I finally got a TG-16!

[RickR]

Found one at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo Swap Meet today.  I also included a pic of the other good junk I bought.  It works great.  Only one game.  Anyone have games for sale?

 

[Justin]

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!

[RickR]

Thank you!  I am thinking seriously about getting that everdrive.  Seems like games are very costly for this system, so the everdrive really is good bang for the buck.  I think I did pretty well on the price, and I'm very happy with the condition. 

[RickR]

I also came so so close to buying a Jaguar at this show too, but I could not afford both the Jag and the TG-16.  So I prioritized the TG-16 higher and brought that one home. 

[Justin]

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.

[RickR]

2 minutes ago, Justin said:

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.

I was just getting ready to sell my SMS collection.  But this console was a bargain, so I'm back in.  It does have Alex Kidd built in.  I might just sell my original SMS now and keep this one.  I like that it's very compact. 

[Atari 5200 Guy]

I have to admit I'm a bit jealous lol.  My area needs meets like that.  The SMS is a great system with graphics that sometimes come close to the Genesis's capabilities.  Bright and beautiful colors.  I also believe Sega is the only game developer to license their IPs on other platforms that are not Sega consoles when Sega was producing hardware as well.

Awesome score on the TG-16 but don't do what I did and let Keith Courage discourage you from enjoying the system.  It has other great games that make it worth owning.  It is a shame, however, that some PCE titles never made it to the TG-16.  Konami made some awesome ports of their shooters for the PCE, Japan-only though.  So if you ever run across a PCE at those events grab it!  Then import the games we never got over here.  Blazing Lasers is an awesome game if you can find it.  Vigilante is damn near arcade perfect.  I haven't played many others but I would look for them if I ever get my hands on a TG-16 again.

[RickR]

Turbo Everdrive has been ordered.

[RickR]

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. 

[Justin]

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.

[btbfilms76]

Rick this is awesome news!  Welcome to the club - 2 player challenges coming soon! 

[RickR]

12 minutes ago, btbfilms76 said:

Rick this is awesome news!  Welcome to the club - 2 player challenges coming soon! 

How in Bonk's name do you attach a second controller to this thing???

[btbfilms76]

6 minutes ago, RickR said:

How in Bonk's name do you attach a second controller to this thing???

Multi tap... I know. 

[RickR]

3 minutes ago, btbfilms76 said:

Multi tap... I know. 

NEC pulled an Apple!  "headphone jack not included".  Ahead of their time. 

[Atari 5200 Guy]

5 hours ago, RickR said:

NEC pulled an Apple!  "headphone jack not included".  Ahead of their time. 

Lol.  Batteries not included.  Yep.  But the multitap does allow for I believe five controllers.  Not sure why ???

[RickR]

Best multitap I've ever seen is on the Saturn.  8 player Bomberman! 

[Justin]

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

[Atari 5200 Guy]

I've never seen a Duo in person.  The Express I wanted but I could never explain the justifications to my mother or grandmother to "persuade" them into getting one.

[RickR]

I've never seen a Duo either.  It seems like anything PCE, TG, or Duo is super rare, even in a prime retro market like Portland.  We have the biggest retro show in the country and several smaller shows each year, yet the TG stuff remains elusive.  At any show, you'd see several Vectrex, Virtual Boy, and Jaguars for sale, but very rarely a TG-16.  I know a guy that found and bought at TG-16 at PRGE two years ago, and it ended up not working. 

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. 

 

Edited January 21, 2019 by RickR

[Justin]

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.

[Atari 5200 Guy]

I've played Salamander and Gradius II on a PCE emulator and those rocked!  I'd recommend those.  Don't pass up TwinBee.  Its fun too if you like the NES port of Stinger.

[nosweargamer]

8 hours ago, Justin said:

Japanese Duos almost seem to be easier to get your hands on than the ones we received.

Is there any differences between the Japanese and US duos beyond cosmetic stuff?

[Atari 5200 Guy]

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.

[Atari 5200 Guy]

I've been watching this EBAY seller for over a year now.  I'd keep an eye on them for PCE stuff.  They are based in Japan.

https://www.ebay.com/str/usedvideogameyamatokuclassic/Console/_i.html?_storecat=3435711015

[Justin]

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.