The Official Pioneer LaserActive Player thread-

[SamIAm]

Hey hey, looks like Nemesis just successfully dumped the data of a MegaLD game. Check out pages five and six of this thread:
http://gendev.spritesmind.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=563&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Someone else had previously hacked the Daphne laserdisc emulator with an add-on called Singe and created a playable version of Time Gal with the video captured from the LA version.

http://www.singeengine.com/cms/node/10

Cool stuff.

Nemesis is actually dumping these using a flashcart and a special technique involving sending data through a controller port, amazingly enough. Fortunately, now that the technique works, it can be applied to the LD-ROM2 games as well. It's simply a matter of people lending their discs.

The real question is going to be how to best rip and store the video footage. It would be nice to get archival-quality rips, but doing that naturally takes equipment and know-how. Maybe I'll see if the people on d-l-p.com would be interested in hooking up with Nemesis for this.

[BlueBMW]

Very glad to see some work towards emulation of this stuff....

To be honest, I fear for the longevity of the original hardware.  PAC failure rate is super high and I have several dead ones that I've been unable to revive even after full recaps and trace repairs.

[Keith Courage]

I remember when I bought my Laser active years ago. It was brand new and within a year the Laser disc tray had gotten jammed and would no longer open. So I have to agree on the fear of long lasting equipment with this unit. I took it in for repair cause I was only 16 at the time. If I knew what I know now I might have figured it out or fixed the issue myself.

[esteban]

Hey hey, looks like Nemesis just successfully dumped the data of a MegaLD game. Check out pages five and six of this thread:
http://gendev.spritesmind.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=563&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Someone else had previously hacked the Daphne laserdisc emulator with an add-on called Singe and created a playable version of Time Gal with the video captured from the LA version.

http://www.singeengine.com/cms/node/10

Cool stuff.

Nemesis is actually dumping these using a flashcart and a special technique involving sending data through a controller port, amazingly enough. Fortunately, now that the technique works, it can be applied to the LD-ROM2 games as well. It's simply a matter of people lending their discs.

The real question is going to be how to best rip and store the video footage. It would be nice to get archival-quality rips, but doing that naturally takes equipment and know-how. Maybe I'll see if the people on d-l-p.com would be interested in hooking up with Nemesis for this.

Damn! I am delighted to hear that we (common folk) might be able to play LD games. Ever since I saw Vajra in a magazine, I've wanted to play PCE LD. 

[SamIAm]

Damn! I am delighted to hear that we (common folk) might be able to play LD games. Ever since I saw Vajra in a magazine, I've wanted to play PCE LD. 

I don't want to jinx it, but it looks like it's really happening. I'm pretty damned excited myself.

One more thing that has to get done, though, is dumping the NEC PAC bios. That one is going to be tough.

[esteban]

Damn! I am delighted to hear that we (common folk) might be able to play LD games. Ever since I saw Vajra in a magazine, I've wanted to play PCE LD. 

I don't want to jinx it, but it looks like it's really happening. I'm pretty damned excited myself.

One more thing that has to get done, though, is dumping the NEC PAC bios. That one is going to be tough.

Yup. There are certainly some obstacles in the way .

[SuperDeadite]

I have found a copy of the mythical PCE LD-ROM2 version of GOKU. 
This is the rarest LA game that was actually released (not counting protos), never heard of anyone even seeing one of these before.  In fact many LA collectors don't even believe it exists.  If you look on webpages, the product code number has always been listed as "PEANJ???" cause nobody has ever been able to confirm it.  But the game is real and mine. It's total crap, but a neat find for the hardcore LA collector/fans. 

[BlueBMW]

So what is the elusive PEANJ number?

[vestcoat]

Wow. Thanks for posting.

[SuperDeadite]

So what is the elusive PEANJ number?

PEANJ1032   Quite a bit higher then the normal MegaLD version (PEASJ1010).
Also I suppose this is technically the rarest released PC-Engine game too, if you count LDs as PCE games, some people don't, I do though.

[xelement5x]

Wow, pretty awesome find SuperDeadite, complete with obi too it looks like!

Are there any improvements over the Mega LD or are they pretty much the exact same thing?

[SignOfZeta]

Its nice to know that Laseractive is an mysterious and cryptic in Japan as it is here. Where did they sell this stuff? No store I ever saw, yet it was bigtime enough to crank out some LD games, US localized LD games even, for a $1000 console nobody bought.

I can't help but wonder, who made this stuff, where did they buy it? The shit exists, so it must have been bought by somone, rather rich people, I assume.

How can a LDROM2 game be so rare and so poorly documented that nobody even has a picture of it or believes it exists? You can't just made a dozen LDs, they'd end up costing $1500 each. Maybe they actually did make 1000 copies and most got recycled or lost or left in the sun before they made it to stores.

Its very intriguing.

[DragonmasterDan]

Its nice to know that Laseractive is an mysterious and cryptic in Japan as it is here. Where did they sell this stuff? No store I ever saw, yet it was bigtime enough to crank out some LD games, US localized LD games even, for a $1000 console nobody bought.

I can't help but wonder, who made this stuff, where did they buy it? The shit exists, so it must have been bought by somone, rather rich people, I assume.

I remember seeing the LaserDisc player itself and the Sega and Karoke pack for sale at Montgomery Ward/Electric Avenue for a very brief time in 1993 or 1994. I suspect most of the games and hardware were moved through Laserdisc specialty stores that existed at the time.

[SuperDeadite]

Its nice to know that Laseractive is an mysterious and cryptic in Japan as it is here. Where did they sell this stuff? No store I ever saw, yet it was bigtime enough to crank out some LD games, US localized LD games even, for a $1000 console nobody bought.

I can't help but wonder, who made this stuff, where did they buy it? The shit exists, so it must have been bought by somone, rather rich people, I assume.

How can a LDROM2 game be so rare and so poorly documented that nobody even has a picture of it or believes it exists? You can't just made a dozen LDs, they'd end up costing $1500 each. Maybe they actually did make 1000 copies and most got recycled or lost or left in the sun before they made it to stores.

Its very intriguing.

Digital Press lists this as an R10 - Prototype/One of a Kind.  I don't quite believe there rating system, especially with Japanese only releases, but yeah this thing was seen by many as sheer rumor.  But as you can see it has proper sleeve, spine, proper manual with pce pad control pictures.  I was too busy to today to actually play it yet, but I suspect there may be a few differences in game too.

With all this, it is definitely a released game, not a prototype.  From the tiny amount of info on Japanese pages I've found, my personal theory is this was only available by special request.  Like you had to call Pioneer and say "I want GOKU, but I only have the NEC module", then and only then could you purchase it.  Meaning most people probably just kept to the MegaLD version sold in stores (seriously how many people wanted to buy this horrible piece of shit edutainment crap anyway?).  1000s were probably made, probably either destroyed or left in some dusty crate in a Pioneer warehouse waiting to be found to this very day.

[Mathius]

Its nice to know that Laseractive is an mysterious and cryptic in Japan as it is here. Where did they sell this stuff? No store I ever saw, yet it was bigtime enough to crank out some LD games, US localized LD games even, for a $1000 console nobody bought.

I can't help but wonder, who made this stuff, where did they buy it? The shit exists, so it must have been bought by somone, rather rich people, I assume.

How can a LDROM2 game be so rare and so poorly documented that nobody even has a picture of it or believes it exists? You can't just made a dozen LDs, they'd end up costing $1500 each. Maybe they actually did make 1000 copies and most got recycled or lost or left in the sun before they made it to stores.

Its very intriguing.

I also remember seeing Laseractives for sale at a local electronics chain called HH Gregg here in Indiana around '93.