The Official Turbografx 16 Thread!

[CZroe]

It's Hyperkin AKA Hypertrash, so I'm guessing it's the absolute minimum requirements for it to barely function! Still, if you can use the components to build something excellent, I'd say that's a big success!   As for plug and play RGB with CD hardware... SSDS3/UperGrafx don't count? I'm guessing you mean like an actual stick-real-game-disc-in-PC-Engine-and-hope-your-CD-ROM2-gears-don't-shear-off thing, right?

 Yes, I was talking about original CD hardware... or really anything you might want to plug on the back with the dbGrafxBooster/Engine Block at the same time. As the only officially supported way to use HD Retrovision cables with the PC Engine and TurboGrafx, the biggest complaint about the dbBooster/Block is that you can't use the expansion port at the same time which consequently means you can't officially use HD Retrovision cables with most of the library. If you were to stay "official" you'd get no saving progress for HuCard games and no CD hardware.

 

When the SSDS³ had bad RGB, you obviously couldn't bypass that with the dbBooster/Block for the same reason (no EXT pass-thru). Unless we get something like HuDebug, the dbBooster/Block is exclusively for HuCards, which really sucks since that excludes all the best games!

 

UperGrafx doesn't have any analog outputs, unfortunately. I really wish it supported 240p for one of those HDMI to VGA adapters, but it doesnt. It would be a little awkward to use the UGX with this modified adapter thing just to get analog+digital output but it could work. I probably won't try it since the creator of the UGX asked me not to needlessly subject it to too many unofficially supported things (Turbo Everdrive, poorly-engineered Old Skool controller, old PSU, etc).

 

Most versions of the dbBooster/Block do not have a full connector block to pass through the CD stuff but the Hyperkin actually looks like they might... on the back side at least (none of the pics show the other side). If not, I could probably make a replacement PCB with the same connector used in Skumlos' open source version.

 

At least they didn't split it into two small connector blocks like the dbBooster/Block does so there is a good chance that the connector has everything we need for a straight pass-thru. Even if it does only connect the AV/RGB/power pins, a replacement PCB with all the RGB stuff can rectify that. Here's hoping!

 

 

 

 

[Steven Pendleton]

3 minutes ago, CZroe said:

 

 

Yes, I was talking about original CD hardware... or really anything you might want to plug on the back with the dbGrafxBooster/Engine Block at the same time. As the only officially supported way to use HD Retrovision cables with the PC Engine and TurboGrafx, the biggest complaint about the dbBooster/Block is that you can't use the expansion port at the same time which consequently means you can't officially use HD Retrovision cables. That means no saving progress for HuCard games and no CD hardware.

When the SSDS³ had bad RGB, you obviously couldn't bypass that with the dbBooster/Block for the same reason (no EXT pass-thru). Unless we get something like HuDebug, the dbBooster/Block is exclusively for HuCards, which really sucks since that excludes all the best games!

UperGrafx doesn't have any analog outputs, unfortunately. I really wish it supported 240p for one of those HDMI to VGA adapters, but it doesnt. It would be a little awkward to use the UGX with this modified adapter thing just to get analog+digital output but it could work. I probably won't try it since the creator of the UGX asked me not to needlessly subject it to too many unofficially supported things (Turbo Everdrive, poorly-engineered Old Skool controller, old PSU, etc).

Most versions of the dbBooster/Block do not have a full connector block to pass through the CD stuff but the Hyperkin actually looks like they might... on the back side at least (none of the pics show the other side). If not, I could probably make a replacement PCB with the same connector used in Skumlos' open source version.

At least they didn't split it into two small connector blocks like the dbBooster/Block does so there is a good chance that the connector has everything we need for a straight pass-thru. Even if it does only connect the AV/RGB/power pins, a replacement PCB can rectify that. Here's hoping!

I thought so. Hopefully you can build something useful with something from Hyperkin.

 

What's the deal with the Old Skool controller and the UperGrafx? I heard that the Old Skool controller isn't very good, but that's about it. They aren't exactly available here, so it's much easier to go to Akiba since the train ride is only 16 minutes from my house. There I have mountains of controllers to sort through! Most of them are the CoreGrafx/SuperGrafx type, but there are occasionally Avenue Pad 3/6, and variants of the DUO controller. Only ever seen one Shuttle, and that's the one I bought! Actually it was the first PC Engine-related anything that I bought, for that matter.

[CZroe]

I thought so. Hopefully you can build something useful with something from Hyperkin.

 

What's the deal with the Old Skool controller and the UperGrafx? I heard that the Old Skool controller isn't very good, but that's about it. They aren't exactly available here, so it's much easier to go to Akiba since the train ride is only 16 minutes from my house. There I have mountains of controllers to sort through! Most of them are the CoreGrafx/SuperGrafx type, but there are occasionally Avenue Pad 3/6, and variants of the DUO controller. Only ever seen one Shuttle, and that's the one I bought! Actually it was the first PC Engine-related anything that I bought, for that matter.

Mine are from the initial December 2018 production run that turned out to be faulty but I'm told the latest ones are probably fine (haven't looked at one myself). I was actually in communication with Old Skool to help them get future production batches fixed for everyone but the early units originally had a couple issues... most notably that they did not work with the 5-player multi tap/Turbo Tap. I figured out what was wrong and how to fix them which is why I have three now.

 

You can see it going nuts through the tap in this animation (Turbo Everdrive selection is going crazy):

https://i.imgur.com/c6XbrlF.gifv

 

Because the system only has one controller port, the Turbo Tap issue means you couldn't even use it as a second controller. It was a huge bummer for me because I was excited for Bomberman and had some spare consoles with no controller so I wanted to order 7+. I originally contacted them to see if I could get any kind of discount for that quantity. Luckily, they wouldn't let me order that many so I made a single controller pilot purchase for full price. The bulk of the 2018 production run was still on a container ship due to arrive in February and they wanted to distribute the few they had to more people, which is why they weren't willing to negotiate a bulk discount. I considered not ordering the one for full price and just waiting to place my bulk order but I was too excited.

 

Due to the tap issue the 2018 production run is pretty much only useful if you have a system with no controller... which is actually what the retail box suggests the product is for. Seriously: it says something about finally being able to use your controller-less orphan console and doesn't say anything about multi-player. It doesn't seem like they knew though.

 

The inside guy I was communicating with, Rob Cooperstein, was awesome for engaging with an end-user like me to get this fixed but he's not an electronics engineer or anything and only knew what the Chinese engineering and manufacturing partner was telling him about the problem. He insisted that the early samples from their manufacturing partner were working with a Turbo Tap before a factory mix-up with the first production batch. I can confirm the factory mix up as well as a couple other issues which should have been addressed by now but I don't have the revised controllers to verify.

 

The factory/engineers in China gave him the impression that resistors R1 and R2 were supposed to be 47k ohm but a factory mix-up resulted in 330 ohm. As he suggested, correcting R1 and R2 to 47k ohm did get it somewhat working with the Turbo Tap (more on that later), but what I found inside was that the board silkscreen actually specifies the incorrect 330 ohm value for those. That means it was an engineering mistake and not a factory mistake. The original controller definitely uses 47k there so it was an error either way. It was likely incorrect in the early samples as well.

 

So why did it work before? Why did I say that the wrong resistor values at R1 and R2 were an engineering mix-up when I already said I verified the factory resistor mix-up? Well, because there was an entirely different factory mix-up with the other resistors, so it's likely that his early sample had the right ones everywhere else and probably did work even with the wrong resistors for R1 and R2.

 

Regardless, changing R1 and R2 didn't fix everything so the other issues needed to be addressed too. It seemed fine without the tap and mostly worked with the tap but there were a few quirks left over when using turbo through the tap. On some controllers the low turbo speed setting was much too fast and the fast setting didn't work even after correcting all the resistor values. This was because they also left out a 0.1uF bypass capacitor and the auto-routing software they used to engineer the board made a terrible PCB layout (ineffective ground pour, ridiculous power routing). Auto-routing is terrible!

 

The other resistor mix-up at the factory is that someone loaded the wrong reels into the pick and place machine for all of the 47k resistors. Whoever was responsible made the error twice because they loaded 4k7 resistor reels for both physical sizes of 47k resistors. Obviously, 47,000 (47k) ohm is WAY off from 4,700 (4k7) ohm. There were more resistor values that were not correct but these were the most egregious. I made this chart and attached it to the popular controller schematic you can find online with annotations for each resistor's reference designation on the Old Skool PCB:

https://i.imgur.com/8yjaPgW.jpg

 

The bottom row is what I found installed in my controllers and the top row is what it is supposed to be. I corrected R1 and R2 and still had turbo problems through the tap without the bypass cap. Rob insisted that both turbo positions worked for him through the tap without the cap (just R1 and R2 corrected) so I went on to correct all the other resistor values. It still wasn't working through the tap without the bypass cap so I recorded this video to demonstrate:

 

In the video I demonstrate with the cap, without, and with again to show that the bypass cap from the original schematic is definitely having a positive effect. The difference in our experiences could be down to differences between our consoles, power supply, and multitaps, but the bypass cap was part of the original schematic and the resistor fixes alone won't cut it for everyone so I concluded that the bypass cap should be there.

 

Notice that the resistor codes for my 47k resistors at R1/R2 are 473 (47k) and the others that should be 47k are all 472 (4k7):

https://i.imgur.com/ty4Dord.jpg

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

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

(1st image is the best way to do the capacitor)

 

Correcting R1 and R2 and adding the bypass cap at IC1 is all that seems to be needed for 100% functionality, but I don't know enough to calculate what all the other resistor errors do to the system or attached devices like an UperGrafx. David Shadoff tells me that the R1/R2 mixup alone increases the power draw by 15mA. Even correcting those to get the tap mostly working, you've got a ton of other incorrect resistor values all over. Multiply whatever the additional power draw is by 5 to fully populate a tap and I can see it potentially being a problem.

 

It's been long enough that I can order one and expect to get a revised one. I bought two when an eBay seller accidentally marked them down to $12.50 each but they were the faulty 2018 versions. Before the factory sent them the revised ones Rob from Old Skool sent me two experimentally fixed controllers to evaluate and return but I wasn't allowed to look inside. They seemed to work great even though he said they had two different resistor fixes inside and neither had the bypass cap.

 

Old Skool doesn't manufacture or engineer these products. It's the same partner that makes/engineers Hyperkin's GN6 Premium Genesis controllers, Retro-Bit's Sega-licensed Genesis controllers, Hyperkin's Specialist Premium TurboGrafx controllers, etc and those get a lot of praise, so it seems unfair to blame Old Skool for all this. I can't say I'm happy about the situation but it think it's awesome that they reached out to me to get this fixed for everyone when their foreign MFG partner was dropping the ball.

[CZroe]

That $56 Akumajou Dracula X Chi no Rondo?

 

Arrived today. Reflective logos. Another 1FADT. Totally legit:

http://imgur.com/a/NwbnTtt

 

*coolshades*

 

The data side has some repairable scratches and doesn't look nearly as good as my other copies but, well, there it is... and it works. Now I have three TurboGrafx CD docks with three copies of this game, three Turbo Everdrives to use as Super System Cards, and more than three TurboGrafx-16 consoles to pair with them. I need to get more of my drives working so I can make three fans very happy (myself, being one of them).

 

 

 

 

[NE146]

Well I guess if you've ever wanted to turn on 3 Turbografx's at the same time it makes sense to have 3 everdrives.    Funny thing is you just reminded me that in 1989 I had two Turbografx consoles, but I have ZERO remembrance why. 

[CZroe]

Well I guess if you've ever wanted to turn on 3 Turbografx's at the same time it makes sense to have 3 everdrives. [emoji4]   Funny thing is you just reminded me that in 1989 I had two Turbografx consoles, but I have ZERO remembrance why. 

LOL! Well, two came in a lot together and the third was being sold cheaper than the drive it came with!

 

My nephew is interested in one when I get another drive working. I'm also adding RGB, recapping, and doing everything else I can to add value.

[Steven Pendleton]

6 hours ago, CZroe said:

some stuff

Thanks for the assistance with the Neo Geo yesterday!

 

Looks like manufacturing or communication error to me. I guess if there is a risk to the UperGrafx with the original model and not the revised one, I wouldn't risk it. That thing is way too expensive when all you have to do is just use a different controller. I'm guessing that it's probably safe to buy one of those controllers now, but since they already have a bad reputation I think most people would probably pass.

 

As for that manufacturer, I haven't used many of their products, just the official Sega 2.4GHz wireless controllers and those are excellent. They had noticeably more lag than the M30 2.4g, but they patched it and now they seem to be about the same. Bob from RetroRGB said he was going to do a lag test comparison but it never happened. I'd do it myself, but I don't have the proper equipment to do it. Anyway, those Retro-Bit controllers are very nice aside from the buttons rattling a bit in the Saturn controller. I have never used an original Saturn controller, so I don't know if that's normal, but aside from that they are excellent and work on a lot of systems.

 

4 hours ago, CZroe said:

That $56 Akumajou Dracula X Chi no Rondo?

 

Arrived today. Reflective logos. Another 1FADT. Totally legit:

http://imgur.com/a/NwbnTtt

 

*coolshades*

 

The data side has some repairable scratches and doesn't look nearly as good as my other copies but, well, there it is... and it works. Now I have three TurboGrafx CD docks with three copies of this game, three Turbo Everdrives to use as Super System Cards, and more than three TurboGrafx-16 consoles to pair with them. I need to get more of my drives working so I can make three fans very happy (myself, being one of them).

 

 

 

 

Yay, real Rondo!

 

I just realized that I forgot to buy Darius Plus the other day. I want a full CIB SuperGrafx set, and now that we know that Darius Alpha isn't actually SuperGrafx enhanced, it's actually reasonable to get the full set aside from stupid 1941 Counter Attack. That game is super awesome but I don't think it's $700~$1000 awesome for a CIB copy. I guess I need Darius Plus since it kind of counts as a SuperGrafx game, even if it really isn't. It's fairly cheap, but as I pointed out before, there really is no point in playing Darius Plus if you can play Super Darius, even if you have a SuperGrafx.

[CZroe]

Yay, real Rondo!
 
I just realized that I forgot to buy Darius Plus the other day. I want a full CIB SuperGrafx set, and now that we know that Darius Alpha isn't actually SuperGrafx enhanced, it's actually reasonable to get the full set aside from stupid 1941 Counter Attack. That game is super awesome but I don't think it's $700~$1000 awesome for a CIB copy. I guess I need Darius Plus since it kind of counts as a SuperGrafx game, even if it really isn't. It's fairly cheap, but as I pointed out before, there really is no point in playing Darius Plus if you can play Super Darius, even if you have a SuperGrafx.

Speaking of the UGX...

When I found out my friends shop was reopened and I went to see him about those TG16 games on Sunday, I brought my UperGrafx UGX-02. While I was there I disconnected it from my white PCE and slotted the PCE into an IFU-30 to demonstrate how that was supposed to work. We were discussing a possible trade of a PCE CD-ROM² or Turbo CD setup for the games.

Anyway, I assumed the UGX was in a bag of stuff I brought back with me. Turns out it wasn't. My place is such a mess right now that I could have misplaced it when I came back Sunday or it could still be in my car but I definitely haven't seen it since Sunday and the last place I clearly recall was at the shop. Really hope I didn't leave it there.

[Steven Pendleton]

1 minute ago, CZroe said:

Speaking of the UGX...

When I found out my friends shop was reopened and I went to see him about those TG16 games on Sunday, I brought my UperGrafx UGX-02. While I was there I disconnected it from my white PCE and slotted the PCE into an IFU-30 to demonstrate how that was supposed to work. We were discussing a possible trade of a PCE CD-ROM² or Turbo CD setup for the games.

Anyway, I assumed the UGX was in a bag of stuff I brought back with me. Turns out it wasn't. My place is such a mess right now that I could have misplaced it when I came back Sunday or it could still be in my car but I definitely haven't seen it since Sunday and the last place I clearly recall was at the shop. Really hope I didn't leave it there.

Um... yeah, I'd go about finding that immediately. That thing is crazy expensive and still sold out.

Edited April 30, 2020 by Steven Pendleton

[Steven Pendleton]

I am sitting here playing the PC Engine mini as I wait for the turbo controller to arrive and I decided to play Aldynes. Yes, this game sucks without turbo, so don't play it without turbo. Anyway, you know how the mini has the animation of the HuCARD going in? I noticed that the HuCARD for Aldynes on the PC Engine mini doesn't look like the real game. On the mini it's got the entire box art with the actual Aldynes ship on the HuCARD, but the real HuCARD is a simplified version that looks like this

 

 

WHAT THE HELL KONAMI.

 

I wish all 5 of the SuperGrafx games and also Darius Alpha were included on the mini. I wish they at least got 1941 Counter Attack on there since they have Daimakaimura. Both of those are Capcom games, so the lack of 1941 Counter Attack is disappointing when Capcom is clearly okay with having their games included.

[CZroe]

I am sitting here playing the PC Engine mini as I wait for the turbo controller to arrive and I decided to play Aldynes. Yes, this game sucks without turbo, so don't play it without turbo. Anyway, you know how the mini has the animation of the HuCARD going in? I noticed that the HuCARD for Aldynes on the PC Engine mini doesn't look like the real game. On the mini it's got the entire box art with the actual Aldynes ship on the HuCARD, but the real HuCARD is a simplified version that looks like this
 

 
WHAT THE HELL KONAMI.
 
I wish all 5 of the SuperGrafx games and also Darius Alpha were included on the mini. I wish they at least got 1941 Counter Attack on there since they have Daimakaimura. Both of those are Capcom games, so the lack of 1941 Counter Attack is disappointing when Capcom is clearly okay with having their games included.

Good catch. I hope we can fix it with the hack! I've heard it will have full artwork customization.

[Tanooki]

5 hours ago, CZroe said:

That $56 Akumajou Dracula X Chi no Rondo?

 

Arrived today. Reflective logos. Another 1FADT. Totally legit:

http://imgur.com/a/NwbnTtt

 

*coolshades*

 

The data side has some repairable scratches and doesn't look nearly as good as my other copies but, well, there it is... and it works. Now I have three TurboGrafx CD docks with three copies of this game, three Turbo Everdrives to use as Super System Cards, and more than three TurboGrafx-16 consoles to pair with them. I need to get more of my drives working so I can make three fans very happy (myself, being one of them).

 

 

 

 

That was you?  I saw that on facebook, don't recall the name behind it but I saw those pictures.  Good job.  Saw some douche got snarky saying, good job paying the low end of average which was entirely unnecessary.

[Steven Pendleton]

1 hour ago, CZroe said:

 

Good catch. I hope we can fix it with the hack! I've heard it will have full artwork customization.

I wouldn't have noticed it at all if I hadn't actually bought this game the other day. I wonder if there are any more games on here that do not have the correct artwork. I also wonder why the hell the artwork on Aldynes is wrong. It doesn't affect anything other than cosmetic accuracy in an animation that can be skipped entirely, but it's really strange when you consider how much effort they put into getting literally every other cosmetic aspect of the system perfect.

 

Still, I hope this hack fixes the input and sound lag. It's not as bad as the MD Mini but still definitely there. It also makes me wonder if someone is finally going to use this opportunity and translate the PC Engine version of Snatcher. Probably not, but we'll see. Apparently the PC Engine version is not only the best version of Snatcher but also the last version that Kojima actually worked on. He had nothing to do with the Sega CD port since he was working on Policenauts at the time.

[CZroe]

That was you?  I saw that on facebook, don't recall the name behind it but I saw those pictures.  Good job.  Saw some douche got snarky saying, good job paying the low end of average which was entirely unnecessary.

Thanks. Yeah, that was me.

 

I think that commenter's concept of "average" is skewed by all the fakes out there. I figured the "brag post" would kinda draw attention to the fakes, let people know how to find good deals, and spread awareness of how things really are before more of us get burned so I was happy to set the record straight. I saw his post more as an opportunity to explain it better and he seemed to accept it once I did.

 

When I got my first copy Riley Rolls, Kyle P, and other experts really helped me verify and I figure it's best to spread that kind of info around.

 

[CZroe]

I wouldn't have noticed it at all if I hadn't actually bought this game the other day. I wonder if there are any more games on here that do not have the correct artwork. I also wonder why the hell the artwork on Aldynes is wrong. It doesn't affect anything other than cosmetic accuracy in an animation that can be skipped entirely, but it's really strange when you consider how much effort they put into getting literally every other cosmetic aspect of the system perfect.
 
Still, I hope this hack fixes the input and sound lag. It's not as bad as the MD Mini but still definitely there. It also makes me wonder if someone is finally going to use this opportunity and translate the PC Engine version of Snatcher. Probably not, but we'll see. Apparently the PC Engine version is not only the best version of Snatcher but also the last version that Kojima actually worked on. He had nothing to do with the Sega CD port since he was working on Policenauts at the time.

Hey, that PCE CD-ROM² Pretty Sailor Moon translation came seemingly out of nowhere last week. Now that it's done, maybe the same people are looking for something else to work on. We can hope!

[Steven Pendleton]

1 minute ago, CZroe said:

 

Hey, that PCE CD-ROM² Pretty Sailor Moon translation came seemingly out of nowhere last week. Now that it's done, maybe the same people are looking for something else to work on. We can hope!

I actually almost bought that like the day after the patch was released. It's only like 1200 yen for one in excellent condition, but maybe later.

[Steven Pendleton]

12 minutes ago, CZroe said:

Thanks. Yeah, that was me.

 

I think that commenter's concept of "average" is skewed by all the fakes out there. I figured the "brag post" would kinda draw attention to the fakes, let people know how to find good deals, and spread awareness of how things really are before more of us get burned so I was happy to set the record straight. I saw his post more as an opportunity to explain it better and he seemed to accept it once I did.

 

When I got my first copy Riley Rolls, Kyle P, and other experts really helped me verify and I figure it's best to spread that kind of info around.

 

lol what? $56 for a real Rondo is excellent. They want double that for a disc-only fake on ebay right now. People are crazy. Or just crazy stupid/ignorant.

Edited April 30, 2020 by Steven Pendleton

[CZroe]

lol what? $56 for a real Rondo is excellent. They want double that for a disc-only fake on ebay right now. People are crazy. Or just crazy stupid/ignorant.

Out of the four purchases I made, only the most expensive one was a fake and all the rest were just crazy-good deals.

 

I watched for months with the best price for a confirmed legitimate copy typically being $145-179 and better condition copies usually being over $200. The legit ones that sell for less often don't give you enough info to tell apart from the fakes so people bid on them like fakes or don't buy them. I look for reasons why one is less risky than another and do the best I can to verify small tells in any image but there is always some risk. The fake that almost got me outright showed pics of a real one in the listing.

[Steven Pendleton]

21 minutes ago, CZroe said:

Out of the four purchases I made, only the most expensive one was a fake and all the rest were just crazy-good deals.

 

I watched for months with the best price for a confirmed legitimate copy typically being $145-179 and better condition copies usually being over $200. The legit ones that sell for less often don't give you enough info to tell apart from the fakes so people bid on them like fakes or don't buy them. I look for reasons why one is less risky than another and do the best I can to verify small tells in any image but there is always some risk. The fake that almost got me outright showed pics of a real one in the listing.

Yeah, the fakers are getting better at making fake stuff, but there is not much you can do to prevent someone from posting pictures of a real one and sending you a fake.

 

I have mixed feelings about PCEWorks. Their stuff is very nice and it's totally obvious that their stuff is not original, but they're still fakes. I forget who it was, but someone dumped a whole ton of obviously fake Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphires onto the market a while ago. I found an obvious fake copy being sold as a real one a few months ago, but ebay's report function wasn't working for some reason so I couldn't report it.

 

Sad that a fake Rondo sells for more than a real one. I think. At least it's cheaper to get a real one than a fake! Perhaps there is at least some hope for humanity.

 

This is why I generally do not buy stuff online. If I can go find it in town and inspect it, I will. Sorry to bring up Gleylancer again, but when I bought my Gleylancer I literally went to every single store in Akiba that had a copy and made them open it for me to inspect it before I decided which one I wanted. I think I inspected like 5 or 6 copies that day and I feel that I got the best one in town and for a good price (for Gleylancer).

Edited April 30, 2020 by Steven Pendleton

[DragonGrafx-16]

I buy my PC Engine games online out of necessity... you usually can't just walk into a random game store in the Midwestern US and expect find PC Engine games... let alone TG-16 games. Of course you're much safer buying HuCards online than CDroms since they are much harder to fake (and the fake ones usually are those rewritten cards that are ripoffs or the high quality repros made by TG16PCEMODS.com that are easy to spot as fake (they lack the black square of real HuCards and the text on the back is different). 

 

I did buy Super Star Soldier and PC Denjin: Punkic Cyborgs (technically was a gift) at my local game store but that was the only time in the past 10 years I've seen any there.

Edited April 30, 2020 by DragonGrafx-16

[roots.genoa]

1 hour ago, Steven Pendleton said:

I have mixed feelings about PCEWorks. Their stuff is very nice and it's totally obvious that their stuff is not original, but they're still fakes. I forget who it was, but someone dumped a whole ton of obviously fake Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphires onto the market a while ago. I found an obvious fake copy being sold as a real one a few months ago, but ebay's report function wasn't working for some reason so I couldn't report it.

It was PCEWorks, and that's why the guy is hated in the community, because at the time he didn't put his logo on it (yet). I paid €50, which is $54, for my Chi no Rondo CIB bootleg from them.

[Steven Pendleton]

I just stepped outside and found an envelope in my mailbox. I opened it and this was inside.

 

 

Yay, now half of the games on the PC Engine mini are actually playable now! This really should have come with the system like it did with the other variants instead of needing to buy it separately. The package is in Japanese, English, and French, as you can see, so I'm guessing there will be no proper TurboGrafx-16 and CoreGrafx colored ones available for sale separately. Disappointing and unfortunate.

 

1 hour ago, DragonGrafx-16 said:

I buy my PC Engine games online out of necessity... you usually can't just walk into a random game store in the Midwestern US and expect find PC Engine games... let alone TG-16 games. Of course you're much safer buying HuCards online than CDroms since they are much harder to fake (and the fake ones usually are those rewritten cards that are ripoffs or the high quality repros made by TG16PCEMODS.com that are easy to spot as fake (they lack the black square of real HuCards and the text on the back is different). 

 

I did buy Super Star Soldier and PC Denjin: Punkic Cyborgs (technically was a gift) at my local game store but that was the only time in the past 10 years I've seen any there.

One of the advantages of living 16 minutes away from Akiba is that I can go find almost any game any time I want. It must be annoying to have to buy things online and not know if they are fake or what sort of condition they are really in until you actually get them.

 

16 minutes ago, roots.genoa said:

It was PCEWorks, and that's why the guy is hated in the community, because at the time he didn't put his logo on it (yet). I paid €50, which is $54, for my Chi no Rondo CIB bootleg from them.

I thought so. At least they are still easy to identify because they still don't look real. I'm considering getting a real copy, so I have to be careful.

[Steven Pendleton]

The turbo on this thing is insanely fast. I used Dragon Spirit as my test game on both the mini and my SuperGrafx since I have a real copy. I even used my regular CoreGrafx/SuperGrafx controller, which I never use. So normally in Dragon Spirit with a real controller you get a steady stream of shots when the turbo is at maximum, but on the mini using the mini's turbo controller your dragon is essentially equipped with a GAU-8 Avenger because it fires that fast.

 

The d-pad is extremely stiff. I have difficulty doing diagonals to the up-right direction on all of my real PC Engine controllers even after cleaning them multiple times, and I have the same problem with the mini's turbo controller except it's much worse. It's incredibly stiff to the point where I feel like I have no control. Maybe it needs to be broken in, but at least I still can't do up-right diagonals, so I guess that's accurate in a weird way.

 

And yes, it still has the 3 meter cable that is way too long and super annoying.

Edited April 30, 2020 by Steven Pendleton

[DragonGrafx-16]

12 minutes ago, Steven Pendleton said:

The turbo on this thing is insanely fast. I used Dragon Spirit as my test game on both the mini and my SuperGrafx since I have a real copy. I even used my regular CoreGrafx/SuperGrafx controller, which I never use. So normally in Dragon Spirit with a real controller you get a steady stream of shots when the turbo is at maximum, but on the mini using the mini's turbo controller your dragon is essentially equipped with a GAU-8 Avenger because it fires that fast.

 

The d-pad is extremely stiff. I have difficulty doing diagonals to the up-right direction on all of my real PC Engine controllers even after cleaning them multiple times, and I have the same problem with the mini's turbo controller except it's much worse. It's incredibly stiff to the point where I feel like I have no control. Maybe it needs to be broken in, but at least I still can't do up-right diagonals, so I guess that's accurate in a weird way.

 

And yes, it still has the 3 meter cable that is way too long and super annoying.

I actually bought an old Mac serial extension cable (same connector as the PC Engine controller) so the controller will actually reach my couch. And that's too bad about that controller for the mini having such a stiff dpad... I love how smooth the one on my CoreGrafx controller is.

Edited April 30, 2020 by DragonGrafx-16

[Steven Pendleton]

2 minutes ago, DragonGrafx-16 said:

I actually bought an old Mac serial extension cable (same connector as the PC Engine controller) so the controller will actually reach my couch. And that's too bad about that controller for the mini having such a stiff dpad... I love how smooth the one on my CoreGrafx controller is.

Well, the mini's controllers are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG that if you get a mini I don't think you'll have a problem with that!

 

After some more testing, it seems that in Dragon Spirit, the mini's middle turbo switch setting is about as fast as the original controller's highest setting. The mini's fastest setting is really insane. I'm definitely not complaining about the speed increase because I think it's great! Maybe it's because the originals are 30+ years old now, but I wish my real controllers were this fast!

 

The d-pad is still crap, but perhaps it will break in or something.