If you'd been in charge of NEC U.S./TTI what would've been your ideal TG-16 set?

[Arkhan]

Yeah, the dumbass on the box shouldn't have been there.

They needed something cool, like tits and robots.

[mac]

Yeah, the dumbass on the box shouldn't have been there.

They needed something cool, like tits and robots.

lmao that would have been great !!!

[Bardoly]

And on that note, one issue with some of these game swaps is, are the games people are proposing to swap them for actually available when that US release released?  Because if they weren't yet, that's not really a swap that could have worked...

I thought about creating this thread and saying that one could only swap PC Engine games in which were released in the same year or earlier, but I felt that this would burden people too much and hamper the discussion.  But yes, I agree that doing so would make this 'alternate reality' more realistic.

[Black Tiger]

Looks like I won't have time soon to put together a swapped list, but a few games that I'd bring over and re-label are:

Gradius II = Turbo Gradius IV
Dracula X = Turbo Castlevania V
Strip Fighter II' = Violent Vixens


I'd run ads comparing Turbo Gradius IV compared to Super Gradius III, showing how much less slowdown there is in similar situations. The aesthetics would also make it look like it could be a sequel instead if a prequel.

I'd censor all of the nudity in SFII' and cut the girly scenes. It would still be an nice looking and good enough playing HuCard fighting game during a time when people were desparate to try any and every fighting game they could get their hands on. This and Street Fighter II' CE would be marketed with the Turbo Express. Even after Turbo/SCE and SSFII were released, Champion Edition would still be a killer app for portables.

[esteban]

Looks like I won't have time soon to put together a swapped list, but a few games that I'd bring over and re-label are:

Gradius II = Turbo Gradius IV
Dracula X = Turbo Castlevania V
Strip Fighter II' = Violent Vixens


I'd run ads comparing Turbo Gradius IV compared to Super Gradius III, showing how much less slowdown there is in similar situations. The aesthetics would also make it look like it could be a sequel instead if a prequel.

I'd censor all of the nudity in SFII' and cut the girly scenes. It would still be an nice looking and good enough playing HuCard fighting game during a time when people were desparate to try any and every fighting game they could get their hands on. This and Street Fighter II' CE would be marketed with the Turbo Express. Even after Turbo/SCE and SSFII were released, Champion Edition would still be a killer app for portables.

Excellent.

FURTHER PLANS:

1. A year after the release of Violent Vixens, an anonymous source leaks a code to unlock nudity in the game.

2. Since NEC/TTi is localizing a "clean" version Strip Fighter II'...they will go the extra mile...so that North America actually gets Violent Vixens Turbo to parallel the evolution of the SF franchise.

3. A nascent, but tremendously talented young l'artiste, sunteam_paul, is commissioned to create new cover art for Violent Vixens. That's right, the Japanese artwork will stay in Japan. SUCK MY LEFT ONE JAPANOPHILES.

[SignOfZeta]

I can never tell when you guys are serious. Maybe I'm autistic?

[esteban]

I can never tell when you guys are serious. Maybe I'm autistic?

With a comforting, yet serious tone, Hany informs, "Each and every soul that has graced these forums, even the ne'er-do-wells & the lurkers, are on the spectrum.

[SignOfZeta]

The reason its hard to tell is that Black Tiger's strategic renaming of certain shooters makes sense. Trying to figure out which game came first and what order they are in is basically impossible with these games anyway since the "story" only exists as a one paragraph blurb in the into that lasts .5 seconds.

However, Strip Fighter II was garbage and also unlicensed and the idea that the code is so good that someone would actually want to play it censored is crazy. The (terrible) nudie art is the crux of the game, for whatever that's worth (not much).

And marketing SFII' as an express game...again, perhaps the humor here is too subtle for someone like me to grasp. Maybe I need to watch more TV and study the behavior of normal humans some more...or maybe its a f*cking retarded idea. I admit that seeing SFII' run on an Express was a very impressive thing back in the day...but only for about 10 seconds since anyone who knows how to play SF at all isn't going consider the game tolerable with only two buttons. It wasn't redesigned for two buttons like Gameboy or Neo Geo Pocket games, it was just...missing buttons. A totally greta game on the console with a six button pad, but beautiful garbage on the handhelds. Then it occurred to me that most people don't actually know how to play SF so maybe he's being serious? Its possible he was since he's one of the guys that is constantly comparing the PCE version of SFII to SF on other systems to placate his out of control PCE persecution complex never realizing that since the PCE had the ONLY contemporary version of SFII' so comparisons are irrelevant. He doesn't get this...so maybe he isn't being serious? To someone who doesn't understand SFII anyway the absence of essential buttons doesn't matter one bit.

And the Japanophile thing...I don't get it. People who want original art are derided...but apparently you don't realize that every other aspect of the game is still intrinsically Japanese. All the in game art, sound, and gameplay as well as the design of the system and even the manufacturing of the HuCARDs and CDs was all Japanese. You want *just* the cover art changed? That's kind of hyper specific, when you think about it. Do you actually think the USA garbage is actual neo cubism? Because...it isn't, its just terrible junk that nobody on earth appreciated until beards and fixed gear bicycles became popular again in the 2010s.

This is why I can't stand the garbage loving hipster "I love shit that sucks" culture. It has no integrity. You can instantly change from "I'm serious" to "I'm kidding" and...there isn't any difference. You can say something totally stupid and mean it, or change you mind in a discussion and claim you were just kidding all along when you weren't. Its bullshit. Grow a spine and stand for something, stupid as it may be.

[esteban]

This is why I can't stand the garbage loving hipster "I love shit that sucks" culture. It has no integrity. You can instantly change from "I'm serious" to "I'm kidding" and...there isn't any difference. You can say something totally stupid and mean it, or change you mind in a discussion and claim you were just kidding all along when you weren't. Its bullshit. Grow a spine and stand for something, stupid as it may be.

Forget about the hipsters. Hipsters are de facto losers. You can't let hipsters ruin things. But, me? Don't forget about me. I realized (too late) that there are some GENUINE CONTRIBUTIONS from North American localizations/marketing/etc.

My pathetic passion/love for video games made me realize that IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SAD if all of the cultural products imported into North America were carbon-copies of the Japanese originals. It's not that I don't appreciate purity (I do), it's just that WE ARE LIVING IN 2013 and BY JESUS we have EVERYTHING available to us now (all the content, from every region). SO, from the vantage point of 2013, I f*ckING LOVE ALL THE VARIATIONS that exist in the content. As an uber-dork, I love these nuances. For example, I am not offended by Kato & Ken --> JJ & Jeff. I happen to love Wonderboy 1 (Arcade/SMS)/Adventure Island (NES), and JJ&Jeff is a solid game that takes those game mechanics and adds a few twists. I am not offended that, as an NES owner, I was cheated out of the full-glory of some chiptunes (from KONAMI, no less...I loved the music in Konami games) because the NES hardware didn't support special chips that the Famicom did.

I used to be offended by these things (rightfully so, especially as a paying customer). But now time has passed...and I have a different perspective. It's fun, now, to compare the NES vs. Famicom versions of Castlevania III, for example. DAMN I had fun playing that game. Every tune, tattooed in my brain. Fast-forward. 2013: I enjoy both versions of the soundtrack.

BOTTOM LINE: I feel the same way about coverart variations as music variations...it creates greater opportunity for appreciation. I have long since abandoned the "we got cheated/purity,purity,purity/NA&Europe marketing was god-awful" perspective. I should tell you that I thought JJ & Jeff was mediocre in 1989 when I first owned it. It wasn't "XTREME NEXT GENERATION". Did I still play it? HELL YES. Why? Well, first, I was poor and wouldn't get another game for months and months. But, secondly, it was actually a decent game. It was not NOT cutting-edged in 1989 and I criticized the hell out of it. In 2013, though, I can appreciate the platformer for what it is. I had a similar experience with Vigilante (except that Vigilante was always mediocre, at best. HA!)


CONTEXT (AKA "Confessions of a former Japanophile"): Back in the early 90's, I desperately wanted the TG-16 to be hold its own (image-wise) with its peers. I've been watching anime since the 80's, so I would have been fine with the original coverart featured in any game, for any console.

Now, would that art have resonated with the 80's/90's video-game-players? I don't know. I certainly understand why art was localized in the 80's/early 90's. Mainstream America was...mainstream America. It takes time for new trends to develop.

Certain Japanese cultural products became increasingly popular over the course of the 90's.

Watching pirated Fist of the North Star/Bubblegum Crisis VHS tapes in the 80's (sourced from a LaserDisc the dude at the Star Trek convention was happy to tell us and show us...but he never wanted to offer his LaserDiscs for sale, ha!), I would have loved if Japanese coverart was used for ALL RELEASES. But mainstream America probably would have just shrugged its collective shoulders (as it did towards cover art, in general) AND LOOKED AT THE SCREENSHOTS ON THE BACK OF THE PACKAGE.


BONUS: My anti-Japanophile rant is me basically saying: "Do you honestly have NO CAPACITY to appreciate anything in the North American localizations?"

I love Japan (hell, some of my best friends are Filipino), but still...


UPDATE: Sorry for long post. I have to get my kids, but here's way to summarize our differences (you tell me if I'm off-base)...
(1) SHITE, THROUGH AND THROUGH: You feel that 98% of localization efforts (at least with coverart) = SHITE. And, even today, this shite doesn't add anything of value to your passion for video games (outside of a few laughs, of course). Variations detract from your enjoyment (especially when hipsters are involved).

(2) SHITE? SURE, BUT WE ARE BETTER OFF FOR IT. I, too, feel that a lot of the localization efforts (again, we can focus just on coverart) = SHITE. However, today I feel that this shite adds a new layer of history to video games (and I appreciate it for that). I also go further and claim that a surprising number of localization efforts were actually decent/on par/superior to the original Japanese content. These variations, then, only ADD to my enjoyment. 

[Punch]

What do you think about my pack-in title for the Turbo?



 

[esteban]

What do you think about my pack-in title for the Turbo?



 

H.R. would be proud to endorse this.

[TR0N]

Crossed my mind many times and that would be releasing schibibin man 3 here.It was a dick move on (NEC/TTI) part to begin with.Since working designs wanted to publish the game for the u.s.Then all of a sudden,NEC changes it mind wanting to do it but instead they sat on it shesh !!

[Marll]

Yeah, the dumbass on the box shouldn't have been there.

They needed something cool, like tits and robots.

Yes. This.

[PunkicCyborg]

If I was in charge I'd have Wonder Momo as the pack in

[Arkhan]

I would have packed in China Warrior, Wonder Momo, and Keith Courage.


3 motherf*ckin games, all up in it.