Multitaps

[guyjin]

I knew many people who bought and rented multi-taps for NES and SNES who never had any fun with 3+ player games and wasted their money.

Personally, I had lots of fun playing Bomberman on my SNES back in the day. Though I knew the Turbo supported one more player, and used that as evidence of the turbo's 16 bitness back in the day ("if it's 8-bit, why can it display more players in Bomberman than the SNES can?")

[Samurai Ghost]

Still love playing Bomberman on the Super Famicom with some friends. There are some good versions on there! Played a hell of a lot of Bomberman 4 the other night with a couple friends. Played 110 games, 45 of which I won along with a few draws. Also had a blast playing 3 player Secret of Mana with friends back in the day. It was quite a unique experience at the time, and still is to this day.

[soop]

Still love playing Bomberman on the Super Famicom with some friends. There are some good versions on there! Played a hell of a lot of Bomberman 4 the other night with a couple friends. Played 110 games, 45 of which I won along with a few draws. Also had a blast playing 3 player Secret of Mana with friends back in the day. It was quite a unique experience at the time, and still is to this day.

I was p[laying Bomberman Tournament (GBA) last week with 2 friends.  The thing was, Dan is actually good at Bomberman, but he just couldn't win. and he made a hell of a fuss!  He made me reboot loads of times to change settings in this order:
make the computer easier to beat
Turn off the computer players because we should be playing each other
Turn off the Fishing endgame because it's a waste of time
Turn off super revenge because it punishes those who are winning

And then I still kicked his ass, and he accused me and Liam of ganging up on him! (we weren't).  Classic bomberman!

[esteban]

I bought a TG-16 Tap and extra controllers back in the day. 2 brothers + lots of friends = lots of Bomberman, Dungeon Explorer, MotoRoader, AeroBlasters, Monster Lair, Parasol Stars, Cadash, and, to a lesser extent... Double Dungeons

Or they figured that most gamers have no friends and stay holed up in their rooms alone playing games all night. And they were right.

I swear to the Lord Almighty that there is the truth in that statement.

To build on Black_Tiger's earlier defense of NEC's hardware strategy:

(1) Not everyone uses 2-player.
(2) If you want to play 3+ player, on ANY system, you must buy a tap + extra controllers
(3) I think NEC was hoping that the one-controller OR tap strategy might encourage developers to make 3+ player games. Why? Anyone who was interested in 2+ player games was forced to buy a tap, which provided 3+ player options. I don't know if it worked, but as long as folks had a tap, they were potential candidates for 3+ games. I think this was an intelligent way to create two, distinct groups of customers. Again, I don't know if it worked, but it certainly had the potential to create A MUCH LARGER USER BASE WITH 3+ player capability than NES, Genesis, SNES, etc.
(4) If you are going to bitch about something, bitch about the SHORT CORDS on the TG-16/PCE controllers! Holy crap, add an extra foot, at least. American gaming habits are different than Japan. We don't keep the console on the floor next to us when we play! It actually sounds nice (to have the console within reach and easily change games), but I don't play like that. Homie don't play that.

[SignOfZeta]

Have you ever seen a PS1 controller from when the system first came out in Japan? I'm not sure if it was actually a full two feet. It was stupidly short.

[soop]

If you are going to bitch about something, bitch about the SHORT CORDS on the TG-16/PCE controllers! Holy crap, add an extra foot, at least. American gaming habits are different than Japan. We don't keep the console on the floor next to us when we play! It actually sounds nice (to have the console within reach and easily change games), but I don't play like that. Homie don't play that.

Come on, those extension cords are cheap as chips!  Still, it's not a problem for me to rest my Core Grafx next to me when I play, even though I have a long enough extension

[Shrapnoid]

I don't know... I had the extension cord for the TG16 and it worked fine until I let a neighbor borrow the system. I didn't see any damage upon inspection but, it just quit working.

I've had the Duo extension cord from TZD for ages and it's never given me any problems.

[soop]

I don't know... I had the extension cord for the TG16 and it worked fine until I let a neighbor borrow the system. I didn't see any damage upon inspection but, it just quit working.

I've had the Duo extension cord from TZD for ages and it's never given me any problems.

They're basically just serial cables.  The one I'm using now, I think it was advertised as an Apple printer cable.

[Shrapnoid]

I don't know... I had the extension cord for the TG16 and it worked fine until I let a neighbor borrow the system. I didn't see any damage upon inspection but, it just quit working.

I've had the Duo extension cord from TZD for ages and it's never given me any problems.

They're basically just serial cables.  The one I'm using now, I think it was advertised as an Apple printer cable.

Hmmm. Apple printer cable. What era would that be amongst Apple products. I mean was it really the same as the Duo or did it come before that and TZD just managed to score a bunch of them?

[frozenintears]

If you are going to bitch about something, bitch about the SHORT CORDS on the TG-16/PCE controllers! Holy crap, add an extra foot, at least. American gaming habits are different than Japan. We don't keep the console on the floor next to us when we play! It actually sounds nice (to have the console within reach and easily change games), but I don't play like that. Homie don't play that.

oh snap!!! I just fell out of my window laughing!!!! wow

awesome post

[soop]

I don't know... I had the extension cord for the TG16 and it worked fine until I let a neighbor borrow the system. I didn't see any damage upon inspection but, it just quit working.

I've had the Duo extension cord from TZD for ages and it's never given me any problems.

They're basically just serial cables.  The one I'm using now, I think it was advertised as an Apple printer cable.

Hmmm. Apple printer cable. What era would that be amongst Apple products. I mean was it really the same as the Duo or did it come before that and TZD just managed to score a bunch of them?

Exactly the same.  The sockit type is a mini Din, and while there are several configurations, even among the ones with the same number of pins, it's a standard connection type - just as the Megadrive's 9 pin d-sub is a standard type.  It's not uncommon, even today; 360's have USB slots, can't get more standard than that.

[Deletion]

And because they are standard computer cables, extension cables can be found dirt cheap.


TurboGrafx-16 DIN 8-pin controller extension cable
6ft: http://www.bestpricecables.com/nec-turbo-grfx-extension-cable.html

PC Engine / Turbo Duo / PC Engine Duo -R -RX / CoreGrafx Mini-DIN 8-pin controller extension cable
6ft: http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10215&cs_id=1021501&p_id=534&seq=1&format=2
12ft: (not so cheap) http://www.retrogamecave.com/tg16pc-engine.html

[soop]

I bought a TG-16 Tap and extra controllers back in the day. 2 brothers + lots of friends = lots of Bomberman, Dungeon Explorer, MotoRoader, AeroBlasters, Monster Lair, Parasol Stars, Cadash, and, to a lesser extent... Double Dungeons

Or they figured that most gamers have no friends and stay holed up in their rooms alone playing games all night. And they were right.

I swear to the Lord Almighty that there is the truth in that statement.

To build on Black_Tiger's earlier defense of NEC's hardware strategy:

(1) Not everyone uses 2-player.
(2) If you want to play 3+ player, on ANY system, you must buy a tap + extra controllers
(3) I think NEC was hoping that the one-controller OR tap strategy might encourage developers to make 3+ player games. Why? Anyone who was interested in 2+ player games was forced to buy a tap, which provided 3+ player options. I don't know if it worked, but as long as folks had a tap, they were potential candidates for 3+ games. I think this was an intelligent way to create two, distinct groups of customers. Again, I don't know if it worked, but it certainly had the potential to create A MUCH LARGER USER BASE WITH 3+ player capability than NES, Genesis, SNES, etc.
(4) If you are going to bitch about something, bitch about the SHORT CORDS on the TG-16/PCE controllers! Holy crap, add an extra foot, at least. American gaming habits are different than Japan. We don't keep the console on the floor next to us when we play! It actually sounds nice (to have the console within reach and easily change games), but I don't play like that. Homie don't play that.

BTW, yeah, Esteban, I thought many of those things too

[esteban]

If you are going to bitch about something, bitch about the SHORT CORDS on the TG-16/PCE controllers! Holy crap, add an extra foot, at least. American gaming habits are different than Japan. We don't keep the console on the floor next to us when we play! It actually sounds nice (to have the console within reach and easily change games), but I don't play like that. Homie don't play that.

oh snap!!! I just fell out of my window laughing!!!! wow

awesome post

Word up.

I don't know... I had the extension cord for the TG16 and it worked fine until I let a neighbor borrow the system. I didn't see any damage upon inspection but, it just quit working.

I've had the Duo extension cord from TZD for ages and it's never given me any problems.

Yes, I paid around $6.98 - $9.99 (ha!) for a brand new extension cable back in the day (1990). The male pins/female sockets were NOT the sturdiest and did not fare well under abusive conditions. I remember being extra tender when using my tap/extension cord/controllers because my friend had a TG-16 DIN connector that was overly sensitive (he abused the sh*t out of it, though).

Have you ever seen a PS1 controller from when the system first came out in Japan? I'm not sure if it was actually a full two feet. It was stupidly short.

Hahahhahahahahaha. No, I didn't know how bad PS1 controller was!

OMG! I don't see any cords! j/k

[nat]

I don't know... I had the extension cord for the TG16 and it worked fine until I let a neighbor borrow the system. I didn't see any damage upon inspection but, it just quit working.

I've had the Duo extension cord from TZD for ages and it's never given me any problems.

They're basically just serial cables.  The one I'm using now, I think it was advertised as an Apple printer cable.

Hmmm. Apple printer cable. What era would that be amongst Apple products. I mean was it really the same as the Duo or did it come before that and TZD just managed to score a bunch of them?

I always point this out every time it comes up, but you can't just buy an Apple printer cable from 1986-96 and expect it to work.

You have to buy the printer serial extension cable. Apple printer cables are male-to-male. You need male-to-female.