NEC turbografx compatibility

[Octopod]

Could you play most of the good games with just a Turbographix-16 then?

[Breetai]

Could you play most of the good games with just a Turbographix-16 then?

Nope. There are literally 100s of good games that never made it out of Japan that are import friendly. The TG-16 is missing a lot of must-haves, and the ones that did make it to the States are more expensive than the Japanese versions even with shipping. Since most of the RPGs are on CD, and the Japanese CD system isn't region locked, there is very little reason at all to get a TG-16 unless you really need to play Neutopia (good Zelda clone).

[Hobie-wan]

Could you play most of the good games with just a Turbographix-16 then?

Nope. There are literally 100s of good games that never made it out of Japan that are import friendly. The TG-16 is missing a lot of must-haves, and the ones that did make it to the States are more expensive than the Japanese versions even with shipping. Since most of the RPGs are on CD, and the Japanese CD system isn't region locked, there is very little reason at all to get a TG-16 unless you really need to play Neutopia (good Zelda clone).

Indeed. Lumping all of my TG16/PCE/CD games together, less than a third of them are US releases. It is by far the system I have the most imports for. Granted I have mostly shmups which stupidly weren't brought over as they are great on the system and would need minimal translation.

(and yes, I really need to play Neutopia I & II)

[Breetai]

Indeed. Lumping all of my TG16/PCE/CD games together, less than a third of them are US releases. It is by far the system I have the most imports for. Granted I have mostly shmups which stupidly weren't brought over as they are great on the system and would need minimal translation.

(and yes, I really need to play Neutopia I & II)

The very reason why the Genesis and SNES destroyed the TG-16 in the US. If Gradius, Gradius II, Parodius Da!, Final Soldier, Dracula X, Download, STREET FIGHTER II, etc. was brought out, and the system was properly marketed (and if Nintendo didn't have an illegal monopoly on developers) it would've had a very good chance.

[Octopod]

Would a PC Engine and a Turbo Duo be able to play everything from both regions then?

[Hobie-wan]

Would a PC Engine and a Turbo Duo be able to play everything from both regions then?

The PCE would play Japanese cards and the (US) Turbo Duo would play US cards and all CD games, yes.

You still wouldn't be able to play Super Grafx games, but that's only a handful so you'd be all set.

[Breetai]

Would a PC Engine and a Turbo Duo be able to play everything from both regions then?

Yes, but buying a Super CD-ROM2 attachment for the PC Engine and getting a Turbografx-16 instead of a Turbo Duo is both a cheaper and more reliable option. Plus, if you want to play Arcade CD games (not really a big deal, but just in case), the Japanese Arcade Card is MUCH cheaper than the US version. As was just said, you won't be able to play Supergrafx games, but there are only 5. None of them are really a big loss (well, 1941 and Daimakaimura are really good, but you can find replacements on other systems).

[pforson]

Hi,

I just found the following converter on ebay UK.

PC Engine Game Converter Model PC 505

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PC-Engine-Game-C ... 20b1fa1b17

The seller says that it also converts Turbografix games for use on a Jap PC-Engine. I didn't think this was possible? - Is he telling fibs?

Ta,
Pete

[Hobie-wan]

Hi,

I just found the following converter on ebay UK.

PC Engine Game Converter Model PC 505

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PC-Engine-Game-C ... 20b1fa1b17

The seller says that it also converts Turbografix games for use on a Jap PC-Engine. I didn't think this was possible? - Is he telling fibs?

Ta,
Pete

Never seen that converter before, but I suspect they're exaggerating. US TG games check the region of the console they're in, but Japanese ones don't. So converting Japanese games is just swapping lines to make them work on a US system. Now that adapter is pretty chunky for just flipping lines, so perhaps it does have extra stuff in it to fool US game into working in a Japanese console. Though the fact it is so big makes me a bit worried that it would fit on something square like a PCE or TG, but maybe not on a Duo system with the curved front and flip up door. The fact that it is untested further makes me think they are just assuming it works for everything.

Maybe I'm wrong. Just never seen that one before and it's likely to get rather expensive like most adapters do and I don't think I'd want to risk that much money of a gamble like that if I were in the market for one.

[Breetai]

The seller says that it also converts Turbografix games for use on a Jap PC-Engine. I didn't think this was possible? - Is he telling fibs?

Ta,
Pete

I believe that yes, he is full of crap. AFAIK, any PC Engine system must be physically modded to play TG-16 games, even with a converter like this.