How I got the Duo....

[tsumake]

A couple of months ago, I bought a TG16 with a CD addon for 100 clams, paid for mostly by trades. And, for those couple of months, it has stayed within my closet. Why? First, it didn't come with a system card, which meant I couldn't play any cd games if I wanted, and second, the controller was funked up and they didn't have any others. I tried over those few months trying to find a Super System Card 3 so that I could have a duo-like Turbo, but those puppies cost 100 clams themselves. So, it sat... Until today. I was at Gamers looking for a Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo and the special controller. They had the game (unfortunately they sold the boxed version though

) but not the controller. I asked someone to look for the controller. Someone mentioned that they might have put the controller in another 3DO package so I looked amongst the maze of packaged systems they had. On good days you can find Jaguars, Saturns, 3DOs and even the occaisonally CD-i if you were lucky. Anyway, as I looked at these systems, my gaze caught a slim system that had the words "Turbo Duo" on them.

Holy Shit.

"Is that a Turbo Duo?" I asked. It was, they said. Got it in two hours ago. (Two hours ago!!!!

😱mg: ) I told them to HOLD ON TO IT I'll be back. I went home, amidst shitty traffic and construction, brought the bastard creation that was the TG16CD, drove back in shitty traffic and construction, and traded it , with some games, for the system. How much were they selling it for, you ask? ....

100 dollars. Same price as the tg16 I bought a couple of months ago. I don't know if the guys didn't look up the price for these babies or what. I like Gamers, even though the place is a mess. They love games and they actually know something. But unfortunately not about the Duo. One guy was puzzled why I would trade in the TG for the Duo. I think he thought the other system was better. Anyway, now I have a Turbo Duo with a compilation disc of Bonk's Adventure, Bonk's revenge, and Gate of Thunder. You don't know how happy I am right now. This is kismet. Hell, on the way out, I saw that they still had the box and they gave it to me! Today was a good day.

Ok, now that I have a Duo, what games should I get for this baby??

 

[Jaded God]

Dude grab me a CD-i unit and a 3DO! How much are they around you??

 

[tsumake]

3DOs sell for around 50 bucks. CD-i's are a rarity though. They come in a great while. Sorry, I'm not good with selling stuff

 

[Jaded God]

Well definately get Dracula X, that is for sure

 

[NFERNO]

Your not gonna like this news, but you got the raw end of that deal. Sure a Duo has the built in system card, but they break down all the time. Everybody I know who has a Duo (which is a lot of people) have had one problem or another with it. The power switch breaks, or the drive motor quits, or it for no reason stops getting power etc. Remember that when the Duo came out, NEC was in bad shape because the Turbografx never really sold all that solid for its time. The Duo was built as cheaply, and with as many shortcuts as possible, which means you and me the unfortunate owners have a subpar system in terms of durability. My Duo, which I bought new (again) 3 years ago has less than 50 total hours of play on it, and its dead now. Meanwhile, my 13 year old TG16-CD still plays on.

 

[tsumake]

Dammit, you're right

The laser on my duo's weak. It can't play "backups" but I still think it's weak. It'll play the compilation disc that came with it though. I have no regrets : My turbo CD was sitting in my closet doing nothing because the unit didn't come with a system card. And, for some reason the output seems better on the duo.

BTW, do you know where I can find a replacement laser/CDRom mount for the duo? Or perhaps I should try playing an original on it first??

 

[Burning Angel]

Do anyone know if this apply also for the PC Engine DUO R???

I'm terrified!!!

 

[tsumake]

Let me not that besides the compilation disc, I have not tried the system with any other original. When I get one, I'll see. I might be panicking. I've heard tons of people have problems playing "backups" on their Duo. We'll see.

 

[stack99]

I got mine a while back and I played a backup copy of castlevania x, (awesome game btw) so I dunno what all the fuss is about, that sucks though if some systems, have bad lasers and what not preventing them from reading backups.. hmmm maybe its the disks you chose to put the game on?? Just a thought?

sorry.

:cheers

 

[tsumake]

Originally posted by stack99@Jul 15, 2003 @ 06:39 PM

I got mine a while back and I played a backup copy of castlevania x, (awesome game btw) so I dunno what all the fuss is about, that sucks though if some systems, have bad lasers and what not preventing them from reading backups.. hmmm maybe its the disks you chose to put the game on?? Just a thought?

sorry.

:cheers

Could be

Anyway, I think I'll stick to originals with my Duo.

 

[Azazel]

Originally posted by Burning Angel@Jul 14, 2003 @ 07:00 PM

Do anyone know if this apply also for the PC Engine DUO R???

I'm terrified!!!

I think all Duos kind of suffer from the problem. I've already had 2 die on me. I have a Coregrafx and cd add on and it work fine. Play all orignals great. It play backups fine but every now than I have to adjust the lens on it. Maybe the Japanese Duos are made better but I only had one for a short like a month or so

You also might want to test a original on it and see if that works. There plenty of cheap ones that you can get. Your copies might also be bad as there a lot of bad ones floating around. It could also be the kind of CDR your using as my system doesn't like the crappy ones like Memorex cdrs as an example.

 

[darkfalzawakens]

oh wow this is unreal, my turbo duo fell down 3 flights of diamond plated stairs and i've had it for almost 10 years now and never had aproblem with orginals or backups lucky me i suppose! on the other hand i breathed on my ps2 and it quit working....go figure

 

[Ratamahatta]

I want a Duo so bad lol.

 

[E Nice]

My Duo basically sits boxed in a closet. I played with it for a bit when I first got, trying out the games I wanted to play with it; Dracula X and Advanced V.G. on tv screens instead of Mengine. Then back to the closet where it's getting some

 

[Ratamahatta]

Anyone got a Duo they want to sell?

 

[Burning Angel]

Well it's been a long time since then and my PCE DUO R is running fine. As for the games, you *MUST* get Macross 2036 wheither you're a Macross fan or not. Awesome shooter. Also if you have the bucks to spend, get Steam Hearts. Rare and quite brilliant shooter.

On another news, I once complained about my PCE DUO R not reading backups. I was using Sony CDRs then. Then one day I run out of CDRs and had to use Verbatim super AZO instead. What a surprise! I made a backup of my Macross 2036 on a Verbatim CDR and... it worked! I had used Samsung, Sony, and a cheeeeeeeeap brand I don't want even to remember and nothing... Then I passed the Dracula X backup a friend gave me in a black Samsung CDR to a Verbatim CDR and vôilà!!!

So my vote goes for Verbatim super AZO CDRs for sure 😉

 

[dj898]

my PC Engine Duo sits in its box unused while I play on my SuperGrafx via S-Video. That's right S-Video. Its almost as good as RGB.

No you cannot get S-Video from stock standard SuperGrafx. Mine's modified with S-Video and amp plus region switch to play both JP/US Hu cards as well as CD-ROM. Yes I also use Super CD-ROM2 module on it.

Since I got mine modified my PCE Duo as well as CoreGrafx/CD-ROM2 suitase sits at the corner gathering dust... 😛

cheers