The Official Turbografx 16 Thread!

[Eltigro]

Heh, yeah... I didn't actually measure them, but people always say "Credit card sized games..." so I just compared one (Ninja Spirit) to my debit card. lol

 

I was also thinking you might be able to somehow repurpose some old audio cassette cases. Maybe snip off the prongs inside and add a piece of foam to keep the card from rattling around... could even add your own artwork and end label to look nice on a shelf. Haven't looked at the size, but I think it should fit no problem.

[Tanooki]

Since you brought it up and I happen to have 2 cassette tapes I picked up this year for a cool 80s tape deck I found I can measure that.

 

HuCards (5.4cm x 8.5cm x 3mm)

 

Tape cassette holder interior:

6.5cm x 10.2cm x 1.3cm (3mm with pegs intact)

 

The cassette holder is a bit too long and wide, but at 3mm it has the same thickness on the 2 pegs as a HuCard exactly it appears. You could put 1 game in each, or pop that off and fit 4 in there.

[+Charlie Cat]

Hi guys,

 

More regarding the SuperSD System 3. Enjoy.

 

 

Anthony..

Edited January 6, 2018 by fdurso224

[HoshiChiri]

Typical really. I have a fully recapped, de-jailbarred, RGB modded PCE Duo with a Turbo Everdrive, then this comes along. On the plus side, with the costs of those, if I sell it it should cover a PCE+SuperSD, the thing is, do I want to...?

 

Kinda... Probably... Yeah...

 

So... if you, y'know, really did sell... how much would you be looking to get?

 

(Not at all ready now, but I'm hoping to be in the market later this year.)

[Tanooki]

I found a near perfect as I think you can get solution for HuCard storage.

 

Case can be bought new for a dollar or less, holds 100 trading/sports/gaming sized cards in there, so probably 30-35 HuCards due to added depth. I think if you had the plastic slips for the games it would go notably less but probably width wise be much closer. I'll find out shortly, that's my first HuCard in over a dozen years and I'm glad it's a game I always wanted to own too. Nekketsu Koukou Dodge Ball Bu (Kunio - Super Dodgeball.)

ULTRAPro 2 piece storage box (100 ct size here)

https://teamfandom.com/products/100-count-2-piece-case-1?variant=4104631353375

 

[PFG 9000]

I apologize if this is the wrong place to post this, but I was hoping to run this past those of you who are familiar with the TurboGrafx.

 

A few years ago I bought a used Turbo setup consisting of the original US base unit, a turbo booster, and the white Turbo CD unit. It was refurbished but looked to have been well cared-for, and it worked well for me for awhile. I bought a new Japanese System Card 3.0 via ebay, and a HuCard converter new from Telegames. These also worked well, but after a few months the Turbo stopped recognizing the System Card 3.0. I bought a used Arcade Pro system card from a very reputable local shop. This also worked well for me for awhile, but yesterday my Turbo stopped recognizing my Arcade Pro card.

 

Could my converter unit be frying my system cards somehow? I can't seem to find any similar stories online. I'm still rather new to the TurboGrafx, and with all the goofy system card requirements and other quirks, I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong.

 

Please let me know your thoughts.

[juansolo]

 

So... if you, y'know, really did sell... how much would you be looking to get?

 

(Not at all ready now, but I'm hoping to be in the market later this year.)

 

I'll need to snag a Core Graphics PC-E first, so I suspect it'll be a while for me. But if I do sell, as long as I cover the cost of the replacement kit, I'll be happy. The biggest problem is that I'm in the UK, which will smart big time when it comes to currency conversion and insured shipping. So I suspect it'd end up silly money after that.

[+Black_Tiger]

I apologize if this is the wrong place to post this, but I was hoping to run this past those of you who are familiar with the TurboGrafx.

A few years ago I bought a used Turbo setup consisting of the original US base unit, a turbo booster, and the white Turbo CD unit. It was refurbished but looked to have been well cared-for, and it worked well for me for awhile. I bought a new Japanese System Card 3.0 via ebay, and a HuCard converter new from Telegames. These also worked well, but after a few months the Turbo stopped recognizing the System Card 3.0. I bought a used Arcade Pro system card from a very reputable local shop. This also worked well for me for awhile, but yesterday my Turbo stopped recognizing my Arcade Pro card.

Could my converter unit be frying my system cards somehow? I can't seem to find any similar stories online. I'm still rather new to the TurboGrafx, and with all the goofy system card requirements and other quirks, I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong.

Please let me know your thoughts.

Converters tend to bend the HuCard slot pins out of shape. Although converters in general aren't a good idea, for PC Engine I wouldn't risk using anything other than a kisado.

 

There are mod/repair guys on pcenginefx who can fix the slot (and install a region to avoid bending it out of shape again).

[PFG 9000]

Thanks! I don't think it's an issue with bent pins though. All my HuCards work fine, and the System Card 1.0 works fine.

 

After reading another thread here, I'm wondering if I might be using the wrong power supply. I'm using one of two NEC power supplies that came with my Turbo, but I'll have to make sure the seller didn't toss the wrong one in the lot or something.

[Tanooki]

I'll second what he said. The kisado converter was the only one I ever really recall by name and having a solid rep for working without issue. They were quality made and did the job. If you know your pins are not bent because your stock US TurboChip games are working fine, as is the Sys Card 1 you're not using, then your junky converter is frying your chips somehow, maybe something shorted on it, or its pin connector you pop those cards into is hosed up.

 

About your power supply there is a possibility there. You'll need to take a look at them and figure out what the volts and amps are on it. IF they do not match what the TG16 needs you could be causing the problem of messing things up being out of range.

 

 

The power issue is something that still concerns me. I'll have a Core Grafx II system arrive this week here. As of noon today it left Jamaica NY after sitting in the ISC at NYC for 3 days. The PCE CG2 runs on at Japanese voltage of 100 (US uses 120) but the amps are the same. I intend to get that Terraonion lockon device for the back when it's up for sale so I can run all the hucards and discs(as ISOs) I want over that. I do not know what the power draw is on that and I'm wondering if I should get a Sega Genesis model 1 AC adapter since it has the right amps but runs at 120volts or just leave it alone and see how it goes.

[PFG 9000]

I just checked the power supply and it looks legit. It's labeled as an NEC adapter for use with the Turbografx-CD, and the output specs match what I found online. So I don't think I screwed up the adapters.

 

It does make sense that it would be my converter. I would've thought a Telegames converter was trustworthy though. I think many of us at AtariAge have bought from them before and they're generally well-regarded here...right?

[PFG 9000]

So it turns out I had the converter cartridge pushed in too far. (Who knew?) I locked it in, then pulled it out a few millimeters, and now all of my system cards work perfectly. What a relief that I don't have to pour more money into my Turbo to enjoy all those great games.

[Tanooki]

It begins. Only unwrapped and visually inspected it and in insanely great shape so I'm hoping it all works just fine. I've also got Nekketsu Kou Kou Dodge Ball Bu here and Tower of Druaga (which is unique on PCE) in bound.

 

 

And good on you doing a little more QA on it. I guess the converter is just sloppily made that it can go in too far and miss the connection. Best thing is, nothing is jacked up as those system cards add up.

Edited January 9, 2018 by Tanooki

[+save2600]

Tower of Druaga is also available on one of the Namco Greatest Hits discs for the PSX.

 

But yeah, I bought a Kisado converter AND that game for play on my TG-16 from TZD BITD. Never liked using the converter as it was either thicker than a HuCard and/or the edge connector wasn't beveled. Just felt like I was going to ruin the cartridge port using that thing and ended up not using it much at all.

[Tanooki]

I forgot the game existed if it hadn't been for a pc engine search I keep active on ebay that popped up. I remember never getting far but liking the arcade one so I looked and the changes, the almost story mode added to it with all the RPG leveling and boosting plus gear it has really made it so much more interesting so I found a cheap one someone posted in the US and dropped an offer on it and it's on the way. That'll put me at a big 5 games for the thing.

 

I cleaned it up this afternoon and just was only sadly able to throw Dodge Ball at it for a moment and clear a round before one annoyance after another has kept me off it since. I may fire it up again here shortly for a few minutes to test the other games or save it for tomorrow.

 

I miss TZD they were fantastic both online and off (phone) as it's there my Duo came from and a decent selection of games too were a mix of them and local.

[Parallax Scroll]

Lots of PCE articles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 21, 2018 by Parallax Scroll

[Parallax Scroll]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[+GoldenWheels]

I've got that Retro Gamer, it really is a great magazine overall, even being UK centered (honestly that makes it MORE interesting to me sometimes).

[Parallax Scroll]

I'm sorry about the TGM April 1990 article on the SuperGrafx, clearly there should be another page to it, but everywhere I've looked (internet archive, retro cdn, etc) it is the same deal, whoever originally scanned it, there is an Ad page sitting on top of the second page of the article. I haven't been able to find a different scan of it in hopes of having the rest of their SuperGrafx review.

Edited January 21, 2018 by Parallax Scroll

[Parallax Scroll]

Two more TGM 'Our Man In Japan" installments. This guy was awesome. Definitely the UK's equivalent of EGM's Quarterman / Gaming Gossip.

 

 

[CZroe]

Anyway, this all got me to thinking. People have modded TurboGrafx-16's to have AV out, they've done region mods on them, and other things, too, I'm sure. But has anyone ever modded one to have more than one controller port? I mean, even if it was nothing more than changing some internal wiring, putting a TurboTap inside the case, and drilling a few extra holes in the front. Personally, I wouldn't want one, but it seems that so many people hate that it only has one controller port that someone might have tried something like this. I did a quick google search, but nothing popped up before I got a little ADD-ish and rambled off onto other topics. Just wondering if anyone knows of anything like this.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2373394

 

Wish it had storage for extra controllers. Oh, well, I wouldn’t be able to use it with this anyway.

 

 

After swapping the laser with an old Discman, tweaking the pots, buying some original discs, and making a compatible power supply from a thrift store PSU... MY BODY IS READY.

 

No System Card though. I traded my Turbo Everdrive for the dock back in October and ordered a replacement from Krikzz’s Black Friday sale in November but I still haven’t received it (two months shipping from Ukraine). With a patched BIOS it will function as a System Card.

 

My. Body. Yearns.

[Bratwurst]

Woah, I didn't know you could use a Japanese CD-ROM with the US Turbo dock. Rad.

[Tanooki]

I got started back on the 9th. Since then as far as what has arrived I've added 3 more games (Super Dodgeball, Tower of Druaga, Bomberman 93.) Tonight I bought Gradius off an American that should ship tomorrow so I'll see that mid-week. I have a lot of 2 coming in from Japan hopefully (in NYC customs yesterday) mid-week with Detana Twinbee and Yokai Dochuki. Another lot from the US is coming of 3 games, so cheaply priced that one game is $40 loose, and it along with +2 are complete for $50. And then an odd conversation with an online group person running an auction with no bids I asked if I could offer, they instead threw a price, a low one, so I have +10 more cib coming in averaging $7/game, yet two of those I have already loose which I can then resell dropping it to around $4/game. Instant collection on the cheap with a system where much of anything is just exactly not that.

 

It did put me away from my goal value to buy a Super SD System 3 device though for a bit. Maybe I'd be better off forgoing the CD ability and just enjoying the insane hucard library we got hosed out of by the incompetent TG16/NEC US office.

Edited January 22, 2018 by Tanooki

[Tanooki]

Woah, I didn't know you could use a Japanese CD-ROM with the US Turbo dock. Rad.

Japanese discs and disc hardware aren't region locked. The only part would be the system cards since they have to go into the slot. The back end both use the same external hookup port/pin array so it's all good.

[CZroe]

Japanese discs and disc hardware aren't region locked. The only part would be the system cards since they have to go into the slot. The back end both use the same external hookup port/pin array so it's all good.

Yeah. TG16 would probably work in the briefcase Interface Unit if it would fit. The shape around the rear connector is slightly different so that they can deliberately block some things, but it’s super-easy to work around. For example, the Ten No Koe 2 shell fits perfectly but the connector shape blocks it. Before getting the CD dock I was using an AV-modded Ten No Koe 2 as an AV Booster+. I picked it up in Japan unmodded a year ago for something like $12 USD and I only had to snip the edges of the connector to fit.

 

It’s very easy to make the connector have a universal fit. The Super SD System 3 connector fits everything but, strangely, the shell does not. Guess they should have copied the Ten No Koe 2 shell instead!

 

NEC actually made a PC CD-ROM with a “buffer unit” that looks exactly like a TurboGrafx-CD with a white shell. I’ve always wondered if that was also compatible. I know that the laser is (people have salvaged them).