New member of Club LaserActive!

[Johnny Pow!]

Someone on my craigslist had a "nice laser disc player that playes movies and games." I knew right away what this was - c'mon, how many other LD players were designed for games, too? But just to confirm, I called. And I was right.

So today, I'm the proud - maybe too proud? - owner of a Pioneer CLD-A100 LaserActive.

This looks like an early one, dated September 1993, and came as a reasonably complete package: the Sega PAC, LaserActive/Genesis controller, LD remote (with no battery cover), Pyramid Patrol, and a ZOOM LD magazine, which is the only 8" LD I've ever seen in person. The guy threw in a couple Genesis and Sega CD games and movies, such as they are with all their scratches. All said, the total price was $175. I think I overpaid for the discs given their condition, but I'm pretty happy about the whole thing. Good Friday indeed.

[Steve W]

I'm not too sure how sensitive the Laseractive is to Sega CD scratches, but I know the laserdiscs can be scratched up and play perfectly. When I bought mine as a floor model on clearance from the only store I ever saw them for sale at, it came with a demonstration Pioneer LD, to show off how good the video was. That disk looked like hell. It has scratches all over it, like they played Frisbee with it and had fun skipping it off the pavement. Still, the picture quality on that disk is totally perfect.

Congrats on your new Laseractive! Now here's the hard part, trying to find games for it. I know it won't happen, but I still occasionally check for laserdiscs mixed in with the vinyl records at thrift stores, and I would really love to find a Laseractive game, even if it's for the PC Engine module that I don't have. It would be great to find one in the wild, but there's about as much chance of that as finding a Phantom console next to it.

[Rickstilwell1]

My Laseractive from ebay died from a power supply short out. I wish I could find someone to replace the power supply with a better more modern one that is less likely to burn up.

That is the only drawback I see with the LaserActive: internal power supply. If that goes out it is much harder to replace.

[erehwon]

Just found a laseractive as well. I went to a sale that listed a laserdisc player hoping to find some laserdiscs (already have a player, but need movies) and came away with a laseractive player and Goldeneye for $40. I paid a lot less than Johnny, he got a lot more stuff with his.

I did have a question. Does the laseractive Sega module have a special genesis controller? All I got with mine was a crappy 3rd party controller that doesn't really work very well. I'm also guessing it's very unlikely I'll ever find the other modules for it?

It's rather funny. I've found this and my vectrex on crappy days with very few sales. Yet, I never get any get any games with them.

[Astrocade]

Mine came with a six button Sega controller.

[Johnny Pow!]

My LaserActive has a Pioneer-branded controller that looks like a Genesis controller. It has smaller X, Y, and Z buttons in place of the Start button and the shape is slightly different.

I see the NEC module on eBay sometimes, but I don't do eBay and couldn't afford one even if I did. So I guess I'll keep my $5 TurboGrafx-16 around. And I sure ain't gonna pay $90 for a MegaLD game. But I'm like that. So enjoy 'em if you find 'em. I'll save 'em for ya.

[otoko]

I would love to get my hands on one of these.

[Rickstilwell1]

Yeah one reason I'm not in a hurry to get my LaserActive's power supply repair is that I don't have any Mega LD games to play on it. If I ever do, I'll probably get another Laseractive with a TG-16 module first, so then I can use both.

[A Black Falcon]

The idea that this thousand-dollar player required TWO separate $600 add-ons just to play all the games available for it is just insane... did they think the thing was actually going to do well with the games all being limited to only one of the two modules available? "you need to spend another $600 to play the other five games on the system"... now that's bad design! In order to just play all the games, you needed a system ($970), Sega PAC ($600), and NEC PAC ($600). Just for hardware. Um... ouch. Most expensive game console ever? It's hard to imagine anything matching it...

I mean, because of the small number of games many other systems surely have total values that are higher if you include games given how few games the LaserActive had, but based on just the hardware... wow.

[erehwon]

What are some of the better games to be on the look out for? I'm just asking for the slim chance of finding some of these in the wild or somewhere else.

[Rickstilwell1]

That's a good question. Are any of the LD games really that great?

[c0ldb33r]

Congrats on the find! I'd love to get a laseractive. However, this should be in the What's it Worth subforum.

[Steve W]

That's a good question. Are any of the LD games really that great?
I've only got Rocket Coaster and Pyramid Patrol, which are just Genesis games with crystal-clear CGI backgrounds. Pyramid Patrol has spaceships flying toward you and you gun down. Nothing too complex. Rocket Coaster is a game where you have to keep your vehicle on a CGI track as it whips around a bunch of courses. It's a little more challenging, but it's nothing a regular Genesis (or the Sega CD) couldn't do.

There are some live action FMV games that I believe are fairly decent. But really, it's more of a curio than anything. I definitely wouldn't spend heaps of money on acquiring games for it unless you're a hardcore collector.

[Vlcice]

Wow, nice find! Really lucky it showing up like that.

It's definitely an absurd curiosity, though I personally love mine to pieces. I actually use it all the time.

I have four Laseractive games right now, though I'm still hoping to pick up more. On the Sega module, my favourite so far is Hyperion, a behind-the-ship view shmup. It's still something that you could have done on the Genesis or Sega CD, but it does make very good use of interactions with the FMV backgrounds which does benefit from the better framerate compared to Sega CD.

On the NEC module, I only own J.B. Harold - Manhattan Requiem but it's a fun game. It's a Phoenix Wright-like murder mystery set in New York. It's mainly done using photo stills rather than FMV, but they're very high quality compared to Sega CD or Turbo CD games. I've heard that its sequel, Blue Chicago Blues, has much more live-action FMV usage. The Japanese version is bilingual, which makes picking up a copy easier.

[vincewy]

That's a good question. Are any of the LD games really that great?

You may view this page and decide

http://www.cyberroach.com/new_laseractive_pics/default.htm

My personal favorites with Sega modules - Road Prosecutor, Hyperion, Triadstone. I also like Vajra and Vajra 2 but you'll need either PAC-N1 or PAC-N10 to play those games.

[norkusa]

That's a good question. Are any of the LD games really that great?


I've got the US version of Blue Chicago Blues and it's by far my favorite Laseractive game. Road Prosecutor is real fun too but pretty hard to find and expensive. You can always try the SegaCD version instead though if you don't mind the massive downgrade in video quality. Same goes for Time Gal.

[Johnny Pow!]

Congrats on the find! I'd love to get a laseractive. However, this should be in the What's it Worth subforum.
This is not a "how much is it worth" post.

[c0ldb33r]

This is not a "how much is it worth" post.
That's fine, but that's where the April 2009 Finds (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=129881) thread is.

[Game Freak]

I would like one of these. I have the Sega PAC thing, but my uncle never gave me the unit. He promised me it, but ended up forgetting and selling it off due to "financial troubles"