PC engine anyone?

[Solscud007]

Moe spoils from Vancouver. My Gf showed me she had this game that was from one of her favorite anime, Wataru. She also has a game with a kid monk.

So she was going to throw it away cause it didnt work. I figured it must be the metal contact issue like my old NES. So I got rubbing alcohol and a qtip and rubbed the contacts on the cards and it works like a charm. So she let me have it.

So I have a PC engine Core Grafx. HE system.

what does HE stand for? I havent seen pictures of this thing. What is a Supergraphx then? Mine is a small square dark square box rouchly the size of a CD jewel case. and about as thick as 4 jewel cases.

can someone recommend me some good games I need to look for? I see Rtype 1, bomberman and Twin Bee are some games I like.

How does the CD unit look and function with the Core system? thanks

[Kamjin 639]

I'm trying to remember my video game history...

If I recall correctly, the TurboGrafx-16 was released, followed by the Turbo CD. Following the release of both systems, the company decided to release the system as one totally-integrated system (called the TurboDuo) with a suped-up processor that surpassed the combination of the TurboGrafx and the Turbo CD. In essence, they released a powered-up system that left the original combination of systems in the dust.

As a result, the new system could play some games that the original combo could not--these games were released under the title "Super CD." However, the developer created a sort-of expansion cartridge for the original TurboGrafx that could be used to allow the system to play Super CD games when attached to the Turbo CD.

So, to answer your question: The difference between Turbo CD and Super CD games is that one requires a better processor. If you have a TurboGrafx-16/Turbo CD combo, you'll need the expansion card to play the Super CD games--which I would assume that you already have, if the horde you found has Super CD games in it. And if you have a Turbo Duo, you're already set to play the Super CDs.

Have fun!

Oh, and if you're looking for good games, I would reccomend the Adventure Island games, the Bonk's Adventure games, and Air Zonk. All of 'em are classics, and if I recall correctly, there were also a few RPGs that only ever got released on TurboGrafx, but you'll probably be hard-pressed to find someone that will be willing to release those without a substantial price tag.

[Solscud007]

hey thanks. No its not all that much of a bundle.

Its just the PC engine core grafx system, two HE card games, and one controller.

thanks. Any idea why the TG16 is so big when the PC engine is about the size of a CD jewel case and 4 cases thick?

[JB0]

Screw it all.

See below.

But no, the only PCEngine product to upgrade the processor beyond the original CD-ROM expansion was the PCFX. Not the Duo.

Edited June 30, 2004 by JB0

[yellowlightman]

http://www.pcenginefx.com/ used to be a great source for the PC-Engine/Tubro Grafix 16/PC-FX but it looks like the main information site is down.. for whatever reason.

I have one of the PCE CD Macross games, but no system to play it on. Hopefully gonna remedy that this summer...

[JB0]

So I have a PC engine Core Grafx.  HE system.

what does HE stand for? I havent seen pictures of this thing. What is a Supergraphx then? Mine is a small square dark square box rouchly the size of a CD jewel case. and about as thick as 4 jewel cases.

You ask a good question. No idea WHAT HE stands for.

The Super Grafx was a really pathetic attempt to upgrade the PCEngine to compete with Genesis and SNES mroe evenly.

It added one background layer to teh graphics chipset, for a grand total of 2.

Unfortunately...

A. It wasn't a very big deal. Parallax scrolling was nice, but other upgrades would've been more appreciated.

B. The PCE couldn't really make effective use of both layers anyways. Not enough power.

How does the CD unit look and function with the Core system? thanks

Let me find pics...

...

There's 2 seperate CD drives.

The V1 CD drive was about the same size and shape a s a core unit. And white, like original PCEs.

It docked into a suitcase-sized adapter that the PCEngien also docked into. They sat beside each other.

http://www.goldenshop.com.hk/AI-trad/colle..._scdconsole.jpg

That's a CoreGrafx docked with a V1 CD.

http://www.goldenshop.com.hk/AI-trad/colle...g/pc_ampset.jpg

And the original white model(ignore the amp under it).

The second version of the CD-ROM drive looks like this...

http://www.goldenshop.com.hk/AI-trad/colle..._cdrom2core.jpg

And the TG16 is bigger than the PCEngine because "bigger is better".

Edited June 30, 2004 by JB0

[JB0]

Okay...

This is my last attempt at interpreting NEC's CD product line and NOT going insane.

In the beginning there was the PCEngine. And it was good.

And then there was the CD-ROM. It came with OS version 1 on a card.

And it was not good. It was glitchy, and evil.

So NEC made OS version 2 cards. These were mere bugfixes.

Then 2.1. More bug fixes, yay.

V1 never left Japan, so all US TurboCD owners had V2 cards.

Games that don't work on V1 cards(most of them) are CD-ROM^2.

Then the Duo came out. It had version 3.0 built in. THESE are SuperCD games. And have more RAM than V2 games..

You can get V3 cards for PCEngine/CD drive combos, too.

And the second version of the CD(clip on the back instead of suitcase adapter) has V3 built-in. And is called a SuperCD drive.

THEN they made the Arcade card. Which added STILL MORE RAM. And it came in 2 flavors.

Arcade Card Pro was for owners of the original CD drives, with the suitcase adapter thing.

Arcade Card Duo was for owners of the Duo and SuperCD drive.

If THIS is wrong, I humbly apologize. It SHOULD be right, finally.

...

And someone at NEC must die.

[yellowlightman]

If THIS is wrong, I humbly apologize. It SHOULD be right, finally.

...

And someone at NEC must die.

That looks pretty correct JBO, based on what little I know about the whole PC-Engine ordeal.

I wonder who in the heck thought all those different versions was a good idea? What you didn't mention were the multiple version of the Turbo Duo and all those other systems; basically the same hardware just looked different. I can't imagine how all of that couldn't have been confusing to all but the most hardcore of fans.

[zeo-mare]

it is amazing but even with all of the variations of the pc engine on the market, it was one of the most successful systems in japan and even to this day has a very loyal following worldwide. the usa TG16 however did not fair well when it first came out but has more fans 10 years after its demise than it did during its release. there are 2 Macross games out for the system Macross 2036 being the best and one of the better macross games released it is a side scrolling shoter compareable to games like thunderforce and gradius, the other is a simulation games which i have not played. as for the HE I am not sure if it stood for Home Entertainment or Hudson entertainment, Hudson Soft was one of the major designers along side Nec that is why all the cards are called Hu cards, the "Hu" is short for Hudson who designed the first Cards for the system.

[JB0]

If THIS is wrong, I humbly apologize. It SHOULD be right, finally.

...

And someone at NEC must die.

That looks pretty correct JBO, based on what little I know about the whole PC-Engine ordeal.

And it only took what? 4 tries to sort it out? And that's WITHOUT getting into diffrent base console variations, and which ones need adapaters for the CD-ROM and which ones can't work with the CD-ROM at all...

I wonder who in the heck thought all those different versions was a good idea?

Maybe it was an early version of the "collector's edition" consoles you see sold now.

Alter the line a bit every so often to keep people interested.

What you didn't mention were the multiple version of the Turbo Duo and all those other systems; basically the same hardware just looked different.

I was focusing on figuring out the CD.

Let's see...

The basics...

The original PCEngine. White square. Available output is RF-only, though you can buy an adapter to pull stereo AV jacks out of it.

The CoreGrafx. Black square, adds integrated AV ports.

The PCEngine Shuttle. Really funky case, looks like a Star Trek ship. Contrary to popular belief, this one CAN be used with a CD-ROM, though it requires a cabled adapter to make the connection.

CoreGrafx2. Gray square. Aside from mathcing the color of the SuperCD addon, it's the same as the original CoreGrafx.

The combos...

Duo. The all in one unit. Yay.

Duo R. A smaller Duo. Some "unused features" were removed. Nothing that actually affected operation.

Duo RX. A Duo R witha 6-button gamepad.

The portable...

PCEngine GT. A handheld PCEngine. Think GameBoy, only infinitely more powerful. No expansions, aside froma custom TV tuner.

And the badass...

PCEngine LT. The ultimate. It's a handheld system with an integrated display and TV tuner that can use external controllers AND has the expansion bus, for 1337 CD-ROM ownage(although it needs an adapter).

SuperGrafx. Covered earlier. Can interface with the Super CD-ROM, but it requires an adapter for the regular one(if what I'm seeing is right...). Updated reading says it has more sprites and RAM, too. Too bad it lacked the CPU power to use it all...

[Valkyrie]

That's a pretty good summary, JB0.

I used to be pretty hardcore in the PC Engine scene a few years back (without ever having sunk TOO much money into it all). Today, all I have left of my collection is a dozen or so games, and my original PC Engine with IFU-30 CD-ROM, and a 3.0 system card.

About the only reason I've hung onto it so long was because I always loved the design of the system. The PC Engine and the CD-ROM drive plug in side-by-side in the interface unit, and the whole thing has a clamshell cover and a flip-out handle on the bottom, so it turns into like a little briefcase. It sounds cheesy saying it like that, but it's pretty damn cool

But I've actually been considering selling it lately... It's sat in the closet for far too long :-/

[Beltane70]

I'm a proud owner of a Japanese PC Engine Duo along with both Macross and several other games. The system still works, but needs a new battery for the back-up memory.

If I remember correctly, HE stood for Hu-card Entertainment.

Edited July 1, 2004 by Beltane70

[JB0]

That's a pretty good summary, JB0.

I used to be pretty hardcore in the PC Engine scene a few years back (without ever having sunk TOO much money into it all). Today, all I have left of my collection is a dozen or so games, and my original PC Engine with IFU-30 CD-ROM, and a 3.0 system card.

About the only reason I've hung onto it so long was because I always loved the design of the system. The PC Engine and the CD-ROM drive plug in side-by-side in the interface unit, and the whole thing has a clamshell cover and a flip-out handle on the bottom, so it turns into like a little briefcase. It sounds cheesy saying it like that, but it's pretty damn cool

But I've actually been considering selling it lately... It's sat in the closet for far too long :-/

Yah. I saw the pictures.

Sweet little setup.

[TheLoneWolf]

Valkyrie and JB0 did a great job with the details. But one thing to note before you go on a buying spree: don't bother buying US Hu cards, they won't work on a Japanese system. There are converters out there like the Barney converter, but the reliable ones can go for as much as a US system on e-bay.

[StealthLurker]

I was a big NEC fan back in the day. Still have my TG-16, TurboExpress, TurboDuo, SuperGrafx and NEC PC-FX. Too bad it didn't really pick up here stateside.

[JB0]

I was a big NEC fan back in the day. Still have my TG-16, TurboExpress, TurboDuo, SuperGrafx and NEC PC-FX. Too bad it didn't really pick up here stateside.

SuperGrafx and PCFX killed it in Japan too.

The SuperGrafx was a disaster of a non-upgrade, and by the time the PCFX hit the shelves it was hopelessly dated.

But yah, the US support was iffy at best as I understand it.

Maybe it's revenge for not exporting the Atari VCS to Japan untill mere months before the FamiCom appeared...

[Mechabuilder]

You guys are such lucky bastards

I have like 5 or 6 xboxes, but I can't get a PC-Engine! Prices are astronomical!

But here's my plan.

I have a copy of Street Fighter 2 here that I'm itching to play.

Since I only have the Duo. I bought a broken TG16 on ebay for a penny + shipping. I'll use the card slot to make my own adapter (since those are also insanely priced).

Then I can finally play my SF2 game

PS...

Could any of you tell if the PC-E (compared to TG16) has the same picture quality problem that the Super Famicom has when compared to the SNES?

I just got a few SFCs and the picture quality, PCB design and over all craftsmanship is waaaaaay below to the SNES ( I gutted my SFC and put in a SNES board)

[Noriko Takaya]

God, I wish I had a replacement to the one I had which broke years back. All I have left of it are my Gunbuster games.

[Solscud007]

Ok thanks that helps. So what do i need to play these macross games? You're talking about the CD ones right? or are there HE card games for macross?

[JB0]

Ok thanks that helps. So what do i need to play these macross games? You're talking about the CD ones right? or are there HE card games for macross?

The Macross games are CD-based.

All SuperCDs, if I recall.

You need a SuperCD drive, or a regular CD drive with the 3.0 system card.

...

Or a Duo. Duos are cool.

[Akilae]

Moe spoils from Vancouver. My Gf showed me she had this game that was from one of her favorite anime, Wataru. She also has a game with a kid monk.

Whoa, the Wataru PC Engine game... never thought I'd even hear anybody mention that one again... I don't really remember the game much, but the anime was a staple during my childhood. Good memories.

I remember the "Last Blade" series of games being pretty impressive... never actually played it outside of emulators though...

[Valkyrie]

But here's my plan.

I have a copy of Street Fighter 2 here that I'm itching to play.

Since I only have the Duo. I bought a broken TG16 on ebay for a penny + shipping. I'll use the card slot to make my own adapter (since those are also insanely priced).

Then I can finally play my SF2 game

You really don't have to go through all that. To convert a TG16 to play PCE games, all you have to do is redirect a few of the leads on the HU-Card port. All they did for a territory lockout is switch a few wires around.

If you've got a bit of confidence with a soldering iron, you can hard-wire your TG16 to only play PCE games fairly easily. And with a bit more work and a few switches mounted on the console, you can make the territtory selectable.

But actually, back in the day, I was working on making my masterpiece of a console mod out of a TG16. I was gonna give it literally every bell and whistle I could think of for it. And among them was a second HU-Card slot, wired for PCE games, right in front of the stock one. So US games would play normally, and for PCE games, you'd just stick em in the second slot, and the game would be sticking straight up, like a SNES game or something.

It woulda been pretty cool

[gerwalk25]

This is kinda OT but I gotta ask. A friend of mine is going to the Classic Gaming Expo in San Jose, California this August he's looking for a TurboGraphx system with games are their any vendors that specialize in TG16's?

[David Hingtgen]

http://www.videogamedepot.com Bought out a big chunk of the original factory stock at the end, and acquired more from the original Game Depot. They still had MISB Duo's for $199 up until just a few years ago (how I got mine). Currently, not much system-wise, but lots of accesories/cords/controllers/games. If you ever need a part/repair, probably THE guys to email to ask for help.

PS--Lords of Thunder is about as cool a game as you'll ever find. It's on a Super CD. Though ironically, 99% of my copies' time has been in my car's CD player, for the music. (Yes, it works, only system you can do that with AFAIK)

[zeo-mare]

ahh lords of thunder awesome soundtrack, have you heard Gates of Thunder equally good, or my favorite Ys book 1 & 2 as far as I am concerned one of the best soundtracks ever made.

[JB0]

PS--Lords of Thunder is about as cool a game as you'll ever find. It's on a Super CD. Though ironically, 99% of my copies' time has been in my car's CD player, for the music. (Yes, it works, only system you can do that with AFAIK)

Actually, many systems have standard redbook audio soundtrack capabilities, redbook being the standard for an audio CD.

It's still possible as recently as the PS2, if the game is on CD(PS2 can have games on CD or DVD, but GC and XBox are DVD-only. Can't have redbook audio on DVD, because the redbook standard specifies media as well as format).

But the practice is more common in older systems, where it was an easy way to implement things and bypasses other restrictions of the sound system(like low sample rates), since the CD audio wasn't ever involved in the rest of the sound hardware. And thus, it comes out much nicer than it would have if the machine's built-in sound hardware had gotten involved.

It's fallen out of favor since then, as there's better ways to stream audio for a game. You might notice the music "hiccups" when CD audio tracks loop. That's because redbook audio doesn't allow for the setting of loop points or any real buffering of data.

Late SegaCD games were where other music formats started being used.

Somewhere in the PlayStation 1's lifetime, redbook audio was dropped almost completely(many early PS1 and Saturn titles use redbook, though).

But there's still games that do it in more modern times.

Some Dreamcast games still use CD audio(Bust A Move 4 is the only one I can think of right off). I assume some PS2 games do too, though I haven't had much of a chance to check.

So it's pretty game-dependant.

I check all my disk games in the console's CD player before I play them, just in case.

The TG16's disk format is VERY interesting, though.

They put a CD audio warning on track 1 telling you not to stick the disk in a CD player, and game data on track 2, THEN any other redbook audio tracks.

This was to protect any poor fool that stuffed it into a CD player that wasn't aware of data tracks(as many older players aren't).

This is important because the binary digits in a data track get rendered into VERY LOUD noise(I tried once. Curiosity killed the cat, and all that crap) if the player doesn't recognize and mute it. It's incredibly easy to screw your speakers up. And of course, muting CD players didn't exist when the TG16 came out.

Everyone else complies with standards and puts data on track 1 and audio on tracks 2+, leaving the owner vulerable to hearing and speaker damage.

An unintended side effect is that it works as a form of copy protection.

NEC didn't really care, because CD writers weren't available at the time, but it turns out that most writers can't burn TG16 disk images. They reject it because the format is clearly an invalid disk type.

So ummm... watch out for track 2.

[Mechabuilder]

You really don't have to go through all that. To convert a TG16 to play PCE games, all you have to do is redirect a few of the leads on the HU-Card port. All they did for a territory lockout is switch a few wires around.

If you've got a bit of confidence with a soldering iron, you can hard-wire your TG16 to only play PCE games fairly easily. And with a bit more work and a few switches mounted on the console, you can make the territtory selectable.

I have some soldering confidence I think..

I've been doing it for over 10 years just on videogames alone!

Also, the TG16 I bought doesn't work, hence the $0.01 price.

And I don't want to actually change anything in my Duo. I rather have an adapter than damage the Duo's card socket with a re-wire or switch. Especially, when I only have ONE import HU-Card

[TSP]

For the price of a new adapter card you could also buy a jap.Core Grafx instead.

It would even be cheaper.TDZ PC-E Converter

[Mechabuilder]

Uhhh. I'm not buying the adapter.. I'm.. Making one.

Thats why I got the TG-16, for the card socket..

So far the adapter is only costing me $7.01 ($7 for shipping, 0.01 for the TG)