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NEC TG-16/TE/TurboDuo => TG-16/TE/TurboDuo Discussion => Topic started by: Arkhan on November 01, 2017, 07:57:21 AM
Title: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: Arkhan on November 01, 2017, 07:57:21 AM
Could you imagine if Rare had developed TurboGrafx-16 games?
They were already fist-f*cking the NES with their talents. Seeing Wizards and Warriors or something like Captain Skyhawk for Turbo would have been kind of awesome.
It might have also made the thing do better here.
Battletoads for Turbo? Snake Rattle n Roll?
I wonder if they've ever said why they didn't bother. It seems like something the would've been really good at taking advantage of, and putting out good shit for.
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: spenoza on November 01, 2017, 08:18:14 AM
Nintendo had their back. You don't screw Nintendo. Nintendo screws you. Only the really big guys with other revenue streams, like Hudson and Namco, could afford to either "cheat on" or leave Nintendo.
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: Arkhan on November 01, 2017, 08:20:39 AM
But, Rare did development on Amiga, and MegaDrive, too.
and some other shit too, I thought?
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: SignOfZeta on November 01, 2017, 08:31:50 AM
Stick to the established narrative, Nintendo is bad.
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: Necromancer on November 01, 2017, 08:34:50 AM
I'd blame Nintendo and trying to keep 'em happy, which ultimately got Nintendo to buy half the company. They did games on other systems, sure, but that was almost entirely Battletoads and wasn't until '93-ish, when the PCE was losing market share and the Turbob even more so (and had so little to begin with).
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: nopepper on November 01, 2017, 09:18:44 AM
How many western developers worked on the Turbo, besides ICOM? I thought that this was part of the Turbo's lack of appeal in the west; that it was too Japanese centric, and NEC didn't seem to go after western developers to work on their console. Or am I wrong in this and they did go after the Rare's and Bitmap brothers of the world, but they were just not interested?
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: GohanX on November 01, 2017, 09:18:52 AM
While they weren't totally exclusive, Nintendo and Rare were pretty much in bed with each other since Battletoads. They ported Battletoads to pretty much everything, and the only major release on other systems was the Genesis Battletoads/Double Dragon, which was probably because of the partnership with Tradewest.
I'd say the Nintendo partnership was as good for Rare as it was for Nintendo. Rare's games were mostly very good under Nintendo's watchful eye, and they've been mostly awful since they shacked up with Microsoft.
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: Arkhan on November 01, 2017, 09:40:50 AM
I'm just curious if they ever even considered it.
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: spenoza on November 01, 2017, 09:57:57 AM
I doubt it. I mean, I'm sure they were aware of the Turbo, but I would be surprised if they really gave it even a second look.
I'm still trying to figure out why Icom Simulations did so many games on the Turbo.
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: DragonmasterDan on November 01, 2017, 10:48:11 AM
Rare was doing contract work for Western publishers, companies like Tradewest and LJN along with Nintendo had them making games for them. With the Turbo having so few Western developed games in general it's not surprising.
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: SignOfZeta on November 01, 2017, 12:09:47 PM
I see what he’s getting at, if they had made Turbob it would have blended in well with (probably exceeded) the better western stuff. I’d imagine it didn’t happen for a combination of all the reasons mentioned. A company can only do so many things and if they are booked with profitable work they aren’t interested in new paths.
The place I work at, a test lab, is currently booked solid. There are lots of jobs we would love to take but can’t because we are totally maxed out on space and manpower.
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: Arkhan on November 01, 2017, 12:18:37 PM
Also, I would like to point out I am not encouraging someone to announce that they're porting a f*ckin Rare NES game to the Turbo.
I just think Rare would've probably killed it with the PCE if the way they did NES stuff was an indication.
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: nopepper on November 01, 2017, 12:32:15 PM
While they weren't totally exclusive, Nintendo and Rare were pretty much in bed with each other since Battletoads SLALOM.
fixed it for ya.
Rare did go where the money was, which is why they abandoned the UK home computer scene and went NES/Famicom full on, very early on. I guess the Sega systems also promised financial rewards, and the PCE/Turbo, not so much.
DMA and Gremlin Graphics did jump into PCE/Turbo dev, though.
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: Arkhan on November 01, 2017, 01:58:45 PM
Would a Battletoads that doesn’t slow down or flicker even be playable?
the TURBO tunnellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
why didn't we get it.
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: BigusSchmuck on November 02, 2017, 03:02:59 AM
I could only imagine what kind of crap LJN would've put on on the Turbo... Then again, a Bonk Country with the arcade card and pseudo 3d graphics sounds a bit more appealing.
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: Gredler on November 02, 2017, 06:16:18 AM
What was Rare's popularity in Japan? Perhaps they didn't have interest developing a game that would be mostly received in Japan. I doubt the ambassadors for the PCE in Europe and the states went out on a limb to propose marketing let alone contributing to funding a Rare developed game for PCE.
Am I wrong in assuming most of Rares pre-donkey kong country days were focused on the European markets?
I wonder what were the #'s for third party development in Europe and the states? How many publishers were in Europe and the states, and how many games did each release?
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: Arkhan on November 02, 2017, 06:38:55 AM
Wizards and Warriors was a giant sex-fest in USA. Rare's NES games here were extremely popular. I don't even know if that stuff was ever released in Japan.
There's USA only Turbo games, too.
They just kinda suck basically.
Rare could have fixed that.
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: SignOfZeta on November 02, 2017, 06:39:24 AM
I could only imagine what kind of crap LJN would've put on on the Turbo... Then again, a Bonk Country with the arcade card and pseudo 3d graphics sounds a bit more appealing.
You don’t need an arcade card to make crap like Donkey Kong Country.
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: spenoza on November 02, 2017, 06:45:12 AM
I don't know how their NES-era stuff did in Japan, but Super Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong Country) was a massive hit in Japan. It is apparently very fondly remembered.
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: Black Tiger on November 02, 2017, 06:50:55 AM
Gameboy has DKC.
SMS has Sonic Blast.
It's all just sprites and tiles.
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: Arkhan on November 02, 2017, 07:01:02 AM
this is comical to watch.
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: Gredler on November 02, 2017, 09:00:44 AM
I could only imagine what kind of crap LJN would've put on on the Turbo... Then again, a Bonk Country with the arcade card and pseudo 3d graphics sounds a bit more appealing.
Hahah makes me want to put some 3d pre-rendered sprites in some catastrophy. Did you guys know the NHL and Madden games during the 16 bit era were baked down 3d model animations like donkey kong country?You don’t need an arcade card to make crap like Donkey Kong Country.
Wizards and Warriors was a giant sex-fest in USA. Rare's NES games here were extremely popular. I don't even know if that stuff was ever released in Japan.
Yeah I loved a lot of Rares pre-dkc games, but I wonder what pre-dkc games were popular enough in japan to warrant putting them on the PCE?
I will go look this up but maybe you're quicker; Who were the developer and publisher/fundings for these US only releases? I just dont see the US market being big enough for turbob for major publishers to fund their games onto the platform.
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: Arkhan on November 02, 2017, 09:07:55 AM
Well, SSI backed the Order of the Griffon thing. So there's that.
Wasn't the rest of it ICOM? lol
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: Black Tiger on November 02, 2017, 11:32:31 AM
Makes me wonder what publishing costs were, so fledgling (what would now be thought of as "indie") developers and publishers were trying the system out using beginner development teams and low publishing costs as a avenue to start a business. I've not heard of those companies outside of their turbob work.
EA put madden out right? What other major publishers/developers that were not japanese make games for it? LucasArts (loom?)
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: Necromancer on November 03, 2017, 02:43:31 AM
They're not Turbob only developers. There's gotta be 100+ Accolade developed titles for all sorts of platforms; Manley & Associates did dozens of games for PC and SNES before being bought by EA; most (all?) of Cinemaware's and Gremlin's Turbob games were first on Amiga, ST, ZX Spectrum, Commodore, etc.
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: Arkhan on November 03, 2017, 05:33:46 AM
I wish Skate or Die had been ported to the turbob.
That should be Tom's next hackup with new art.
Or I could finally get around to doing it myself, but that sounds like work.
The SOD2 ramp had too much animation for our sanity.
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: turboswimbz on November 03, 2017, 09:13:16 AM
Ahhh, it's long gone by about 5 years. I found a bunch of educational games, and C64 sticks in a dumpster behind my work. Someone had apparently used our dumpster to get rid of boxes from their house. The only interesting thing in it was Skate or Die. Cover is Boss!
I wish Skate or Die had been ported to the turbob.
That should be Tom's next hackup with new art.
Or I could finally get around to doing it myself, but that sounds like work.
The SOD2 ramp had too much animation for our sanity.
Man, I'd kill for a tweaked Skate or Die 2 on the Turbob. I've said that before, but it must be emphasized!
The ramp part, or the adventure-game part?
I would make the adventure game part before the ramp part, myself.
That ramp has too many frames of animation and shit lol. The McTwist animation, and the footplant especially.
Skate or Die 2 as a whole is another one of those rarely mentioned games for the NES that was surprisingly good.
The adventure part, I love both, but yeah, the adventure. My only complaint would be that the adventure maybe needs some slight tweaking on the controls, but, maybe I'm wrong on that. Love the music & the sound in that game in general!
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: Arkhan on November 04, 2017, 04:29:08 PM
The controls on the adventure part are pretty stiff until you get enough board upgrades from Rodney, and enough useful tricks from Lester, like the 180 ollie and shit so you can whip around better.
I am pretty sure Lester is basically Lester Kasai
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: DragonmasterDan on November 04, 2017, 06:10:05 PM
It appears the game was licensed by NEC and converted by Hudson Soft when NEC was still involved and then published eventually by TTI, when they were still working on all the old NEC deals.
The Hudson Soft thing is interesting, well all the FMV is in that game.
I was searching around that dirt DUO whata phile site and found this: (THANKS NULL)
I wonder if the reason Robotech/Macross 2036 never came out is because of Harmony Gold. That would be one more thing to blame them for.
Ugh, I'd never thought of that. I read about that in an EGM special about all the games at CES one year and always wondered what happened to it. That sounds highly likely and abysmally shitty.
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: Winniez on November 07, 2017, 12:47:54 PM
I wish Skate or Die had been ported to the turbob.
HAha was it you I sent that C64 Skate or Die I found in the dumpster?
One of those games I used to love as a kid but going back into it there really isn't much there. I think gameplay wise Ski Or Die was slightly better.
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: Gredler on November 07, 2017, 12:50:02 PM
Isometric blast corps pls
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: Winniez on November 07, 2017, 12:51:34 PM
Considering Rare, yeah they made few high quality NES games but generally speaking they blossomed during the SNES and N64 era when they had full backing of Nintendo. Besides, there are very few quality western developed titles on PC-Engine/Turbografx.
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: Arkhan on November 07, 2017, 12:55:11 PM
Yeah I mean, Ski Or Die was basically a really well executed joke. It shit all over Winter Games, lol.
I still like Skate or Die better more for the theme of it. the downhill jam and pool joust are fun as f*ck. I wish there was a game with more elaborate pool jousting.
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: turboswimbz on November 07, 2017, 01:43:50 PM
Considering Rare, yeah they made few high quality NES games but generally speaking they blossomed during the SNES and N64 era when they had full backing of Nintendo. Besides, there are very few quality western developed titles on PC-Engine/Turbografx.
This is a fair point, The fact that NEC and Hudson generally were too slow to try to win the western market may, in fact, be why rare wasn't approached to develop for the PC engine. but more than that it was simply that Nintendo had a strong hold on many developers at the time, Rare perhaps more than anybody and NEC/Hudson wasn't willing to outspend Nintendo to get many of them on board.
Rare had the full backing or almost full backing during the NES years as well. Also, the SNES/64 is where I personally feel Rare gets too much credit sometimes. They were practically missing from the SNES early and released only 8 games 3 of which were Donkey Kong (Arguably some of the best games of the era I'll give you that) and 2 Battletoads games. They produced way more NES Titles and B) they produced N64 titles that were also late in the systems, and most were not exactly home runs. Yes, they essentially refined the blueprint for the modern day 1st person shooter, with Goldeneye but that's it as far as amazing from rare on the N64. Banjo - while good wasn't anything new, same with Diddy Kong racing, conker was more adult themed but not exactly groundbreaking for gameplay. Jet force, DK64, Perfect Dark, and Killer Instinct while good games weren't and still aren't games that are amazing. Not that Rare wasn't great during those years it's just that nostalgia for Goldeneye and Donkey Kong Country create a bigger than life picture of greatness sometimes. I would personally say they blossomed during the NES years and then polished and created a few of gamings most memorable games during the SNES and N64 years.
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: sunteam_paul on November 18, 2017, 12:08:11 AM
Rare did their best stuff on the Spectrum when they were Ultimate: Play The Game.
Jetpac on PCE? Hell yes please.
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: Winniez on November 18, 2017, 08:38:37 AM
Considering Rare, yeah they made few high quality NES games but generally speaking they blossomed during the SNES and N64 era when they had full backing of Nintendo. Besides, there are very few quality western developed titles on PC-Engine/Turbografx.
This is a fair point, The fact that NEC and Hudson generally were too slow to try to win the western market may, in fact, be why rare wasn't approached to develop for the PC engine. but more than that it was simply that Nintendo had a strong hold on many developers at the time, Rare perhaps more than anybody and NEC/Hudson wasn't willing to outspend Nintendo to get many of them on board.
Rare had the full backing or almost full backing during the NES years as well. Also, the SNES/64 is where I personally feel Rare gets too much credit sometimes. They were practically missing from the SNES early and released only 8 games 3 of which were Donkey Kong (Arguably some of the best games of the era I'll give you that) and 2 Battletoads games. They produced way more NES Titles and B) they produced N64 titles that were also late in the systems, and most were not exactly home runs. Yes, they essentially refined the blueprint for the modern day 1st person shooter, with Goldeneye but that's it as far as amazing from rare on the N64. Banjo - while good wasn't anything new, same with Diddy Kong racing, conker was more adult themed but not exactly groundbreaking for gameplay. Jet force, DK64, Perfect Dark, and Killer Instinct while good games weren't and still aren't games that are amazing. Not that Rare wasn't great during those years it's just that nostalgia for Goldeneye and Donkey Kong Country create a bigger than life picture of greatness sometimes. I would personally say they blossomed during the NES years and then polished and created a few of gamings most memorable games during the SNES and N64 years.
For me Diddy Kong Racing was one of the best games on N64, superior to Mario Kart 64 both technically and gameplay wise, also very innovative. Although I agree to some degree that Rare gets too much credit for their N64 games, the thing is, N64 in general gets too much credit for what it was and besides Nintendo Rare was pretty much the only company that kept releasing quality titles for it. Most of their N64 games have not aged that well but they do have a very high level of polish and refinement. Considering their 3D-platformers I agree, Mario 64 still reigns supreme. I would go as far as to say that DK64 was a big disappointment.
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: Arkhan on November 18, 2017, 07:04:47 PM
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: Amerika on November 22, 2017, 05:39:21 AM
I was under the impression that early in the NES's lifecycle that Nintendo did not allow porting of games that a company brought out on the NES or you'd risk losing the ability to officially publish any future titles on the NES. Some companies still got around this but I swore that was the case in general. Of course the more likely cause was the TG16/PCE not having a huge market share or projections in the markets Rare was interested in at the time and it sounds like NEC didn't do a lot to capture the attention of western devs. It's sad since the machine was capable of so much.
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: ccovell on November 23, 2017, 11:40:12 AM
This is true, but Rare was never a publisher until 1997, so they were not limited by N's restrictive licensing agreements as technically Tradewest, Acclaim, etc. were the publishers.
Rare became a publisher with the N64 title Diddy Kong Racing (sez Wikipedia).
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: wildfruit on November 30, 2017, 07:01:31 AM
Solar jetman with more colours would have been nice.
Title: Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?
Post by: spenoza on December 01, 2017, 12:29:10 PM