PCEngineFans.com - The PC Engine and TurboGrafx-16 Community Forum

NEC PC-Engine/SuperGrafx => PC Engine/SuperGrafx Discussion => Topic started by: romanoaj on April 21, 2012, 12:42:25 PM

Title: PC-Engine Clone: PC-2100
Post by: romanoaj on April 21, 2012, 12:42:25 PM
Went out today to look for some 3DS games, came back with this PC-Engine clone.  There were two there and the one I bought, though unused, was clearly in storage for quite a while as the wires had sunk into the melted styrofoam.  Happy to report it works fine.  I have searched the forum to see if this clone has been posted before, but I could not find it (at least not by the name "PC-2100").  
Title: Re: PC-Engine Clone: PC-2100
Post by: spenoza on April 21, 2012, 05:54:55 PM
Where did you come across this thing?
Title: Re: PC-Engine Clone: PC-2100
Post by: apachacha on April 21, 2012, 08:45:32 PM
How expensive were these things, exactly ?
Title: Re: PC-Engine Clone: PC-2100
Post by: romanoaj on April 21, 2012, 09:47:42 PM
Where did you come across this thing?
A small shop in Shanghai. 

How expensive were these things, exactly ?
The extremely patient and friendly old lady asked for 300 RMB (roughly $50).  Having no point of reference for price, I happily agreed. 
Title: Re: PC-Engine Clone: PC-2100
Post by: cabbage on April 22, 2012, 12:04:08 AM
I know I've seen this same clone before--probably on some auction site, but I don't remember which. The "IC system" is making me think it's by Jamiko.  They made some other clones, including some PCE ones like the PC-II and the PC-Boy. I wouldn't be surprised if this PC-2100 were just another of their products.

I think the PC2100 looks nicer than some of the other pirate efforts, though :) Nice find. I'm guessing it takes normal Japanese Hucards?

By the way, here's a thread on assembler about the PC-II: http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?33379-Jamiko-PC-II-Is-it-a-clone
I think it looks very similar to yours, and you can see the "IC System" there as well. (I hope it's OK to link to another forum, hehe)

There has been a PC Boy on ebay forever but the price is crazy so it will probably stay there for much longer  #-o
Title: Re: PC-Engine Clone: PC-2100
Post by: romanoaj on April 22, 2012, 02:14:29 AM
Thanks Cabbage.  That looks to be from the exact production line.  Both boxes even refer to Hucards as "IC" cards (whatever this means).  Tested it and works with normal Japanese Hucards.  I especially like the turbo buttons atop the controller. 
Title: Re: PC-Engine Clone: PC-2100
Post by: spenoza on April 22, 2012, 10:37:29 AM
Is it really only RF-out? That's a shame...
Title: Re: PC-Engine Clone: PC-2100
Post by: Tatsujin on April 22, 2012, 01:12:07 PM
Even I don't think that any of these clones are worth big bucks, for how much does a CIB PC-Boy go for today?
Title: Re: PC-Engine Clone: PC-2100
Post by: Samurai Ghost on April 22, 2012, 01:36:37 PM
Yeah, I wouldn't spend what a lot of people are asking for these clone systems, but $50 for a boxed and complete set is a pretty awesome deal. The controller is pretty damn funky too!
Title: Re: PC-Engine Clone: PC-2100
Post by: grahf on April 22, 2012, 09:22:08 PM
Yeah I agree with you guys. It's pretty damn cool as a collectors piece, but not worth it for a main system. I'm a sucker for hardware though, so I probably would have bought it myself.
Title: Re: PC-Engine Clone: PC-2100
Post by: esteban on April 24, 2012, 12:31:19 AM
Yeah I agree with you guys. It's pretty damn cool as a collectors piece, but not worth it for a main system. I'm a sucker for hardware though, so I probably would have bought it myself.


I would have purchased it as well.  (http://junk.tg-16.com/images/pcgs.png)

This clone in particular is great because it so desperately wants to capture the aesthetics of the CoreGrafx, but the execution is decidedly heavy-handed (it looks like a literal caricature of a CoreGrafx—a cartoon that has manifested itself in plastic, PCB, and resistors. The controller is so clunky and unwieldy, making the console itself look more svelte than it deserves credit for.

Hell yes I'll buy this from you for $50  (http://junk.tg-16.com/images/pcgs.png). Not that I even have the money, of course.

Title: Re: PC-Engine Clone: PC-2100
Post by: Necromancer on April 24, 2012, 02:54:41 AM
Neato!  Thanks for sharing; I too would've bought that clone, just for the hell of it.  Any chance of internal pics for comparisons, and what's the white thing above the system in the styrofoam?
Title: Re: PC-Engine Clone: PC-2100
Post by: grahf on April 24, 2012, 02:58:42 AM
Yeah, I'd really love to see the insides! It's probably very similar to the other clones, since there isn't much to a PC Engine except for those three magic chips :D
Title: Re: PC-Engine Clone: PC-2100
Post by: hoobs88 on April 24, 2012, 03:16:59 AM
what's the white thing above the system in the styrofoam?

"Anntena (sic) Switch Box" according to the contents list on the package.
Title: Re: PC-Engine Clone: PC-2100
Post by: spenoza on April 24, 2012, 06:00:23 AM
If I had the cash, I'd buy it just for modding practice, assuming it isn't some single-chip-under-epoxy thing that's impossible to do anything with.
Title: Re: PC-Engine Clone: PC-2100
Post by: romanoaj on May 05, 2012, 02:08:26 PM
Any chance of internal pics for comparisons ... ?
Title: Re: PC-Engine Clone: PC-2100
Post by: romanoaj on May 05, 2012, 02:12:49 PM
Any chance of internal pics for comparisons ... ?
Title: Re: PC-Engine Clone: PC-2100
Post by: grahf on May 05, 2012, 02:41:26 PM
Wow, that is really interesting!  The clones on NFG games all seem to be using "stolen" original Hudson chips, while these look to have been cloned in the more traditional way. Pretty cool stuff. Also funny that they used NEC ram chips.
Title: Re: PC-Engine Clone: PC-2100
Post by: spenoza on May 07, 2012, 12:56:16 PM
It is possible those NEC memory chips are counterfeit.
Title: Re: PC-Engine Clone: PC-2100
Post by: grahf on May 07, 2012, 11:44:30 PM
Probably not. I'm sure they didn't come from NEC directly though, probably "fell off of a Chinese truck".