Author Topic: How did you join the Turbo family?  (Read 1578 times)

BonkThis

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Re: How did you join the Turbo family?
« Reply #30 on: April 25, 2007, 04:51:22 AM »
What a great thread.

I grew up with an atari 5200 and then moved on to an NES. When the SNES came out it was like 200 bucks and I guess Santa wasnt that rich that year so I didnt get it. But my cousin did. I marveled at how awesome it looked. Still wanting a SNES I noticed the TG16 was cheaper and the games looked better then NES. I asked for it the next christmas and Santa delivered! I only had keith courage and bonk in the beginning but I loved that TG16. My collection grew pretty quickly, nothing like a lot of your fancy collections with the awesome rare import titles just basically collected the games Toys R Us sold.  I also found some small time video rental place on Long Island that actually rented TG16 games as well. Back then TRU had a TG16 display and it ran a video about the TGCD. I was hooked instantly. Somehow Santa stepped it up again and christmas that year was bad ass. (thinking back it prob would have been cheaper for santa just to pony up the 200 beans for the SNES, ohh well since my cousin had it its not like I really missed out on it anyway). I collected a bunch of games from TRU and EB before the system finally took a dive in the States. The best deal I ever got was a super system 3 card for 10-15 bucks at a flea market. I basically collected all the games I could until they just became super hard to find. I was able to score a copy of fighting street from TZD back in the day but was wary of mail order because I hate bying games on name alone. I was a die hard street fighter fan and had played the original before and just wanted ot have it on my home console since it was the only port availible. To this day I'll never forget the first time I played Valis III those Animiated intros and cut scenes kicked my ass, beautiful. Once day I need to post a picture of my collection, although its not that great as far as rare items are concerned.

nodtveidt

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Re: How did you join the Turbo family?
« Reply #31 on: May 05, 2007, 10:15:43 AM »
Worth a try, anyway.
Now that my computer is out of service for awhile and we finally have a weekend off for once, I gave your idea a try. Unfortunately, no dice...same effect as before, the unit appears "dead". The only thing I can think of is that the power supply itself might be dead. I don't have a voltmeter to test it with though. :( Any other reason you can think of that might be causing this problem? I don't have the right tool to take the thing apart with though, what the frig do you use to open this monster with?

ParanoiaDragon

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Re: How did you join the Turbo family?
« Reply #32 on: May 05, 2007, 04:44:52 PM »
I may as well tell my story.

My first experience with a Turbo(sounds sexual), was at a new friends house, no one else seemed to have on, or atleast none of my close friends.  He had several games, including Bonk which I dug.  I'm not sure I was convinced yet if it was for me.

I still had my NES, & our Sears multi game machine(seemed like they were all the same game) was long toast.  Now, I had another friend that eventually got a TG, but, I can't remember if it was before me or not.  Either way, I eventually decided to get into the next generation, & something about the TG, rather then the Genesis, attracted me.  So, I saved up my money, & bought a used one with some games from my friend Scott, around the middle of February 1991.  I got Keith Courage, Vigilante, Ninja Spirit, Splatterhouse, & Tiger Road, I think for about $100+(can't remember the exact figure).  I was loving the Turbo.

Later that year, when the Genesis dropped to $150, both my friend Daniel & I picked one up.  I remember my mom buying me Sonic 1 for passing whatever grade I was in.  I wasn't really impressed with it, or the Genesis.  I had several games, but, it just didn't do enough for me.  So, I sold it to my older brother not that long after buying it. 

Then, when the Turbo CD dropped in price to $150, I knew it was on, I had money saved, & I remember that morning, right before buying it, eating at Arby's, all excited, as we were about to head to Babbage's!  So, we got there, & I had enough money for the CD Rom, & one $30.  There were 2 to choose from, Last Alert & Valis 2.  I decided to go with Valis 2.  And I remember being so excited, seeing the cinemas, hearing the sounds & music.  I would bring it over to my friends house to show it off, & it did wow them!

Frankly, in a short time, I became a Turbo nut.  I looked forward to every EGM 's CES reports, with loads of games shown by TTI.  Not to mention my Turbo Plays & Duo World's.  And I saved up my money to get the full Super CD package, boy was I happy when that came. 

I even became known at TTI, because I'd call up & ask questions alot, & became friends with their secretary, who sent me a bunch of her free games(some of which hadn't been released yet, most notably, Bonk 3 CD).  She even came up north to visit me, though, now that I look back at it, I do wonder if she was looking for company outside of her marriage.  Back then, I said, there's no way, but, now, it all feels a little fishy, & supposedly her husband divorced her for cheating on him.  I remember one time calling her at home, & her husband picked up, & he was all protective wondering who I was.  And later I found out from her that I got her in trouble.  I sometimes wonder if I was the guy that she was supposedly cheating with :roll:

Anyways, so, obviously TTI closed their doors, but, that didn't stop me, I next continued to the Arcade card.  So I saved up for that, & bought some deal of it, with a converter, & Strider from TZD.  That converter sucked, as it made Strider act wierd.  Plus, when I was able to get Strider working, I didn't think it was all that great(though I enjoy it now), so I tried to return both, though, they would only let me trade in my converter for a better one.  Anyways, I proceeded to get various games from some shops, like Die Hard out in Woodland Hills until they closed down.  And some here & there from TZD as well.  Things pretty much kept escalating.

Ebay came my way around 99, & then I really started to get games that I had been drooling over for years.  My first ebay transation, was for a brand new Psychic Storm for $26.  That was a happy time!  I eventually pretty much got every game I ever wanted for the Turbo, I'm missing a couple though.

At some point, I became a member of the Turbo Grafx Network on Yahoo, along with Kabuki aka Black_Tiger.  I can't remember who started that club, but I think he eventually gave power over to Kabuki.  There were some other guys there, one which I eventually met in person, when I was trying to figure out how to burn games, it turned out that he volunteered to help me, & ended up living in Burbank, about 30 minutes away.  But, I was known as Projectblowed_mc over there, for anybody here who might remember me.  I know there was another guy over there, who I used to trade burns with, named Geoff Bucholz.  I haven't heard from him in several years.

When Implode came out, I was really excited, even though I'm not a puzzle nut.  So I started talking to BT via email, keeping track of his next project, which I ended up beta testing for(& have a special mention in the thanks at the end :D).

Eventually I noticed Nodtveidt's thread about him porting Mysterious Song to the Turbo.  I downloaded the original game, & offered to spruce up the soundtrack a bit.  After doing that, I decided to fix up my studio.  I had a keyboard, but, it was trashed, so I threw it away, got a new one & some extra sound module's, & now I do music for Turbo games!  Not to mention helping in planning various aspects of the games.  Plus, I have my own projects I've worked on, along with the help of Lord_cack.  And, someday, my own personal idea's for games, will be made!  Weeeeeeeeeeee!

motdelbuort

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Re: How did you join the Turbo family?
« Reply #33 on: May 05, 2007, 05:40:19 PM »
  I wanted that Super System Card so bad that I cut out the life-sized photo of the SSC3.0 and taped it over my existing system card.  I'd insert it into my TG-16, open up the Turbo Force Magazine, and pretend I was playing Dragon Slayer.  I was 15 when I did this (oh the shame).  The the super system card showed up in late August.  I don't remember the next 6 months of my life that followed, but I remember having to get a job sometime in early 1993 to pay for the habit or my folks were going to kick me out.  I bought a Turbo Express so I could play Street Fighter II with a diving board converter on the bus to hockey tournaments.



 There is no emoticon to express the mixture of amusement, empathy, and horror I got from reading this.

Also, I thought Street Fighter wouldn't work on the Turbo Express for some reason?

ParanoiaDragon

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Re: How did you join the Turbo family?
« Reply #34 on: May 05, 2007, 11:47:03 PM »
Oh, I should mention, that I too bought alot of my Turbo stuff(as well as Jag & 3DO) at Game Dude!  I would drive over to North Hollywood maybe once a month, & sometimes there would be PC Engine games there!   I'll never forget when I found Ys 4 & Sidearms Special mint, for $12 each, when Ys 4 was going for $200 on ebay, & Sidearms, about $80.  I already owned them, but, I bought them anyways!

Oh, & the place looks the same now, as it did in the late 90's, on the corner of Laurel Canyon & Sherman Way.  The only things that have changed, is where various stuff is located, & "some" of the employee's.  There's atleast one employee there, named Pat, who lives in his parents basement, that's been there for yeeeeeeeears.  He's a nice guy, but, some people think he looks sinister.

esteban

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Re: How did you join the Turbo family?
« Reply #35 on: May 06, 2007, 07:12:20 AM »
Interest piqued: In the late summer of '89 commercials aired on WPIX 11 NYC for a new video game system. The commercials were very short, and the gameplay footage even shorter, so we (my brothers and I) videotaped the after-school cartoons in hopes of investigating things further.

Backstory: I had not paid much, if any, attention to the magazine coverage devoted to TG-16 / Genesis since I was thoroughly entrenched in NES / SMS. Honestly, when I opened a magazine, I went straight for the NES reviews. We couldn't afford NES games, so buying expensive new hardware was not an option for us. I'd even look at computer software reviews, since my friends had computers, but that was it.

THEN WE SAW FOOTAGE OF BLAZING LAZERS & LEGENDARY AXE.

We re-watched the taped commercials in slow-motion, savoring every moment.

As luck would have it, Toys R Us had a nice TG-16 display and Blazing Lazers was the game that I tested!

It was fun as hell, and suddenly we wanted TG-16 for BL alone. We figured that we could sell our NES stuff, plus save our Xmas money, and buy TG-16 and a few games.

We did so, selling off NES games to our friends. And so, the day after Xmas '89, we brought a huge wad of cash (mostly small bills) to Toys R Us and bought TG-16, tap, extra pad and a game or two. Good times...

Later: A local mom-n-pop had the TG-CD on display. For some reason, they ran Final Zone II as the demo whenever I was in the store, although I saw an opened Ys I & II next to the unit as well. I saw screenshots of Valis II and wanted to play it.

Eventually, this store (it was called "Video Dynasty" in Belleville, NJ) sold their TG-CD display to us for $300, which was awesome since it went for $400. The TG-CD display simply didn't generate sales for them, so they put a TG-16 in its place. They were happy to get rid of TG-CD; we were delighted to get it "cheaper".

Eventually my brothers and I acquired other consoles and handhelds, but we always had a soft spot for TG-16, probably because it was an underdog and we had worked so hard to buy games for it. NES/SMS/Genny/SegaCD/SNES games could be rented, borrowed from friends, traded, etc. TG-16 stuff had to be purchased new (high cost of entry) and not every store had a great selection of titles...
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offsidewing

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Re: How did you join the Turbo family?
« Reply #36 on: May 06, 2007, 08:12:24 AM »
  I wanted that Super System Card so bad that I cut out the life-sized photo of the SSC3.0 and taped it over my existing system card.  I'd insert it into my TG-16, open up the Turbo Force Magazine, and pretend I was playing Dragon Slayer.  I was 15 when I did this (oh the shame).  The the super system card showed up in late August.  I don't remember the next 6 months of my life that followed, but I remember having to get a job sometime in early 1993 to pay for the habit or my folks were going to kick me out.  I bought a Turbo Express so I could play Street Fighter II with a diving board converter on the bus to hockey tournaments.



 There is no emoticon to express the mixture of amusement, empathy, and horror I got from reading this.

Also, I thought Street Fighter wouldn't work on the Turbo Express for some reason?

Oh, it worked.  Giant Diving board sticking way out the back of the express.  playing that game on an express and pressing select like crazy sucked.  But I NEEDED to play. 

By sheer happen stance, I just found the flyer where I had cut the picture of the SS card out.

21JAMES

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Re: How did you join the Turbo family?
« Reply #37 on: May 09, 2007, 03:57:45 PM »
HI,
   I started out buying  a TurboGrafx system when my brother started bragging about the GEnesis and how good it was..So i decided to by it...by readding EGM magazines.. Some games were better then the Genesis with bright colors grafx. So i heard about games being made on a CD.in japan and how the games were better quality and sound..So i went to Childrens Palace to by the CD add..399.99   The lady cashier was staring at me..and asked me that i was the first person to buy one.. i guess she was in shock but i guess she wasnt a gamer... so i bought  Y' 1 and 2.. cuz it did not come with a game.. 8-[   i think  the game cost 59.99... i liked it so much i bought every cd game that came out.....didnt have a girlfriend so the money went to myself.. money welll spent :dance: this all happen 89-94  :dance:

offsidewing

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Re: How did you join the Turbo family?
« Reply #38 on: May 09, 2007, 04:12:36 PM »
Were there gamers and people that hated systems for no other reason than to hate them in 1990???

I guess so.  My first impression of a gamer was circa 1984.  My dad took me to an actual "outside the mall" video arcade so he could play Galaga and Centepede.  I saw a guy standing in front of asteriods wearing a Buck Rogers tank top.  He was probably 6'2" and 135 pound.  He was jacking the joystick around like he was pulling off a 99 hit combo on Killer Instinct.  Hey yelled at the screen like it was yelling back at him (or did a double Flawless using Cheap-Rax on MK2).  Then he mumbled something about a car payment and a girlfriend that didn't like to hang out anymore.

It was then my dad pulled me away from the Pac-Man machine mid-game, put me in the car, and sped off never to return.



jimid2

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Well, I guess I'll join in and by way of introduction...
« Reply #39 on: May 18, 2007, 03:43:43 AM »
...this is my first post here  :mrgreen:

The TurboGrafx 16 was my favorite console of the 16-bit era by far, and I was in love with it the first time I played R-Type on it... I was working part time at a local video game store (back when small, independant video game stores were common) and took a rental TG16 home to try it shortly after its NA release... I don't remember what games I played, but I know R-Type was one of them, and I was sold! As time went on, Bloody Wolf, Devil's Crush, Aero Blasters, Splatterhouse, Ninja Spirit and Chew Man Fu (yes, Chew Man Fu! I love that game!! ) solidified my appreciation of the console, even as the market began to turn against it... I bought a Turbo Express around 1991, and the CD add-on few months later. I took a picture of the "The End" screen from Y's Books I & II :oops:.  Then I traded the TG16 & CDROM towards a Duo and Gate of Thunder absolutely blew me away!

By 1994 I had a collection of more than 100 games (including some Japanese games I played with a diving board adapter). I also had a wife in a doctoral program at Uni, a 3 year old daughter, and a new house. My wife kept pushing me to "grow up" and sell off everything so we could afford a new computer, which I eventually did, reluctantly... Then about six months later she left me for one of her Professors and kept the computer...   #-o

Kick on about 12 years and I'd been playing some TG16 stuff via emulation for a while, and then about six months ago I picked up a GP2X, largely on the strength of the rep of it's PC Engine emus... I played DracX and a bunch of other stuff on it, but it wasn't quite the same as having the real thing (more so because the current emulators aren't really that great - good, but not perfect), so a week or two ago I decided to find me a Turbo Express and some games... which I have done, though I haven't received any of them yet. But the payments have been made and I'm eagerly awaiting my return to the fold!

I have to admit I was somewhat shocked by what I had to pay for some of the games I bought - so far I've picked up Splatterhouse, Devil's Crush, Alien Crush, Bonk's Adventure, Space Harrier, Bloody Wolf and Legendary Axe (all from Ebay ) - with Devil's Crush being BY FAR the most expensive ($29 Buy It Now) but as it is my FAVORITE TG16 game for the Express, I just had to break down and grab it... There are a few more "core" titles I'll look for as time goes on - Bonk's Revenge, Ninja Spirit, Air Zonk, Blazing Lazers, R-Type, Chew Man Fu, Aero Blasters and Legendary Axe II are all "must haves" to my mind - but these first few should keep me busy for a while.   :dance:

For the record, the person I purchased my Turbo Express from pointed me to these forums... I look forward to lurking for a bit and participating when I can...  8)

nat

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Re: Well, I guess I'll join in and by way of introduction...
« Reply #40 on: May 18, 2007, 03:54:33 AM »
My wife kept pushing me to "grow up" and sell off everything so we could afford a new computer, which I eventually did, reluctantly...

This right here should have been the alarm that sent you running for the hills.

offsidewing

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Re: How did you join the Turbo family?
« Reply #41 on: May 18, 2007, 04:28:51 AM »
My wife kept pushing me to "grow up" and sell off everything so we could afford a new computer, which I eventually did, reluctantly...

This right here should have been the alarm that sent you running for the hills.


The Mrs and I got in a discussion about getting rid of my games.  We never fight about stuff because we communicate well.  But, It is understood that if anything were to happen to the games, that every holiday decoration we (she) owned we be burned on the driveway.  Her purses would burn if my golf clubs dissappeared, and her shoes would go to goodwill if anything ever happend to my skates.

Here's the funny thing.  She has no problem with me spending $50 on Metal Gear Solid 3.  Be she thinks I'm the biggest dork if I spend $10 for Neutopia.

In a recent developements, she has learned to appreciate that I'm sitting at home on the couch playing games.  Not going out drinking after playing golf or hockey. 

MrFulci

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Re: How did you join the Turbo family?
« Reply #42 on: May 18, 2007, 05:24:41 AM »
From what I've seen, it's not uncommon for some males to junk certain past enjoyments when they're, "owned".

Sometimes the excuse is some dumb shit as simple as, "Well, she said....".    hahha, I often wonder why some don't say, "Is this yours? Is it in your way? no? Leave it be then".

If you can't afford the hobby, have moved on (by yourself) to something else, etc  that's one thing. Though getting rid of stuff because someone else says so is possibly going to lead to you regretting your decision later.

"Damnit, Beavis, put that away. You're not supposed to have your _____ out when you're cooking".

nodtveidt

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Re: How did you join the Turbo family?
« Reply #43 on: May 18, 2007, 05:31:04 AM »
My wife would never tell me to give up my collection or "grow up". Then again, she plays games sometimes too.

Necromancer

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Re: How did you join the Turbo family?
« Reply #44 on: May 18, 2007, 06:10:54 AM »
Welcome aboard jimid2 - Opus for President!  Sucks about the ex-wifey and selling the collection, but at least she's gone now and you can enjoy some Turbo action sans nagging.  My standard response whenever somebody tells me to get rid of my Duo is "Go f*ck yourself".  It might eventually end a relationship, but better now than after I'm married.
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