The Official Turbografx 16 Thread!

[Steven Pendleton]

11 hours ago, Zoyous said:

Wow, I've heard that living spaces are quite small in Japan and wondered how I might adapt to that. In a way it sounded more appealing to me when I was kid, but then I grew up to be 6'6" and I get an uncomfortable feeling in small spaces... not anything serious like claustrophobia though.

 

The single power outlet definitely sounds like the worst part. Are you daisy chaining power strips, or how do you handle that?

 

I'm not sure what is allowed by your landlord or what you could realistically do, but I would explore vertical options. Is it possible to raise your bed onto a taller platform that could have some usable space underneath it? Almost like a bunk bed but with no lower bed; maybe your desk could go underneath it. (If it's possible, it'd definitely be something that you'd want professionally done, you don't need to have that much weight perched up precariously.)

 

I was thinking of making some sort of small tray to hold my mini systems, because they're so light, I don't want them tumbling accidentally.

I have 2 surge protectors with 6/7 plugs each. It gives me enough to plug in my computer, monitor, modem, router, Vita, Switch, BD player (PS4), air conditioning thingy, and the light I have clipped to my bed, which itself is already raised with stuff under it already like my dresser and a huge box of video games, a stack of books, and lots of music equipment. This gives me enough freedom to have 4 other things of my choice plugged in at any one time, and right now I have my PS3, Mega Sg, OSSC, and Sega Nomad plugged in, even though the PS3 is actually not connected to its power cable. The Nomad stays on my desk, as well, but I leave the AC adaptor plugged in so I can lay in bed and use it since that cable reaches to my bed and I don't want to waste money on batteries.

 

Basically, if I want to use anything else, I have to sacrifice one of these 4 things, and it's almost always the Mega Sg since I'd obviously need the OSSC for other systems and the Mega Sg is the only one that's convenient given the lengths of the cables involved. It's quite a mess, though, as I leave my cables for my 3DS, Vita TV, PSP go stand, GBA SP, MiSTer, Mega Drive/Mega-CD, and effects pedals basically right on top of the surge protectors so I don't have to go looking for them. On the other side of my desk I have the other Mega Drive/Mega-CD AC adaptor as well as the ones for my Neo Geo, SuperGrafx, and CoreGrafx, and I plug those in as needed, sacrificing the Mega Sg every time. To build the full Mega Drive + Mega-CD + Super 32X tower, I also have to sacrifice the Switch, and since the Nomad and 32X use the same AC adaptor, I just use the AC adaptor that came with my 32X for both of them, as appropriate.

 

To use my CRT, I have to unplug the air conditioner because the air conditioner's cable is far too short to have both plugged in at the same time. Actually, the air conditioner's cable is so short that it can't reach the outlet in the wall and partially suspends the surge protector in midair. I should probably find a better way to do it, but I realized that I can support it with my windowsill, so it's not in danger.

Edited June 26, 2020 by Steven Pendleton

[Zoyous]

Wow! Well, I guess the good news is that your arrangement is currently adequate... next is to incrementally take steps towards making it more ideal. I got a couple of stackable plastic drawers to organize and hold all of my system cables. You might could stow your cables and effects pedals in those and then have the surge protectors rest on top of them, if possible.

 

I learned some basic woodworking so I could make shelves that are the specific size of spaces that I have available... before that, I was just spending a lot of time looking for something perfect at second hand stores and rarely finding it. Actually I have a set of Japanese hand saws that are really cool. They're long and very flexible so you get your cut started by pulling rather than pushing. My woodworking teacher was an ex-Navy SEAL who studied woodworking in Japan for quite a while. My stuff is just purely functional, and usually just made with cheap pine from the big box hardware stores, not beautiful like the stuff that dude can make.

[Steven Pendleton]

17 hours ago, Zoyous said:

Wow! Well, I guess the good news is that your arrangement is currently adequate... next is to incrementally take steps towards making it more ideal. I got a couple of stackable plastic drawers to organize and hold all of my system cables. You might could stow your cables and effects pedals in those and then have the surge protectors rest on top of them, if possible.

 

I learned some basic woodworking so I could make shelves that are the specific size of spaces that I have available... before that, I was just spending a lot of time looking for something perfect at second hand stores and rarely finding it. Actually I have a set of Japanese hand saws that are really cool. They're long and very flexible so you get your cut started by pulling rather than pushing. My woodworking teacher was an ex-Navy SEAL who studied woodworking in Japan for quite a while. My stuff is just purely functional, and usually just made with cheap pine from the big box hardware stores, not beautiful like the stuff that dude can make.

Yeah, I'll figure it out eventually. I just added a Dreamcast today, so now I have to find a place to put the Dreamcast. It's pretty small, but I need to rearrange the top of my CRT since I think I can put it on top of my CRT after I rearrange my Intellivision, SuperGrafx, and SFC, which are currently occupying that space with their hugeness.

[Steven Pendleton]

Well, this place is pretty dead recently...

 

Anyway, the clear PC Engine case is back for another batch!

 

And now that I look a little further down, it seems he's probably going to make the files available for the controller overlay sticker things, which look ultra glorious!

 

 

Edited July 4, 2020 by Steven Pendleton

[cybercylon]

Well, at this point, I had planned to join the Supergrafx club. That was before the pandemic which killed my side gig that I used to earn $$ to buy toys. That said, I am not really sure I want a supergrafx anymore even if I had the money.

 

Still, I have hopes to get something like a Coregrafx later in the summer. I'd really like to learn some basic modding skills. My biggest hurdles are living in a small house and not having a way to vent the fumes. I don't know what people use for that issue as I can't be the only one that will need to work in a small area. The Coregrafx will become my go to, and after some practice, there are some basic things I'd like to do with my TG16 as starter project (jail bar fix, replace caps). If I really screw up, at least I'll have that Coregrafx.

 

We shall see though.

[CZroe]

Post got mangled.

[Steven Pendleton]

Retro Game Restore is back again, but this time with a smoked black PC Engine case. This one looks very nice, but these are expensive, I'm not sure if I want to keep buying PC Engine cases, and I'm still waiting for them to ship me my clear one. I only have 1 regular PC Engine, so...

 

http://retrogamerestore.com/pce_case_smk/

 

This needs 80 preorders or it will not be made, just like the clear one needed a set amount.

Edited July 9, 2020 by Steven Pendleton

[Steven Pendleton]

What happened to this place? It used to be at the top of the forum every day... sadness.

 

Anyway, it seems that Retro Game Restore has given some updates on the clear cases, and they should be shipping within the next few weeks.

 

He's also sending free controller face stickers to anyone who bought a clear case from the first batch, so it looks like I won't have to worry about the controller looking weird. It is for the original non-turbo controller, though. Embedded thing isn't working for this for whatever reason, but here's the URL.

 

https://www.facebook.com/360673084308597/posts/1151720191870545/

 

Transparent smoked case is still available until the 31st for anyone who cares. I wish I could afford this one because it looks cool, but I can't justify spending this much money on another case, especially since I only have 1 regular PC Engine and I already bought the clear shell.

 

http://retrogamerestore.com/pce_case_smk/?fbclid=IwAR2TLUEahpbQmrpk97hL9scDlGXMWnd2xOd6aH-EGe1CGxH884JA3ltBkBk

Edited July 28, 2020 by Steven Pendleton

[str0m]

How about I bump the thread for you

 

Always been interested in the PCE family although I don't own one. One of the few retro consoles I don't. Would love a Duo R(X) with an everdrive but no funds atm. May go the Mini route if a decent hack comes out but for now I use my hacked Playstation Classic. Do enjoy some of the shooters, Splatterhouse etc.

 

The smoked case is cool, anything similar on aliexpress as some have come out for the NGPC and I'm very tempted to get one as quite cheap https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001209491549.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.3de876861LcDx6&algo_pvid=c75ea757-fbe0-426e-875d-1017a76dd167&algo_expid=c75ea757-fbe0-426e-875d-1017a76dd167-8&btsid=0ab6fa7b15959487335991755e339a&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_

[Steven Pendleton]

On 7/29/2020 at 12:06 AM, str0m said:

How about I bump the thread for you

 

Always been interested in the PCE family although I don't own one. One of the few retro consoles I don't. Would love a Duo R(X) with an everdrive but no funds atm. May go the Mini route if a decent hack comes out but for now I use my hacked Playstation Classic. Do enjoy some of the shooters, Splatterhouse etc.

 

The smoked case is cool, anything similar on aliexpress as some have come out for the NGPC and I'm very tempted to get one as quite cheap https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001209491549.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.3de876861LcDx6&algo_pvid=c75ea757-fbe0-426e-875d-1017a76dd167&algo_expid=c75ea757-fbe0-426e-875d-1017a76dd167-8&btsid=0ab6fa7b15959487335991755e339a&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_

PC Engine hardware is starting to get expensive. The PC Engine mini is not bad, but it's about the same price as a real PC Engine, which can do a lot more, but you need games for it. No matter what you do for PC Engine hardware, it's going to cost a decent amount of money, unfortunately.

 

The PC Engine has really good composite video, though, so if you have something that accepts composite and you aren't using the RF out of the original PC Engine, you can still get a nice picture out of it in its stock configuration. My PC Engine's composite is far superior to my Mega Drive's composite and definitely better than my Super Famicom's composite. I haven't tried the composite on my SuperGrafx or my Neo Geo, but I'm guessing that the SuperGrafx should also have nice composite since it's still basically a PC Engine. No idea how it compares to the Neo Geo, though.

[ApolloBoy]

19 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

I haven't tried the composite on my SuperGrafx or my Neo Geo, but I'm guessing that the SuperGrafx should also have nice composite since it's still basically a PC Engine. No idea how it compares to the Neo Geo, though.

Composite video on the Neo-Geo blows chunks, don't bother.

[Steven Pendleton]

8 minutes ago, ApolloBoy said:

Composite video on the Neo-Geo blows chunks, don't bother.

lol okay! I wasn't going to try it anyway, but I suppose that means the PC Engine has the best composite video of its generation. Not sure about the CD-i, though, if you even want to count that as a video game system.

[CZroe]

Tried to make this post almost a month ago but the forums mangled it and started replacing all the line breaks with Twitted URLs. Hopefully it won't happen again...

Well, this place is pretty dead recently...
 
Anyway, the clear PC Engine case is back for another batch!
 

And now that I look a little further down, it seems he's probably going to make the files available for the controller overlay sticker things, which look ultra glorious!
 

I was actually tooling up to make these for anyone who wants them (assuming I'm successful). Even started ordering controller designs I didn't already own just so I could copy them. Got an original non-Turbo PC Engine controller a couple days ago in addition to the PC Engine Mini Turbo Pad. I already had an original PC Engine Turbo Pad but the controller for the Mini is new and lacks the NEC logo since that seems to be the problem for RGR.


https://i.imgur.com/3EGqEbB.jpg
I just received my European TurboGrafx controller today... along with a European Turbografx that I plan to mod into 60hz RGB. Interestingly, the controller still has "TurboGrafx-16" molded on it even though the console was rebranded to just "TurboGrafx" there. Like many EuroGrafx consoles, this one was never used even though the seller parted them out and had the consoles stacked, accumulating scratches and shelf wear over the years. He was actually selling it with a Hyperkin Specialist controller, HDMI cable, etc and selling the original controller separately for $60 (with Duo adapter) so I asked if they would sell me both without all the other extra junk they were bundling.

I also ordered but haven't yet received a Pachi-Slot Pachinko controller. I don't have the game and bought it anyway since it was the cheapest PC Engine controller on eBay at the time and I think it will be amusing to play regular games with it.


https://i.imgur.com/CSbgQdS.jpg

Speaking of the Hyperkin Specialist, I also ordered one from Castlemania Games... and I hate it! I did a quick Richter run to the end of DracX and never have I ever wasted so many item points from the controller acting like I was pressing Up. As a result I kept getting stuck/magnetized to stairs and not having enough points for an Item Crash I was saving them for. Early on I started deliberately avoiding the top half of the D-pad, even for Left and Right, but it was still detecting errant diagonals when I never pressed Up. I hope I can fix this with a little tape or something like I could on problematic 8BitDo controllers... which were never any worse than NES Classic Edition controllers for me (NES CE controllers also have overly-sensitive diagonals). Not holding out much hope since the D-pad doesn't have a pivot and pushes down in the center.

...but that wasn't the only issue. The I button did not work correctly for me at low-speed turbo. At first glance woth DracX it still seems to be working as the I button without turbo but it isn't, since holding down the I button is supposed to freeze Richter in place while this will not. Oddly, it worked when I switched to the longer Old Skool PCE adapter came while all my other controllers worked perfectly through the Hyperkin adapter. Whatever the issue is, it's marginal. It was repeatable but if I try again without the Upergrafx or with a different power supply I suspect it would behave differently. This is similar to the original version of the Old Skool controller without the bypass capacitor installed and, sure enough, there are unpopulated capacitor footprints inside. I will add one to see if this behavior goes away.

Before I start sounding like I'm biased toward Old School just because I helped them fix their controller and they were willing to work with me:
Hyperkin wins points for having an internal disconnect for the cable, which also means that you aren't stressing weak/brittle wire connections when you take it apart (Old Skool was soldered). The contacts under the turbo switches were oddly discolored and one even looked corroded, which is strange for a brand new controller straight out of the box. I think the overlay design will fit the RGR controller shell except for the smaller U shape at the top, but that whole area is blank. If I copy/print it but cut the same shape as the other designs it should fit with no graphics chopped.

So, the controller designs I have to (maybe) replicate for an RGR overlay are:
Original PC Engine (PI-PD001)
PC Engine Turbo Pad (PI-PD002)
PC Engine Mini TurboPad (no NEC logo)
TurboGrafx TurboPad
TurboGrafx Mini TurboPad (slightly different fonts)
SuperGrafx/CoreGrafx pad (PI-PD6)
Old Skool pad (no logo)
Hyperkin Specialist (needs trimming)

[CZroe]

Retro Game Restore is back again, but this time with a smoked black PC Engine case. This one looks very nice, but these are expensive, I'm not sure if I want to keep buying PC Engine cases, and I'm still waiting for them to ship me my clear one. I only have 1 regular PC Engine, so...
 
http://retrogamerestore.com/pce_case_smk/
 
This needs 80 preorders or it will not be made, just like the clear one needed a set amount.

Though I already pre-ordered the Clear console shell with Clear controller shell I also pre-ordered the Smoke controller shell the moment it went live and then preordered the Smoke console shell with another Smoke controller the moment that went live. Hope he meets the minimum order quantity for those Smoke console shells because it looks awesome! I wonder if he will give the people who signed up for Smoke the opportunity to switch to the Clear one if they don't meet the minimum quantity for Smoke.

What happened to this place? It used to be at the top of the forum every day... sadness.

Anyway, it seems that Retro Game Restore has given some updates on the clear cases, and they should be shipping within the next few weeks.

He's also sending free controller face stickers to anyone who bought a clear case from the first batch, so it looks like I won't have to worry about the controller looking weird. It is for the original non-turbo controller, though. Embedded thing isn't working for this for whatever reason, but here's the URL.
 

 
Transparent smoked case is still available until the 31st for anyone who cares. I wish I could afford this one because it looks cool, but I can't justify spending this much money on another case, especially since I only have 1 regular PC Engine and I already bought the clear shell.
 
http://retrogamerestore.com/pce_case_smk/?fbclid=IwAR2TLUEahpbQmrpk97hL9scDlGXMWnd2xOd6aH-EGe1CGxH884JA3ltBkBk

I seem to have been unsubsidized somehow. Same with the FPGA thread. No time to catch up with that one right now.

Anyway, since the last post I bought yet another Hyperkin Specialist to see if it had the same problem but I haven't tested it yet. I also bought a revised Old Skool controller since I still haven't looked at a final retail one... only the prototypes that I had to send back to Old Skool.

I also ordered a bunch of Doujindance's mod stuff so I can have the cleanest RGB mod for the RGR Clear and Smoke shells. Yes, he's finally selling DIY kits on eBay but shipping kills the deal if you don't order multiples (DHL-only to the USA since JapanPOST still isn't shipping to USA). People still balk at the price but I see Voultar's RGB boards with DIN, wire, jailbar fix caps, etc coming in at nearly $40... without a region switch or stereo amp and with a significantly less-appealing design for a clear shell.


https://i.imgur.com/EFaeWpn.jpg
Yes, that price was for multiple with add-ons.

How about I bump the thread for you [emoji4]
 
Always been interested in the PCE family although I don't own one. One of the few retro consoles I don't. Would love a Duo R(X) with an everdrive but no funds atm. May go the Mini route if a decent hack comes out but for now I use my hacked Playstation Classic. Do enjoy some of the shooters, Splatterhouse etc.
 
The smoked case is cool, anything similar on aliexpress as some have come out for the NGPC and I'm very tempted to get one as quite cheap https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001209491549.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.3de876861LcDx6&algo_pvid=c75ea757-fbe0-426e-875d-1017a76dd167&algo_expid=c75ea757-fbe0-426e-875d-1017a76dd167-8&btsid=0ab6fa7b15959487335991755e339a&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_

Woah! I got mine for about $34 from Super Potato in Akihabara because it was missing the coin cell battery door. I 3D printed a replacement but it doesn't match the rest of the shell since mine is one of the patterned multi-color designs. Now I can get a whole new shell with matching battery doors. Sweet! Thanks for the link.

PC Engine hardware is starting to get expensive. The PC Engine mini is not bad, but it's about the same price as a real PC Engine, which can do a lot more, but you need games for it. No matter what you do for PC Engine hardware, it's going to cost a decent amount of money, unfortunately.


The PC Engine has really good composite video, though, so if you have something that accepts composite and you aren't using the RF out of the original PC Engine, you can still get a nice picture out of it in its stock configuration. My PC Engine's composite is far superior to my Mega Drive's composite and definitely better than my Super Famicom's composite. I haven't tried the composite on my SuperGrafx or my Neo Geo, but I'm guessing that the SuperGrafx should also have nice composite since it's still basically a PC Engine. No idea how it compares to the Neo Geo, though.

???

What are you using with the SGX if not composite? I recall you didn't want an RGB mod.

I used a MarkIII/MS, Gen1/MD1, Neo Geo/NGCD AV cable to try composite on mine but you will be missing an audio channel until you do this...
http://imgur.com/a/fvByupN


Obviously not needed if you are just curious about the quality of composite video. It seems many people don't even notice the missing audio channel since you have so many selling them as mono AV cables for NEC consoles AND Sega/SNK... if they were actually wired like this for NEC then you'd be feeding video signals into the audio on those other platforms.

It just occurred to me that you are likely using a Supsr SD System³ or dbGrafx Booster/Engine Block or some such thing. Guess that would explain how you got something other than composite without modding.

lol okay! I wasn't going to try it anyway, but I suppose that means the PC Engine has the best composite video of its generation. Not sure about the CD-i, though, if you even want to count that as a video game system.

Like the 3DO FZ-1, my North American CD-i 220 has S-Video that doesn't even need to break out from a multi-out. It has unpopulated footprints for RGB SCART so I assume it can be modded for RGBS but I haven't looked into it. It's taken apart all over my kitchen right now because a housemate knocked the drive off the table and the drive tray shattered into a bunch of pieces, keeping me from putting it back together until after I get all the pieces glued back together. It's pretty bad, so wish me luck!

[Steven Pendleton]

13 minutes ago, CZroe said:

Though I already pre-ordered the Clear console shell with Clear controller shell I also pre-ordered the Smoke controller shell the moment it went live and then preordered the Smoke console shell with another Smoke controller the moment that went live. Hope he meets the minimum order quantity for those Smoke console shells because it looks awesome! I wonder if he will give the people who signed up for Smoke the opportunity to switch to the Clear one if they don't meet the minimum quantity for Smoke.


I seem to have been unsubsidized somehow. Same with the FPGA thread. No time to catch up with that one right now.

Anyway, since the last post I bought yet another Hyperkin Specialist to see if it had the same problem but I haven't tested it yet. I also bought a revised Old Skool controller since I still haven't looked at a final retail one... only the prototypes that I had to send back to Old Skool.

I also ordered a bunch of Doujindance's mod stuff so I can have the cleanest RGB mod for the RGR Clear and Smoke shells. Yes, he's finally selling DIY kits on eBay but shipping kills the deal if you don't order multiples (DHL-only to the USA since JapanPOST still isn't shipping to USA). People still balk at the price but I see Voultar's RGB boards with DIN, wire, jailbar fix caps, etc coming in at nearly $40... without a region switch or stereo amp and with a significantly less-appealing design for a clear shell.


https://i.imgur.com/EFaeWpn.jpg
Yes, that price was for multiple with add-ons.


Woah! I got mine for about $34 from Super Potato in Akihabara because it was missing the coin cell battery door. I 3D printed a replacement but it doesn't match the rest of the shell since mine is one of the patterned multi-color designs. Now I can get a whole new shell with matching battery doors. Sweet! Thanks for the link.


???

What are you using with the SGX if not composite? I recall you didn't want an RGB mod.

I used a MarkIII/MS, Gen1/MD1, Neo Geo/NGCD AV cable to try composite on mine but you will be missing an audio channel until you do this...
http://imgur.com/a/fvByupN


Obviously not needed if you are just curious about the quality of composite video. It seems many people don't even notice the missing audio channel since you have so many selling them as mono AV cables for NEC consoles AND Sega/SNK... if they were actually wired like this for NEC then you'd be feeding video signals into the audio on those other platforms.

It just occurred to me that you are likely using a Supsr SD System³ or dbGrafx Booster/Engine Block or some such thing. Guess that would explain how you got something other than composite without modding.


Like the 3DO FZ-1, my North American CD-i 220 has S-Video that doesn't even need to break out from a multi-out. It has unpopulated footprints for RGB SCART so I assume it can be modded for RGBS but I haven't looked into it. It's taken apart all over my kitchen right now because a housemate knocked the drive off the table and the drive tray shattered into a bunch of pieces, keeping me from putting it back together until after I get all the pieces glued back together. It's pretty bad, so wish me luck!

I was wondering where you were...

 

Anyway, yeah, I can't afford the smoke PC Engine stuff right now, mainly because of the Pocket on Tuesday (in my time zone, anyway) and my own desire to save money. I hope maybe he does another run of the smoke version in the future, though.

 

As for the SuperGrafx, I'm using the RGB out on the SSDS3. I don't even have any cables for the SuperGrafx at all since it literally came with nothing. No power, no AV, no controller, no back cover thing... yeah, nothing. At least it has the cover for the front port that was supposed to be for that crazy thing for it that never got released. I'm guessing that the cable that came with my CoreGrafx will work, but I don't really plan on using that when I have the SSDS3.

 

How much of the CD-i is salvageable? I think they are reasonably expensive, but you have to play Hotel Mario and those CD-i Zelda games somehow... right?

Edited July 31, 2020 by Steven Pendleton

[Steven Pendleton]

20 minutes ago, CZroe said:

Tried to make this post almost a month ago but the forums mangled it and started replacing all the line breaks with Twitted URLs. Hopefully it won't happen again...

I was actually tooling up to make these for anyone who wants them (assuming I'm successful). Even started ordering controller designs I didn't already own just so I could copy them. Got an original non-Turbo PC Engine controller a couple days ago in addition to the PC Engine Mini Turbo Pad. I already had an original PC Engine Turbo Pad but the controller for the Mini is new and lacks the NEC logo since that seems to be the problem for RGR.


https://i.imgur.com/3EGqEbB.jpg
I just received my European TurboGrafx controller today... along with a European Turbografx that I plan to mod into 60hz RGB. Interestingly, the controller still has "TurboGrafx-16" molded on it even though the console was rebranded to just "TurboGrafx" there. Like many EuroGrafx consoles, this one was never used even though the seller parted them out and had the consoles stacked, accumulating scratches and shelf wear over the years. He was actually selling it with a Hyperkin Specialist controller, HDMI cable, etc and selling the original controller separately for $60 (with Duo adapter) so I asked if they would sell me both without all the other extra junk they were bundling.

I also ordered but haven't yet received a Pachi-Slot Pachinko controller. I don't have the game and bought it anyway since it was the cheapest PC Engine controller on eBay at the time and I think it will be amusing to play regular games with it.


https://i.imgur.com/CSbgQdS.jpg

Speaking of the Hyperkin Specialist, I also ordered one from Castlemania Games... and I hate it! I did a quick Richter run to the end of DracX and never have I ever wasted so many item points from the controller acting like I was pressing Up. As a result I kept getting stuck/magnetized to stairs and not having enough points for an Item Crash I was saving them for. Early on I started deliberately avoiding the top half of the D-pad, even for Left and Right, but it was still detecting errant diagonals when I never pressed Up. I hope I can fix this with a little tape or something like I could on problematic 8BitDo controllers... which were never any worse than NES Classic Edition controllers for me (NES CE controllers also have overly-sensitive diagonals). Not holding out much hope since the D-pad doesn't have a pivot and pushes down in the center.

...but that wasn't the only issue. The I button did not work correctly for me at low-speed turbo. At first glance woth DracX it still seems to be working as the I button without turbo but it isn't, since holding down the I button is supposed to freeze Richter in place while this will not. Oddly, it worked when I switched to the longer Old Skool PCE adapter came while all my other controllers worked perfectly through the Hyperkin adapter. Whatever the issue is, it's marginal. It was repeatable but if I try again without the Upergrafx or with a different power supply I suspect it would behave differently. This is similar to the original version of the Old Skool controller without the bypass capacitor installed and, sure enough, there are unpopulated capacitor footprints inside. I will add one to see if this behavior goes away.

Before I start sounding like I'm biased toward Old School just because I helped them fix their controller and they were willing to work with me:
Hyperkin wins points for having an internal disconnect for the cable, which also means that you aren't stressing weak/brittle wire connections when you take it apart (Old Skool was soldered). The contacts under the turbo switches were oddly discolored and one even looked corroded, which is strange for a brand new controller straight out of the box. I think the overlay design will fit the RGR controller shell except for the smaller U shape at the top, but that whole area is blank. If I copy/print it but cut the same shape as the other designs it should fit with no graphics chopped.

So, the controller designs I have to (maybe) replicate for an RGR overlay are:
Original PC Engine (PI-PD001)
PC Engine Turbo Pad (PI-PD002)
PC Engine Mini TurboPad (no NEC logo)
TurboGrafx TurboPad
TurboGrafx Mini TurboPad (slightly different fonts)
SuperGrafx/CoreGrafx pad (PI-PD6)
Old Skool pad (no logo)
Hyperkin Specialist (needs trimming)

Yeah, it seems PC Engine controllers are just really strange. Some of them are good and some of them are not so great. I heard that the Hyperkin controller is not so great, although I don't remember any of the specifics. The mini controller is okay now that I've fixed it, but I was having huge problems with the turbo version being literally unusable. I honestly haven't even touched any of my PC Engines for a while. I only have so much space on my desk, unfortunately, and right now the Neo Geo is taking up most of the space with its hugeness. I actually just put the Saturn away yesterday to set the Neo Geo up, and the Saturn is pretty damn huge, too. I suppose I could pull the SSDS3 off of the SuperGrafx and put it back on the CoreGrafx to save space since the SuperGrafx is insanely huge, but then I won't get to play the super awesome 1941 Counter Attack.

 

For the PAL TurboGrafx, is it any different from the US version? I read somewhere that it's smaller, but I'm not sure if that's true or not. I'd like one myself someday, but they are rare and expensive.

Edited July 31, 2020 by Steven Pendleton

[CZroe]

I was wondering where you were...
 
Anyway, yeah, I can't afford the smoke PC Engine stuff right now, mainly because of the Pocket on Tuesday (in my time zone, anyway) and my own desire to save money. I hope maybe he does another run of the smoke version in the future, though.
 
As for the SuperGrafx, I'm using the RGB out on the SSDS3. I don't even have any cables for the SuperGrafx at all since it literally came with nothing. No power, no AV, no controller, no back cover thing... yeah, nothing. At least it has the cover for the front port that was supposed to be for that crazy thing for it that never got released. I'm guessing that the cable that came with my CoreGrafx will work, but I don't really plan on using that when I have the SSDS3.
 
How much of the CD-i is salvageable? I think they are reasonably expensive, but you have to play Hotel Mario and those CD-i Zelda games somehow... right?

I hope so. It seemed like 100 little pieces when I was picking them up but most are from the plastic rail part getting forced out, which means the tray may bind and seize when trying to eject or retract if I can't get it smooth enough.

I've owned my CD-i since before knew Hotel Mario existed... about 20 years now! I do have Zelda Wand of Gamelon and Link Faces of Evil along with CD-i Tetris. Yeah, I consider Tetris to be another Nintendo title on CD-i since Nintendo still had the exclusive console and handheld rights at the time.

Just days ago my local friend just traded me the jewel case CD-i Tetris for my original tall box CD-i Tetris when he found out I didn't have a preference.

[CZroe]

Yeah, it seems PC Engine controllers are just really strange. Some of them are good and some of them are not so great. I heard that the Hyperkin controller is not so great, although I don't remember any of the specifics. The mini controller is okay now that I've fixed it, but I was having huge problems with the turbo version being literally unusable. I honestly haven't even touched any of my PC Engines for a while. I only have so much space on my desk, unfortunately, and right now the Neo Geo is taking up most of the space with its hugeness. I actually just put the Saturn away yesterday to set the Neo Geo up, and the Saturn is pretty damn huge, too. I suppose I could pull the SSDS3 off of the SuperGrafx and put it back on the CoreGrafx to save space since the SuperGrafx is insanely huge, but then I won't get to play the super awesome 1941 Counter Attack.
 
For the PAL TurboGrafx, is it any different from the US version? I read somewhere that it's smaller, but I'm not sure if that's true or not. I'd like one myself someday, but they are rare and expensive.

The EuroGrafx-[non]16 is really just an American console with new board layout, AV multi-out instead of RF, and it runs at 50hz with PAL composite video. Exact same size.

The console region and cartridge pilot were the same as an American console and all PAL games were literally just American games with zero changes. Because the console itself was slower, this means the games run 17% slower than they would run on an American console. There's no good reason not to do the 60hz mod unless you just want a funny-sounding easy mode in Blazing Lazers or whatever, so I'll be doing that eventually.

The shell is identical except for the enlarged hole for an AV multi-out DIN, the updated logo stickers missing "-16," a slightly different color, and the expected labeling/lettering changes (doesn't say "RF Adapter" and the stamped model numbers are different).

The multi-out DIN has a different arrangement of pins compared to other NEC consoles and will not fit the same cables. I can only test it in my CD docks since I don't want to risk my UperGrafx UGX-02 with unsupported/untested hardware configurations.

[+Black_Tiger]

Games run at different speeds on the PAL TurboGrafx. It's not consistently slower across the board.

 

The slower speeds will cause complications in CD games.

 

It's strictly a novelty item as no software was ever customized or developed for it.

[CZroe]

 

 

 

 

Games run at different speeds on the PAL TurboGrafx. It's not consistently slower across the board.  

The slower speeds will cause complications in CD games.

 

It's strictly a novelty item as no software was ever customized or developed for it.

 

 

My understanding is that it has to be across the board since nothing was customized for it. If the launch happened normally and the console found success there would have been plenty of customized games with the speed tweaked, but that's not what happened.

 

Yeah, Emerald Danjon pointed out that some Arcade CD-ROM² titles didn't work in his Frankenstein setup with a EuroGrafx:

 

I ran games on my CoreGrafx that had been PAL modded (built-in PAL RF modulator) and everything ran slow. It stopped working when I poked around inside so I had to cut out the RF mod and restore the DIN with 60hz.

 

 

 

[turboxray]

The Pal TurboGrafx is such a crappy official hack job. Instead of making a PAL capable VCE, they literally took extreme measures to hack together a PAL signal out of the slowed down NTSC frame (and extra interrupts). Completely dumb. But yeah, some PCE games are really sensitive to timings. I don't know what they were thinking, but I'm glad it was never official. 

Edited August 2, 2020 by turboxray

[+Black_Tiger]

22 hours ago, turboxray said:

The Pal TurboGrafx is such a crappy official hack job. Instead of making a PAL capable VCE, they literally took extreme measures to hack together a PAL signal out of the slowed down NTSC frame (and extra interrupts). Completely dumb. But yeah, some PCE games are really sensitive to timings. I don't know what they were thinking, but I'm glad it was never official. 

It was never commercially released. This was thrown together for a potential test market. A proper release would likely have a number of changes and a single package.

[CZroe]

The EuroGrafx had a totally new high-quality PCB redesign with custom packaging and the PAL stuff was thoroughly integrated onto the main PCB. It's safe to say they were engineered and produced for a real launch even though that was scuttled, since these are not just modified NTSC units. Some even say it's better than an NTSC console when you mod back to 60hz (low noise, better isolation, less interference, and better-quality PCB).

 

The reason the accessory kit was packaged separately was presumably so that they could sell a different accessory kit in different regions with different power plugs, different RF/AV requirements (SECAM, anyone?), and different language requirements. The flashy retail box could stay the same in most regions and they'd only change the bundled accessory box.

 

 

[Steven Pendleton]

GrafxBooster in stock at CastleMania

 

https://castlemaniagames.com/products/dbgrafx-booster-ttp?ref=w9_zngec1o_

 

https://www.retrorgb.com/grafxbooster-in-stock-at-castlemania.html

[+GoldenWheels]

Finally got around to taking a pic of some booties I picked up a while back.