View Full Version : Best system to not get a N. America or Europe release?
BetaWolf47
07-15-2009, 01:59 AM
Nowadays, some foreign systems are actually launching in the US before Japan or elsewhere. Years before, we missed out on a few great systems like the SG-1000. Out of these, which do you think is the best?
My vote goes to the Sharp X68000, although I've only played the games on emu. If it was released in 1987, it must've been the Neo-Geo of the Famicom era. It easily had the best home ports of most Capcom and Konami arcade games. If it had been released in the US at a reasonable price, it could've given Genesis and SNES a run for their money.
Bojay1997
07-15-2009, 02:12 AM
Nowadays, some foreign systems are actually launching in the US before Japan or elsewhere. Years before, we missed out on a few great systems like the SG-1000. Out of these, which do you think is the best?
My vote goes to the Sharp X68000, although I've only played the games on emu. If it was released in 1987, it must've been the Neo-Geo of the Famicom era. It easily had the best home ports of most Capcom and Konami arcade games. If it had been released in the US at a reasonable price, it could've given Genesis and SNES a run for their money.
It's not really a console though, it's a home computer based around the Motorola 68000 with a customized OS. Between the Amiga, the PC and the Atari ST released in the United States, there just wasn't much room for another computer, let alone one that had a distinctively Japanese form factor and game library. Heck, the X68000 didn't even sell all that well in Japan and basically as time went on become more and more like a standard PC.
Auzlander
07-15-2009, 07:08 AM
I wish the TurboGrafx-16 would have made it. I know that it had a shot but, thanks to poor marketing, and the illegal stranglehold Nintendo put on them it never made it. It even beat out the Famicom in Japan when it was released!
smork
07-15-2009, 07:13 AM
Easy answer - WonderSwan!
NayusDante
07-15-2009, 09:30 AM
In terms of actual game consoles, Wonder Swan is probably the only one. We got most of the others that were worthwhile, with the ones we didn't being mostly niche systems. You could argue add-ons like the Famicom Disk System and the 64DD, but all we missed out on was an extra audio channel and Doshin the Giant, respectively.
We definitely missed out on the Japanese computer scene. I would love to have had an MSX or PC88 back in the day, but with the NES I'm just not sure if they could have stood any chance.
BetaWolf47
07-15-2009, 01:32 PM
In terms of actual game consoles, Wonder Swan is probably the only one. We got most of the others that were worthwhile, with the ones we didn't being mostly niche systems. You could argue add-ons like the Famicom Disk System and the 64DD, but all we missed out on was an extra audio channel and Doshin the Giant, respectively.
And even Doshin was released in Europe on Gamecube.
Swamperon
07-15-2009, 04:36 PM
And even Doshin was released in Europe on Gamecube.
I keep meaning to pick that up at some point! I'd guess wonderswan as well, did Japan ever miss out on anything good? or anything at all?
kaedesdisciple
07-15-2009, 04:47 PM
...did Japan ever miss out on anything good? or anything at all?
I don't know, did they miss the awe-inspiring R-Zone or thrilling Game.com?
The 1 2 P
07-15-2009, 05:16 PM
Easy answer - WonderSwan!
Thats the only Japan only console I have that I actually collect for. So thats my answer too.
Nebagram
07-15-2009, 05:39 PM
Tough to look past the Wonderswan really. I'm amazed it remains to this day the only handheld on which you can play Devil Dice.
BetaWolf47
07-15-2009, 05:49 PM
I'd guess wonderswan as well, did Japan ever miss out on anything good? or anything at all?
Did Atari systems ever make it to Japan?
Jorpho
07-15-2009, 05:53 PM
Tough to look past the Wonderswan really. I'm amazed it remains to this day the only handheld on which you can play Devil Dice.Sort of. (http://www.leweyg.com/pocketpc/evildicepe.html)
Howzabout the FM-Towns? But then, that was pretty much a PC, wasn't it?
Black_Tiger
07-15-2009, 06:02 PM
The SG-1000 would've been cool in 1983, otherwise the Wonderswan color which I had tons of fun with playing the FF ports on back when they were released.
BetaWolf47
07-15-2009, 06:17 PM
Weren't a lot of Master System cards just SG-1000 ports, or am I mistaken?
7th lutz
07-15-2009, 06:29 PM
Did Atari systems ever make it to Japan?
Yes. The Atari 2600 was distributed in japan by Epoch and other companies before Atari designed an Atari 2600 model for Japan only called the Atari 2800.
The source is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_2800 .
7th lutz
07-15-2009, 06:36 PM
Weren't a lot of Master System cards just SG-1000 ports, or am I mistaken?
Yes, you are mistaken. I didn't see a lot of sms card releases in the states or in Japan. A list of SG- 1000 games can be found a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_SG-1000 .
SG-1000 games were compatible with The Sega Mark III (first Japanese model of the master system though.
Jorpho
07-15-2009, 06:41 PM
The Telegames Personal Arcade almost had SG-1000 compatibility, no?
squirrel_king
07-15-2009, 08:02 PM
The SG-1000 was released in Australia and some European countries, so it did at least make it out of Japan in some form.
Anyway i'd have to say. uh. the Super A'Can. Yeah.
>__>
garagesaleking!!
07-15-2009, 08:02 PM
how much turbografx stuff is out there? i have never found any turbografx product ever in the wild?
Berserker
07-15-2009, 08:16 PM
Howzabout the FM-Towns? But then, that was pretty much a PC, wasn't it?
There's also the FM Towns Marty (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FM_Towns_Marty) that Fujitsu released just a few years after the original FM Towns. It was basically like a consolized version of the Towns meant specifically to play video games; so it came with a gamepad and was backwards compatible with games you could play on the original and all that.
Apparently it was also the very first 32-bit home video game system. Released only in Japan, of course. But I think we could safely classify this one as a console:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v348/natev/fmtownsmarty.jpg
NayusDante
07-15-2009, 10:13 PM
How much software was available on the FM-Towns? All I can think of are the upgraded LucasArts games. Oh how I'd love to play Zak McKracken in 256 colors...
Joe West
07-15-2009, 10:38 PM
Game.com
garagesaleking!!
07-15-2009, 10:46 PM
Game.com
You had to do it...
vintagegamecrazy
07-15-2009, 10:56 PM
I'd go with the SG-1000, good console and some good games pretty much a colecovision though. Wonderswan and FM Towns Marty would've been cool as well.
NayusDante
07-15-2009, 11:15 PM
You know, the Windows XP era PC platform in Japan is almost entirely exclusive to the east. Companies like Falcom are still major players in the PC scene, but we don't get anything. Ys Eternal Complete gets a PSP release soon, and we got a few other console ports, but PC gaming has had very little in the way of localized Japanese titles. Our PC scene is full of shooters and RTS, they get all the PC JRPGs, dating sims, etc. How many Japanese PC games have you seen localized in recent years? All I can think of off the top of my head are FFXI and Grandia II.
Jorpho
07-15-2009, 11:24 PM
How much software was available on the FM-Towns? All I can think of are the upgraded LucasArts games. Oh how I'd love to play Zak McKracken in 256 colors...(Of course you know all the FM-Towns versions work quite nicely in ScummVM.)
There's a rather nice version of Splatterhouse, but otherwise I can name nothing of interest.
leicamaster
07-16-2009, 12:48 AM
I wish the MSX was released in the US :[ . We missed all those Tomy consoles but I have no clue if they are good or bad.
Bojay1997
07-16-2009, 01:43 AM
I wish the MSX was released in the US :[ . We missed all those Tomy consoles but I have no clue if they are good or bad.
It was released in the US. Yamaha sold an MSX computer mostly through music stores in the mid-80s. It was fully compatible with MSX hardware and software.
Kiddo
07-16-2009, 03:02 AM
This one is a bit of a tough call, but while I happen to like the PC-FX and think the Satellaview was interesting I'll probably have to stick with the consensus about the Wonderswan.
A Black Falcon
07-16-2009, 03:43 AM
(Of course you know all the FM-Towns versions work quite nicely in ScummVM.)
There's a rather nice version of Splatterhouse, but otherwise I can name nothing of interest.
There were a few good shmups, most notably the only home port of Tatsujin II/Truxton II... and RayXanber I as well. Given how ridiculously hard those two games are, they may be of limited fun value for most people... Truxton II is amazing though, despite being way too hard!
There were a few other decent ports too, like Turbo Outrun and Ultimas V and VI (with full voice acting in both English and Japanese!) and stuff. It didn't have a huge library, but some look interesting... I might pick that one. What other big choices are there, the PC-FX, SuperGrafx, SG-1000, or WonderSwan (not mentioning a few really early first/second-gen systems)? SuperGrafx only had seven games (they're all good, but there are only seven), so it probably can't be the winner. PC-FX was almost all anime games, it'd have done terribly. SG-1000... I doubt it would have done well, but that might have been interesting. It was released in some European countries though as has been said, so it did see a limited Western release. Among the consoles, the WonderSwan or FM Towns Marty are probably the next best choices...
Satellaview'd be a great choice too actually, though really all we'd have needed were some of those games on cart, or just the cart-writing 'Nintendo Power' service, not necesarially the full satellite system, which sounded interesting but frustrating, with very limited times you could play the exclusive games and such...
Ed Oscuro
07-16-2009, 06:55 AM
Going for X68000 and FM Towns for shooters seems kinda silly unless them's horizontal shootins like R-Type or Gradius. A short screen and a non-rotated monitor means you see patterns too late compared to arcade, or they have to be fudged with. The result is less real estate one way or another.
FM Towns has Image Fight; sadly the only Towns shooter aside from Viewpoint (barf) I've been able to afford thus far (have it also on X68000 so...)
The main weakness of these systems (aside from the party) is the weird DA15s (7 + 8 pin 15-pin D-sub) monitor connector they have. I thought I solved my problem of the lack of X68000 monitor but it turns out that plugging the X68000 right into the Towns monitor would be a bad idea.
Now, I always thought that discriminating against a system because it was a "computer" instead of a fool-friendly tumb terminal was kinda silly, although the monitor argument is convincing in this day and age.
But if that's all that's holding you up, there is the MSX 2+, and for shooters I actually may get more milage out of it than even the X68000.
For X68000 I have Nemesis '90 Kai (basically an upgraded Gradius II MSX) and then lots of straight arcade ports (no doujins) that play better in MAME. There are some different / upgraded console games (Undead Line and possibly Cyber Core come to mind).
For FM Towns there exist a few staight arcade ports that play better in MAME. Rayxanber is a game I've heard is actually good, and it's just the semi-doujin classification of it that's kept me away. Probably worth looking into. Nitpicking point: Tatsujin Ou (Truxton II) is fun at times, but mainly boring; there's no use for the speed-up button wired on the arcade PCB which is a tragedy and generally it's a poor consolation for not getting a port of Mahou Daisakusen (aka Sorcer Striker [sic]) like the X68000 did. Still hope to pick up a copy sometime just for the Stage 2 remixed music (I'm assuming it is) though (hoping it's not butchered like Flying Shark).
But for the MSX2+ I have:
Aleste II (I probably should have dropped coins on Aleste 1 as well since the SMS version is reputed to have more slowdown, or at least suffer from it sooner - the game on SMS is in permanent slowdown mode for me from Stage 2 onwards)
Another version of Undead Line
SPACE MANBOW!
So yeah, bottom line: original games rule, PCBs rule, cartridges rule. Not so much multi-floppy games, "remixed" arcade games with screwed-up lazy MIDI synth soundtrack replacements on Redbook audio and horrible screen resolution issues, and bad North American voiceovers that Lucasarts was too embarrassed to release stateside.
Eh, I'm tired, can't remember if I have anything else. But that trifecta is enough to keep me pretty happy when I go to a retro system - and balancing the heavy MSX2+ on my knees is a lot simpler than finding the parts to get a X68000 playing on a monitor has been. :oops:
If somebody really insists on being a dumb purist over this issue, I'll be snide right back and note that the Japanese SMS doesn't really have a comparable unit in the U.S. - yeah, it's "just" the FM Sound, but it adds a lot to the games in my view.
leicamaster
07-16-2009, 10:54 AM
It was released in the US. Yamaha sold an MSX computer mostly through music stores in the mid-80s. It was fully compatible with MSX hardware and software.
Hmmm I would love to get my hands on one of these. I already own an original MSX but for the collection this might be a neat add. Never heard of them!
Bojay1997
07-16-2009, 01:04 PM
Hmmm I would love to get my hands on one of these. I already own an original MSX but for the collection this might be a neat add. Never heard of them!
The unit is the Yamaha CX-5M. I believe Spectravideo also released an MSX system in the US and Canada.
Iron Draggon
07-16-2009, 01:42 PM
You know, the Windows XP era PC platform in Japan is almost entirely exclusive to the east. Companies like Falcom are still major players in the PC scene, but we don't get anything. Ys Eternal Complete gets a PSP release soon, and we got a few other console ports, but PC gaming has had very little in the way of localized Japanese titles. Our PC scene is full of shooters and RTS, they get all the PC JRPGs, dating sims, etc. How many Japanese PC games have you seen localized in recent years? All I can think of off the top of my head are FFXI and Grandia II.
true, but sometimes the software does show up on ebay, and there's always yahooJP... of course neither helps you to read all the Japanese text, but at least the games will work on American PC's, if you have a Japanese language pack installed... I haven't tried it yet myself, but I'm often tempted to do it... if I could get a complete list of all the Master of Monsters games released for the PC in Japan, I'd start collecting those for sure, if only just to have them!
Hawksmoor
07-17-2009, 09:34 AM
My answer for shits and giggles - the Playdia. Fisher-Price could've distributed it!
My legit answer - the Wonderswan. I love handhelds in general, so one of the Wonderswan's quality most definitely should've been released state side.
fishsandwich
07-17-2009, 10:02 AM
The Telegames Personal Arcade almost had SG-1000 compatibility, no?
My understanding is that some do, some don't. I heard that Telegames (assholes) disabled the SG-1000 compatibility in some of the units they sold.
Mine plays SG-1000 games just fine... I bought the SG-1000 version of Congo Bongo (quite different than the Coleco game) and it fired right up.
My vote is also Wonderswan... a backlit Crystal would have rocked.
!