe it other than a "ttthhhwwaapp" sound, but it's the coolest.

I'm at a loss on how to post any sound recordings, give me some ideas and I'll try my best for you.

[Alt-Nintega]

I paid $250 for the Marty, all the cables, two controllers and the two games I previously posted.

The music and sound effects are great in comparison to the TG/PC Engine version.  My favorite is the sound effect the meat cleaver makes when chopping an enemy. I can't describe it other than a "ttthhhwwaapp" sound, but it's the coolest.

I'm at a loss on how to post any sound recordings, give me some ideas and I'll try my best for you.

Wow but you are really lucky for getting that version of Splatterhouse for $60. How did you get it for that impossible price? 

[rolins]

What good games are on this console?

I know most of the arcade ports. Mahou Daisakusen, Kyukyoku Tiger, Samurai Spirits, Operation Wolf, Outrun Turbo, Viewpoint. My fav is Image Fight and Tatsujin II. Mahou Daisakusen would be first on my list but it's no compatible with the Marty. You can also find a bunch of falcom RPGs, enhanced scumm games, and plenty of Amiga ports too.

Hey Smrifnack, there used to be a few of FM-Marty folks at the forums over here. What stinks is that the forum has changed several times over the years and I think we lost a lot (all) of the old threads (they had a lot of good info in them). I could be wrong, but I was trying to find some old stuff and it was no longer there.

I too, think the Marty is worth it for a handful of games.

How is the music in Splatterhouse? Any chance you could record it for us (I don't mind an analog recording)?

I feel like I've asked someone to do this before... rolins, was it you?

Yeah, I did post some recordings of the Splatterhouse's cd audio a while back but the links are expired now. I can't retrieve them anymore.
If you played through the arcade and then the FMT port you'll notice small differences in the music. I have a hard time explaining it but in some ways the FMT's music sounded more clearer and more upbeat but still doesn't beat the arcade though. The boss theme in the church was my absolute favorite.

[nectarsis]

See..didn't cost him all his rent, and bills.  As for an impossible price, like MANY have told you time, and time, and time again, patience, and a good eye leads to deals. 

Count...let us know when/if you find a suitable alternative to getting the cd drive fixed . 

[geepee16]

the thing that has kept me out of the marty market (i do have some games) is the huge question mark over incompatibility issue.  i guess now that my japanese is much better, i should try again. the games are pricey but you can find some deals o nthe right days.  i totally agree on the patience thing.

[COUNT SMRIFNACK]

Splatterhouse for $60. How?

I bought it loose.

[Tatsujin]

yeah, Mahou Daisakusen runs on the FM Towns II home PC only. and turbo outrun is the biggest disapointment of ever..lol

[COUNT SMRIFNACK]

WOW!

It is apparent that Marty's suffer from bad capacitors like the Duo's .....
After a couple hours of play time this morning, I decided to take the Marty apart and remove the disk drive to try and see about what size the drive belt is.  Easy enough.  The disk drive unit is all one piece.....

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I took it out and unplugged the ribbon cable connected to it, put the console back together (which so far only involved 5 screw).

I plugged the Marty back up and turned it on to see if it would function properly without the drive.  All hell broke loose at this point.  The audio was all fucked up.  Loud pops, static, noise, even when there was supposed to be no audio.  I figured it was because of the disk drive being removed, so I re-installed it.  No fix.  Still really bad sound problems.
The only game system I've ever had sound issues with is a Gamegear.  It acted similarly to this, and was fixed by replacing some audio caps.

Well I have no online resources for help fixing this (like we have here for TG/PC Engine problems) so I jumped in.  I took it completely apart down to the pcb.  I looked around for any obviously leaky caps and found one lone cap sitting by itself....leaking.  I removed it and cleaned the pcb underneath it, which had quite a bit of the leaked fluid on it.  I put the system back together without the the cap, to see if the cap itself was audio related.  The sound worked perfectly without it.  So I am under the assumption that maybe the problem was the fluid making contact on the board beneath it, there were  other traces running below the cap in fact.  So I replaced the cap with a very close rated one (470uf 10v to-a 470uf 16v) and put it back together again.  All's well so far.  I threw this in while I was there.....

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That led was green

[esteban]

Yeah, I did post some recordings of the Splatterhouse's cd audio a while back but the links are expired now. I can't retrieve them anymore.
If you played through the arcade and then the FMT port you'll notice small differences in the music. I have a hard time explaining it but in some ways the FMT's music sounded more clearer and more upbeat but still doesn't beat the arcade though. The boss theme in the church was my absolute favorite.

I must have saved that stuff somewhere. I must also have the arcade songs that someone compiled here... digi.k?

Why do i remember totally random crap like this, but not big stuff...

[nectarsis]

Nice fix COUNT, now you just need the belt fixed, and she'll run like a champ.

[Nazi NecroPhile]

Well done on the repair, Count.  I suppose the leak shouldn't be much of a surprise, considering that your Marty is about the same age as Duo.  Maybe they sourced their crappy caps from the same company as NEC.

[Turbo D]

Thats a nice Marty, I am jealouse  I will someday own one!

[Keranu]

Why do i remember totally random crap like this, but not big stuff...

This happens to me all the time. Hey remember that time you sent me a couple of Altered Beast PCE CD tracks while talking on MSN? 

[esteban]

Why do i remember totally random crap like this, but not big stuff...

This happens to me all the time. Hey remember that time you sent me a couple of Altered Beast PCE CD tracks while talking on MSN? 

Hahhahahahahaa. That's too funny. I forgot about that.

I think you were drawing some graphics for something?

Also, I think I showed you the new magazine website about... 2-3 years before everyone. There were only a few people I showed it too, and I only showed it when I thought I was "nearly finished" working on it. Ha!

[geepee16]

i jsut had a very intersting marty experience:  my last student - it turns out - worked for fujitsu as a salesman and he was in the division responsible for the marty machines!  we just happened to be talking about his work experience and i was the one who wound up getting an education.  he was shocked i knew anything about the unit.  i should probably run this over to the wikipedia entry people.  basically he said that it wasn't intended to be a game machine until  much later and that , even then, fujitsu had problems shedding their children's pc image (many of their pc sales were to schools and young students) while nec had the adult and business market.  nec basically had taken a huge chunk out of the game market when it launched the pc engine and was well-established before the marty ever did anything significant.  ultimately, the company considered all incarnations of the marty a failure and my student went on to greener pastures shortly thereafter.

somwhat off-topic but still relevant i guess. more later

[esteban]

i jsut had a very intersting marty experience:  my last student - it turns out - worked for fujitsu as a salesman and he was in the division responsible for the marty machines!  we just happened to be talking about his work experience and i was the one who wound up getting an education.  he was shocked i knew anything about the unit.  i should probably run this over to the wikipedia entry people.  basically he said that it wasn't intended to be a game machine until  much later and that , even then, fujitsu had problems shedding their children's pc image (many of their pc sales were to schools and young students) while nec had the adult and business market.  nec basically had taken a huge chunk out of the game market when it launched the pc engine and was well-established before the marty ever did anything significant.  ultimately, the company considered all incarnations of the marty a failure and my student went on to greener pastures shortly thereafter.

somwhat off-topic but still relevant i guess. more later

That is very interesting. I always thought that Marty was "just another competitor" in a crowded field, but to learn that they had the stigma of "kiddie computer" working against them paints a fuller picture.

[Rainbow_Bright]

The marty looks beautiful congrats! I've also been interested in one of these for a while, but I'm not sure how many good games there are for it (the anime porn doesn't interest me).

[geepee16]

actually, there are quite a few good games for it though, as has been stated, they are really pricey.  some of them can easily be found on the pc engine but still, it's worth getting if you have the funds and the desire to play some of the best versions of classic games of the late 80s early 90s.