HELP NEEDED!!!!!!! NEW AND NEED ADVICE!!!!!!!

[presidentLEberundi]

I am new to NEC systems (as a matter of fact I don't even own one), yet I am planning to. This is why I need your help. I have researched this alot. I am getting back into classic systems and was tipped on to this by someone. After researching I found that the Duo can break very easily while the TG-16 lasts for a long time. If I were to get the TG-16, I would upgrade it (eventually) to its max. But the Duo comes with all of this in one package.

So I ask this.......

1. Which should I get TG-16 and upgrades, or the Duo. (Also Japanese or American, and some tips on this would be useful too as I want to play alot of games) I want to get the best value for my money on this so which is a better money value?
-and-
2.WHERE ON EARTH CAN I BUY THIS?

Please help me get into this particular gaming world.

~presidentLEberundi

[Nutribrain]

You have many options when you want to play PCE games.

First there are several formats of the games as:

Hu-Card,CD,SCD,ACD,SGX and there are japanese and US versions.

A "normal" PC-Engine or TG16 with no CD-ROM attached plays Hu-Cards. The white PC-Engine plays the japanese and the TG16 american cards. The TG16 can be upgraded with an adaptor to play also japanese cards. For the japanese white engine there's no such convertor, so you won't be able to play american games.

For both you can buy a CD-Rom attachment to also play CDs and SCDs when you have the right system card, which comes with the CD-ROM attachment. When you also want to play one of the 16 ACDs you'll also have to buy an Arcade Card.

When you buy a Duo (us or jap version) you get the ability to play Hu-Cards (jap cards on us Duo with converter), CDs and SCDs out of the box. The Arcade Card for the Duo is quite cheap to it won't be a problem to also buy this for $30 and you'll be also able to play ACDs.

I think to buy a Duo is the cheapest way to get the most. The reason why a TG16 lasts longer than a Duo is that it has no CD-ROM unit. The CD-ROM unit has a laser which is affective for dust and mechanical misusage.

When you want to absolutely play nearly every format you probably want to buy SuperGrafx (japanese version) with a CD-ROM attachment (some kind of rare to find) and an Arcade Card Pro. This would put you in the position to play HuCards, CD, SCD, ACD and SGX (just 5 Super Grafx cards every came out).

You can find Duos and PC-Engines at eBay or subscribe the Turbo List at joyce.eng.yale.edu/~bt/turbo/ and post your search. You'll also find fine FAQs at the TurboList.

BTW: I've got a white PC-Engine with CD-ROM attachment and an Arcade Card Pro since 1994 and are very happy with it.

[presidentLEberundi]

Thanks so much for the info. The Super Grafx way sounds good yet I am just wondering where I might find the cd add-on, how much it might cost, and what it is called. Besides that just as a concrete, and final decision (so I don't waste my money), what should I buy (system and jap or american).
   
THANKS AGAIN!!!!!
~presidentLEberundi

[Nutribrain]

The CD-ROM adapter for the SuperGrafx is called RAU-30. It's not very common but doesn't cost a lot money. I saw one about 2 or 3 months ago on eBay going for about $45. The SuperGrafx is also a little bit more expensive than a "normal" white PC-Engine (about $200 in very good shape with instructions and original package). Then you'll need the CD-ROM attachment which is also about $150. So this will make about $400 plus shipping.

A Duo should cost round about $250-$300. If you don't need to play the 5 available SGX games you better/cheaper go with a Duo. I would recommend you a Duo instead of a SuperGrafx because it's cheaper and you get it for less money. If you decide afterwards to buy a SuperGrafx with all attachments then you could easily do that. But you don't risk so much.

I personally own the japanese Version. There are some HuCards which only plays on US Duos/TurboGrafx. In my opinion there aren't many which are worth playing. On the other hand the vast majority of games are japanese Cards (only focussing on cards). For them you'll need an adapter when you buy a american Duo/TurboGrafx, because otherwise you'll miss many many great games.

I was just focussing on cards because CDs are played on every system not depending on if it's jap or us. There are also some games (namely 2 come to my mind) that are japanese and don't play on us Duos.

Take a look on eBay for the system.

Duo with 11 games looks not bad:
cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI...tegory=187

Or this one:
cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI...tegory=187

Or this one here is also with the amplifier (you don't really need that):
cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI...egory=4315

or here's an us and jap Duo for $130, not a bad deal I personally think:
cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI...egory=4315
cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI...egory=4315

Note that I haven't dealt with anyone of these guys.

For the decision I think it doesn't matter if you are buying the us or jap version as long as you get an adapter like the Kisado for the jap HuCards when you get an us one.

Hope this help you when making your decision...