Retrogaming Hardware

[Kazin]

Mega Drive Mini 2 announced, includes Sega CD games:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1532679630339342336

The Japanese games so far include Sonic CD, Silpheed, and Shining Force CD (the ringer as far as I'm concerned lol). Get Snatcher on there, Sega!

 

[Phantoon]

Sigh

Take my money Sega. Again.

 

[Kazin]

Updated list according to this tweet:

Bonanza Bros.
Fantasy Zone
Magical Taruruto-kun
Mansion of Hidden Souls
Popful Mail
Shining Force CD
Shining in the Darkness
Silpheed
Sonic CD
Thunder Force IV
Virtua Racing

 

[Phantoon]

That's already a pretty strong list

 

[ArugulaZ]

It's funny, because by a wacky coincidence, Sega Lord X just posted a list of the very best games for the Sega CD. I suspect many of those will appear in this second Genesis. Final Fight CD is an absolute must, and Dark Wizard and Robo Aleste are at least worthy of consideration. Probably Snatcher as well, since it's the only chance most Americans will have to play it in English.

For as much as people (including myself) bag on the Sega CD, there were some pretty good games on it. Probably not worth an additional $300 expenditure, but certainly worth playing. I'd even add Cobra Command and Road Avenger to that list, if only for their butt-kickin' animation. The gameplay is pure Dragon's Lair, but I appreciate the Japanese spin on things. It's like you're almost-playing an episode of the 1980s GI Joe series.

 

[Sarge]

Oh, yeah, the Sega CD was a far better add-on than the 32X, and it sported some great games. It definitely did more than the FMV craze, despite its reputation.

One could probably argue, however, that they should have gone the Duo route in not adding extra processing capability (that in many ways games didn't leverage) and instead just make use of the extra storage. The base Genesis was still pretty powerful - if the PC Engine could make the CD format work as well as it did, the Genesis could have as well.

 

[ArugulaZ]

What would have stopped them from introducing a RAM cartridge, similar to what was released for the TurboDuo, Saturn, and Nintendo 64? That would have been more palatable than the $200+ 32X.

 

[Sprite]

I've got an old fat PS3 (non-BC) with the YLoD that's been sitting in a closet for years. There's an electronics disposal event happening next week and I was considering taking it there, though... I wonder if there's a better fate for it? I don't know if anyone wants these things for parts, and also don't know if there's a risk of exposing my data through there. Seems a shame to just pulp it, though.

I ended up bringing it to the disposal event. My days of rooting around in hardware are definitely over, and even if they weren't, the PS3 wouldn't be the thing I'd want to root around in. Here's hoping it gets recycled into something. The guy who took it at the event said, "oh no, bye bye, PS3!"

In a bizarre twist of fate, the PS5 I miraculously managed to order showed up on the same day, so now I can't shake the suspicion I summoned it with a ritual sacrifice.

 

[ArugulaZ]

Honestly, I don't think you would have been able to save it without great expense. You were better off leaving it on the altar.

 

[Phantoon]

What would have stopped them from introducing a RAM cartridge, similar to what was released for the TurboDuo, Saturn, and Nintendo 64? That would have been more palatable than the $200+ 32X.

What would that have done to make the Mega Drive more appealing to the customer in 1994? It was ancient hardware, eight years old at that point, at a time where technological progression was at its most intense. At the point the 32X was released it was up against the PlayStation and the Saturn. When the Turbografx RAM cartridge was released, that was up against the SNES and the Mega Drive. The SVP adaptor may have worked, but it would've still been another unappealing add on when people wanted a full upgrade.

 

[ArugulaZ]

I don't think Sega had a good move at the end of the 16-bit generation, aside from not releasing more upgrades. I guess they figured they'd have more success by releasing a RAM expansion for the Saturn, and indeed, a lot of games did use that cartridge.

 

[Phantoon]

I know I found the concept of the 32X annoying; why would I blow £200 on something that would immediately be outmatched by everything coming, including Sega's own console? Add to that the feeling of being slightly burned on the Mega CD already and it gave Sega the feel of a company with interesting ideas but no compunction to stick with them and make them work.

Also, what were Sega thinking making the Saturn a 2D console initially? Everybody else, including Sega themselves (with the 32X) were going 3D.

 

[Kazin]

God dangit, I've been enjoying the PC Engine Mini so much, and with a birthday coming up in which I plan on having my wife load up my Sendico account (lol), I'm looking at buying a PC Engine and hopefully a CD drive too. Rondo of Blood prices aren't what they were in like 2008 or whatever (they're apparently like $150 on Sendico right now, as far as I can tell, not the $500+ Parish said he paid on Retronauts however many years ago), so maybe I'll pick that up since I've really fallen for that game lately.

In any case! I've never owned any type of PC Engine or Turbografx before, so I have some questions:

1. Is it region free? I.E. if I get a PC Engine and PC Engine CD, can I play both Rondo of Blood on it, and an American copy of Bomberman '93?
2. I've heard the PC Engines are notorious for needing to be recapped, which is something I can possibly handle as I have some soldering experience - is it difficult for a person who hasn't quite done fine soldering like on a N64 Digital, but has succeeded at pretty much everything short of that?
3. If I end up getting a CD drive, what system card should I go for, or do I have to pick up more than one for compatibility? I'm not looking for a huge PC Engine collection tbh, but I'm not sure how that works.
4. For output - I have an upscaler that accepts either S-video or composite, so will that work? I know the base model white PC Engine (the model I want, aesthetically, I don't like the way Duos look tbh) is RF only, but if I get a CD, can I output composite, or do I need some weird add on? If I need an add on, what is it called?

I really know very little about this system lol. Thanks in advance!

 

[Becksworth]

Don't know any hardware particulars, but I think a lot of pre PSX/Saturn cd based systems didn't even consider the possibility of commercially available writable CDs, so you should be able to burn fan translations and what have you to CDRs.

 

[Kazin]

See, this is why I post these sorts of questions here, because I didn't even think to ask about stuff like that. Thank you! Good to know, because maybe that's how I'll play Ys IV... and good to know, since I may pick up an American version of Ys Book I & II.

 

[ArugulaZ]

I'm not an expert, but I'm pretty sure the PC Engine and Turbografx-16 are region locked. In fact, I'm pretty sure Japanese and American games have different pinouts, so you can't use them in a system from a different territory unless you've got an adapter.

The TG16 (and presumably the PC Engine as well) has a large plastic cap on the back, which can be removed to reveal three rows of pins. That I/O is your ticket to higher quality video. Here's a pinout if that helps. There is support for RGB, although heck if I know how you would take advantage of it.

PC Engine + Shuttle Expansion Port

gamesx.com

Wait wait wait, this is probably gonna be more useful to you. This guy knows what he's talking about.

Turbo Grafx 16/PC Engine Buyers Guide: How To do it Right!

Real Talk By: “The Wizard” Jeremy Forest This is going to be something I wish I had back in 1998 when I started collecting Turbo Grafx 16 games. This is going to be a guide on how to bu…

playlegit.net

 

[Becksworth]

See, this is why I post these sorts of questions here, because I didn't even think to ask about stuff like that. Thank you! Good to know, because maybe that's how I'll play Ys IV... and good to know, since I may pick up an American version of Ys Book I & II.

At a casual glance, I see recommendations to keep the write speed slower on the image burner to prevent errors and to use 650 MB CDRs over 700 MB ones as as the PC Engine CD is old enough it may have trouble reading the latter.

And the CDs are apparently region free, but you still need the system cards which I believe work like the regular hucards, so those would be region locked.

 

[Kazin]

I'm not an expert, but I'm pretty sure the PC Engine and Turbografx-16 are region locked. In fact, I'm pretty sure Japanese and American games have different pinouts, so you can't use them in a system from a different territory unless you've got an adapter.

The TG16 (and presumably the PC Engine as well) has a large plastic cap on the back, which can be removed to reveal three rows of pins. That I/O is your ticket to higher quality video. Here's a pinout if that helps. There is support for RGB, although heck if I know how you would take advantage of it.

PC Engine + Shuttle Expansion Port

gamesx.com

Wait wait wait, this is probably gonna be more useful to you. This guy knows what he's talking about.

Turbo Grafx 16/PC Engine Buyers Guide: How To do it Right!

Real Talk By: “The Wizard” Jeremy Forest This is going to be something I wish I had back in 1998 when I started collecting Turbo Grafx 16 games. This is going to be a guide on how to bu…

playlegit.net

Oh christ, the Hucards are region locked, dangit. Oh well, there's not a ton of American only Hucard games I want, and Ys Book I & II in English will still work in a Japanese PC Engine. Thanks for this. Sadly, it's more complicated than I wanted it to be. Oh well! I'm still leaning towards a Japanese console at this point...

EDIT: Ooh, they apparently can be region modded. That's something to look into...!

 

[Sarge]

You'll often see PC Engines on eBay that have been modded with a region switch. This is how mine is, but I've never actually had to use it since the only HuCard I have is a Turbo EverDrive.

As far as the CD side goes, there's no region lock, so you can burn CDs. However, there's a big caveat there depending on what model you pick up. I got a PC Engine Duo, and it's quite persnickety about what media it wants. I've even used Taiyo Yuden discs burned at 4X that don't play nice. I eventually found a drive/disc combo that mostly works, with the disc of choice being a Verbatim Data Life Plus. Your mileage may vary. But the big thing I've learned is that the Duo-R and Duo-RX are apparently much more robust than the regular Duo, something I wish I'd known going in.

As far as the size of the discs, I've only run across one game that refuses to work properly for me on a 700 MB disc, and that's Last Alert. There's something with the track seeking that breaks, and I don't have any quality 650 MB discs to use (all the ones I have are trash). One of my go-to games for testing whether the burner combo worked or not is the 4-in-1 disc with Gate of Thunder and Bonk 1/2. If it can boot all of them and run the intro correctly, you're probably in good shape.

If you get a regular PC Engine and the Super CD, you'll want a System Card 3.0.

EDIT: Oh, one more thing that I thought was just my bum system - sometimes you'll see graphical distortions that almost look like a sort of combing artifact in a few games. If you're used to emulating, this is something they don't capture - I thought something was busted with my system. But it's legit, and an approximation of the behavior was added pretty recently to the MiSTer core, which certainly relieved me!

 

[Kazin]

Would a Turbo EverDrive be able to emulate a System CD Card, or no? Although unless I'm mistaken, those look pretty cheap on Japanese auction sites...

 

[ArugulaZ]

It's a shame that Analogue hasn't released its TG16 clone, and that its product runs are so criminally small. Look, guys. People will buy a freshly manufactured TurboDuo-compatible system that costs less than an actual TurboDuo, made with parts that aren't thirty years old. Really! This is a thing we want. If you build it, we will come.

(It's also a shame nobody's hacked the Turbografx-16 Mini so you can add games, but with such a low product run, I can hardly blame a lack of enthusiasm from the hacking community.)

 

[Sarge]

My understanding is that yes, it will work as a System Card 3.0. I believe you need to run a patched version of the BIOS, though. It's in the EverDrive packs floating around out there, and probably other places as well.

EDIT: Note this is the 2.X EverDrive, the older 1.X versions were flash-based and can't do this.

 

[Kazin]

That might be the route I go if I end up doing this, then. Being able to play American Hucard games on a Japanese system seems ideal, and not having to ever swap it out would be nice.

 

[Sarge]

It comes in handy for me in that, even though I have a Japanese Duo, I can run the US System Card instead and get all-English menus. Not that the Japanese one is that hard to navigate, but still, it's nice.

 

[Phantoon]

(It's also a shame nobody's hacked the Turbografx-16 Mini so you can add games, but with such a low product run, I can hardly blame a lack of enthusiasm from the hacking community.)

It's not that. It doesn't have a reset button so there's no safe way to get it into a writable mode.

 

[Kazin]

Do you need the "interface unit" to use the CD drive, or is there like a cable hookup I could use instead? I kind of think the interface unit is ugly, and I don't want a Duo, all of which are ugly imo lol

For example - assuming the system itself works, would I be able to use this? Nobody buy that because I might lol

 

[Sarge]

I'll have to defer to someone else on that front, no idea. I'd wager it does need it, though.

 

[Kazin]

Yeah, probably, now that I look closer at it, there's no other way to connect the PC Engine and the CD module. Oh well!

 

[ASandoval]

Just popping in to say I recently attempted my first console mod (adding composite video input to the Atari 2600) and reporting that it went... poorly. This is partially because the board I was using is in very poor condition (and in fact a non-related piece literally snapped off the board after years of decay - and this console it should be noted was working just a day before attempting the mod despite that!) Hoping to try again soon once another 2600 comes across my path, hopefully in better starting condition.

 

[Octopus Prime]

Got a Mini HDMI converter cable for my Retroid so I could play it on my TV as well.

Good news; it works and it makes the text on games designed for a larger screen than the Retroid itself much clearer.

Downside is that it puts so much dithering and artifacts on the screen that it makes every game look like a bad photoshop of itself.