PC-Engine/TurboGrafx-16 Questions

[ReddMcKnight]

1. Which system has cheaper games, the PC Engine, or the TG-16?

2. I read that a PC Engine needs a step down converter. What does this mean?

3. Are both systems games easy to come by?

[Hobie-wan]

1. Most good games didn't make it here. The PCE was popular in Japan, but of course the good games cost more. Most of the really good ones that did make it here are pricey too. It isn't really a cheap system to collect for since there aren't million sellers of good games cheap like Mario and Sonic games on Nintendo and Sega systems.

2. No stepdown needed. A Japanese PCE brick can handle the slight difference in US voltage.

3. On ebay you can find them, but not so much in stores usually.

[Majors]

To add...

US system can play JP CD based games out of the box. To play JP HuCards, you'll need a convertor or mod your system. The cost for systems sort of cancels your first question on cheaper games _IF_ you're talking HuCards since the mod or convertor will cost. You can find US games easier than their JP counter part.

If your just starting, you can get a lot of quality games without dropping a load on Drax X or Parasol Stars. Common US cards that >should< be had on the cheap: Blazing Lasers, Alien Crush, Bonk, Dungeon Explorer, Legendary Axe, Ninja Spirit, Sidearms (I've haven't been looking, so I assume these titles would be $5-10). If your going CD, prices start to rise (but you gotta get Y's, must have for TG-16 CD). Of course, if you just want to PLAY games you can EMU or burn.

Craigslist is another route for finding a TG-16, I've been seeing them pop up.

PCEngineFX.com is good place to get your Turbo questions answered.

[Redifer]

It would probably be worth it to go the PC Engine route. The systems are easier and cheaper to come by, and you won't have to worry about trying to acquire US system cards. If you get a Duo, a JP one can be a touch cheaper than a US one as well (don't need to worry about system cards unless you want Arcade Card CD games). I have heard that US Duos have a tendency to be faulty. Some PCE Duos do as well, but they are fewer and far between. I have never seen an instance where a US version of a game cost less than a JP version of the same game and quite often US versions are significantly more. The downside is that you won't have English localization and when all of the games are stacked together on the shelf, you won't be able to tell which game is what due to their outright rejection of the world's best language (English) on the CD spines. That said, I have a TurboGrafx-16 with a CD-ROM and all system cards. I have a card converter to play Japanese games (this also lets me run the JP Arcade Card Pro). It would be pretty expensive to do it this way these days, I think.

If you try and join the forums over at http://www.pcenginefx.com please be patient. The administrator only stops by ones every two years or so to register new members (or at least that's what is sometimes seems like). I am a moderator there, but mods don't have the power to approve memberships, unfortunately.

[Jamisonia]

2. I read that a PC Engine needs a step down converter. What does this mean?

You need one per se, but it would be safer for the long term longevity of the system and power brick to use one like this:

http://www.voltageconverters.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=VC100J


Japan runs on 100VAC, the US runs on 120VAC. So the brick is expecting 20 less Volts than its getting. This means it will run hotter, and potentially be outputting more voltage to the system than it should. The Step down converter will step our 120VAC down to 100VAC. That converter can also do the opposite. I've been using it with my Famicom for awhile now, and before when I used our power grid directly, the AC Adapter would get burning hot to the touch.

Alternatively one could buy a replacement AC adapter here:
http://www.retrogamecave.com/turbo-pc-e ... upply.html. This AC adapters are designed to run on voltages from 100VAC to 220VAC, so they should work in Japan, the US, and Europe. Then you can just plug it into the wall without worries.

[Majors]

Japan runs on 100VAC, the US runs on 120VAC. So the brick is expecting 20 less Volts than its getting. This means it will run hotter, and potentially be outputting more voltage to the system than it should. The Step down converter will step our 120VAC down to 100VAC.

You assume your house is perfect? 120 is the accepted range. I've never got reading that was spot on. I do leave my JP Duo wall wart unplugged when not in use to be safe. That being said, over the 20 years I've been into games, I've never met someone that talked about their Fami, PCE, Mega, etc blowing up due to the 100 vs 120(110), but that just my experiance.

[Hobie-wan]

I've been using it with my Famicom for awhile now, and before when I used our power grid directly, the AC Adapter would get burning hot to the touch.

FWIW, most people's power is actually in the 110-115 range. If you notice some power bricks will list the input as 110-120 v AC. I remember my NES and SNES bricks being really hot when I used to play for hours on end trying to beat a rental game I had for a day or two. Of course a step down transformer will let it run cooler and it will be less stressed, though as long as you're not playing in a room that's boiling and don't have a pile of laundry sitting on top of the brick it should be ok.

[Jamisonia]

Well I suppose when I spend the $200+ dollars to import a PC Engine Duo I don't want a little $20 cost potentially ruining it because I'm disregarding the fact that American and Japanese voltage are not the same.

My voltage does run in the 115V range, however; wouldn't it be sensible to assume that Japanese voltage also runs lower typically? I've never heard of somebody's voltage running above 120V.

The guy asked what a step down transformer was, I explained. I don't think its wise to tell somebody its going to be perfectly safe to plug a 100V based AC adapter into a 120V outlet. I never said it would make the system blow up. I said it may cause damage in the long term, and I offered two solutions that would make it as though the system were designed for our 120VAC. Its up to him to decide if the small risk is worth the small savings. I looked at it, and I decided that a $200+ investment warranted a $20 safety investment, and I wanted to share my opinion.

[isiolia]

You'd ruin the AC adapter, not the console, right? It's still a general range.

U.S. stuff works fine on Japanese power for the most part too. Usually the only time you'll run into problems is with things like clocks that base their operation on cycles per second (at least, my family never had problems with anything outside of that in the ~2.5 years we lived there).

[Jamisonia]

You would most likely just ruin the AC adapter, not the console since the transformer is on the outside of the console, in the brick. If its a system that internally transforms AC to DC, like the Dreamcast, Saturn, PS1, etc, you could ruin the console more quickly. This is because running it this way creates more heat, and since that heat is inside the console, it may heat up other sensitive components causing a failure earlier than it would have happened otherwise.

I believe that in the case of using a Wall Wart type of power brick, like the PC Engine, the AC Adapter will fail, and not hurt the console. However, in this case there is a small chance it could send some sort of surge or something that could ruin the console. I'm not really too sure on the details of what happens when the brick fails. The most likely scenario is the brick would just fail and that would be it.

In general using our stuff between the two power grids will not cause problems, but there is a fire and failure risk involved. I don't believe its wise to say no risk exists when doing this. I feel using a step down and up transformer is something you should do, but not something you have to do. Just look at all the info, the small risk involved, versus how much the system is worth to you in terms of how much you paid, and how hard it would be to replace the system and/or AC adapter, and how much it would cost to do it the correct way, and decide if its worth it.