Looking to buy my first PC Engine console

[olias]

Looking to buy a console, ideally the white original pc engine with cd attachment, I guess that means the briefcase would also be necessary. Should I just stick to ebay? Seems rather expensive. Also I see most of the threads here are asking for or selling mostly specific games. Hope I'm in the right place. I just want a console to play pc engine and CD games! Preferably a clean one, in working order, on the small side. the CD add-on for the original model pc engine adds composite output, or do I need a separate adapter for that?
Thanks ahead for your patience, I'm a PC Engine noob. But I know what I like- and that would be Hani in the Sky.

[esteban]

White PCE *solo* = RF

PCE + IFU + CD = composite

Just be aware that the "beefcase" will need to get an upgraded System Card to play SCD games.

There is a brittle plastic gear that crumbles on those CD drives...but folks here can fix that. 

BE PREPARED: Many folks will tell you to get a DUO (recapped)...or a DUO-R...these seem to be reliable machines.



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https://www.pcenginefx.com/main/nec_compatibility_guide.html

ARCADE
EVEN IF you grab a DUO, you might still end up purchasing an additional System Card...
If any of the Arcade CD games look very appealing to you, then you could get the Arcade System Card...

[olias]

Yeah a DUO seemed like a simple option, I wouldn't be entirely against one but the original would be my ideal. and I'm not worried about the system cards, because I intend on getting an everdrive immediately. Thanks for the advice

[crazydean]

You will still need an arcade card if you plan to play those games. The TED doesn't work for that.

[olias]

thanks for the tip. I fo sure want to play many of the games that require or are enhanced by that card. Is it usually very expensive? a quick ebay search shows me that it certainly is. There has to be another option though, right?

[crazydean]

thanks for the tip. I fo sure want to play many of the games that require or are enhanced by that card. Is it usually very expensive? a quick ebay search shows me that it certainly is. There has to be another option though, right?

Well, if you get Duo then you have to get the arcade card Duo instead. That could save you some bucks? If you go with the white PC engine, you need the Arcade Card Pro.

[GohanX]

Yeah the eBay prices for Arcade cards put the pro at about double the price of the Duo. That's a lot of money for basically just playing Sapphire.

[SignOfZeta]

Don't worry about it. Maybe one Arcade Card game is in the PCE top ten, the rest don't really matter when compared to the hundreds of good HuCARD and SCD games. That goes triple for whoever the first guy is to mention Supergrafx.


Super CD and HuCARD are the most important formats for PCE by a crushing margin. SGX and ACD are impressive but huge flops that represent almost no software compared to the bulk of titles.

[Necromancer]

Welcome aboard, olias.

Check with Keith Courage for a refurbished system.  He often has 'em available.

[olias]

thanks for the perspective guys, yall confirmed that I'm simply never going to have an arcade card for either console.

But lets make it clear that I think Fire Pro Female Wrestling sounds really badass. But I guess all those games have other versions that could be superior anyways. Like the original arcade version.
(I've been looking at a comprehensive list)
and having stuff like Brandish, Popful Mail, and Princess Maker 2 that are enhanced by the card sounds like something I'd want. for those I should probably not even look into how they're enhanced. Maybe someday everdrive turbo could add arcade support..

and I recognize that another console's arcade card is cheaper by a margin, but still expeeensive. not worth the trade off for me.

anyways I'm certainly going to buy a briefcase setup from KC. my friend who collects and lives in japan seemed to be surprised by the price. and he seems to have a great track record here.

[olias]

I'm getting a PC engine briefcase setup from KC for sure now and I'm so excited!!
I'm selling my macbook pro and iphone and lots of retro games for cheap on my ebay so I can afford this and other expenses this week, if you want to check it out I'd appreciate it: http://www.ebay.com/usr/sailorolias

[LowRes]

I'm getting a PC engine briefcase setup from KC for sure now and I'm so excited!!
I'm selling my macbook pro and iphone and lots of retro games for cheap on my ebay so I can afford this and other expenses this week, if you want to check it out I'd appreciate it: http://www.ebay.com/usr/sailorolias

Congrats! I wish I would of checked with Keith Courage before recently buying a pc engine duo myself.  He seems like the guy to buy from. 

[Ex_Mosquito]

Good choice going with the White Engine + IFU, they look way better than the Duos' imo. People say the recapped Duos' are the best but once you have the gear replaced on the CD-ROM2 theyre pretty much perfect again. I have an IFU with the gear replaced and I have no issues loading CDs.

[780racer]

My TGCD=Beefcase is Extremely picky about discs, where my DUO pretty much runs anything without issue.

I may send my TGCD off to steve to have him tune it, but haven't yet

Either way you got a solid system. And welcome to the CD games! There are so many great ones.

[olias]

absolutely friggin amazing! keith courage is the man!

also I think that the duo is really cute and it resembles NEC's later tech. for example on the west coast there is a chain of japanese dollar stores called DAISO and all their cash registers are NEC, and that same grayish beige. absolutely wonderful. I'm not bashing the duo at all. I just prefer the original. being able to separate the consoles is a plus for me as well. i think its awesome how small the original pc engine is, and I have nothing against RF input. also I travel/move a lot, I'm a minimalist with just about nothing I own aside from necessities and my hyper curated game collection. the briefcase unit is just so perfect for my lifestyle lol