Advice

[Carbon Tiger]

Hello long time lurker first time poster.

I've come here for some advice. I must admit despite playing games for the last 21 years I missed the Turbo during its run in the US. But having spent the last year or so playing the PC-E/Turbo games on my computer, I've come to realize that I had missed a great system with a unique library and several good games.

I've decided to take the plunge and buy a PC-E Core System because I've always felt there's something 'better' about owning and hooking the system up to your TV and playing it the old fashioned way. After much reading and research I decided to get a PC-E due to the fact the Japanese games and systems tend to be easier to find then their American counter parts.   

Now my question I've narrowed it down a bit on where to get one from.

On the one hand you have a whole seller in http://japangamestock.com/ now their prices are pretty fair but I've never dealt with them in the past and figured I'd ask if anyone here had and had any advice.

On the other hand you have a deal on ebay which I have been haggling price with back and forth with the best offer option. The price is currently $87 plus shipping. Now I've gotten stuff from this seller before and just want to know if for my money this looks like a good deal:

-PC-Engine CORE GRA FX
-TENNO KOE BANK2
-10 Games
1.R-Type 1
2.Soldier Blade
3.Peach Boy Densetsu Turbo
4.Yokao Dochuki
5.Beraboman
6.PC-Genjin
7.Image Fight
8.Bikkuriman World
9.Super Peach Boy Dentetsu 2
10.Zero 4 Champ

So any advice on which deal looks better or a better whole seller/store I could buy from I'd be grateful.

Well I figure that's enough for my first post and I also have a list of HuCard games I've complied by reading this board and reading the reviews at http://www.pcengine.co.uk/ which imo is one of the best game review sites I've seen. I think it's at close to 50 games already.

Thanks for reading and any advice you may give. 

[TR0N]

I will say thumbs up on, JGS i have deal with them befor there great.

I find there prices to be fair compare to some sellers on ebay.

I won't say wich ones i'm talking about on ebay though.

[rolins]

JGS is nice game store. They prices are decent but only gripe is they're not always consistent with their descriptions. Sometimes they describe a game to be in "very good condition" and when you received it looked as if someone took a sh*t all over it. Alright, I'm exaggerating a little.

I once bought a couple of pce games from them and few of them said near-mint. Some of the games I order were just as described, others were not. Some the hucards were dirty, scratch marks underneath the hucard, the jewel case all blurry, and the manual had rips and major dings. Those were not near-mint or in good condition as in their description.

I still buy from JGS every now and then. Usually loose famicom games and accessories, but I'm no longer buying their complete games unless it says sealed/brandnew or if it's a rare game I don't care what condition it's in.

Oh yeah their MSX games are overpriced. I mean come on $126.13 for a loose Famicle Parodic that game is common.

[SignOfZeta]

Usually I'd say to go the eBay route. Sellers like Hit Japan have great deals on systems all the time. I recommend you start out with a Duo, but if you want to go HuCard only for now that's cool, just know that it'll likely be more expensive in the long run than buying a Duo in the first place.

I'd say that $87 is a good deal for that lot. Zero 4 games are pretty crap, IMO (depsite being a long running series) and if you don't know Japanese (or probably even if you do) you won't get much from those Momotaro games. There is certainly a selection of good stuff in there too though.

[nat]

My advice is usually to steer clear of eBay if you want to get a good deal.

That said, $87 for the lot you described sounds like a great price and definitely a good deal.

But the best deals are always to be found on forums like this. I also recommend you join the Turbo List (http://turbo.mindrec.com) as there are frequent For Sale postings there as well.

[Keranu]

Japan Game Stock is great, I haven't had problems with them. I'd go for that eBay deal though since it's a nice package.

[Carbon Tiger]

Well after much consideration and the good advice I received here, I went with the eBay deal.  If all goes well (and I see no reason why it wouldn't) I should be the proud owner of a PC-E Core Grafx soon. Next month I plan to give JGS a try starting with 2 or 3 cheaper titles for the PC-E (and maybe a Dreamcast game).

Thanks for all the sound advice.

It's been a while since I was destroyed by an R-Type game I'm looking foward to that one. Sometimes I wonder what kind of mutants Irem had working for them to play test the difficulty of those games. Because R-Type looks easy compaired to a few other shooters they made. 

 

[Keranu]

Congratulations, that's a good deal you're getting!

[Oli_lar]

That japangamestock.com is pretty good, some of those prices are placed a fair bit lower than ebay prices. Whats the shipping costs on games/consoles like?

[Carbon Tiger]

That japangamestock.com is pretty good, some of those prices are placed a fair bit lower than ebay prices. Whats the shipping costs on games/consoles like?

Well let's see I'll do a bit of a test run. I'm in the southern USA.

For a game system shipping looks to be based on system size $65 for the larger systems 3D0 and PC-E core units run around $28 due to the fact their almost pocket size. A Dreamcast with a bunch of controllers is $123 but thats probally due to box size and is offset by the cheap price of the system itself (and the normal 1 controller and system/wiring set up is only $43 shipping) to compare a Saturn is $38 and the III is $38. $13 for a gameboy, I'd assume other handhelds fall into this price range. $67 for the PC-E CD combo.

Games are cheaper $10 for up to 9 HuCards and jumps to $13 at 10+. CD games are $10 for 4 or so and $25 for 6 and up.

Hope that helps.

[Oli_lar]

Yes, cheers.

I might buy just a Dreamcast console on its own off there, bargain at £10!

[Kitsunexus]

I wish Lik-Sang was still around...