PCEngineFans.com - The PC Engine and TurboGrafx-16 Community Forum
NEC TG-16/TE/TurboDuo => TG-16/TE/TurboDuo Discussion => Topic started by: MurderDate on September 22, 2007, 04:27:43 AM
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hi folks,
I posted this on the Cheap Ass Gaming forum and didn't get too much of a response - but someone over there suggested I check out this place- and I LOVE IT!
what do you guys think: does the Turbo Booster really enhance the graphics enough to make it worth the bucks?
here's my initial post:
Hi all ,
I just joined the forum this morning looking for some advice and input on my newest fixation: the TG-16. Let me introduce myself and set up my story..
so I just moved into the country (North Carolina) from Brooklyn, NY. I am a bit of an artist and spent most of my time in Brooklyn unemployed, scowering the streets and thrift stores and trash cans for debris & gunk to decorate my house & use in artwork.. anyway, long story short, about a year ago I found a red bag next to a trash can that someone had wrote "WORKS!" on, in marker. I opened up the bag and much to my surprise - there was a beautiful TG-16 system, controllers and everything.
Let me flash back to 1990, I was 10 years old and a NES junkie !! My family never had too much extra money to spend on video games and the like.. I owned plenty of games but more often than not was a heavy duty game renter, pretty much had 2 or more games rented out of the local video store weekly. (let's set the stage - I grew up in rural southern New Hampshire). ANYWAY, my best friend at the time got a Turbo Grafx 16, and I was completely floored by the thing - I really really loved it, wanted it more than anything. Took me about 15 years but I finally got my own!
Anyway, I didn't start gaming again until a couple weeks ago, when I moved out of the city. I bought a couple of games I remembered on Ebay: Keith Courage (of course), Ninja Spirit, Chew Man Fu (had never heard of this one but a youtube demonstration sealed the deal!), Fantasy Zone and Dungeon Explorer. Anyway, I'm having a great time ,and all of this cost me (including the system, of course) about $40. (which is great, as I'm still unemployed, and have to watch every penny I let go of)
SO , the reason I joined and decided to bug you guys with my own personal problems - -- I WANT MORE !!!
this TG16 gaming lyfestyle is my new thing for sure .. although I'm keeping it pretty low key and laid back , lights out and the shades drawn, smoke in the air, etc etc.
anyway guys, it wasn't until this morning that I learned about the Multi tap . This is a no brainer for me - I gotta get one! I figure I'll be patient and wait until the next time I see a Tap + extra controller on Ebay and snag it.
another new find, and the thing I'm most curious about: TURBO BOOSTER. is it really worth it? Does it improve the graphics by a land slide? Am I going to notice? As I said before, I fancy myself a bit of an artist and I LOVE the early 90s video game graphics.. Huge waves of nostalgia wash over me.. I would have no problem laying down a couple bucks for a Booster if I was really going to notice the difference in the visuals. I like the cool synth music a lot too, and I understand the booster tweaks the audio and makes it better as well. What do you guys think? Does a newly converted TG fan need to shell out the dough for the booster or what? Also, I know this Turbo Booster Plus adds a memory card, which is definately cool. . . but I think they run about twice as expensive as the no-frills Booster, right?
I guess my first concern then, is wether to invest the money / time into tracking down a booster ..
If your grandmother only had a couple hundred bucks in savings but decided she loved the TG-16 and was having a hell of a good time playing it , would you reccomend the old lady spend some of her meager money on a Boost, or what?
Dying to hear from other TG enthusiasts such as myself ..
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It's not really worth it, IMO. Yes, the graphics are going to look crisper when you use component video as opposed to RF but you're better off with a TurboBooster Plus so you get the advantage of backup RAM. Of course, you're far better off with a "briefcase" or a Duo, because then you get the advantages of the TurboBooster Plus in addition to being able to play CDROM games. :D
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yeah, your probably right. I'll just hold off on the add-ons right now and then sell my TG-16 when I find a good deal on a Duo.
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And if you're really after good video from your Turbo, send it to D-Lite and have it modded for S-VIDEO.
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And if you're really after good video from your Turbo, send it to D-Lite and have it modded for S-VIDEO.
Yeah, how much is it to get it modded for S-Video? And does D-Lite do the HuCard mod as well?
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And if you're really after good video from your Turbo, send it to D-Lite and have it modded for S-VIDEO.
Yeah, how much is it to get it modded for S-Video? And does D-Lite do the HuCard mod as well?
Send him a e-mail if ya want a price etc.
He does it all though region mod and adding s-video etc.
I just had him region mod my coregrafx and it's finsh too.
Can't wait to get it back and play my u.s hucards again.
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And if you're really after good video from your Turbo, send it to D-Lite and have it modded for S-VIDEO.
Yeah, how much is it to get it modded for S-Video? And does D-Lite do the HuCard mod as well?
According to his website (http://www.multimods.com/), it's $95 for an S-Video mod. He's famous for doing region mods and those cost between $50-55 according to his site.
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I would recommend the regular booster and to pay around $30 for it. The save feature isn't really taken advantage enough to justify the extra $10 or $20 on the plus version. It really does make a difference both visually and in audio. Also, you'll definitely want to pick up that multi-tap to play dungeon explorer with your friends :)
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And if you're really after good video from your Turbo, send it to D-Lite and have it modded for S-VIDEO.
Yeah, how much is it to get it modded for S-Video? And does D-Lite do the HuCard mod as well?
According to his website (http://www.multimods.com/), it's $95 for an S-Video mod. He's famous for doing region mods and those cost between $50-55 according to his site.
His,site is some what out of date and he only charged me $35.00 for the region mod.
Thanks of corse to grahf coming up with that circuit board.
It's great that d-lite get's to continue where he left off.
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$35 is a nice deal!
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$35 is a nice deal!
It certainly is. I'll definitely be getting both the region mod and the S-Video done. Saaaaweeeeet!
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what do you guys think: does the Turbo Booster really enhance the graphics enough to make it worth the bucks?
It definitely enhances the sound in "Champions Forever Boxing". The first time I popped that game in after having the booster add-on I was blown away
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I don't think a booster makes that big a difference on the graphics, but it's worth it to listen to the sound on decent speakers.
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So it sounds like it is much more worth it to have your TG-16 or Duo modded for better video output. My eventual goal is to get a Turbo Duo modded for S-video and region. Does D Lite still take work orders for these mods?
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yeah, I'm going to mod my TG16 and then sell it, buy a Duo with the money I make from that & then maybe mod that (if necc.).
Love this place, guys.
I have 1 more game left I'm allowed to buy this month (I bought 9 already...) .. I need to get a semi-cheap one.
Blazing Lasers looks like a good shoot'em up (I'm a sucker for those big, over the top early 90s TG16 graphics!)..
any fans on here?
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Gunhed (Blazing Lazers) is one of the best shooters made during the 8 & 16-bit era.
Some people complain level 2 is too long, but those people are a bunch of pussy whiners.
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yeah, I'm going to mod my TG16 and then sell it, buy a Duo with the money I make from that & then maybe mod that (if necc.).
Love this place, guys.
I have 1 more game left I'm allowed to buy this month (I bought 9 already...) .. I need to get a semi-cheap one.
Blazing Lasers looks like a good shoot'em up (I'm a sucker for those big, over the top early 90s TG16 graphics!)..
any fans on here?
Blazing Lazers is probably a must buy. Level 2 is only too long if you're in a hurry. It has nice music, as does the rest of the game.... One of the greatest soundtracks you're gonna find, in my opinion.
Another allternative to the booster is the CD add-on. I don't know what they run but I believe it adds composite audio/vidio output as well as the ability to play japanese and us CD-ROM games (cd roms games are region free, only the hucards are region locked)
Anyone have any thoughts on this? I thought I would mention it since nobody else has.
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Nödtveidt mentioned this in the very 2nd post of the thread, though he did neglect to note that CD games are region free.
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Nödtveidt mentioned this in the very 2nd post of the thread, though he did neglect to note that CD games are region free.
Ah... so the "briefcase" is a USA TurboGrafx CD ROM unit? I was under the impression that the "briefcase" was referring to the old PC-Engine IFU setup.
Such are the dangers of using jargon with someone new to the message board :wink:
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Ah... so the "briefcase" is a USA TurboGrafx CD ROM unit? I was under the impression that the "briefcase" was referring to the old PC-Engine IFU setup.
"Briefcase" is used generally in reference to the IFU-30 setup, you are correct... But sometimes people will also call the US TG-CD setup a "briefcase" since it was the US equivalent to the Japanese IFU-30.
I have a US TG-CD console I am considering selling. PM me with an offer if anyone is interested.
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And the carrying case for the US TG-CD was briefcase-like.
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just wanted to say I got a Turbo Booster today and I'm definitely happy with it. Everything is sharper, clearer. It's worth it.
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just wanted to say I got a Turbo Booster today and I'm definitely happy with it. Everything is sharper, clearer. It's worth it.
Turbo Booster Plus or just the regular Booster?
You can make your own "TurboBooster" by making a connector that taps the composite signal directly off the expansion port and leads to an A/V cable. That's what I've done for all the core TG-16 decks I own/have owned. No need to pay extra for the "Booster" name!
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You can make your own "TurboBooster" by making a connector that taps the composite signal directly off the expansion port and leads to an A/V cable. That's what I've done for all the core TG-16 decks I own/have owned. No need to pay extra for the "Booster" name!
Here's the inside of the AV Booster on the ASSEMBLER site http://assembler.roarvgm.com/PCE/AVbooster/avbooster.html . I swore that site showed you how to make one.
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That's crazy. They use a shitload more caps than what I used. And the output on my home-made setup looks (and sounds) just as good as a TG-CD's composite out.
What are all the caps for?