Howsit? I finally bit the bullet and purchased a PC engine. I was looking at importing from Japan but this one turned up at (what I believe) a good price. It came with a standard controller, a rapid fire controller (why is the plug huge on this one lol?) a multi tap, AV Booster and 6 games (3 sports games, Zero4 Champ which I can't play due to not reading Japanese, Dragon Spirit and Dragon Saber). I had to ditch the power supply as I was only getting 3volt - not a shit was given as I have a heap of power supplies here. Is the AV booster worth keeping or modifying the console itself with a Mega Drive 2 style AV socket (have a few of these laying around)? I popped it (Av extender) open expecting only a pass through setup since apparently you can get composite etc straight from the EXT port only to find a bunch of components. So that has thrown me a bit lol! The ol' girl needs a bath and a clean as it is dirty and smells (cigarettes), but I reckon it will clean up ok.
That's a surprisingly white console! You know you can RGB mod these things? Why use composhit? I've signed up to that pc engine forum twice, never been approved.
Lol! Easy tiger, only got it yesterday lol! Have you done yours? If so do you use the scart to component converter? Did you do the amped version? More questions Is the cd reeeeaaaallllyyyyy worth getting? The memory thingy? The big attachment on the back. I don't play rpg's so i guess not? Mod the console for rgb, sell the av booster, or mod the av booster? I heard people who do the av mod on these say the sound is too quiet? That would make sense since the av booster has a lm358 in it.
Yes get the CD but make sure it works or avoid the white one due to the f****** gear, Skip the "The memory thingy", the CD has it built into the interface unit, get the Tennokoe Bank card instead, the saves only persist for a few days without one. Also get a System 3.0 card or the Arcade Pro.
Absolutely! If you can't get a good working Super CD-ROM you actually might want to instead pickup a DUO unit eventually. For now though you can check out the HuCards. Many good games are available. But many gems are on CD and you're missing out if you don't have it. The CD-ROM is a big part of what makes the PC-Engine awesome.
There's a "VS." mode of sorts in Zero4 Champ which doesn't really require Japanese. It's a really fun game.
Also be sure to snag a System Card 2.0. While 3.0 is backwards compatible, 2.0 can still be had for cheap and it enables a few hidden extras. For example, the big one is the SD mini-level in Dracula-X that is only playable on a 2.0 card. The System Card 1.0 is only needed for the Japanese version of Altered Beast (the game won't play on later cards) and also only came out in Japan, thus it is somewhat rare and more expensive.
Ok guys, once funds allow, should I sell my PC engine and get a DUO or just get a CD for my existing PC engine (am I right is assuming the one that mounts from behind is better/more reliable than the side mounting type)? Cheers Pete
You are right, the one that mounts from behind is better than the side mounting one. There are tons of "junk" side mounting ones, mostly because of a cracked gear. If you are handy, you can replace the gear... But, is the rear mounted one (super cd rom2) better than a duo/r/rx? Tough question. I've seen them all at around the same price. By and large, if something is wrong with these, it is probably leaky capacitors. If you are comfortable replacing those, it probably doesn't matter. I dunno, some people say the duo and duo rx are best. 6 button controllers are at a premium if you find an RX with it.
Cheers matey, yea typically repairs/mod's don't faze me too much, just knowing that I can get parts. Replacing caps, should be easy enough, have done that in most of my Sega stuff (model 1 CD's suffer the leaky caps). It won't be for a while, saving for other things atm. But good to know.
I don't think System Card 1.0 is actually that rare. Only the one game won't work without it, and I'm sure many people got rid of their old system cards when they upgraded to newer versions.
