Any PC Engine gurus around here?

[tappybot]

I never payed much attention to PC engine, but my interest has been mounting since I discovered it and Turbo Grafx-16 are the same hardware.
Then just the other day, I realized the games were in the same realm of affordability as Famicom games.. perhaps even cheaper.

So I recently picked up about a dozen of them.... Love the size of these games!  But in doing so, I'm diving deeper into the PC Engine world.  Now I have the revelation that there appear to be 3 different PC Engine systems, or peripherals that play games in a different format.

I browsed Wikipedia for some answers, but I was hoping for the 'game collector's' version of what to know.  Is the RF cable the same used in any other consoles? What about the AC adapter?
I've seen a bunch of loose systems but the cords are always sold separately.   What's the deal with the PC Engine?

I guess I'm just hoping that a pc engine guy will come in here and enjoy telling me about his obsession.. That would do us both well.  

[senseiman]

I'm definitely not a "guru", but I've been down the path that you are about to embark upon and perhaps can shed some light.

If you are going to assemble a PC Engine piece by piece (ie buying the console and everything else seperately and putting them together) you have to be careful because not all of the pieces match up with all the versions of the PC Engine.

I have 3 different versions of the PC Engine:  the original one (the white one that is most common), the CoreGrafx (the grey one) and the Turbo Duo.  I also have the PC Engine CD Rom (the thing that looks like a briefcase).

The only thing that works interchangeably with all of these is the controller.  Everything else you have to be careful about.  The CoreGrafx uses AV cables while the regular PC Engine uses its own RF switch (though they both use the same AC adapter).  The Turbo Duo has its own cables which (if I recall correctly) don't work on the other systems.  The PC Engine CD Rom is the biggest pain in the ass because it also needs its own cables even though its just an add-on to the PC Engine.

Right now the only unit that I have the right combination of cords and stuff for is the CoreGrafx (well, I have the stuff for the TurboDuo but the unit is broken). I recommend getting that one if you can (although I like the look of the original white one better).

I basically put mine together through trial and error - there was a huge junk sale at one of my local game shops a few months ago and they had literally thousands of consoles, cables, controllers, etc dumped in these huge boxes (everything 50 yen each).  I spent a couple hours with some consoles in my basket (PC Engines, Mega Drive) and just started grabbing wires to see if they fit the holes until I found ones that seemed right. 

[2A03]

The Turbo Duo has its own cables which (if I recall correctly) don't work on the other systems.

The TurboDuo/PC Engine Duo uses the same AV cable as the Core Grafx systems (there are two Core Grafx systems, and both are essentially the same) and the SuperGrafx, but the Duo uses its own power supply, as does the Duo-R/RX.

If you're getting into the PC Engine scene, I'd highly recommend getting a PC Engine Duo-R or Duo-RX. They're reliable (unlike the original Duo and the original CD-ROM2 attachment), fairly common and will work with just about everything except for SuperGrafx games and Arcade CD games (which you need a special system card for). They are a tad bit expensive, but it's really the only thing you need to enjoy PC Engine goodness.

[manuel]

I have a Duo RX and I can say that they're really reliable. I bought mine dirty for about 1000 Yen, but both card games and CD games worked on the first try! 

[tappybot]

Awesome, thanks for all that info guys. This is even more complicated than I thought.

Yeah, I saw the massive deck for the cdrom attachment and pc engine system.

So.. the Duo-RX will played both the Hucard and CD rom games, without additional attachments?
If so, and I can find one relatively inexpensive, I'm going to go for that.

The computer tower looking one I spotted in a store without real knowledge of what exactly it was... But that one doesn't play Hucards, does it?

[manuel]

Yes indeed. With a Duo R or RX you can play HU-Card and CD games. No need for any attachments.

Was that computer tower thingy maybe a PC-FX? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-FX)

[tappybot]

Yep, that was the one.

Excellent, now I know what to look for...  Really excited to get a number of this PCengine games now that I know they can be pretty cheap. Yet another retro world opens before me!

The hardest part is, my guess, going to be finding the proper AC adapter and A/V cable... as well as enough controllers for a full house of Bomberman.

[manuel]

Have fun collecting PC Engine! There are a lot of gems out there!

In terms of cables I was very lucky, because all hookups came with my Duo-RX. 

[senseiman]

Yeah, the PC Engine is great. 

The best part about it if you are leaving Japan someday of course is that it is the easiest console to take with you!  Tiniest console in the world (check the Guinness book, its actually in there) and the games are just like credit cards (unless you collect the jewel cases too).

The only drawback is the lack of multiplayer games.  I picked up a multitap for mine but still, most of the games don't use it.

[manuel]

Get Bomberman for nice 5-player action!

[tappybot]

Is the one titled simply 'Bomberman' a 5 player game?

What else is worth buying?

I had to buy 'War of the Dead' and 'Cyber Gore' just from the titles.

Street Fighter 2 was 50 yen, so I picked that up too...  And I got about a dozen others, including some funny looking Haniwa game and something that strikes me as interesting called 'Deep Blue' (a shooter in the ocean apparently)

[manuel]

I'm not sure if there was more than one Bomberman...
Cyber Gore sounds awesome. 

[tappybot]

I can confirm there is more than one Bomberman.. bought a different one today.  I'll post a pic later after they're all cleaned up and photographed for the finds thread.

No Duo RX in sight though... That's what the Japanese will call it too, right?  Planning on going downtown near Nagoya. If anyone should have it, one of the stores out there should.

[FamicomRetroGamer]

Yeah, the PC Engine is great. 

The best part about it if you are leaving Japan someday of course is that it is the easiest console to take with you!  Tiniest console in the world (check the Guinness book, its actually in there) and the games are just like credit cards (unless you collect the jewel cases too).

The only drawback is the lack of multiplayer games.  I picked up a multitap for mine but still, most of the games don't use it.

Tiniest? What about PSPgo?

PSPgo was a flop, but still, it may win in being tiny.

[nintendodork]

He was obviously talking about consoles.