The Official Turbografx 16 Thread!

[+Black_Tiger]

3 hours ago, CZroe said:

That's definitely the case for Populous and two revisions of the Super System Card but I have yet to see inside Street Fighter II'. Got a link?

Tennokoe Bank has a battery but nothing else there needs the bulge.

I looked while making my last post. Unfortunately, most of these kinds of things went down with pcefx.

 

I believe that Tom/turboxray posted pics of one he opened up. He was working on various hacks of the game and got it so he could swap in different backgrounds.

[CZroe]

It's possible that when they made it, they only had Tennokoe Bank shells available to make room for the extra chips; I mean, even if they are "flat" chips, they only had HuCards in 3 formats : long sticker (smaller chip room) short sticker (longer room for chips) and Tennokoe/Populous bulging shell. Either they didn't wanted to design a "super short" sticker Hu-card for SFII or they though that it would be advertising itself as "super massive large game" with the bulging shell, even if it's actually empty. To make it clear : "long sticker" :

 

"short sticker"

 

And I realise that later, Hudson did made at least a "long PCB" Hucard :

 

I assume that at this point cost to manufacture them with that big of a hollow space was cheaper, or the extra price fo the Duo card made up for it. If SFII had been released later it probably would have come in that Hu-card Style too.

 

Note that the Arcade Card Pro does come in "bulging case".

 

Despite the fact that it only contain a few Ko more of RAM. So I assume that it was either an aesthetic choice for Cd-Rom² owners or a price-cutting measure. Though mostly an aesthetical choice.

 

 

 

 

 Believe it or not, I opened up my own Arcade Card Pro around 6 hours ago.

 http://imgur.com/a/lXZ8rla

It definitely has chips under there.

 

It isn't just because there are a few extra KB of RAM, it's also because it has the Super System Card 3.0 ROM. The Arcade Card Duo uses the 3.0 ROM built into a Duo or Super CD-ROM² but the Pro has to include it in order to work with the IFU-30 Interface Unit.

 

Also, normal HuCards have all the electronics on that black PCB that is flipped upside-down on the top and does not go all the way through. An Arcade Card Duo has a sticker covering the bottom, meaning the electronics protrude too deep to enclose in the plastic. Instead, the plastic card is a frame with an open top and bottom. Together, the bottom of the PCB and the label both cover the top side. The exposed parts on the bottom are covered with a sticker so I suspect this makes it a bit more delicate than most cards.

[Tanooki]

See now that's what I was thinking you'd probably find of the sort inside of a SF2CE hucard.  They claimed it used all this added space, and the ROM file you can find anywhere is twice the size of the other known largest (1MB) games out there so what's why I figured it was something like that there.  Hopefully a pic can pop up, I really don't want to try and tear my game apart to learn something and make a point.

[Steven Pendleton]

When I was researching System Cards before I bought my PC Engine I read somewhere that you have to be careful with the Super System Card, Ten no Koe Bank, and the Arcade Card Pro so you don't damage the chips inside. I imagine Street Fighter II' probably has something similar on the inside.

 

I know there is a guy in the UK who can open these types of HuCARD and replace the battery inside the Ten no Koe Bank without making any cuts, supposedly.

[Steven Pendleton]

On 3/4/2020 at 3:35 AM, Tanooki said:

At the price of the LT hell no it isn't worth it unless you're a collector being stuck with HuCards alone.

 

But, if reality put that in the range of a the GT/Turbo Express definitely and that's what you're asking about.  You're being pretty short sighted as the massively larger and fantastic library Japan go over the mediocre weak US list of game cards makes all the difference.  I went with a Core Grafx for a couple years on just a couple dozen cards, then an everdrive.  I only have a Duo now because a wicked deal popped up on here or I still would be fine.  Yes the CDs are nice, but they're not a necessity, and you can easily just do those CDs anyway on a computer with magic engine or another emulator just fine.

 

Despite the fact I could make a fast $100+ easily I still have my CG2, it's just in a drawer for now is all.  I still see some potential there at this point.

I seem to have overlooked this!

 

US HuCARDs are completely out of consideration anyway because of the region lock and because they are not available to me here in Tokyo, where I can find pretty much anything I want. I even found Magical Chase in town last year before I knew anything about how rare it is. I do already have a PC Engine and the SSDS3, so I don't need a GT at all. I just want one for portable (Japanese) HuCARD games. Basically what I'm mostly curious about is if the Japanese HuCARD library is good enough to justify spending $500 or so on hardware (including recap) just to play less than half of the available PC Engine library.

[CZroe]

See now that's what I was thinking you'd probably find of the sort inside of a SF2CE hucard.  They claimed it used all this added space, and the ROM file you can find anywhere is twice the size of the other known largest (1MB) games out there so what's why I figured it was something like that there.  Hopefully a pic can pop up, I really don't want to try and tear my game apart to learn something and make a point.

Well, I've also opened Populous, Tennokoe Bank, and a Super System Card 3.0 and among those only the Bank card uses the extra space under the cover piece.

If Street Fighter II' doesn't use it I wouldn't be too surprised but I feel it's more likely than most to need that space (extra ROM and memory mapper). I'm also wondering if there is a Super System Card 3.0 variant that uses it. I mean, I've seen two variants that don't but maybe there are more and the earliest variant needed it.

Here is a Super System Card 3.0 that I opened...


The PCB is flipped over and the cover lowered in this shot (normally the chips protrude down into the body of the card).

[CatPix]

Populous doesn't use a save battery? is it Flash ram then?

[NE146]

8 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

Basically what I'm mostly curious about is if the Japanese HuCARD library is good enough to justify spending $500 or so on hardware (including recap) just to play less than half of the available PC Engine library.

lol I mean that's basically up to you. ?If the question is whether access to a jap only library is worth 500 bucks, I would say no. But that's me. That said, if I DID have one I would forego the original hucards anyway, just shove in an Everdrive with both US & Jap games on it, never take it out of the cart slot, and call it a day. But everyone's different of course. 

 

[Steven Pendleton]

3 minutes ago, NE146 said:

lol I mean that's basically up to you. ?If the question is whether access to a jap only library is worth 500 bucks, I would say no. But that's me. That said, if I DID have one I would forego the original hucards anyway, just shove in an Everdrive with both US & Jap games on it, never take it out of the cart slot, and call it a day.

 

Everdrive was essentially my plan before I remembered that dude making the thing that runs CD games through the HuCARD slot, but apparently his interest got killed by SSDS3 and UperGrafx and such, which is annoying because those have nothing to do with the GT.

 

And yes, my Japanese is good enough to get through most not-RPG PC Engine games. Not that that really says anything because half of them are entirely in English anyway.

Edited March 5, 2020 by Steven Pendleton

[CZroe]

Populous doesn't use a save battery? is it Flash ram then?

It's SRAM but the built-in SRAM is only used as extra work RAM. Progress is saved to external SRAM (Ten No Koe 2, Interface Unit, Super CD-ROM², Backup Booster, Turbo-CD dock, Turbo Booster Plus, etc).

The ROMRAM card and reference PCB design were made to support a battery if the game needs it but, well, batteries cost money and there were plenty of external options you could charge extra for instead. *shrug* They weren't going to design another SRAM PCB just to get rid of the cover (plastic is plastic) so Populous has that empty hump.

[CatPix]

Yeah, it's what I suggested for SFII : it was cheaper to use an existing design (the Tennokoe Bank shell) than designing a new PCB and shell - in the hypothesis that SFII PCD is really not usign the bump.

[Serguei2]

Was Street Fighter II CE released outside Japan?

[CZroe]

Was Street Fighter II CE released outside Japan?

Not officially. SFII'CE remained a PCE exclusive but it was exported a lot, even back then.

[CZroe]

Yeah, it's what I suggested for SFII : it was cheaper to use an existing design (the Tennokoe Bank shell) than designing a new PCB and shell - in the hypothesis that SFII PCD is really not usign the bump.

When I finally get a copy I'll be sure to open it up and take pics. Does it happen to say "ROMRAM" on the bottom like Populous and Tennokoe Bank?

[Tanooki]

I don't want to get into some scrolly quote train...

 

CZ: I got OCD about it, after writing that post within 15-30min I used an extremely fine cutting blade that easily got under there and pried it up some, it's hollow, so it's just for show probably to emphasize how big the game was as they marketed it as such and because well it's SF2 on PCE.

 

Steve: Then yes yes...the HuCard library is very VERY well worth it.  And since you have some beginners early grasp of Japanese, you'll add a lot of games with some menus that would confuse just fine, but the big wordy stuff is out, sort of.  You said everdrive, check romhacking.net I think it is, there's a good list of games that have full english translations which adds a lot of ammo to play with.  Keep in mind all everdrives have a tiny switch, they can be used on JP and US hardware, but either way you get access to the full library of all regions so it's all good so you could in fact play the US games that matter that got translated.

[Steven Pendleton]

Alright, great, thanks. I only got my PC Engine, CD ROM2, and IFU a few months ago, my CRT in early December, and my SSDS3 in late December, so I still have a lot to learn about the library. It's very much an ongoing process, as I've only essentially been able to use it for a little over 3 months and I have not really had a whole lot of time to actually play it. I think it's really sad that most people outside Japan who know that the PC Engine actually exists know it only as "that system with Rondo of Blood" and nothing else.

 

I really like handhelds for some reason and prefer them over home consoles in almost every situation, so that's probably why I want a GT even though it can't play CD games yet. Hopefully someone develops a HuCARD that can run CD games from the card slot. I know krikzz said he thinks someone will eventually do it since it's entirely possible, so I look forward to having that in hand when someone actually makes it and sells it. The CD ROM2 doesn't actually do anything aside from greatly increasing storage capacity, offer CD audio, and look really damn awesome with the complete IFU setup as far as I know.

[CZroe]

I don't want to get into some scrolly quote train...
 
CZ: I got OCD about it, after writing that post within 15-30min I used an extremely fine cutting blade that easily got under there and pried it up some, it's hollow, so it's just for show probably to emphasize how big the game was as they marketed it as such and because well it's SF2 on PCE.
 
Steve: Then yes yes...the HuCard library is very VERY well worth it.  And since you have some beginners early grasp of Japanese, you'll add a lot of games with some menus that would confuse just fine, but the big wordy stuff is out, sort of.  You said everdrive, check romhacking.net I think it is, there's a good list of games that have full english translations which adds a lot of ammo to play with.  Keep in mind all everdrives have a tiny switch, they can be used on JP and US hardware, but either way you get access to the full library of all regions so it's all good so you could in fact play the US games that matter that got translated.

Thanks for checking that. Yeah, they even have it in a double-thick case though all the other cards in this format came in single-thick case so they were definitely looking for attention. That said, I recently found that an original Arcade Card Pro case wouldn't fit my protector sleeve like a standard case would, so it's a bit thicker than a standard jewel case:
http://imgur.com/a/FxAsGcE

The card is ever-so-slightly thicker than other covered HuCards too.

[Steven Pendleton]

16 minutes ago, CZroe said:

Thanks for checking that. Yeah, they even have it in a double-thick case though all the other cards in this format came in single-thick case so they were definitely looking for attention. That said, I recently found that an original Arcade Card Pro case wouldn't fit my protector sleeve like a standard case would, so it's a bit thicker than a standard jewel case:
http://imgur.com/a/FxAsGcE

The card is ever-so-slightly thicker than other covered HuCards too.

I was under the impression that the Street Fighter II' cover thingy is also a bit thicker than other covered cards as well judging just from pictures I have seen of it. I don't have it and don't play fighting games anyway, so I won't be able to compare it to my Super System Card. Don't have any Arcade Card games, so I don't have that either. It does seem that there is some amount of variation, though.

[NE146]

15 minutes ago, Steven Pendleton said:

 I think it's really sad that most people outside Japan who know that the PC Engine actually exists know it only as "that system with Rondo of Blood" and nothing else.

I think we're at a point where wholly thanks to info on the internet, ease of emulation, as well as easy access to entire Turbo romsets and cds, not to mention products like the Everdrive.. that someone (not that there's a huge amount of us) with any interest in the Turbo are fully aware of the PC Engine especially since anyone can play any of the games at their leisure in moments with nothing but a computer.   That said, there was a bit of info in the west about the impact of the PCE in Japan, usually via magazines, even before the launch of the TG16.

 

[Steven Pendleton]

10 minutes ago, NE146 said:

I think we're at a point where wholly thanks to info on the internet, ease of emulation, as well as easy access to entire Turbo romsets and cds, not to mention products like the Everdrive.. that someone (not that there's a huge amount of us) with any interest in the Turbo are fully aware of the PC Engine especially since anyone can play any of the games at their leisure in moments with nothing but a computer.   That said, there was a bit of info in the west about the impact of the PCE in Japan, usually via magazines, even before the launch of the TG16.

 

I meant like people who know it exists but don't care about it at all and just want to play Dracula X and nothing else, which is probably greater than the number of people who actually care about the system/its games.

[Steven Pendleton]

Sorry for double post, but maybe you guys don't know about the official PC Engine and TurboGrafx-16 shirts that are being done because of the PC Engine Mini:

 

https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B07V6SR6XB/ref=emc_b_5_i?language=ja_JP&th=1

 

I do not know if these are being released outside of Japan and yes they are expensive as hell, but I think they are cool and maybe someone here will be interested. Just remember that Japanese sizes are usually smaller than US sizes. It seems you can't cancel once you order these, so be careful to get it right!

[Eltigro]

TG-mini delayed because of coronavirus...

 

https://kotaku.com/turbografx-16-mini-delayed-due-to-coronavirus-1842145102

[+save2600]

That's fine. Maybe they could use the time to tweak the game lineup then. Get rid of the Japanese duplicates, and add essential games that are missing like Bonk III and the Legendary Axes. Yeah, right.  

[Steven Pendleton]

Interesting. Mine still says 19th even though the article says that Japanese shipments will be delayed. I just took this screenshot now.

 

 

 

Okay, so basically it says here

 

https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B07SQ18WJ8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&language=ja_JP&psc=1

 

2020年3月5日までの『PCエンジン mini』(プライムデー限定商品およびサイバーマンデー限定商品を含みます) の予約購入については、当初の発売日である2020年3月19日に商品お届け予定です。

 

which basically says if you preordered before 3/5 you'll still get your stuff on the 19th, unless I am reading this really really incorrectly. Interesting that if I add another one to my cart (it's the 6th here. Not sure what day it is in other time zones), it still says it will arrive on the 19th. Maybe they haven't updated yet or something.

 

 

Edited March 6, 2020 by Steven Pendleton

[CZroe]

Almost a week ago I realized that they were no longer accepting preorders but figured it was because we were getting too close to launch to increase allocations. Now I see it was something else entirely.

...and here I was hoping to see an Amazon Treasure Truck deal on launch day or something.