Old Turbo questions

[vestcoat]

So I have a few random questions that didn't seem worth creating separate topics for each one.
here goes:

1)  Were Turbo games ever available for rent anywhere?  The town I grew up in had about five places that rented video games and none of them ever had even one TG16 game.  The one other Turbo gamer in town and I figured this was due to those warnings on the inside of manuals that said "The duplication, copying or renting of this software is strictly prohibited."

2)  Were any Turbochips sold in the case with the old orange label that just had a sticky spot on the inside to hold the slip instead of the plastic arm?  I received a Time Cruise in a case like this from an ebay seller and the orange label is ripped off so I can't tell what game the case was for.  Did Keith Courage come like this or something?  I can't remember.

3)  How is it that Syd Mead's Terraforming is both a SCD and CD game?  I finally got the US version and a 2.1 system card.  Playing into the first level for a minute there are no differences that I could detect.

EDIT:  Forgot this earlier...
4)  Did all Japanese CD games come with white plastic trays?  All of my US jewel cases came with black plastic on the inside.  All of my SGX games and early Japanese Hucards come with black plastic on the inside.  All of my imported CD's, SCD's ACD's and later period Hucards come with white plastic, except for one of my copies of L-Dis and Daisenpu Custom.  Are these two replacement cases or exceptions to the rule?

[Joe Redifer]

1) - Yes.  I rented TurboGrafx games all the time from local stores.  They didn't seem to like renting the CDs, especially at first, though.  But we had at least a half a dozen stores that rented HuCards.  It was great!  I borrowed "The Manhole" once from one of those stores.  Glad I didn't pay to rent it.  Once the Sega CD was out and those games were rent, a few stores started renting a few Turbo Duo CDs.

2) - All the US HuCards I've seen had the plastic arm (with the exception of the late games that game with just a paper box and a weak plastic tray).  I much prefer the arm vs the Japanese sponge.  I haven't seen every HuCard game, so I can't answer definitively on this one.  Time Cruise wasn't an orange label I don't think.  It came much later from what I recall.

3) - Good question.  Sherlock Holmes 2 also claims to be such a game, yet there is zero difference.  The video is every bit as laggy with a 3.0 card as with the original card.  I think they just make the game work with the original "old" card and then they can easily say it is "bi-compatible" because it will work with both.  So if a game says it works with both, just assume it was built for the smaller card.  That means every CD game made before the Super System Card (except Altered Beast) is a true "Bi-compatible" game.

[vestcoat]

1) - Yes.  I rented TurboGrafx games all the time from local stores.  They didn't seem to like renting the CDs, especially at first, though.  But we had at least a half a dozen stores that rented HuCards.  It was great!  I borrowed "The Manhole" once from one of those stores.  Glad I didn't pay to rent it.  Once the Sega CD was out and those games were rent, a few stores started renting a few Turbo Duo CDs.

You have no idea how frickin jealous I am right now.

2) - All the US HuCards I've seen had the plastic arm (with the exception of the late games that game with just a paper box and a weak plastic tray).  I much prefer the arm vs the Japanese sponge.  I haven't seen every HuCard game, so I can't answer definitively on this one.  Time Cruise wasn't an orange label I don't think.  It came much later from what I recall.

Whoa!  Those stupid little sponges I have in two of my PCE cases are supposed to be there???  I don't have very many early PCE Hucards (before the hooks) and the few that I do have I all got used on ebay.  Two of them came with sponges, two with little bubble wrap squares (no doubt placed by the sellers to keep the chip from shaking) and the rest with nothing.

Anyway, I know the case wasn't for Time Cruise, but it was definitely from an "orange label game" and it has no plastic arm or any trace of ever having had one; just a little sticky circle in the middle.

3) - Good question.  Sherlock Holmes 2 also claims to be such a game, yet there is zero difference.  The video is every bit as laggy with a 3.0 card as with the original card.  I think they just make the game work with the original "old" card and then they can easily say it is "bi-compatible" because it will work with both.  So if a game says it works with both, just assume it was built for the smaller card.  That means every CD game made before the Super System Card (except Altered Beast) is a true "Bi-compatible" game.

That's so strange, why weren't these games just labeled at "CD" games then?  To increase Duo and SCD Card sales?

[PC Gaijin]

1) Were Turbo games ever available for rent anywhere? The town I grew up in had about five places that rented video games and none of them ever had even one TG16 game. The one other Turbo gamer in town and I figured this was due to those warnings on the inside of manuals that said "The duplication, copying or renting of this software is strictly prohibited."

Yes. I've shared this story before, but there was a video game rental place near where I grew up that rented Turbo games along with SMS games and PC games. They carried pretty much the entire Turbo catalog, including CD games, up until around 92 when they kind of stopped buying new Turbo releases. They even rented out the CD attachments; that was my first exposure to the CD games before I bought my own CD attachment.

2) Were any Turbochips sold in the case with the old orange label that just had a sticky spot on the inside to hold the slip instead of the plastic arm? I received a Time Cruise in a case like this from an ebay seller and the orange label is ripped off so I can't tell what game the case was for. Did Keith Courage come like this or something? I can't remember.

Keith Courage did not have the plastic arm IIRC. I'm almost positive all the other HuCards came with the arm. I can't remember any without it, although I'm not digging thru my collection to verify.

[Keranu]

I recall getting a Turbo Chip game last month and it didn't have an arm and I was surprised. Let me look through my games to see if I can find it and I'll post it once I do.

[nodtveidt]

Keith Courage is the only game that I can remember that came with the sticky circle rather than the arm.

[SignOfZeta]

I rented quite a few PC Engine games from Die Hard. They also had US titles. That warning to not rent the game out is all all sorts of movies, and games. Most of them in fact.

[Odonadon]

Keith Courage is the only game that I can remember that came with the sticky circle rather than the arm.

Same for me.  I don't recall ever seeing any sponges or bubble-wrap things.

There were also a few stores in town here including Blockbuster that rented TG16 games.

OD

[Black Tiger]

So I have a few random questions that didn't seem worth creating separate topics for each one.
here goes:

1)  Were Turbo games ever available for rent anywhere?  The town I grew up in had about five places that rented video games and none of them ever had even one TG16 game.  The one other Turbo gamer in town and I figured this was due to those warnings on the inside of manuals that said "The duplication, copying or renting of this software is strictly prohibited."

When the video store chain "Superior Video" opened up in my hometown, they rented Turbochip games. They came in a special clear plastic sort of sheet, at least 4 times as big as the game. There was a black (and maybe white?) TG-16 logo printed on part of the sheet thing, about the size of a Turbochip. I think that it may have been printed on the sleeve at corner of the sheet where the game sat inside.

It was there I got to try most of the titles I never got to buy back in the day. After renting Aeroblasters and ninja Spirit, I demanded both as Christ-mas and birthday presents and soon wound up with both. If I hadn't gotten to rent them, I probably wouldn't have wound up owning both back then.

The also had a couple Japanese Megadrive titles mixed in with the Genesis games. monster Lair and Chiki Chiki Boys.

The one real video game sales store in town eventually started renting the old stock from their main electronics store across towm, which had sold TG-16 stuff when it first came out. They also brought in some worn out used Turbo CDs like Shermatlock, even though I was the only kid in town who could play CD games.

They ordered most of their stuff through Chips N Bitz(or whatever), who advertised in game mags back then. I also caught the owner ordering through the Sears cataolgue a few times.

3)  How is it that Syd Mead's Terraforming is both a SCD and CD game?  I finally got the US version and a 2.1 system card.  Playing into the first level for a minute there are no differences that I could detect.

I think that all Turbo CD2/SCD hybrids are just CD2 games that were released after the Super CD format came out. You could slap an Arcade label on Fighting Street and say is ACD/SCD/CD2 tri-compatible.

I think most hybrid/multi-format CDs for PC Engine are the same, even though lots of people swear they can tell the difference.

EDIT:  Forgot this earlier...
4)  Did all Japanese CD games come with white plastic trays?  All of my US jewel cases came with black plastic on the inside.  All of my SGX games and early Japanese Hucards come with black plastic on the inside.  All of my imported CD's, SCD's ACD's and later period Hucards come with white plastic, except for one of my copies of L-Dis and Daisenpu Custom.  Are these two replacement cases or exceptions to the rule?

I'm pretty sure that at least one PCE CD game came with a non-white case, but I can't remember which one.[/quote]

[Kaminari]

why weren't these games just labeled at "CD" games then? To increase Duo and SCD Card sales?

Precisely.

About Japanese CD games, I've seen a couple of jewel cases (Himitsu no Hanazono for example).

[esteban]

You folks should indicate where (geographically) the stores were located that rented games. Also, if it was a chain or an isolated mom-n-pop!

In northern Jersey, I knew of no place that rented TG16 stuff, but nearly every other system (non-import) was available for rental. My favorite store, Curry's Video, had tons of SMS, Genny, and Sega-CD games. I think the owner really liked these systems and he supported them faithfully.

[Joe Redifer]

One of the places that I mentioned which rented Turbo games also rented Mega Drive and Super Famicom games.  They didn't rent PC Engine games since NEC threw a hissy fit and changed the pinout of the US console.

[SignOfZeta]

The Die Hard I rented games from (and bought a few as well) was in Waterford Michigan. Before that it was...someplace about 15 minutes away from there, I can't quite remember. They also rented SFC, MD, and probably 3D0 as well as all the stuff that was for sale in the US at the time like Sega CD, Playstation, Saturn, etc.

[vestcoat]

I think that all Turbo CD2/SCD hybrids are just CD2 games that were released after the Super CD format came out. You could slap an Arcade label on Fighting Street and say is ACD/SCD/CD2 tri-compatible.

I think most hybrid/multi-format CDs for PC Engine are the same, even though lots of people swear they can tell the difference.

Splash Lake and Buster Bros. came out fairly late in the US as classic CD-Rom2 games (of course, SL and BB are such simple games I don't think you could convince anyone that they are "Super CD's;" unlike, say, Terraforming.

This raises an interesting question:  were there any games slated to be standard CD releases that became "SCDs" just because they disabled the backward compatibility with a wrong system card message?

Could Shadow of the Beast fit on a standard CD?

[Joe Redifer]

Of course Shadow of the Beast could fit on a standard CD.  Even 3DO games with all of their glorious power and minutes of fun could fit on a standard CD.  All Saturn and PS1 games fit on a standard CD.  

But as for the RAM used, no.  Shadow of the Beast could not fit into 64k segments.  Well it could, but it would suck ass.