Game Sack

[Joe Redifer]

Maybe. But at least it sold. Even at launch it was way lower in cost.

[DragonmasterDan]

I'm sure the $20 clearance bin price tags had something to do with that.

Hey, mine was 19.99 AND came with Virtual Fighter. That's a penny less and a free game :-D

[kazekirifx]

I'm sure the $20 clearance bin price tags had something to do with that.

It's funny that you mention that. I remember seeing some brand new PC-FX's for dirt cheap too, here in Japan around 2001 or so. Thanks to that, there are still plenty of units in the wild in good condition.

[seieienbu]

I honest to god thought that a Saturn was a 1-unit Sega Genesis, Sega CD, 32X.  It had that cartridge slot in the back and all and I was some idiot junior high kid at the time.  I bought Panzer Dragoon thinking that I could play it in my Sega CD since I also had a 32X. 

I was quite disappointed in the results, to say the least.  Playing Saturn games was why I bought a 32X to begin with.

[Black Tiger]

32X sold over 6 times what the PC-FX did.

The Saturn sold 16 times what 32X did and was its worst enemy.

The same thing that killed the SuperGrafx is what kept the Arcade Card from taking off. The current PCE hardware at the time was good enough and the current popular format for software was a safer bet for 3rd party publishers.

The Sega Mark III was Sega's second console. If NEC/Hudson had launched the PC-FX worldwide with a PCE user base of 30 - 40 million, then it likely would have fared better as well.

[Arkhan]

This was one of the better Gamesacks to me because the forced humor didn't show up until the end, but a few things bothered me:

1) No Yuna? wtf.  No Rolfee? uagdkljdfhklj
2) They didn't mention the FXGA or any of that (like the 3D Star Soldier demo, etc.)
3) The comment about it not being a worthy successor to the PCE irked me too.   I don't think two white dudes who can't noodlecart are allowed to comment on a game library that they mostly can't actually experience, lol.

In all honesty, the machine has the makings of a solid machine for that era.  A few more Zeroigar and Zenki like games, better versions of games like Ruruli Ra Rura, and you're doing pretty good.  More Team Innocent style adventure games?  even better.

The PS1 and Saturn both have similar RPG/Digital Comic games.   Some of which are PC-FX games too, as the video mentioned.

The problem was more that it just didn't catch on for whatever reason, didn't sell amazingly well, and didn't get the library it deserved.   I'd be curious to see why certain development companies didn't go all in with the machine and create stuff.   A Valis game on PC-FX would be excellent.   



Also, I thought Nirgends was awesome.

[Joe Redifer]

1 - No clue WTF a Rolfee is. I axed SamIAm for some advice and recommendations on the system and he never mentioned this Rolfee nonsense. I don't think he recommended Yuna.
1a - Just looked up Rolfee. I don't think the episode would have improved if that was in there.
2 - We didn't have any of that nonsense. If we mention something, we should probably show it.
3 - Do you think it was a worth successor to the PCE? I'm 100% confident it was not. So is Japan. They didn't buy it for shit. The PC-FX is Japan's Jaguar. Or maybe even their CD-i. Despite not being able to read the RPGs, you can pretty much tell what kind of games they are. And you can tell they were NOT top-tier stuff. Anyone who believes they are is deluding themselves. Personally I liked Boundary Gate. I think if Dave had not mentioned the language barrier in most of his segments people wouldn't go on and on in the comments about the language. but he did and now they focused on that because they saw it as complaining and giving the games a bad rep because of it (which he did not).

[toymachine78]

1 - No clue WTF a Rolfee is. I axed SamIAm for some advice and recommendations on the system and he never mentioned this Rolfee nonsense. I don't think he recommended Yuna.
1a - Just looked up Rolfee. I don't think the episode would have improved if that was in there.
2 - We didn't have any of that nonsense. If we mention something, we should probably show it.
3 - Do you think it was a worth successor to the PCE? I'm 100% confident it was not. So is Japan. They didn't buy it for shit. The PC-FX is Japan's Jaguar. Or maybe even their CD-i. Despite not being able to read the RPGs, you can pretty much tell what kind of games they are. And you can tell they were NOT top-tier stuff. Anyone who believes they are is deluding themselves. Personally I liked Boundary Gate. I think if Dave had not mentioned the language barrier in most of his segments people wouldn't go on and on in the comments about the language. but he did and now they focused on that because they saw it as complaining and giving the games a bad rep because of it (which he did not).

  Ugh... Dave f*cks up everything!!! Lol [emoji39]

[esteban]

1 - No clue WTF a Rolfee is. I axed SamIAm for some advice and recommendations on the system and he never mentioned this Rolfee nonsense. I don't think he recommended Yuna.
1a - Just looked up Rolfee. I don't think the episode would have improved if that was in there.
2 - We didn't have any of that nonsense. If we mention something, we should probably show it.
3 - Do you think it was a worth successor to the PCE? I'm 100% confident it was not. So is Japan. They didn't buy it for shit. The PC-FX is Japan's Jaguar. Or maybe even their CD-i. Despite not being able to read the RPGs, you can pretty much tell what kind of games they are. And you can tell they were NOT top-tier stuff. Anyone who believes they are is deluding themselves. Personally I liked Boundary Gate. I think if Dave had not mentioned the language barrier in most of his segments people wouldn't go on and on in the comments about the language. but he did and now they focused on that because they saw it as complaining and giving the games a bad rep because of it (which he did not).

Hahahahahshashs.

Joe, I thought YOU had final edit.

[Joe Redifer]

I do but if I take out chunks of what he says then the segment doesn't make sense and has gaps missing. I should have edited his script and removed them. But again the problem with that is I'd have to come up with something to replace those parts and not having played all of the games he did, I would be at a loss of what to say. But seriously, if we didn't mention the language thing so much hardly anyone who watched the video would mention it in their comments. They generally don't in our Left in Japan series and nobody uttered a peep about it in the X68000 episode. So we should have just left well enough alone. Though I did like speeding through the Dragon Knight 4 text. I wonder if that pissed anyone off. "Nooooooo you're not supposed to go through it so faaaaast!!" Anyway like I said, people are taking the language mentions as complaining about the games themselves and they are taking it the wrong way and have problems with basic comprehension.

The episode is performing fairly well, though.

[ClodBuster]

I like that PC-FX episode for sharing honest impressions.

[esteban]

I do but if I take out chunks of what he says then the segment doesn't make sense and has gaps missing. I should have edited his script and removed them. But again the problem with that is I'd have to come up with something to replace those parts and not having played all of the games he did, I would be at a loss of what to say. But seriously, if we didn't mention the language thing so much hardly anyone who watched the video would mention it in their comments. They generally don't in our Left in Japan series and nobody uttered a peep about it in the X68000 episode. So we should have just left well enough alone. Though I did like speeding through the Dragon Knight 4 text. I wonder if that pissed anyone off. "Nooooooo you're not supposed to go through it so faaaaast!!" Anyway like I said, people are taking the language mentions as complaining about the games themselves and they are taking it the wrong way and have problems with basic comprehension.

The episode is performing fairly well, though.

I was just teasing you. Of course, there are creative solutions that would have worked, but I understand your preferences.

I made this point in a different thread (in PC-FX section), but it was important to simply educate folks about this console's existence.

It was the necessary first step. GameSack did more to actually educate folks on the PC-FX's existence...

Now, however, it is the burden of someone else to make a video that illustrates the unique, admirable or intriguing aspects of the system and its library of games.


Also, I just want to say that I really enjoyed the CD-i episode! I loved it.

[shawnji]

I think my only quibble was at one point, and I forget who said it (probably Dave), there was mention of it being a "family-friendly show" just a short while after a game necessitating censor bars to cover up explicit sex acts had been featured.  I was kind of forced to assume sarcasm, but it definitely didn't come across that way.

[Arkhan]

At least mentioning the mascot would have been fun at the very least.

You should've asked me for recommendations/borrowed stuff, lol.  I even have the goofy homebrew stuff, and maybe some spare stuff still that you could've just kept. Return to Zork would have been another cool one to show.

I think, on paper, the PC-FX is a worthy PCE successor.    It's a pretty beautiful machine.

The library is a mixed bag depending on who you ask.     Boundary Gate is a pretty top notch dungeon crawling RPG.   It was also on Playstation, and was a pretty well received game overall.

The strategy games are also good.  Sparkling Feather in particular was a good one for me.

But, unfortunately, the PC-FX essentially only has the niche games.   Digital Comics, RPGs, and Strategy games. 

had they launched with less FMV-tastic action games, I think the thing would have caught on way better, and would have encouraged more games.    The PC-FX is seemingly easier to code for than the Sega Saturn, for example.

So, we could've had a bunch of shooters,  and arcade-action games, if they weren't investing all their time into more FMV games.

The language barrier issue for me is, you can't really properly review RPGs and such without knowing the story.   The story/characters often make up for any shortcomings the mechanics may have.    If you can't read them, you miss out.   

So, while you're not complaining, you're essentially just commenting on the mechanics which will generally boil down to "you walk around, there's menus, you fight stuff", which applies to basically every JRPG ever.

So, there just isn't much to say about sim / rpg games if you aren't able to talk about the characters and story.  That content is the meat of the game.

That's what the PC-FX boils down to for me when I describe it to someone:

"Can you read / understand Japanese at least enough to fumble through a game?  No?  Well, then you might wanna pass on it because the 4 action games on it cost a metric f*ckton."

I personally never saw the point of fingerbanging your way through an RPG without knowing what you're even doing.   It just seems pointless.

It's unfortunate, really.   and it hurts peoples brains to try and comprehend that there's a video game machine that they more or less can't do much with.     every other Japanese machine, you can import and get away with playing a shitload of action games without worrying.

[Black Tiger]

The PC-FX is the inverse of the N64 and as such, I prefer the library over the N64s, even though I don't consider myself a big PC-FX fan. 2D games are a big deal to me and having even just Zenki and Zerogaier goes a long way towards tipping the scales for me. But RPGs and games filled with lots of art, cinemas and "redbook" music and voice acting, let alone touches of PCE aesthetics... that all makes the library more desirable than N64 and Jaguar. Can't say for sure with 3DO though, I'd have to further explore the libraries to make a definitive call.