Justin
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Posts posted by Justin
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Apple's original web page for Pippin: https://web.archive.org/web/19970414095621/http://www.pippin.apple.com/
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I had a Pippin. It was charcoal black. On the controller it said "@world" where it says "atmark" in the photo above. I don't know what the difference is. I bought it in 2000 and I think I sold it in 2011. I thought of it as being just as much of a Bandai console as Apple. If it had an Apple logo on it I probably would still have it, if only for an interesting piece of history. It never really fit in alongside my Newton or 20th Anniversary Macintosh. This was just before Apple became "cool" again. Pippin was one of those Gil Amelio things that Steve Jobs saw when he came back and probably thought was stupid and shook his head at. Had Apple introduced a dedicated video game system during the age of iPod and sold it in Apple stores it would've been a big deal. Pippin never benefited from any of that, it was just a little too early.
I only played it a few times, I found it to be quite bland. The best way I can describe it is to say that I had WebTV at the time (remember that!) and Pippin felt exactly like trying to play computer games on WebTV and then go "hey look I'm playing video games now!" Pippin felt very much like one of those late '90s attempts to merge home computers and the internet with television. Imagine a world where you could answer an email on your TV screen, connect with friends, watch Seinfeld and explore the world of Multimedia! I only had 3 games, one was a racing game called "Racing Days". I absolutely love racing games. From the jewel case "Racing Days" looked pretty lame, and it was. Think of "Need for Speed" on 3DO, with the awful frame rate of Redline Racing on Jaguar. I wanted to like it, but it felt like a bland computer game and I'd much rather play Ridge Racer, Sega Rally Championship or Crusin' USA. That was the only game I really played at all. Then there was a game that was kind of like Myst and actually seemed very cool and mysterious. I forget the name of it, but it was like you were finding your way around and unravelling a mystery. My third game was a Power Rangers game which I had no interest in whatsoever. I bought the unit used and it came with all three games.
My suggestion is if you're an Apple or Bandai fanatic and you have the opportunity to add something really unique to your collection, do it. Otherwise don't dive down that rabbit hole. It's not like TurboGrafx-16 or Lynx or Neo-Geo where there are some really great games to play and enjoy that seem to get better with time. This is more like WebTV.
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1 hour ago, nosweargamer said:
Is there any differences between the Japanese and US duos beyond cosmetic stuff?
Not so much with the Duo as with the standard TurboGrafx-16 system vs. PC Engine
21 minutes ago, kamakazi20012 said:Justin might know more but the only difference I know of are with the controller port. PCE controller ports are smaller, equivalent of a PS/2 style, and the TG-16 controller port is more like the old PC AT style. Therefore I don't think controllers are interchangeable by region. They seem to be region specific.
Correct! EXCEPT the American version of the TurboDuo had the smaller "PS/2 style" controller port that was used in Japan on the PC Engine and Duo systems over there. American TurboDuo controllers are interchangeable with Japanese ones. What really threw us TurboGrafx fans off at the time here in the US was that although the TG16 and Duo controllers looked the same, all the TG16 stuff had the larger "PC AT style" control port, so nothing was interchangeable. When I bought a Duo I wanted to use my TurboStick arcade-style joystick controller, but since it was for TurboGrafx-16 it didn't fit the TurboDuo. Turbo Zone Direct made "Reverse TurboTaps" and "Reverse DuoTaps" which were 5-Player adapters that also served as TG16-to-Duo controller adapters, so you could use all of your TG16 stuff on the Duo. I have photos I will have to post.
TurboGrafx-16 is the only one of the consoles that uses the larger controller port, TurboDuo uses the smaller controller port from the Japanese systems.
My understanding is when they were planning the release of the PC Engine in the United States, it was determined that American audiences would perceive the tiny PC Engine as being toy-like and looking underpowered, as well as not receiving enough "bang for the buck". Focus groups told Atari the same thing about the Lynx which is how the first model ended up being so big! In beefing up the PC Engine into the TurboGrafx-16, they also realized that the small controller ports could potentially be too fragile for rough and tumble American kids who might bend or break a pin. Instead they used the larger connector which was more beefed up and less likely to be damaged. However when the TurboDuo showed up a few years later, the circumference of the larger connector was too big for the face of the Duo, so the US TurboDuo retained the smaller controller port from the Japanese counterparts.
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13 minutes ago, RickR said:
At any show, you'd see several Vectrex, Virtual Boy, and Jaguars for sale, but very rarely at TG-16.
I think people are hanging onto them. They tend to be a special piece of people's collection and also get a lot of play. I can tell you that in 1993 TurboGrafx-16, TurboExpress and TurboDuo were readily available in the little glass case at every Toys R Us I would stop at along the eastern seaboard, Lynx was a bit more elusive and it was the Jaguar that needed special ordered. TurboDuos are out there but I don't think people are giving them up easily. I know Lost Ark Video Games in NC usually has a nice selection at a fair price, fully serviced, and Pixel Vault Games in southern CA gets them in as well. Ebay prices can be brutal but keep an eye out. Japanese Duos almost seem to be easier to get your hands on than the ones we received.
19 minutes ago, RickR said:The good news is that the everdrive appears to play the Japanese titles on a TG-16, so I'm really looking forward to that.
It absolutely does! Half of the fun games to play were released in Japan and never made it to US shores. I don't think they were as good as Nintendo was at picking and choosing the best titles to translate and bring over. It's unbelievable how many fantastic titles they had that never made it here.
It's very easy to play those games on the Turbo EverDrive. You just select the PC Engine folders with PC Engine roms in the menu and they load like the normal games. The EverDrive is essentially region free, there's a little switch you set to tell it if you're using a US or Japanese system and it does the rest.
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It's been almost 30 years and I'm still holding out hope to see these bodacious time travelers back on the big screen one more time, and done the right way!
- RickR and nosweargamer
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🙌 I want to welcome new user @ThatBuffGamer to the forums! He is from the Netherlands and has been very active on our Instagram account and in our livestreams over the past few weeks. We've had a few new people signing up in the forums who've come to us from Instagram, I want to extend a huge WELCOME to ThatBuffGamer and all of our new users who've recently joined the forums!
- nosweargamer and ThatBuffGamer
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Thinking about a Sega Master System maybe!
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11 hours ago, RickR said:
NEC pulled an Apple! "headphone jack not included". Ahead of their time.
They put a headphone jack on the TurboDuo ☺️ I thought that was super cool at the time
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3 hours ago, RickR said:
I might just sell my original SMS now and keep this one. I like that it's very compact.
Hey Rick, shoot me a picture of your SMS if you're thinking about selling it. I wasn't really in the market for one but if it's coming from you and in good shape maybe I should think about it!
4 minutes ago, RickR said:I'll be honest, I almost didn't go to the swap meet due to my "downsizing" mood. I finally decided to just go. I thought I'd say hello to the people I know and have a little fun....but ended up finding a lot of cool stuff AND saying hello.
That's what it's all about! Sounds like you had a blast.
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I should also add that the Sega Master System is also an incredible 8-Bit console and is one of my all-time favorites. The Master System II wasn't as common in the U.S. as the original, but it's the one I grew up with. Mine had Alex Kidd in Miracle World built in. The color and sound on Sega Master System are pretty nice for an 8-Bit system, lots of fun games to explore if you're new to the world of Master System.
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RICK!! THAT IS SUCH FANTASTIC NEWS! I'M SO THRILLED TO SEE THIS!
Any time someone jumps into the world of TurboGrafx-16 and PC Engine I'm super excited to have one more new person on board. Same with new people coming to Atari. I can't promise that this will become your favorite video game system, especially if Keith Courage is your only game (it's not a bad one but not a strong reason to get the system either) but if you give it time, explore what games are out there, maybe spring for a Turbo EverDrive and also check out some of the games that were never released in the US, I think you'll find it an interesting game system that almost got lost with time in the dominance of Nintendo and Sega.
@RickR I am truly excited to see that you picked one of these up and will be giving it a good home. If you find yourself looking for TG16 suggestions I'm always around. It was always one of my favorite game systems and for so long it felt so overlooked. I thought the HuCards / TurboChips were so cool, especially the fact that the games that played in the home console that you have were also the games that played in their TurboExpress portable handheld. I hope you'll find a lot to enjoy with this system.
CONGRATULATIONS RICK!! Welcome to the TG16 club!
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6 minutes ago, RickR said:
I finally got one! See here:
THAT'S FANTASTIC NEWS RICK!!! I'M SO EXCITED TO SEE THIS!
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12 hours ago, kamakazi20012 said:
Besides MESS. Any other TG16 emulators I should try?
Here are two sources for TurboGrafx-16 emulators. Remember we're playing the U.S. version of the Rom posted above.
http://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/PC_Engine_(TurboGrafx-16)_emulators
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For the sake of time and not spending an hour typing all of this out, let me acknowledge everything you're saying and that I agree with most all of the points both of you have made above. Wow.
3 hours ago, RickR said:One more nitpick....the ship itself just never looked "cool" IMO. The TOS Enterprise is the sexiest space ship. Voyager just doesn't do it for me. The saucer looks like the heel of a men's dress shoe.
YES. Most all of the ships that came after TNG went off the air all felt disappointing to me. (with the exception of the Defiant) They went in a new design direction that seemed to incorporate a SeaQuest squid-like stretched out shape to saucer and the rest of the ship. The Voyager, Enterprise-E, etc. all began looking less practical, real world, and just didn't feel consistent with everything that had come before.
For me, one of the biggest problems I have with the Voyager isn't just its shape, it's the premise of the show having a much smaller starship compared to the Enterprise lost across space. Sure, the Defiant is tiny, but it wasn't the entire premise of DS9 and there was a huge space station to go along with it. Going from the flagship of the Federation to Voyager felt like we were moving backward, when Star Trek was always about advancement. Same problem I had with Star Trek Enterprise.
I really don't mean to pick apart poor Voyager. I still watched it. Always felt this way though. It had big shoes to fill.
- nosweargamer and RickR
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Wow so many things to comment on here I don't even know where to start!
2 hours ago, RickR said:Oh for sure! Chakotay/Seven came out of left field. Watching it now, it smacks of harassment 😁 Dude, you are her BOSS!
Absolutely!
Also, one of my first memories of the show was watching the premiere and being confused by the whole Neelix/Kes thing. Say what you will about the merits of their characters. Neelix seemed old enough to be Kes' dad. Neelex even looked older than Kes' father who we met in early episodes. Neelix also seemed like he knew Kes was "out of his league" and he would get really possessive and weird about it in earlier episodes where Tom Paris (a more likely suiter) showed interest in Kes. That made it even more weird.
And then, oh, by the way, Kes is two years old. Oh okay cool.
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16 minutes ago, RickR said:
I should also mention that Robert Picardo as "The Doctor" was also a great character. Very well done.
Agreed! I should've mentioned him. Terrific point. The Doctor's story arc may have been the best in the series. I really like the Doctor and am glad they made a little room to have him in the TNG movies and an appearance in DS9 (Dr. Zimmerman).
I also think the Doctor would've possibly made a better "match" for Seven in the end than Chakotay, if The Doctor and Seven were both going to be in relationships at the end. Doctor and Seven both had a similar struggle of going through a Data / Pinocchio struggle of having "robotic" characteristics and learning what it means to be human.
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Another issue that fell short for me me with Voyager was the mishandling of the Kes / Seven of Nine thing. There’s no real excuse for Kes being so underwritten and becoming a dead end. Lieutenant Broccoli was written as a deeper character. 🥦 Wasn’t Kes and the Ocampa people part of the entire premise of the show? Isn’t Kes’ people ultimately at the heart of why Voyager became stuck in the Delta Quadrant? I’m not suggesting that Kes should have stayed on, however there’s no reason her character should’ve withered into a dead end while she was on the show. Seven of Nine was a creative replacement with potential to be a deeply interesting character but I felt that was also somewhat mishandled.
The idea of a Borg drone separated from the collective joining Voyager’s crew is a brilliant one. Her story and struggle with individuality though wasn’t nearly as moving as Hugh’s. The Hugh story brought out the best of Trek, raising philosophical questions and making you think. Was it right to free him from the collective? To use him and send him home to infect the collective? Or even to risk bringing him onboard the ship in the first place? Should Guinan's warnings be heeded? Was any of this right? Does Hugh have feelings? Suddenly the audience had empathy for a Borg.
Although she was an interesting character the Seven of Nine story fell flat with me. I thought accentuating her looks to the point of making her like a Borg dominatrix cheapened the show and the Star Trek brand. They didn’t need to do that. The actress was good enough and the character interesting enough to add substantially to the show. It also felt completely unnatural to pair her up with Chakotay at the end.
Other than that though I loved Voyager.
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🖖 Out of respect for @nosweargamer's thread I've split our Star Trek conversation off into its own thread here:
- RickR and nosweargamer
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48 minutes ago, RickR said:
DS9 was MUCH better than I remember it originally. Voyager was much worse IMO.
I agree with that completely. DS9 really tested the limits of Federation ideology. "It's easy to be a saint in paradise" was a line originally written for Picard that was cut from a TNG script and ended up in Sisko's mouth on DS9. Very true.
Have been viewing both this winter and realized just how deep the writing and acting was on DS9 and just how juvenile Voyager could be at its worst. Such a missed opportunity. One scene in particular comes to mind that I saw recently (I'll have to go back and cite the episode) it opened with a shot of Neelix's hobbit feet "dancing" around their Raisa program (or whatever) they liked to play on the Holodeck and it was just... I wanted to go back and watch DS9. Wasn't Neelix supposed to be a "trader" familiar with different species across the Delta quadrant? He was like a saccharine version of Quark if Quark drank Root Beer.
Kate Mulgrew is a good actress and Tuvok made for a wonderful Vulcan character but beyond that, the crew were Starfleet's C- Students and the entire premise felt tedious. The Maquis just integrates with the rest of the crew and become senior officers? I don't want to bash poor Voyager but too many times it felt like it veered into silliness. Then at the final episode it's Deus ex machina and everyone gets home thanks to a magical Borg wormhole. Whatevs.
I could go on but that wouldn't be logical.
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What an amazing game. Castlevania: Rondo of Blood was released in Japan for the PC Engine Duo but never saw a release in the United States for Turbo Duo. And it’s a shame because the graphics and sound are almost what you’d expect to see in an arcade.
Games like Castlevania: Rondo of Blood are what should’ve been ported over from Japan for the TurboGrafx systems in the US. So many stellar games on PC Engine never saw a North American release and Rondo of Blood is one of them. This should’ve made the cover of GamePro with a media blitz to rival anything from Sega or Nintendo. The game brings out the best qualities of the Castlevania series and the Duo itself.
@btbfilms76 and I just did a livestream of this game on the Atari I/O Instagram, I'll be posting a replay soon!
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On 12/23/2018 at 11:38 PM, Willie! said:The Space Transport with Electronic Circuitry! its Milton Bradley's StarBird!
That MB Star Bird has a real Battlestar Galactica look to it.
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1 hour ago, Atari Creep said:
Oh hell yes!!! Justin, you know I am in....
I knew I could count on you to be there @Atari Creep!
Squad Challenge - Devil’s Crush (TG16) Dragon’s Fury (Genesis) Double Feature!
in High Score Squad
Posted
New personal best:
107,287,300
Thanks to @Atari Creep for coming out to the livestream on Instagram tonight and watching me play for a while. We've been doing that a lot lately and it's been fun!
Heads up about this score: You can do it too! You may have noticed playing this game you can hit things that award you "Special Points". When I was playing the game tonight, something interesting happened when my pinball hit the left side of the screen. I think it was on the 2nd board, the middle one. I hit something or did something on the left, and the game awarded me 100,000,000 specialty points. This was, for the most part, one of my better-than-average games, plus the bonus award. If that bonus award exists, others must exist too. Let's keep playing and see what we can come up with!