Author Topic: Was it nostalgia or curiousity  (Read 1476 times)

vestcoat

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Re: Was it nostalgia or curiousity
« Reply #45 on: March 19, 2014, 07:33:10 PM »
I was attracted to both aspects of Turbo gaming: greed and collectibility.
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Tatsujin

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Re: Was it nostalgia or curiousity
« Reply #46 on: March 19, 2014, 08:14:02 PM »
I was attracted to both aspects of Turbo gaming: greed and collectibility.

 O:)

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Retrocool

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Re: Was it nostalgia or curiousity
« Reply #47 on: March 20, 2014, 04:58:23 PM »
I never sold mines.. both the original with CD and my Duo are first day purchases for me back in the day (thanks mom, really THANKS) .. i just loved the system so much... I just never gave it up...

Eventually when I get older... something will happen......
It is what it is and it will be what it will be!

Looking for some games, but I will prolly never find.  Sapphire, Magical Chase (US)

Paddyfitz18

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Re: Was it nostalgia or curiousity
« Reply #48 on: March 21, 2014, 03:52:04 AM »
I bought the TG-16 right around the time of its initial release in the States, at the Toys 'R Us in Lansing, IL.  I just thought the games looked awesome and that it was going to be superior to the Genesis.  I never stopped thinking that way.

I have to say it was quite demoralizing when the system I paid top-dollar for (with high school job savings) started to be found in the bargain aisles.  Around where I lived, by the time the Duo came out, it was pretty obvious the demise of NEC console gaming in the U.S. was imminent.

But I stuck it out with my Turbo.  But keeping a nice collection intact was difficult given the transient/hobo lifestyle I lived for some years.  I sold and bought, lost and found, broke and fixed, but through it all here I am still digging the TG-16/PCE over any other gaming experience.

But here was I really want to know, gentlemen (and perhaps, ladies?):

Very recently I sat down and gave Keith Courage a play at length.  Got to the final boss, and overall rather enjoyed it.  I always thought Keith Courage was a decent game, particularly for a pack-in game.  Keith in the Nova Suit is still one of my favorite characters, just think he looks really cool.  Anyway, my question is, did anyone seriously not buy the Turbografx-16 because they did not like the looks of Keith Courage?  I mean, I always had the idea that a pack-in game was not to be taken too seriously, that it was a "freebie" "throwaway" or even just a sort-of "demo" game.   Who bases their decision of whether or not to buy a game system on the "pack-in" versus the quality of the game library overall?  I personally don't get that.   I mean, its just a pack-in game.  THE PACK-IN GAME.

Apparently free software must affect buying decisions for some folks though, then and now.  Otherwise, I suppose Microsoft wouldn't be saturating the media with their offer for a free copy of (shameless Battletech universe ripoff) Titanfall with that X thinmgamabob they just came out with. 

But really, I was fine with KC being the pack-in on the original turbo.  It really shouldn't have been a "make or break" for the console's success and I really can't believe that it was, even though I have heard some make that argument.

Paddyfitz18

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Re: Was it nostalgia or curiousity
« Reply #49 on: March 21, 2014, 04:43:23 AM »
^ Yeah, R-Type would have been a killer pack-in.  No doubt about it.  I remember when I first tried out that title on the TG-16 and the quality really blew me away.

vestcoat

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Re: Was it nostalgia or curiousity
« Reply #50 on: March 21, 2014, 08:41:51 AM »
R-Type would have been a terrible pack-in. It's was IREM's new flagship game and they were busy licensing it to anyone and everyone. American gamers had seen it on the SMS the year previous and it was soon heading for the SFC in Japan. Between licensing and the large chip memory, it would have been a very expensive pack-in for NEC. Altered Beast had also seen an 8-bit home release, but it was still a Sega exclusive.

Successful pack-ins need to: 1) be impressive, 2) offer gamers something new and exclusive 3) appeal to a wide audience. R-type would have only fulfilled the first category. As adult men on a TG16 forum, it's easy to forget that shooters don't appeal to everyone. A lot of girls, kids, and casual gamers don't like them as much as platformers. Nintendo realized this and it made them industry leaders.
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Paddyfitz18

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Re: Was it nostalgia or curiousity
« Reply #51 on: March 21, 2014, 09:43:59 AM »
^OK I see your point.  Still, I guess can't understand more generally how a pack-in can influence buying decisions so much.  It does apparently, but really I don't get it.  It's just one game, after all.

The exception is perhaps Super Mario Brothers for the NES.  Just because that was totally revolutionary compared with anything else available at the time.  That game was just a whole different deal than anything else around at the time.

And you are totally right about Nintendo drawing the casual gamer.  Irony would be if it now leads to their collapse, since those casual gamers are now leaving them, in droves, for phones, tablets and what have you.   They are under a lot of pressure to license their products on to those devices.

dallaspattern

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Re: Was it nostalgia or curiousity
« Reply #52 on: March 21, 2014, 04:20:41 PM »
I thought KC was pretty badass when I was a kid

YANDMAN

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Re: Was it nostalgia or curiousity
« Reply #53 on: March 23, 2014, 09:07:41 PM »
I fell in love with it from a picture in a comic book, The name alone filled my young mind with endless visions of Turbo powered games, TG16, Turbo-Grafx 16 just sounds so cool.

tg16manaic

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Re: Was it nostalgia or curiousity
« Reply #54 on: March 24, 2014, 05:25:37 PM »
I bought one back in early 1990 i believe, shorty after it came out. It came out on my 11th birthday in '89, but i didn't buy it until the spring of '90. I picked up a used one with splatterhouse for something like 60 bucks. It was like new with the box and everything, and i still have it :) and i kept it in mint shape like a prized possession. I remember wanting it so much lol.  After seeing the awesome graphics i just had to have it lol. When i got it, none of my friends had it, i remember them all saying "wow u have turbo grafx 16?" they were all amazed, yet none of them ever bought one, i was the only one that had it out of all my friends and classmates, and i'm sure they were envious lol.

zborgerd

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Re: Was it nostalgia or curiousity
« Reply #55 on: March 25, 2014, 12:18:46 PM »
I was in grade school.  Before the console was released, my friend was obsessed with the Turbo.  He'd go on and on about Bonk and Bomberman and Turbo ads in the gaming magazines of the time.  He finally got a Turbo Express and I remember playing Bonk and Legendary Axe when he brought it over for a party.

I was hooked, but I didn't have the money for a system.  Ultimately I was able to trade some of my prized NES games (One of which was Dragon Warrior III, a favorite at the time)  for a used machine and a few games at one of the few gaming stores that had a used system in stock.  My first two games were Bonk and Neutopia.

For some reason, I later sold my Turbo stuff.  I had regretted it ever since.  I think that it was for some SNES game at the time (in 1994) and the Turbo was ready to check out after the PCFX release.  Ultimately, I made it a goal to replace it and picked up a CD system and an Express within a few years.  Later, a PC Engine.  I collect more Japanese games these days than US releases.

Still one of my all-time favorite game machines.
« Last Edit: March 25, 2014, 12:20:42 PM by zborgerd »

A Black Falcon

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Re: Was it nostalgia or curiousity
« Reply #56 on: March 25, 2014, 03:04:05 PM »
R-Type would have been a terrible pack-in. It's was IREM's new flagship game and they were busy licensing it to anyone and everyone. American gamers had seen it on the SMS the year previous and it was soon heading for the SFC in Japan. Between licensing and the large chip memory, it would have been a very expensive pack-in for NEC. Altered Beast had also seen an 8-bit home release, but it was still a Sega exclusive.

Successful pack-ins need to: 1) be impressive, 2) offer gamers something new and exclusive 3) appeal to a wide audience. R-type would have only fulfilled the first category. As adult men on a TG16 forum, it's easy to forget that shooters don't appeal to everyone. A lot of girls, kids, and casual gamers don't like them as much as platformers. Nintendo realized this and it made them industry leaders.
I disagree.  Sure R-Type was on the Master System, but very few people in the US had Master Systems.  Sure it was popular in Europe, but that would only have mattered if NEC hadn't been so unbelievably stupid as to not release the TG16 there. 

Of course the TG16 didn't end up selling here at all either, and in fact even the SMS did better, but at launch that outcome had not yet been determined.  I think that Keith Courage is a fun game and I like it, but yeah, it wasn't their best pack-in choice.  I think R-Type would have been a fine choice for a packin -- it was a great port of a well-known game which was not on the popular system of the time (the NES).  There was a later Game Boy version of R-Type, but that didn't release until 1991.

Alternately, the other top choice of course would be Blazing Lazers... I'm not sure if it was ready at launch, but that game has great graphics and great gameplay.  The name wasn't known quite as well, which is one plus R-Type has, but the game is just as good.  (I know many people think it should have been Legendary Axe, but I've never liked that game all that much myself...)

toymachine78

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Re: Was it nostalgia or curiousity
« Reply #57 on: March 25, 2014, 03:33:37 PM »
I agree with falcon. RType was a huge name in the arcades. Blazing Lazers is a great game, but the name is so generic it would not have drawn as much attention as RType. I remember going from rtype, to double dragon, to dragon slayer dropping many quarters. Oh yeah Black Knight and Kiss pinball too :)

waynedoodle

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Re: Was it nostalgia or curiousity
« Reply #58 on: March 25, 2014, 03:49:26 PM »
I don't remember what it was for me wanting a Turbografx.  1991 and a freshman in high school with my twin brother made some cash running a haunted house.  I guess it was Splatterhouse expectations which would later lead to a Christmas gift Turbo-CD.  We used the CD thtu our Freshman year in college wearing out the gears in the process.  Someday I hope to get it repaird.  Loved the turbografx!