Considering collecting for the TG-16, could use some advice...

[Orrimarrko]

Hey Guys,

I've never owned a TG-16, but always wanted to.  I remember when it came out, I was in high school, and it looked pretty cool.  However, I was wrapped up with the NES, and so that was that.

Now that I'm in my early forties, I've decided that I'd like to own one and collect for the system.  Before collecting for any system, I always do my homework, so I know what I'm getting myself into.

I was hoping that some of you experts might be able to help me out a little with some suggestions.  To be honest, this system has always been a little confusing (as opposed to other systems), so I appreciate the help.

Which console is the best option for playing all of the games?  (Meaning, out of the box, what system will allow me to play the majority of titles available for it?)  Will US systems play JPN games or vice-versa?  I know that there are Hu-cards and CD games, but am not sure what system will allow me to plug & play which games without modding.  Where are some recommended places to find the 'suggested' system

Speaking of modding, what is the best connection you can get for any of the systems?  If, for example, the recommended system was a Duo-R, what would be the best connection from the console to the TV?  Can that be improved with a mod, and if so, who generally does great work?

Lastly, about the games...is there a complete list out there of all US Hu Cards and CD games?  What games, if any, were not released in a cardboard box?  Any variants?  What about Japanese games?

Sorry for all of the questions guys - any assistance and suggestions are most welcome.

Thanks!
Orri~

[Arkhan]

You want to locate:

A region modded USA TurboDuo that's had the sound caps replaced:  It will allow you to play all HuCards and all CD games.   The exception being you can't play SuperGrafx because that's a different console, and you can't play Arcade CD games unless you get the Arcade Card.

A region modded JP Duo-R or Duo-RX:  It will do the same thing as above.


Don't bother screwing around trying to find a Turbo Grafx-16 with working CD hardware.  That's an uphill battle, and a pain in the ass.  You will need to region mod it, and locate a system card just to play Super CD ROM games.    The Duo consoles all have that built in.


Start off with a USA TG-16 so you can play some staple HuCard games and get a feel for the thing, but then definitely upgrade to a Duo of some variety.   Only downside is, without a Turbo Booster (thing that clicks on the back), you can only use RF with the thing.    That kind of blows.


As for video connections.  The best you can get is RGB (with a mod), but it will require a display or an upscaler that can accept it.  If you have a CRT television, the composite will work fine with all of these consoles.   


go to www.pcengine.co.uk for a list of every game.

also go to http://www.thebrothersduomazov.com/ for reviews and stuff.

[jperryss]

Ark pretty much covered it. A region-modded Japanese Duo-R or RX is your one-stop shop and will play the entire library except for Arcade Card (ACD) games, which require an ACD Duo ($25 or so, last I checked). They also don't have the capacitor issues that the US Duos have, so less to worry about. Note that CD games are not region-locked but hucard games are.

If you want to start off small, go with a US TG16 for now, and then pick up a Duo-R/RX later and ACD Duo later. At that point you'll have access to everything and can decide if you want to keep the TG around for US games, or have the Duo-R modded to play US games.

Note that games are not as readily available and cheap as you might find with NES, SNES, etc. The good news is that many games have a more reasonably-priced Japanese (PCE) version and are completely playable even if you don't know the language.

[Orrimarrko]

You want to locate:

A region modded USA TurboDuo that's had the sound caps replaced:  It will allow you to play all HuCards and all CD games.   The exception being you can't play SuperGrafx because that's a different console, and you can't play Arcade CD games unless you get the Arcade Card.

A region modded JP Duo-R or Duo-RX:  It will do the same thing as above.


Don't bother screwing around trying to find a Turbo Grafx-16 with working CD hardware.  That's an uphill battle, and a pain in the ass.  You will need to region mod it, and locate a system card just to play Super CD ROM games.    The Duo consoles all have that built in.


Start off with a USA TG-16 so you can play some staple HuCard games and get a feel for the thing, but then definitely upgrade to a Duo of some variety.   Only downside is, without a Turbo Booster (thing that clicks on the back), you can only use RF with the thing.    That kind of blows.


As for video connections.  The best you can get is RGB (with a mod), but it will require a display or an upscaler that can accept it.  If you have a CRT television, the composite will work fine with all of these consoles.   


go to www.pcengine.co.uk for a list of every game.

also go to http://www.thebrothersduomazov.com/ for reviews and stuff.

Thank you for the info and reference links!

[Necromancer]

+1 to what Ark said about hardware, though I recommend getting a PCE Duo-R/RX or recapped PCE Duo and spending the savings vs. a US Duo on games.

...what system will allow me to plug & play which games without modding.

No such thing.  CDs are region free but HuCARDs are not, so all systems will require some sort of region converter for hueys.  

Speaking of modding, what is the best connection you can get for any of the systems?  If, for example, the recommended system was a Duo-R, what would be the best connection from the console to the TV?  Can that be improved with a mod, and if so, who generally does great work?

Composite is the best out of the box, but it can be modded for s-video, component, or RGB (in order of image quality).  Which one is best is entirely dependent on what kind of TV/monitor you'll be using (i.e. few US TVs take RGB).

Lastly, about the games...is there a complete list out there of all US Hu Cards and CD games?

PCE Daisakusen, the PC Engine Bible, and PCECP all list each region's game libraries and formats.

What games, if any, were not released in a cardboard box?

All US HuCARDs except Keith Courage and the two system cards came in cardboard boxes; all CD games except Buster Bros., Splash Lake, Vasteel, the three unofficial titteh discs (Bikini Girls, Hawaiian Island Girls, and Local Girls of Hawaii), Sherlock Holmes 2, and Syd Mead's Terraforming (the latter two labeled as SuperCD but actually plain CD games) came in cardboard boxes; and no Super CD games came in cardboard boxes, though Exile Wicked Phenomenon did come in a paper sleeve thing (as did Vasteel).

[Orrimarrko]

Ark pretty much covered it. A region-modded Japanese Duo-R or RX is your one-stop shop and will play the entire library except for Arcade Card (ACD) games, which require an ACD Duo ($25 or so, last I checked). They also don't have the capacitor issues that the US Duos have, so less to worry about. Note that CD games are not region-locked but hucard games are.

If you want to start off small, go with a US TG16 for now, and then pick up a Duo-R/RX later and ACD Duo later. At that point you'll have access to everything and can decide if you want to keep the TG around for US games, or have the Duo-R modded to play US games.

Note that games are not as readily available and cheap as you might find with NES, SNES, etc. The good news is that many games have a more reasonably-priced Japanese (PCE) version and are completely playable even if you don't know the language.

Good to know.  So the Duo-R will play all CD games (regardless of region.)  It will play all JPN Hu Cards, but can be modded to play US ones as well.  If I get the Arcade Duo card, I can play those games as well.  Sound about right?

[Orrimarrko]

RoyVegas, the lucky ****, opened a complete set of sealed games and shared the pics with the community.  Can't beat this for reference of which games came with what.

http://s667.photobucket.com/user/royvegas/library/Turbografx%20Games%20Reference

WOW - that's VERY helpful!!  Thanks for the link!

Looking at this - this is a US complete set, correct?

Also, I noticed that some games don't come with a cardboard box.  Was that something that occurred later in the system's life?  Just wondering why some do and some don't.

Thanks!

[turboswimbz]

Ark pretty much covered it. A region-modded Japanese Duo-R or RX is your one-stop shop and will play the entire library except for Arcade Card (ACD) games, which require an ACD Duo ($25 or so, last I checked). They also don't have the capacitor issues that the US Duos have, so less to worry about. Note that CD games are not region-locked but hucard games are.

If you want to start off small, go with a US TG16 for now, and then pick up a Duo-R/RX later and ACD Duo later. At that point you'll have access to everything and can decide if you want to keep the TG around for US games, or have the Duo-R modded to play US games.

Note that games are not as readily available and cheap as you might find with NES, SNES, etc. The good news is that many games have a more reasonably-priced Japanese (PCE) version and are completely playable even if you don't know the language.

Good to know.  So the Duo-R will play all CD games (regardless of region.)  It will play all JPN Hu Cards, but can be modded to play US ones as well.  If I get the Arcade Duo card, I can play those games as well.  Sound about right?

Yep you got it right it seems:

Any turbo/PCE cd player will play all the CD games regardless of region.  The CD was a new format at the time and didn't contain any region lock.

THe Arcade Card will let you PLAY arcade CD games, It contains the DUOs have hardware inside to play all the other types of CD's

[Orrimarrko]

+1 to what Ark said about hardware, though I recommend getting a PCE Duo-R/RX or recapped PCE Duo and spending the savings vs. a US Duo on games.

...what system will allow me to plug & play which games without modding.

No such thing.  CDs are region free but HuCARDs are not, so all systems will require some sort of region converter for hueys. 

Speaking of modding, what is the best connection you can get for any of the systems?  If, for example, the recommended system was a Duo-R, what would be the best connection from the console to the TV?  Can that be improved with a mod, and if so, who generally does great work?

Composite is the best out of the box, but it can be modded for s-video, component, or RGB (in order of image quality).  Which one is best is entirely dependent on what kind of TV/monitor you'll be using (i.e. few US TVs take RGB).

Lastly, about the games...is there a complete list out there of all US Hu Cards and CD games?

PCE Daisakusen, the PC Engine Bible, and PCECP all list each region's game libraries and formats.

What games, if any, were not released in a cardboard box?

All US HuCARDs except Keith Courage and the two system cards came in cardboard boxes; all CD games except Buster Bros., Splash Lake, Vasteel, the three unofficial titteh discs (Bikini Girls, Hawaiian Island Girls, and Local Girls of Hawaii), Sherlock Holmes 2, and Syd Mead's Terraforming (the latter two labeled as SuperCD but actually plain CD games) came in cardboard boxes; and no Super CD games came in cardboard boxes, though Exile Wicked Phenomenon did come in a paper sleeve thing (as did Vasteel).

Thank you for the additional info - especially the last section.

Anyone know the best place to start shopping for a nice, complete Duo-R? (With or without mods?)  I don't care for eBay much, so I'd like to avoid there if possible.

[Arkhan]

Poke around on here, someone might have one for sale.

or just check Yahoo.jp auctions and use a proxy bidder like Celga to get it to you.  I scored a boxed Duo-R for like, 65$ once.

[jperryss]

Anyone know the best place to start shopping for a nice, complete Duo-R? (With or without mods?)  I don't care for eBay much, so I'd like to avoid there if possible.

People like to hate on eBay here but several of us have gotten our systems there. Sellers doujindance and hit-japan (where I got my unmodded Duo-R in 2008) seem popular here, but I think doujin's mod work has been questioned a few times. Also, shipping costs from Japan can get painful, $60-80 is not uncommon.

[Necromancer]

Check with member Keith Courage.  He refurbs Duos and can add whatever region mod or video upgrade you want.

[Orrimarrko]

Thanks for the system purchase suggestions guys.  I usually prefer minty/cib systems whenever possible, so I'll have to keep my eyes open.

[toymachine78]

RoyVegas, the lucky ****, opened a complete set of sealed games and shared the pics with the community.  Can't beat this for reference of which games came with what.

http://s667.photobucket.com/user/royvegas/library/Turbografx%20Games%20Reference

Where/how did he get a complete set of sealed games?

[hoobs88]

RoyVegas, the lucky ****, opened a complete set of sealed games and shared the pics with the community.  Can't beat this for reference of which games came with what.

http://s667.photobucket.com/user/royvegas/library/Turbografx%20Games%20Reference

Where/how did he get a complete set of sealed games?

He just photographed his complete games (as if they were just unsealed) so people would know exactly how "complete" their games were.