why foreign consoles are worth owning?

[shvnsth]

im looking for mostly jap system that were never released here, and are worth buying for the games that work on it that never came out in the us. i starting this, because im thinking about getting a jap saturn for all that jap exclusive shit....but will buy a jap psx if there are a lot of great games i couldn't play on a us one that never came out here.

already own:
nes
sms
gen
snes
psx
n64
dc
ps2
xbox
gc
gba
psp
neo geo mvs
all us editions

[Zadoc]

Well, you can mod a US Saturn to play imports.

But I suggest picking up a GP32.

[Lemmy Kilmister]

But I suggest picking up a GP32.


Good choice, but he'll probably just end up playing NES roms off it anyways. I'd suggest you just get a mod chip or some sort of convertor for one of the many systems you already own and import a couple games first. I mean, importing a japan, pal, ect.. only system will just end up being a pain in the balls and you'll likely just end up selling it. Plus the price of importing.. let's say an MSX is going to cost a shitload of money in shipping,

[Lord Contaminous]

FM Towns Marty

Wonderswan

Bandai Playdia

NEC PCFX

You should get into PC Engine (Japanese Turbografx). The selection for PC is phenomenal.

[Cthulhu]

There are lots of great Japanese PS1 and PS2 games that never got/will never get released in the US. The Saturn and Turbografix 16/Turbo Duo / PC Engine are pretty much -only- really good systems if you buy imports. And oh my are some of them good.

The Japan-only systems (Marty, Supergrafix, Playdia, Wonderswan, PCFX, MSX, X68K, etc) have some really cool stuff on em, but they will cost you a LOT of money in many cases, and it will take a large amount of time and effort to track down the games, systems, accessories, and (in some cases) spare parts.

[shvnsth]

three things

1. im not really looking for rpgs or anything at all text heavy, most shmups (all i hear about is jap shmups) and platformers, but i hear a lot of good shmups and fighting games are jap exclusive

2. can the pc engine play the us turbografx games, or do i have to get a us and a jap one

3. is it worth it to get a jap snes or a jap dc?

so far im thinking a jap saturn and a psx.

[Lord Contaminous]

1. yeah Japan always gets the good stuff that other countries think are too "niche"

2. Nope. PCE can't play US TG cards. Besides as I said before, you're better off with the TG16's Japanese side. Their library is just a little over half the Famicom's.

3. getting Japanese versions of any system is worth it IMO. cuz it just.....makes your collection look cool

[Fuyukaze]

Win the lotto. Or get a nice inheritance. Most import shooters good, or even bad are expensive. The Saturn has an arse load of shooters that were never released in the states. I find the Pro-Action Replay to be a good tool to playing import games on my Saturn as it has a huge memory card, built in cheats, works as a 1/4 meg card for games that need it, and is still reasonably priced.

[shvnsth]

should i buy the consoles or just emulate them on the mame cab, that also run colsole emu's on it also. what system emulate really well, and what do not. i will buy a jap saturn if they don't run so well on a comp, but if the 20 jap snes shmups worth playing are easily emued and i have a much better cab and controller to play them on, ill prob just emu them

so what systems emulate well between these:

jap snes
jap psx
jap saturn
pc engine

[Lord Contaminous]

PC Engine. But you have to pay for it to be a full emulator. Everytime you use it there's a 5 minute timer. But there is a trick though to cheat, before time's up, use a save state and you can continue when you reload the emulator.

There are Saturn and PSX emulators out there, but I get mixed signals about it.

[shvnsth]

Win the lotto. Or get a nice inheritance.

i don't really pay for my game... my parents usually do that

ok so this is what i think im going to do

X use my import disk for psx
X use my import disk for dc (didn't know i had these 2, can i use us memory cards for the save files when playing imports?)

X get a pro action replay for saturn (http://www.lik-sang.com/info.php?category=178&products_id=1694&)
get a freeloader for gc ($20, any jap gc games worth importing? or should i skip it?)

emu the pc engine
emu the jap snes


is this the right way to go? that would be fucking stellar, as i would not have to buy a single new system. yesterday night, i was planning on getting 4 new consoles, would have been wasted $. thanks in advance

[Ed Oscuro]

Super Famicom units shouldn't be too expensive; even new ones are easy enough to find. Shipping shouldn't be too bad, either...as far as consoles go (less than $40 I believe, and that'd be from Japan). Still, emulating gives you access to translations, though setting up the controller on a keyboard can be messy...

With the PC-Engine CD-ROMs, yeah, emulating isn't a bad idea, and the new Magic Engine is pretty nice. Unfortunately that doesn't work for the PlayStation, unless you want to mess around with ePSXe...

For Sega systems after the Genesis, I really don't use or even like collecting for the various CD-ROM systems (the DreamCast is alright). I never worried much about shelf space back in the day, but the game boxes are incredibly ugly and huge. I'd much rather go with Japanese versions (outside of RPGs, that is).

[Mayhem]

I see there's been no mention of the N64DD unit here. Works fine with a US N64 and most of the software is not that hard to find. You just need a Japanese copy of F-Zero X if you want to use the Expansion Kit.

[ClubNinja]

Win the lotto. Or get a nice inheritance.

i don't really pay for my game... my parents usually do that

Great.

[shvnsth]

Win the lotto. Or get a nice inheritance.

i don't really pay for my game... my parents usually do that

Great.

Well fucking thank you very much.

[Fuyukaze]

Umich wrote-

i don't really pay for my game... my parents usually do that

*attempts to use Jedi mind powers*
As to that, I have little to say beyond I am your long lost brother. Please remind our parents I could use a new Gamecube. And some pizza.

Sorry man, I'm j/k there.

As to the DC, I use a Gameshark. The VMUs have saved every single import game I own so I wouldnt worry that there is an issue with any region issues. Also, I see no reason it would matter reguarding saving on what boot disc you use to play the import. I got the GS, and I was happy with it. I dont know about the PS1 as I dont own any import games for it let alone if the Gameshark for it allows them to be used. The Pro Action Replay for the Saturn as I mentioned is a good find. I paid 29$ from NCSx. While its around 4$ more then Lik Sang, if your ordering it in the states the savings in the shiping. The SNES system is by far the most easy to mod for the ability to play import titles on. Next time you look at yours, simply look on the inside where the cart is inserted. Notice the 2 plastic pegs where the back of the cart would be? Once those 2 are removed, it plays imports just as well as domestic. Some dont like doing this as they consider it an ugly alteration of it. Myself, I could care less as its my system, not theres. Getting the games is a different story as most shooters are expensive (I think so).

I dont have much experience with the PC-Engine or the Gamecube so I cant be of much help there.

[PS1Expert]

three things

1. im not really looking for rpgs or anything at all text heavy, most shmups (all i hear about is jap shmups) and platformers, but i hear a lot of good shmups and fighting games are jap exclusive

2. can the pc engine play the us turbografx games, or do i have to get a us and a jap one

3. is it worth it to get a jap snes or a jap dc?

so far im thinking a jap saturn and a psx.

What is a shmups? Shoot'Em Ups? BTW, forget a bootdisc to play Jap psx games. Just get a jap system or (I don't endorse these) but a modded psx. I have over 1200 jap psx games...lots of good playable stuff never released in the states. BTW, I won't play rpgs/strategy or other games that are heavy in japanese.

[Tron 2.0]

Super Grafix sure it's liebrary is, small but it has a nice port of 1941 Counter attack. Plus it can play the entire selection of PCE games.

One more thing it can be "modded" to play U.S hucards also 8-)

[bazariah]

PC Engine. But you have to pay for it to be a full emulator. Everytime you use it there's a 5 minute timer. But there is a trick though to cheat, before time's up, use a save state and you can continue when you reload the emulator.
.

i have a fantastic pc engine emulator which is 100% free, it also has a system 3 rom to run cd based software

[Yamazaki]

A DUO-R system here costs about 150$ not that much.

I modded my DC but wasn`t really satisfied since speed-intense games like KoF oder Garou weren`t running with full speed. Though I have to say I got the chip in 2000.

[fpbrush]

What is a shmups? Shoot'Em Ups?

You are correct! Shmups usually refer to top down or horizontal scrolling shooters. Think Raiden, R-type, or Gradius. They have quite the niche community online.

[Teo]

The PAL Pikachu N64 is a nice departure from what was seen In NA and JP