RickR

Wouldn't it be cool to work at NORAD and walk around with a Missile Command notebook?  Or maybe be a proctologist and carry the "Assteroids" one.  (Folks, I'll be here all week)

Wouldn't it be cool to work at NORAD and walk around with a Missile Command notebook?  Or maybe be a proctologist and carry the "Assteroids" one.  (Folks, I'll be here all week)

They do have them at our local Target stores, in case you don't want to order from Amazon. 

I don't have one of these but it's next on my list
 

4169700

Ootake works a lot better than MESS.  Thumbs up for this suggestion.

The trifecta.
 

PC Engine has an expansion slot too! PC Engine and TurboGrafx-16 both connect to basically the same CD system. There's really would've been no functional downside to marketing the smaller PC Engine design in the US. It would have been so small and sleek and high tech.
The first time I ever got to play a TurboGrafx-16 or see one in person was at a Brookstone or Sharper Image type of store. I was there on a Saturday and they had a table set up with a few TurboGrafx-16 consoles and monitors along each side of the table. There must've been at least six systems running. That left me with the impression that it's an advanced high-tech system. I can't imagine how out of this world it would've been to see something that was a generational leap past the NES churning out this kind of gameplay on a tiny console the size of two NES cartridges stacked on top of each other. That's just so cool to me.

Turbo Everdrive has been ordered.

I'm so tempted to take a PC Engine and have it customized in all black with the neon TurboGrafx-16 logo and build that "what if" system I just spoke about.

It's amazing when you look at the size of the Japanese PC Engine systems in comparison to the TurboGrafx-16. I love the TurboGrafx-16 and feel so fortunate that I grew up appreciating this little console. But when I look at how small the PC Engine is I see a huge missed opportunity. I can't imagine how incredibly advanced that would've looked at the time. Can you imagine walking into Toys 'R' Us, going up to that glass case and seeing one of these small, sharp, cutting edge consoles staring back at you? That's such a ninja move, huge power in a little punch. Give me this, but in "TurboGrafx-16 black":
 
 

The trifecta.
 

I did see a good one go on ebay (almost complete...missing that back cover thing) for about $120 shipped.  That's about as good as it gets price-wise.  Keep on looking and hopefully one turns up for a price you like. 

No worries at all.  I had one eye on you and the other on my beloved Portland Trail Blazers finally taking down the dreaded Utah Jazz.  So I was silent running. 

Cool!  Thank you.  I'm the master at fudging ball #1, this will really help.  I'll see if MESS allows this button combo to work.  Frankly, I'm getting tired of that skeleton face laughing at me.   

The trifecta.
 

Hey Justin, I was watching you last night, and I have a quick question.  I noticed that when you do badly on ball #1, you quickly restart the game and try again.  How do you do that?  It may just be that I'm missing a button on emulation. 

Congrats Rick! Good call on ordering the Turbo Everdrive, it’s well worth the investment!

Turbo Everdrive has been ordered.

Finally played!  If this was the only game I had for my TG-16 when I owned one I would have been very happy.  First time playing this game, ever.  Fun game.  Now I want a TG-16 again if just for this game.  12,516,100 points.

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!

2103100
I'm playing using the MESS emulator and a Genesis controller. 
 
 

Not so much with the Duo as with the standard TurboGrafx-16 system vs. PC Engine
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.

This would be totally awesome.  But like so many sequels these days....what the heck takes them so long?

Think about it...Bladerunner, Star Wars (with original cast), Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones, etc.  They waited 20+ years in most cases, and by then the momentum was gone, and the actors had aged considerably. 

You just have to respect something like the Back to the Future trilogy, which went ahead and filmed parts 2 and 3 back to back, and then closed the book.  No more sequels. 

One good reboot I can think of is Batman.  I think the Christian Bale "Dark Knight" series is much better than what came before. 

Star Trek is another.  I can't say it's better than before, but at least it brought new life and new fans to Star Trek. 
As far as sequels, Star Wars is a really fascinating one.  Watching episodes 7 and 8 really makes me wish they'd done these BEFORE episodes 1 - 3 were made, as the OG cast is really old.  They still get the job done, but it makes me sad to think of the missed opportunities.