Old VHS Turbo-grafx promo tape

[Zeon]

I was reading over on this topic here
https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=1428
and it reminded that still have an old vhs tape from I got in the mail years ago back in the turbo grafx's heyday. I'm assuming it came from TZD or TTI inc. It showed many of the current games and some of the new games to come out (Neutopia and Shadow of the Beast come to mind).

I don't know if it still works and I haven't watched it in years, but my question is, does anyone else have anything similiar to this and if so what would it be worth? Not that I would ever sell it, I'm just curious.

I'd love to share it if it's not elsewhere on the net, but I don't have the means at the moment, and I haven't tested it yet to see if it works at all.

[Nanashi]

Ah a promo tape... I've only gotten one in my life (of course, I was born in 1990 so I lived through very little of the VHS era), the Pokemon tape (which sucked)...anyway, try and post the video online...i'm curious...

[Keranu]

Holy crap, you were born in 1990!? And I thought I was the youngest PCE gamer here being born in December 1987! Congratz, man.

[Zeon]

I am just as amazed as Keranu is; I was born January 1987 and was basically raised on the tg-16 (which my family later traded in to TZD for a Turbo Duo), but 1990? and a PCE Gamer?!?!

Nanashi I bow to you.

Man all this thinking back is really making me want to bust out with my Duo and play some good old PCE. But alas, I am living in a apartment at college, and my Duo and games are at home...

I will try to up the video for all to see, but it won't be until at least this summer, when I go home again, and only if I remember to do it.

Rest assured; however, that I will try my best to make it happen.

[OldRover]

You all make me feel so old.








































j/k    

[Keranu]

I am just as amazed as Keranu is; I was born January 1987 and was basically raised on the tg-16 (which my family later traded in to TZD for a Turbo Duo), but 1990? and a PCE Gamer?!?!

Well another '87er! Nice to meet 'ya! '87 sure was a rad year, wasn't it?

[TurboXray]

87!?! Wow, move over chinese astrological signs - you guys are the year of the PC-Engine!  But 1990? You were 2yrs old when the Duo hit the US.. that's a trip.

[Keranu]

The cool thing about 1990 was that it was the year of the Turbo Grafx 16 CD-ROM system .

[Zeon]

Yeah and I was two years old when my brother got a turbo grafx for a christmas present in 1989 (he was 7). No Nintendo for us, straight to turbo. Not that I'm complaining. We still have the VHS tape of him opening it on Christmas morning.

He was expecting a nes, boy was he surprised when he opened the thing that would entertain us and occupy almost all of our free time years to come.

Oh yeah and nice to meet you too Keranu. 1987 was a rad year, it's a pity I was too young to remember any of it. The earliest memory of my life I can recall at the moment is watching my brother and dad play Keith Courage then other early games like Fantasy Zone and Alien Crush, back when I was, like, 3 years old.

Man those were the days...

[esteban]

You all make me feel so old.
...
j/k    

Ditto, except I'm not kidding .

[Keranu]

I grew up with NES (though my older brothers were first growing up with Atari 5200) until Christmas of 1990 when we got a Genesis, which totally ruled. We still played our NES until it broke, but Genesis was the main road of gaming for about seven years to come.

[Zeon]

The genesis was the second system my brother came to own, I didn't like it as much as he did, but I have to admit that I absolutely love Shining Force I & II.

I think after that he got a Sega CD AND a 32X for his birthday one year. Later he got a game gear. Somewhere along the line we traded our Turbo Grafx for a Turbo Duo via TZD's upgrade offer years back, and bought some awesome cd games, such as Dungeon Explorer II, Ys I & II, Ys III, Beyond Shadowgate, Dynastic Hero (does the domestic version of this game really go for $500+ on ebay?), Bonk III, Dragon Slayer, Neo Nectaris, and some other pretty fun games like Might & Magic III, Loom, Splash Lake, and a few pretty bad games including Lords of the Rising Sun and Sim Earth. Opps.. didn't mean to make this into a list of cd games I own for the Duo.

Actually, I didn't own an nes until I was given one in 6th grade when the playstation, n64, and to a much lesser extent, the saturn, were the thing. Ironically the nes, not the PCE, is what ignited my obsession of collecting video games and interest in video game history. Part of it may have to do with the availability of cheap good nes games, the fact that the "nes scene" was in full swing online, and the extreme rarity of pce games (and lack of people and places that have pce stuff for sale, barring online stores).

I remember not being able to buy PCE games from places like Funcoland.. when the system was still in production and new games were still being made in the U.S.!!! Eventually the only place to buy from was TZD and luckily they were, and still are, a good, honest, and reliable company.

One funny side effect of getting exposed to Nintendo so much later than the PCE is that when I saw the original Zelda (my first time seeing any Zelda game) for the first time in an emulator, I watched my friend play it in amazement and bewilderment as I exclaimed, "That's a rip off of Neutopia!"

Wow I sure do rant a lot. Sorry 'bout that.

BTW Keranu, I am curious, when and how did you first hear of the PCE and what ignited your interest in it?

[Keranu]

Holy shit, do you still have all those Duo games? If so, you have a fortune in your hands!

I've always heard of the Turbo Grafx 16 and Turbo Duo growing up, but never knew what it was and never actually saw one. When I was in sixth grade in the year 1999/2000, I decided to download a TG16 emulator, which was back when Magic Engine wasn't so hot . I only downloaded and played two games: Bonk's Adventure and Neutopia, both games which I thought were really fun and great! Sadly, I didn't play them much due to emulation problems. Strike one.

The next year, I wanted to get into the Turbo Grafx 16 scene again, because I had watched "The Making of Lunar" video disc that came with Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete for Playstation and it showed clips of all these other Working Design games that I was greatly intriuged by, but then one that interested me the most was this game called "Cosmic Fantasy 2" . So I downloaded Magic Engine again and tried very hard to find a download for Cosmic Fantasy 2, but I had no look because I had no idea how to search for CD games and I always thought it was a cartridge game back then. So once again, I gave up on TG16. This makes strike two.

It's now about two years later and I'm up to bat still with two strikes, so I still have one good strike left before I'm out. I was commonly posting on this arcade emulation and video game message board called "Geoshock", and I met some cool online people to talk to there. Two of them (one who I later met in real life and became good friends with) were Duo fans and kept saying how much it ruled, so it encouraged my enthusiasm for the TG16 scene again. Since I actually had some help this time with these two online mates, I was able to get into the scene a lot better and I started downloading various HuCard games immediately, specificly some Japanese ones like Bomberman '94, Bubble Gum Crash, and Bonk 3.

I was totally digging this system now but I was still curious about CD games. So I got some help on how to run them and immediately I was downloading this game called "Dracula X", which I had no idea what it was really, I just thought it had a cool name. I was going to download Ys Book I & II first but I asked my brother which one I should download first, and he said Dracula X because we both thought it sounded cooler . I downloaded Dracula X and needless to say, I thought it was great. Now I had heard great things about Ys Book I & II, yet I had NO idea what it was about and from the info I was able to gather, I thought it was some kind of detective game . When it was done downloading, I played it and to sum it up, that game changed my life in the video gaming world forever . I had hit the home run.

From there own I was being a dirty pirate and downloading more and more games and enjoying them so much. Most of my gaming was going into those games and I loved every bit of them. When I was 16 and able to get a job, I was finally able to buy all these games I loved since I said I  wouldn't be such a pirate if I had money.

Those were the days .

[Zeon]

Yep, I still have all of my Duo and tg-16 games, and I never plan on selling any of it. One I forgot to mention was the 3 in one cd pack in (4 in one if you count the hiden bomberman game) that came with the duo. I would have bought more back in the day had I known how expensive, and consequently, hard to obtain these games were going to get.

You thought Ys Book I & II was a detective game?   I find that hilarious, yet with a name like Ys the game could be anything.

I'm glad you finally did hit a home run, because you would have really missed out on a great system and some really great and innovative games. It's too bad the majority of the world is missing out, most haven't even heard of the PCE (at least those of us outside of Japan),  even some who were born before its time, and those who have usually write it off as "just another quirky system that failed and consequently must have failed for a good reason."

Hopefully PCE games being included in the Revolution's download service will raise awareness for this underappreciated system and counteract the misconception of it.

Man, if only TTi had better marketing strategies, they could still be in the console market today. Think of all the other great games they could have come out with (looking on a list of 100's of games planned to be ported to or developed for the U.S. makes me want to cry). I will never keep wondering what Neutopia III would have been like.

Keranu, I hear you and the people at Frozen Utopia are working to remedy that (I am not mistaken am I?). I really wish you all the best of luck in realizing the creation and completion of it as well as Mysterious Song and any other games you are all are working on. They all sound kick ass.

I really appreciate the fact that you all at Frozen Utopia are dedicated enough to take on such massive undertakings as creating new and porting existing games for this great system. I know it is not easy work especially if you go to school, have a job, family, friends, or basically have a life, and I get scared enough at the prospect of thinking about the amount of work that goes into making a game, let alone actually doing it. I will patiently wait for the day when we all may reap the fruits of your and the rest of Frozen Utopia's labor. Even if no game is finished I will still be happy knowing that you all at least made an effort.

Dang it, I'm ranting again! Oh well, I'm sure no one really minds.

[Keranu]

Thanks for the kind words. All of us at Frozen Utopia have had lots of busy an d trouble real life moments which have lacked us from work, but we haven't gave up and two games are close to completion, and Neutopia III with a very long way to go. It's very nice to know how patient you are and we hope to match your expectations . I myself am proud of the work we have done so far and I honestly do think our stuff looks professional. Don't forget about MindRec, the original indie PCE developers . There latest projects look amazing and I am eagirly aniticpating their releases, most especially PC Gunjin. The PCE scene has never received so much love before.

[ShadowStitch]

Hahaha, you're all a bunch of tadpoles!

I was born in 1978, and I grew up with the 2600 and NES... I remember going to the electronics store up the street when I was about 8 years old, and MARVELLING at Legendary Axe 2 and Bonk's Adventure. I bought one when they were still like 200$, and they came with Bonk's Adventure free. ;) One controller, RF only, you gotta buy a Turbobooster if you want RCA video! Haha!

I got those same print ads in the mail offering the 299.99 Duo, telling me how I could use it as a 4x CD-rom for my PC... and man, I still have TWO different VHS tapes that were basically half-hour long commercials for the Turboduo... Maybe I should encode em and post em online for nostalgia's sake!

[T2KFreeker]

Hahaha, you're all a bunch of tadpoles!

I was born in 1978, and I grew up with the 2600 and NES... I remember going to the electronics store up the street when I was about 8 years old, and MARVELLING at Legendary Axe 2 and Bonk's Adventure. I bought one when they were still like 200$, and they came with Bonk's Adventure free. ;) One controller, RF only, you gotta buy a Turbobooster if you want RCA video! Haha!

I got those same print ads in the mail offering the 299.99 Duo, telling me how I could use it as a 4x CD-rom for my PC... and man, I still have TWO different VHS tapes that were basically half-hour long commercials for the Turboduo... Maybe I should encode em and post em online for nostalgia's sake!

Well, I can say that I am not a tadpole as I was born in 76, so I too grew up during the golden age of the console market! I still would love a copy of those tapes. That would just be bad ass!

[dj898]

tadpole huh?
I was told men went to moon when I was born... heh

[ShadowStitch]

Hahaha...well, you know...compared to the kiddies born in 1987... ;)

I guess that simile makes you guys...um...frog eggs?

[esteban]

tadpole huh?
I was told men went to moon when I was born... heh

Yay! I'm not the oldest person here

[TurboXray]

was born in 1978, and I grew up with the 2600 and NES... I remember going to the electronics store up the street when I was about 8 years old, and MARVELLING at Legendary Axe 2 and Bonk's Adventure.

That math doesn't added up, are you sure you were 8 ?      

 I was born in '76 as well and I got my first turbo in '90 when I was a freshman in highschool. I do remember Pac-Man and Donkey Kong when they were new arcade games. My first sysem/computer was  a 64k CoCo, when I was 8yrs old  

[T2KFreeker]

was born in 1978, and I grew up with the 2600 and NES... I remember going to the electronics store up the street when I was about 8 years old, and MARVELLING at Legendary Axe 2 and Bonk's Adventure.

That math doesn't added up, are you sure you were 8 ?      

 I was born in '76 as well and I got my first turbo in '90 when I was a freshman in highschool. I do remember Pac-Man and Donkey Kong when they were new arcade games. My first sysem/computer was  a 64k CoCo, when I was 8yrs old  

Yeah, I can acyually agree with all that you said, except my first system was an Atari 2600, so yeah, the days of gaming have comer a long way, but my Turbo is still my favorite system of all time.

[akamichi]

Man, after reading all these "back in the day" stories, I'm starting to remember my own! In my early years, I played the Atari 2600, Intellivision, and Odessey 2 a lot.  I never owned any of them, but my friends did.  My first console was Colecovision.  I loved that thing.  Managed to get a few games for it and my brother knew some people that had pretty much everything that Coleco put out.  Got to borrow a lot of stuff I never would have been able to play, let alone buy.  Eventually the Colecovision stopped working, but by that time the market already crashed.  Nobody was really into consoles until NES came out like a year or so later.

It wasn't until Christmas '86 - early '87 that NES was starting to pick up steam.  Got it that Xmas... seemed like everybody did.  Then in June '87, I moved to Japan.  Ironically, I had no access to NES stuff for a long time.  That's when I was forced (oh the pain! ) to check out the Japanese game scene.  Of course I learned about Famicon and Sega Mk III.   When I started school that year, that's pretty much when I found out about the PCE coming out only a month or two later.  And the rest is history.

[T2KFreeker]

Man, after reading all these "back in the day" stories, I'm starting to remember my own! In my early years, I played the Atari 2600, Intellivision, and Odessey 2 a lot.  I never owned any of them, but my friends did.  My first console was Colecovision.  I loved that thing.  Managed to get a few games for it and my brother knew some people that had pretty much everything that Coleco put out.  Got to borrow a lot of stuff I never would have been able to play, let alone buy.  Eventually the Colecovision stopped working, but by that time the market already crashed.  Nobody was really into consoles until NES came out like a year or so later.

It wasn't until Christmas '86 - early '87 that NES was starting to pick up steam.  Got it that Xmas... seemed like everybody did.  Then in June '87, I moved to Japan.  Ironically, I had no access to NES stuff for a long time.  That's when I was forced (oh the pain! ) to check out the Japanese game scene.  Of course I learned about Famicon and Sega Mk III.   When I started school that year, that's pretty much when I found out about the PCE coming out only a month or two later.  And the rest is history.

Hey man, that's cool. At least you got to see the PC Engine in it's original release, I wish more Americans had. I fell in love with the Turbo Grafx-16 the minute I saw it. I had no idea about import games at the time though as I was a kid, but man, I thought that it was cool. I wanted one so bad, but didn't get one until a few years later and was laughed at because Sonic had just releassed that Christmas season. Didn't bother me too bad though as I had my TG, Keith Courage, Cyber Core, and Splatter House to keep me company. I was happy, and it only went up from there!

[ShadowStitch]

was born in 1978, and I grew up with the 2600 and NES... I remember going to the electronics store up the street when I was about 8 years old, and MARVELLING at Legendary Axe 2 and Bonk's Adventure.

That math doesn't added up, are you sure you were 8 ?      

Haha, you're right. Grossly incorrect.
This is likely why I ended up as a graphic design major. ;)

[NFERNO1]

Well I may be the oldest gamer here. I was born in 1968 (yes, 1968). I still have my earliest systems, the Odyssey 2, and the 2600 both, as well as just about every system thats come out since then. This post was originally about a VHS promo video for TG16, and I think hes talking about a different one than the one I have. The summer before the TG was released, I went to the State Fair of Texas and NEC had a tent set up there displaying the upcoming system. I played some of the launch games, and filled out a card for a promo video, and some coupons and stickers that they were going to mail to me. I was sent everything twice, for some reason, so I have two of these promo videos, talking about the features of the upcoming TG16, the games, and even some of the imports that could come over to the US in the future. One of them I have watched, and the other I've never even taken out of the shrinkwrap. Its just a plain black video with an orange label in a black sleeve. Did anyone else get one of these?

[TR0N]

Hahaha, you're all a bunch of tadpoles!

I doubt it i was born in 72 so i've seen it all myself.

I remember when i got the promo tape from, TTI in the mail still i never did keep it though  

[PC Gaijin]

Thirty-something gamers unite! I try to refrain from commenting on younger gamers since...there's always someone older who thinks you are the young'un that doesn't remember the good ol' days. For example, I recently discovered my brother-in-law (who is around 43) had an Odyssey when he was a kid. Not the Odyssey 2, the original one that came out in 72. The very first home console, predating Pong, Atari, and everything else. Certainly made me feel a bit less ancient. Sheesh, it's the only console I can think of that came out before I was born (just barely).

Somewhat off-topic, who is the oldest gamer you've ever met? I remember my aunt playing Super Mario Bros. back in the 80s, when she was in her fifties, but that was an exception. The manager at my first job out of college (back in the mid-90s) was a hardcore flight-sim enthusiast. He was around 45 at the time. I remember going over to his house for a company gathering during the Super Bowl and how proud he was was of his monster 486 rig and crazy joystick setup that he used for the flight sims.

Of course, now that I'm in my thirties, I've got a few friends pushing forty that still play games. They're all the Xbox-owning Joe Sixpack mainstream types that "hardcore gamers" tend to sneer at. Funny thing is they seem to enjoy games a lot more than most people I've ever run across on game forums.

[Joe Redifer]

I haven't read this entire thread.

I have some form of TTI video tape.  Does anyone care?

[Keranu]

The summer before the TG was released, I went to the State Fair of Texas and NEC had a tent set up there displaying the upcoming system. I played some of the launch games, and filled out a card for a promo video, and some coupons and stickers that they were going to mail to me. I was sent everything twice, for some reason, so I have two of these promo videos, talking about the features of the upcoming TG16, the games, and even some of the imports that could come over to the US in the future. One of them I have watched, and the other I've never even taken out of the shrinkwrap. Its just a plain black video with an orange label in a black sleeve. Did anyone else get one of these?

I would defintely be interested in seeing this video since I absolutely love old Turbo promo stuff. Is it possible for you to capture the video and upload it? Also, would you be interested in selling that extra copy you have?

I haven't read this entire thread.

I have some form of TTI video tape. Does anyone care?

I care ! Same thing I wrote for NFERNO1 here.

[Joe Redifer]

Damn.  Now I'm gonna have to digitize and upload it.  You leave me no choice!  Gimme a day or two.

[Bt Garner]

Well I may be the oldest gamer here. I was born in 1968 (yes, 1968).

You're not the oldest.

-bt

[Keranu]

Damn.  Now I'm gonna have to digitize and upload it.  You leave me no choice!  Gimme a day or two.

Sweet, thanks a ton!

[Joe Redifer]

Here ya go!!
I tried to upload it to Youtube, but they have some retarded 10-minute limit.  Assholes.

Anyway I am able to upload this QUICKTIME version.  You don't have Quicktime ?  TOO BAD!  It should work with Quicktime 6, but you might need Quicktime 7 to hear the sound.

63.8 MB
Quicktime
320x240
15 fps (had to cut corners somewhere)
Sorenson 3 Pro video codec
MPEG4 audio (AAC) - mono
17 minutes, 53 seconds

The video features this little dipshit:

Awesome!

[esteban]

Thirty-something gamers unite! I try to refrain from commenting on younger gamers since...there's always someone older who thinks you are the young'un that doesn't remember the good ol' days.

Seriously, though, it is very tough to relate to folks that feel that NES (or the 16-bit era) marked the beginning of video games... but even I am put in my place when folks talk about the various games and coin-ops that were around in the 60's / 70's (i.e. my uncle is really into old-skool pinball; he's also the one who got me into Atari VCS/2600 back in the day).

I know the times-are-a-changin' but it is still very difficult to tell my real-life peers that I like video games without feeling somewhat embarrassed (I'm talking about non-gamers and folks in the "professional" sphere). The fact that an overwhelming majority of message boards are populated by teeny-boppers only makes things worse (i.e. I feel as if everyone else in my age cohort "grew up" and moved on with their lives).

[T2KFreeker]

Here ya go!!
I tried to upload it to Youtube, but they have some retarded 10-minute limit.  Assholes.

Anyway I am able to upload this QUICKTIME version.  You don't have Quicktime ?  TOO BAD!  It should work with Quicktime 6, but you might need Quicktime 7 to hear the sound.

63.8 MB
Quicktime
320x240
15 fps (had to cut corners somewhere)
Sorenson 3 Pro video codec
MPEG4 audio (AAC) - mono
17 minutes, 53 seconds

The video features this little dipshit:



Awesome!

Cool dude, now we need a version that is downloadable and burnable to DVD or VCD!

[TurboXray]

I know the times-are-a-changin' but it is still very difficult to tell my real-life peers that I like video games without feeling somewhat embarrassed (I'm talking about non-gamers and folks in the "professional" sphere). The fact that an overwhelming majority of message boards are populated by teeny-boppers only makes things worse (i.e. I feel as if everyone else in my age cohort "grew up" and moved on with their lives).

To me, video gaming is just another hobby - pure and simple. I'd rather get some gaming time in, then watching the crap they put on TV networks these days. Unless ofcouse it's cartoon network - that's about the only thing my sons will watch on TV.

 As kids, we spend our whole childhood pretending to be and imitating adults - now that I'm older I actually get to play as an adult Gotta be true to your inner child, my man

[Joe Redifer]

Cool dude, now we need a version that is downloadable and burnable to DVD or VCD!

So you want me to upload an M2V + AC3 version which you can mux yourself to burn a DVD?

[JoshTurboTrollX]

I got the Lords of Thunder video back in 1994.

I think it was from a company called Gadgets N' Games.

They were doing a three games for 19.99 deal.  I believe the three I got were Last Alert, Valis III, and Fighting Street.  And with that deal you got a cool DUO carrying case(allthough, I don't know where it went too... ) and the video.

crap, now I better find that case....


TurboSage

[Joe Redifer]

So am I the only one who has noticed the "game" that little dipshit is playing in his Turbo Express in that picture?

[Keranu]

Joe, thanks a lot for the video, but I have actually seen this one before and is talked about in another thread somewhere. CrackTiger sent me a awesome VCD copy he made of it and I enjoyed that video very much. It's always good to spread around this video .

[Keranu]

Oh yeah and that kid is hilarious as hell, especially how he is playing the System 2.0 card in his Turbo Express and having a hell of a time. My favorite part though is him rocking out with the Turbo CD player ! I took a screenshot of that and made it my wallpaper for awhile.

[Joe Redifer]

joeredifer .com/crap/dip.gif


PARTY TIME!!!  EXCELLENT!!

I just made this GIF about 3 minutes before I saw your post.

[Keranu]

Oh HELL YES! ROCK ON!!!


Hahahahaha, thanks even more for that!

[PC Gaijin]

PARTY TIME!!!  EXCELLENT!!

Dear god I miss those times circa-1990. I'm serious. That's pure cheese, yet somehow I can feel the coolness of the times. Video needs more parachute pants and "Can't Touch This" music.

[Keranu]

Good times indeed.

[esteban]

PARTY TIME!!!  EXCELLENT!!

Dear god I miss those times circa-1990. I'm serious. That's pure cheese, yet somehow I can feel the coolness of the times. Video needs more parachute pants and "Can't Touch This" music.

Is that the opening credit sequence from "Saved By the Bell" ?

[Keranu]

Bahaha, I love those eighties designs with triangles and other weird shapes in the background with wild vibrant colors. I used to try to design those during one of my computer classes in school. Such a great style they were.

[evilmax17]

Here ya go!!
I tried to upload it to Youtube, but they have some retarded 10-minute limit.  Assholes.

Anyway I am able to upload this QUICKTIME version.  You don't have Quicktime?  TOO BAD!  It should work with Quicktime 6, but you might need Quicktime 7 to hear the sound.

This was EXCELLENT!  Thanks very much for going through the effort.

Are there any other promo tapes known to exist?  OP, is this the same one you had?

I love stuff like this.

[T2KFreeker]

Cool dude, now we need a version that is downloadable and burnable to DVD or VCD!

So you want me to upload an M2V + AC3 version which you can mux yourself to burn a DVD?

Hell yeah dude, if it ain't too much trouble. If it is dude, don't worry about it!