The Official Turbografx 16 Thread!

[+Black_Tiger]

In the years leading up to the PCE, platform owners wanted to be the sole source of software for their platforms. At first Atari did all their own ports and tried to use law to stop third-party publishers (they failed). Nintendo even posted several games to the Famicom hardware when they first pitched it to Atari. Early on, Famicom titles made outside of Nintendo were still published by Nintendo and developed almost like they were on commission. Obviously, Nintendo opened up to 3rd party devs early on (licensed, of course) and the whole industry changed, but it was still up to the platform owners to almost exclusively support their own platform early on. Hudson seemed to be offering their services to court 3rd parties. The terms must’ve been good since a lot of them turned over their IPs to Hudson.

 

In the case of Fighting Street, it was also the era that Nintendo had an exclusive agreement with Capcom for Street Fighter II. My guess is that there was some concern that Nintendo would not be happy seeing Street Fighter-anything on a Hudson/NEC platform, so they switched the name around and buried Capcom’s name.

 

Another Capcom title is Ghouls‘N Ghosts for SuperGrafx.

 

The PC Engine and Turbo-CD versions of Fighting Street predate the arcade version of Street Fighter II and the SFC/SNES itself by two or three years.

 

There are lots of Capcom and Sega games for PC Engine from various publishers, but it's no different than all of the Capcom games published for SMS and Genesis before Capcom finally began publishing on non-Nintendo platforms.

 

It seems that Konami was only waiting for the SFC to finally be released before supporting non-Nintendo 16-bit consoles. Although they allowed Micronet to put out a port of Junction for Mega Drive four days after the SFC launched.

[Tanooki]

I wasn't around until now or that is the point i would have made. Fighting Street(Street Fighter 1) predates SF2. The rest seems a bit like speculation even if it may be right. Nintendo had their control freak contracts, but they didn't last that long. They started losing a grip before 1990 when you started seeing games like Rampage, Double Dragon and others pop up on the original Master System and the Genesis didn't get exclusion which came out in 1989. Maybe Fighting Street sits right on the edge as it's dated at 88/89(US) for a 1987 arcade release.

 

The thing is though look at some other stuff like 1943 Kai, came out in 1991 and still no Capcom branding but Naxat Soft, yet by 1993 they were fine on their own releasing SF2 CE for the PC Engine on HuCard. Something changed between 1991 and 93. There was also the 1989 release of Son Son II that NEC Avenue did for Capcom and not Naxat Soft. It just makes you wonder what was really going on there.

 

As black tiger mentioned, Sega is another. They didn't touch the system at all themselves from what I can tell, but they were perfectly cool having Asmik or NEC Avenue do the work for them.

[+Black_Tiger]

Tanooki: I'm not sure exactly what you mean by Capcom branding, maybe the Capcom logo artwork? Fighting Street and 1943 Kai both have Capcom on the title screens and all over the packaging. I'd be surprised if any Capcom property for PC Engine didn't.

 

Capcom did not publish SFII' for PC Engine or any other games. NEC Ave handled the port and publishing of SFII'. Developing and publishing arcade ports to PC Engine was the readmson that particular label was created. Other NEC labels also developed and published PC Engine games.

 

Edit: Just checked, because NEC Ave was kind of a quick port/almost budget kind of label. Sure enough, one of NEC's other labels habdled SFII'.

Edited March 7, 2018 by Black_Tiger

[Tanooki]

Branding I mean putting their name on there as the publisher in the art on the box, game card, and the manual. They like Sega did not do this.

 

SF2 I just booted up and the first screen on it says ©Capcom 1991, 92, 93 and the actual title again says it once more with (both places) LIcensed to NEC Home Electronics Ltd. They did appear to develop that game. Yet oddly on the actual game (I have it) you see only capcom in small print on the materials (game, box, manual) with NEC prominent. It's just an oddity. If NEC did the porting of it, then why uniquely in that game when it boots up it gives all credit to Capcom other than it being licensed by NEC?

[Tanooki]

Early in the week I had what I considered an obscenely good ebay score that went well cheaper than it should, but it was also US based and claimed to be in near perfect shape for basically everything.

 

It arrived today a day late due to the USPS bungling and wow the guy was on the nose. The stuff was not only damn near spotless it was also exceptionally clean like it just came out of a clean room. I tried to clean the stuff as I do with anything in, and it was basic sanitation as nothing came off of anything.

 

It only cost me $99 for the lot and it doesn't disappoint with 5 CIB games but also for me a pointless converter too necessary if I did have a TG16 or a US Duo.

Shinobi, SF2 CE, Bomberman 94, Pro Yakyuu World Stadium, and Nekketsu(blah blah) NES World Cup Soccer basically.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/PC-Engine-to-Turbografx-CONVERTER-shinobi-bomberman-street-fighter-2-more/273086457091

 

This obvious trio of winners in this are just amazing well done games. I'm also really seeing the necessity of the 6 button Avenue controller now for games with 3+ buttons involved. SF2CE is barely serviceable having to tab with select button between punch and kick. The visuals, the music, the sounds, it just shames the genesis release without the recently made audio hack.

[Zap!]

TG-16 original owner here! Got it new in October, 1989 and still have it and love it.

 

Question: I would like to get it to be able to output RGB, but it is an absolute must that I be able to connect my CD-ROM. I have seen adapters/cables that plug into the back, but then you can't connect the CD-ROM. Has anyone thought of inventing a bridge of some sorts? Perhaps something that plugs into the back of the TG-16, and then you put the CD-ROM into that? It certainly seems possible.

[+Black_Tiger]

TG-16 original owner here! Got it new in October, 1989 and still have it and love it.

 

Question: I would like to get it to be able to output RGB, but it is an absolute must that I be able to connect my CD-ROM. I have seen adapters/cables that plug into the back, but then you can't connect the CD-ROM. Has anyone thought of inventing a bridge of some sorts? Perhaps something that plugs into the back of the TG-16, and then you put the CD-ROM into that? It certainly seems possible.

A lot of it depends on what you plan to do with the audio and video. If you're using a transcoder to output component to a CRT, then you could take RGB video from the TG-16 and audio from the Turbo CD.

 

The Turbo CD itself can be modified to out put RGB though. But you might as well get a region mod for the TG-16 at the same time, in order to be able to use an Arcade card.

[rjchamp3]

The most underrated system of ALL-TIME

[Zap!]

A lot of it depends on what you plan to do with the audio and video. If you're using a transcoder to output component to a CRT, then you could take RGB video from the TG-16 and audio from the Turbo CD.

 

The Turbo CD itself can be modified to out put RGB though. But you might as well get a region mod for the TG-16 at the same time, in order to be able to use an Arcade card.

 

Since I'm not really sure about how to do that, can you provide a link on where/how to mod my CD-ROM to RGB?

[+Black_Tiger]

Since I'm not really sure about how to do that, can you provide a link on where/how to mod my CD-ROM to RGB?

I'm not a modder, but I know that others have done that in the past and mickcris on here often sells Tennokoe IIs eith RGB output added, which is likely handled the same way.

 

If you start a new thread asking for tips in the pcefx Mod section, there are several people who could walk you through it:

 

http://www.pcenginefx.com/forums/index.php?board=19.0

[+save2600]

Heads up: don't use those cheap Retro-bit A/V cables from eBay with a Super SD System3. You'll get no sound out of the right channel.

[Tanooki]

Wow not loving it eh? I'm fairly tempted but I just don't see me getting $300 in hours out of it or I'd set up a trade/buy thing right now. I can't even justify right now a $100 Turbo ED to be fair though.

 

What bothered you about it, just the wiring problem or second thoughts?

[+save2600]

Wow not loving it eh? I'm fairly tempted but I just don't see me getting $300 in hours out of it or I'd set up a trade/buy thing right now. I can't even justify right now a $100 Turbo ED to be fair though.

 

What bothered you about it, just the wiring problem or second thoughts?

Nah, the device is awesome as far as I can tell really. If it doesn't sell, will simply keep it and sell my TED (Deluxe!), minty CD w/ new gear and briefcase unit instead. I'm no longer a hardcore TG-16 gamer, so almost six of one/half a dozen to me. Don't have as much free time now and know I'll never spring for the Component cable upgrade and that's a pretty big feature of the SSDS3 right there.

 

PS: not looking for trades. Don't need any more gaming equipment and will probably end up selling all my PC Engine stuff before too long anyway.

[Punisher5.0]

Nah, the device is awesome as far as I can tell really. If it doesn't sell, will simply keep it and sell my TED (Deluxe!), minty CD w/ new gear and briefcase unit instead. I'm no longer a hardcore TG-16 gamer, so almost six of one/half a dozen to me. Don't have as much free time now and know I'll never spring for the Component cable upgrade and that's a pretty big feature of the SSDS3 right there.

PS: not looking for trades. Don't need any more gaming equipment and will probably end up selling all my PC Engine stuff before too long anyway.

Can you use the Genesis HD Retrovision component cable with this?

[Tanooki]

Nah, the device is awesome as far as I can tell really. If it doesn't sell, will simply keep it and sell my TED (Deluxe!), minty CD w/ new gear and briefcase unit instead. I'm no longer a hardcore TG-16 gamer, so almost six of one/half a dozen to me. Don't have as much free time now and know I'll never spring for the Component cable upgrade and that's a pretty big feature of the SSDS3 right there.

 

PS: not looking for trades. Don't need any more gaming equipment and will probably end up selling all my PC Engine stuff before too long anyway.

Well if you do keep it, and then the Turbo Everdrive (deluxe?) goes you may have a buyer. I can't justify $300 on TOs shaky issues both in design and behavior along with general lack of time too. The ED though that wouldn't be so bad, especially second hand.

[Rick Dangerous]

I am trying to introduce a retro gaming friend to the TG 16 and am trying to come up with a list of good two player/multi player games.

 

What are your top 3-6 multiplayer games for the Turbografx that you think would be good to introduce someone to the system? Thanks

[Eltigro]

Dungeon Explorer

Military Madness

And there's not much to it, but I used to have a lot of fun with World Class Baseball

[+GoldenWheels]

Bomberman! ALWAYS Bomberman!

[+Black_Tiger]

Strictly Turbo (no PCE):

 

Monster Lair

Aeroblasters

Bomberman '93

Chew Man Fu

Dungeon Explorers

[7800fan]

Nitpick, there is no 6 players multiplayer for TG-16 and PCE. 5 is max supported players using 5 port tap.

[newtmonkey]

I recently got the Super SD System 3, and here are my thoughts after putting a few hours into it.

 

Note: I have previously played on a PC Engine Duo hooked up via composite to a PVM, and a Core Grafx hooked up to my LCD via a Framemeister over composite and (more recently) a custom RGB cable connected to the EXT port.

 

I had sort of followed the drama on the shmups forum, as once I learned of the product I wanted to do some research since the thing is very expensive.

My impression of the drama there was that some posters were ridiculously hostile to the product about video quality, and that suddenly the conversation switched over and suddenly any criticism about the product was immediately shut down by forum administrators. It was really strange and pretty childish all around imo.

 

Anyway, I ordered from a reseller located in Japan. From what I understand, there is a 6 week wait for any orders (even though the website says absolutely nothing about this). Even ordering from this reseller, which claimed the product was in stock, took 2 weeks of constant emails before the product finally was shipped out to me (I also live in Japan).

 

When I go the product, I was overall pretty pleased. It has some issues.

 

Positives:
- The compatibility is VERY HIGH (if you turn off the optional "ease of life" options!).

Yes, it is expensive, but when you consider the cost of a Turbo Everdrive and an RGB modded Duo (or heck, even a regular Duo), it's not crazy expensive.

 

Negatives:

- RGB quality is indeed poor.

If all you have to compare is an unmodded (composite) system, it will probably look pretty amazing. Compared with a quality RGB mod, it's pretty bad. You will get diagonal lines moving through the screen, especially noticeable in areas of solid colors (such as blue skies).

You are basically stuck with this. You can use the video out from your system, but NO CD AUDIO will be played. This is a deal breaker, because anyone buying this $300 product will be doing so because they want to play CD images.

 

- Composite output is iffy.

The TG16/PCE actually has REALLY good composite output. It's not an NES or Genesis, and the difference between composite and even RGB is not massive. However, the system uses Genesis/Megadrive 2 cables, and ALL modern GEN/MD 2 composite cables are wired wrong, so you will only get audio from the right speaker. You need to use a genuine (original) GEN/MD2 composite cable to fix this issue, and good luck finding one of those.

On top of that, a capacitor along the composite circuit is BACKWARDS. People have said this will reduce quality but probably will not damage anything. However, they will not say it will DEFINITELY not damage anything. I plug my hardware into either a PVM or Framemeister, and I really need to know that it will NOT damage anything. Terraonion is silent on the issue, and for whatever reason, no one will say anything definitive, other than stuff like "will it burn your house down? probably not." Not really convincing.

 

-CD audio is absolutely broken

I am no audiophile, but even I can tell- the CD audio in this system is "hot" and distorted (clipped). It definitely depends on the game, but when it is bad, it is REALLY bad. It sounds like listening to a REALLY compressed MP3, but the files you put in this thing are uncompressed. For me, this really kills it. The whole point of this thing was to have a convenient way to play PCE CD games on a big TV over Framemeister, plugged into my high end audio system etc. I really don't care about the imperfect RGB video quality (it's still better than composite)... the heavily distorted audio kills the experience. I would rather just play my Duo plugged into my tiny PVM in my office with $100 speakers.

 

Having said all this, they are currently beta testing new firmware that apparently resolves the audio issue. If they can fix that, I think the device would be worth the money. I say that I would rather just play my Duo, but a working Duo can cost you $200, and there are problems with the capacitors in those machines. I mean, how long can we expect these things to keep working? At some point, the Duo I spent all that money getting will simply stop working- and even the games themselves will eventually suffer disc rot. The Super SD System 3 (or something like it) is a product that needs to happen, and I think (with all its faults) the SSS3 is the closest thing to what we need.

[Bratwurst]

I wouldn't touch SD System 3 for all its design issues, plus I haven't been too impressed with the cavalier attitude of Terraonion in general. More than a few people are undoubtedly working on other optical drive emulators, there's a fella in China right now:

 

https://twitter.com/SmokeMonsterTWI/status/990814784730877952

 

https://www.techbang.com/posts/55624-pc-engine-virtual-disc-kit-finally-come-no-longer-afraid-of-old-host-read-write-head-hanging-point

 

And the guy behind the Saturn/Dreamcast ODEs reportedly has been tinkering off and on with a PC Engine compatible solution. So I'll continue to wait until other alternatives come out. I didn't get a TG16 Everdrive until last year because I wanted the kinks to get smoothed over (and I was waiting until SRAM was implemented instead of flash.)

[+Black_Tiger]

newtmonkey: do you know if you bought one of the original batch of recalled units?

 

I have the revised board and I narrowed down what I was using until I determined that it was my newer transcoder that was responsible for 99% of the lines. I switched to my older one and it looks the exact same as my RGB modded systems from 3 - 4' away. There are probably more bad RGB mods for PC Engine out there than good, but my consoles have the best.

 

I've only played it on my 32" crt so far, as I only use my framemeister for capturing video.

[newtmonkey]

Black_Tiger:

I bought the device just this last month, so I don't think it is from the recall batch (though it's certainly possible).

I haven't tried plugging it into my CRT, and I have heard that the diagonal lines are only noticeable when upscaled to an LCD.

[+Black_Tiger]

Black_Tiger:

I bought the device just this last month, so I don't think it is from the recall batch (though it's certainly possible).

I haven't tried plugging it into my CRT, and I have heard that the diagonal lines are only noticeable when upscaled to an LCD.

The pcb inside has a large url printed on it. The recalled model says www.neosdstore.com and the current model says www.terraonion.com

 

Some things which have made a dramatic difference for some people:

 

Clean the PC Engine exoansion port pins and make sure that none are bent.

 

Use the official power supply. Cheap modern substitutes definitely ruin the picture quality and add audio noise.

 

Packapunch scart cables from retrogamingcables made the final difference for some. Once I narrowed down my problems, I found that there was not a noticeable diffrrence between packapunch and a regular RGC MD2 cable.