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Some count SegaCD as one of Sega's mistakes in the hardware business but for me I think that it was a completely necessary add on that showed a lot of promise.
I was looking at a few retro gaming websites and the SegaCD enjoyed a wonderful library of cutting edge games.
I know TurboGrafx and the Jaguar had CD add-ons but compared to SegaCD they paled in comparison.
What do you guys think?
I think this true in the United States. In Japan the PcEngine CD ruled. As for the JAg Cd who the hell owned a Jaguar much less the CD.
I think it's safe to say you can thank NEC for bringing out that first CD addon in Japan, that future systems adopted (CD format) as early as they did - including the Sega/MegaCD. The PC-Engine CDROM^2 addon.Quote:
I know TurboGrafx and the Jaguar had CD add-ons but compared to SegaCD they paled in comparison.
The PC-Engine Duo was immensely popular in Japan (being 2nd to the SFC) and still had lots of great software coming out in '96 when the MegaDrive and MegaCD were already dead in Japan. And it had nothing fancy hardware wise. It was the same tech in the Duo as the old original '88 CD model. No fancy ASIC chips or second processor. Hell, it didn't even have a nice CD to RAM DMA like the SegaCD enjoyed. It had to manually read a 'wait-stated' CD port and poll the status port/reg. Even the CDRAM (until the Arcade Card came out later in '94) was 1/3 less. All it added was red book audio, a single ADPCM channel, and of course huge storage space of the CD. And yet it was incredibly successful until the Playstation and Saturn finally pushed it out in '97.
That's what pissed me off about the SegaCD. Knowing what the PCE Duo was capable of and doing in Japan, and what the SegaCD could have been capable of as well, but failed to deliver to the awesome softs it should've been putting out. I don't even want to get started on the FMV crap. At least it did get a few good titles over here. It wasn't a complete waste by Sega. So excuse me if I don't share your enthusiasm.
Yeah technically the SegaCD is better and therefor you may say "greatest" but in Japan the PCE-CD was definitely WAY more popular and had more games.
As much as I love everything 16 bit from Sega, I'll have to side with the PCE-CD here, simply because it has a library that pleases my gaming preference much more than the Sega CD does - even though the Sega CD has great games.
These are anyway the only CD add-ons to consider.
Who cares about the Jaguar?
I was living in something of a cave at the time. Sega CD was all I knew, and it had Lunar, so I loved it to death.
I didn't know the PCE existed, so I guess ignorance was bliss.
It's not fair to bash the Jaguar CD as only a dozen or so games even were released for it. At least the TurboDUO got some damn fine support...Dracula X?
It is just to bad we only got a few of the good PCE-CD games. It is sorta pricey to play the Super CD games import or not as well. To make them work on an TGCD you need the super card which you could only order, or buy an expensive adapter to use the Japanese one, or you can buy an American or Japanese Duo. Either way it can get pricey for a cheap bastard like myself. Hell if you want to just play the damn emulator you need to pay $15 for Magic Engine to play for more then 5 minutes. Even my Saturn habit has proven cheaper.
Does anyone know if the CD-ROM drives are region specific? I mean, if you had a US CD-ROM drive (not a Duo, y'know, the original TG-16 add-on), could you plug a white PCE or CoreGFX into it? That would be a much cheaper solution as white PCEs and CGFX I/II consoles cost pennies, as do Japanese Super System HuCards.Quote:
Originally Posted by Iron Lizard
You mean the CD base unit? You'd have to make a special cable as a go between. The connectors are a different shape. The 'CD' detachable unit itself it interchangeable with the Japan side mounting ones (and the PC-89/98 ones too IIRC), but that's not going to do you much good.Quote:
Originally Posted by crazyteknohed
Original white PCEs and CoreGF I/II's go for well over $60+ loose not including shipping. All in all, it would be cheaper just to get your TG16 unit modded for Japanese hucard, buy a $50 loose Arcade Card Pro (not the 'Duo' version), and call it done. Oh and a 6 button controller with conversion cable :D
$60 loose?!? I got mine (CGX) for £20. I guess that's the result of an abundance of Japanese machines in Europe as opposed to US machines.
As the TG-16 was never released here in Europe, Japanese and US systems weigh in at roughly the same price, so it's a no-brainer as to which system to go for :)
I have to choose the Mega-CD in this case. Lots of great fun games. I've never played the PC Engine, Jaguar or their CD-addons. They weren't good enough to be released in Sweden I guess. All good systems are released in the three big regions (Sweden, America, Japan), this is a well-known fact.
I think the Sega/Mega CD was the best overall, and with some decent PC ports of some good games. (considering the hardware limitations) Though in some cases changes they made are annoying; like with the port of Wing Commander, it could have been excellent (with CD quality music and voices) but the voice acting was mediocre to downright annoying and they replaced the entire musical score and added their own which falls far short of the original. (the sound effects aren't so great either) At least the graphics were pretty good. (I beleive it took advantage of the scaling feature of the CD for the sprites)
But looking at the hardware itsself, it gave had a lot of potential: the CD memory capacity being the main one, but also the scaling and rotation capabilities. Unfortunately these seem to have been underutilized. They could have had some good FPS's (ie Wolfenstein 3D) not to mention some good racing games (but all they had was the mediocre BC Racing, rather than something like a Sonic themed Kart game, not to mention a compeditor for things like F-Zero). Sprite based scrolling shooters should also have been quite good. (without the problems seen in the Genesis versions of Galaxy Force and the sequel)
A couple positive notes on the Jaguar CD though: it may not have added to the hardware (though it was already powerful) and the Jag had it's own problems, but the Jaguar CD probably looked the sleakest set up (compact and clean, rather like ataching a Master System PBC) and didn't require a seperate power cable. (IIRC)
The jag CD looks like a toilet. The best part of it was the VLM and Iron Soldier 2.
I <3 Sega and all, but pound for pound, the Duo library kicks the shit out of the Sega CD.
I like Sega CD but it really didn't live up to its potential at all and FMV games as a whole a pretty lousy legacy. Don't get me wrong, I own one, and there are plenty of games I love/would like to get my hands on for it, but I would have felt ripped-off had I shelled out top dollar for the unit upon its release.
From what I understand, the Duo's library is far superior, but I unfortunately haven't gotten a chance to play any of those titles.