Analogue teasing PC-Engine Duo/Turbo Duo announcement? 10/16 8 a.m. PST

TSM · Oct 16, 2020

Glimlocker said:
That's the strange part of this. They could be making a decent amount of money if they just adhered to good business practices.
And they'd also earn much more goodwill from the consumers - if people could actually buy their products.

I'd eventually be willing to buy some of their products - they make great FPGA products, but it sure feels like they abuse their current standing as the only company who does this.

If they could produce enough product to meet demand they would. Hell they are struggling just to restock old stuff like the Super NT. Think about the fact that they don't even pay to manufacture the initial shipment of new products. People preordering fully funds production 6+ months out. They are just a tiny company still using what is essentially crowd funding to launch every new product. I wouldn't expect them to be able to change their business model until they can stop relying on preorder money just to bring new products to market. Until then we are likely going to have to live with limited quantity preorders.

Fularu · Oct 16, 2020

I'm really confused as to who came up with the idea of a port controller on the side of the console and WHY you would do such a completely stupid thing

This is highly unpractical, let alone if you want to use a multitap and more controllers

SoH said:
I know we are the minority but this is a bummer for sure.

Street Fighter probably won't fit either. Analogue, please consider

Populous wouldn't work too

AgeEighty · Oct 16, 2020

Fuzzy said:
🤣

Jesus christ that's unnecessary, but I guess what can you expect from an ostensible competitor?

Fularu · Oct 16, 2020

AgeEighty said:
Jesus christ that's unnecessary, but I guess what can you expect from an ostensible competitor?

How is Bob a competitor?

ZeroDS · Oct 16, 2020

I mentioned before but I'm not familiar with the PC engine very much apart from a few games. I currently have Snatcher. Wondering if anyone can point me to a list of must plays or something

Fularu · Oct 16, 2020

ZeroDS said:
I mentioned before but I'm not familiar with the PC engine very much apart from a few games. I currently have Snatcher. Wondering if anyone can point me to a list of must plays or something

You can start with the whole PCE mini games. But if you tell us which kind of games you enjoy it will be easier to list them

The PCE is strong in JRPGs and Shmups mostly

ZeroDS · Oct 16, 2020

Fularu said:
You can start with the whole PCE mini games. But if you tell us which kind of games you enjoy it will be easier to list them

The PCE is strong in JRPGs and Shmups mostly

Honestly I enjoy almost everything apart from strategy games (shining force excluded). I'll also be picking up Japanese copies if that makes any difference.

On an unrelated note, people really aren't fans of Analogue much anymore eh.

andymcc · Oct 16, 2020

ZeroDS said:
Honestly I enjoy almost everything apart from strategy games (shining force excluded). I'll also be picking up Japanese copies if that makes any difference.

Even Military Madness is easy to recommend if you don't typically like strategy games.

SoH · Oct 16, 2020

ZeroDS said:
Honestly I enjoy almost everything apart from strategy games (shining force excluded). I'll also be picking up Japanese copies if that makes any difference.

On an unrelated note, people really aren't fans of Analogue much anymore eh.

If this promo video created by Tony Hawk (no joke) doesn't convince you to play Lords of Thunder then nothing will.

It's 7 minutes long but give it a chance. It goes some places.

daegan · Oct 16, 2020

I actually hate the incredibly misguided thought that nerds seem to have that when a thing is popular and sells out, it must be all scalpers who grab it

Fularu · Oct 16, 2020

ZeroDS said:
Honestly I enjoy almost everything apart from strategy games (shining force excluded). I'll also be picking up Japanese copies if that makes any difference.

On an unrelated note, people really aren't fans of Analogue much anymore eh.

They have terrible business practices, poor customer support, poor long term support of their products, abysmal shipping charges and incredibly obnoxious social media presence

Fuzzy · Oct 16, 2020

SoH said:
I know we are the minority but this is a bummer for sure.

Street Fighter probably won't fit either. Analogue, please consider

Look at the pic from head on, it looks like it'll fit.

SoH · Oct 16, 2020

Fuzzy said:
Look at the pic from head on, it looks like it'll fit.

Hmm, could be deceiving because it is a schematic sketch but for my turbo ED the top part doubles the height so seems like it might still not fit if the notch is any indication of size, but good to see they seem to be considering it. Hopefully it is addressed/confirmed before it goes to manufacture.

Darknight · Oct 16, 2020

Didn't the PCE and TG-16 have different a different pin layout for the HuCards? I remember a converter was needed back in the day to map the pins correctly to play import HuCards. I wonder how they plan to handle the mapping? I can't imagine it's possible to automatically detect without storing some sort of database that identifies which game you're playing and to know which mode to select. So unless they do that, will you have to set the mode in the menu before launching?

ThorHammerstein · Oct 16, 2020

SoH said:
I really want them to do a[nother] Neo Geo, but I suspect now that optical media is on the table the PS1 is the most obvious next step.

Maybe a CDX style all in one Mega Drive / Mega CD

Since they were able to do this combo system, it's unfortunate that they didn't do it for the Mega SG (at least Gen/MD + CD).
PS1 does seem like the likely next step but since they don't mind going niche, bring on the Saturn system :D

JamesQuall · Oct 16, 2020

daegan said:
I actually hate the incredibly misguided thought that nerds seem to have that when a thing is popular and sells out, it must be all scalpers who grab it

I'm sure the demand for the Pocket was legitimately big and that's what crashed the check out that morning, but scalper listings went up the same day on eBay so it's pretty clear those types of buyers are also targeting these products at this point.

Jebusman · Oct 16, 2020

daegan said:
I actually hate the incredibly misguided thought that nerds seem to have that when a thing is popular and sells out, it must be all scalpers who grab it

I mean they usually think that when they already see ebay listings pop up the moment it goes up for pre-order.

Hanzo said:
They should just release one base console like MiSTer since they are using the same Cyclone 5 FPGA for all their consoles anyway. And let people add a CD-ROM drive or other expansions if they want to. That way they they'd only have to make produce one thing and you wouldn't get this limited quantities nonsense.

Even better if they would make a dock for the pocket that supported that.

That's what the PolyMega is supposed to be. A base unit with a CD drive that you slot on expansion parts to get specific cartridge/controller ports.

daegan · Oct 16, 2020

JamesQuall said:
I'm sure the demand for the Pocket was legitimately big and that's what crashed the check out that morning, but scalper listings went up the same day on eBay so it's pretty clear those types of buyers are also targeting these products at this point.

Oh absolutely, it's just that when things aren't like, numbered collector's editions and stuff like that, people sitting on it don't make up a majority of buyers by any shot, despite the impression a few pages of eBay listings gives.

Jebusman said:
I mean they usually think that when they already see ebay listings pop up the moment it goes up for pre-order.

Correlation =! causation.

Polioliolio · Oct 16, 2020

SoH said:
I know we are the minority but this is a bummer for sure.

Street Fighter probably won't fit either. Analogue, please consider

Look closely at the picture. It appears there is specifically enough room for cards like this.

I'm very excited for this, but after the analog pocket fiasco, I don't expect I'll be able to get one. Remember, it sold out in, what was it, 3 minutes???

Fularu · Oct 16, 2020

ThorHammerstein said:
Since they were able to do this combo system, it's unfortunate that they didn't do it for the Mega SG (at least Gen/MD + CD).
PS1 does seem like the likely next step but since they don't mind going niche, bring on the Saturn system :D

The version of the Cyclone V they're using is too small to have both the MD and the MCD in a single device

It's fine for the PCE because for all intents and purposes it's just a big game card with audio tracks. The CD Rom adds no special enhancing hardware

Fuzzy · Oct 16, 2020

SoH said:
Hmm, could be deceiving because it is a schematic sketch but for my turbo ED the top part doubles the height so seems like it might still not fit if the notch is any indication of size, but good to see they seem to be considering it. Hopefully it is addressed/confirmed before it goes to manufacture.

You're making the assumption that the bottom rectangle is the card size when it's more likely higher than that.

Polioliolio · Oct 16, 2020

Fuzzy said:
You're making the assumption that the bottom rectangle is the card size when it's more likely higher than that.

Yeah, if you zoom in on the picture, look at the shape of the card slot. You can see on the side that it seems to be about the same shape as the street fighter card.

Meatwad · Oct 16, 2020

Fuzzy said:
You're making the assumption that the bottom rectangle is the card size when it's more likely higher than that.

It's also worth noting these are renders and not pics of a final product and details are subject to change

Deleted member 48201 · Oct 16, 2020

Jebusman said:
I mean they usually think that when they already see ebay listings pop up the moment it goes up for pre-order.

That's what the PolyMega is supposed to be. A base unit with a CD drive that you slot on expansion parts to get specific cartridge/controller ports.

Polymega uses emulators instead of FPGA though.

Meatwad · Oct 16, 2020

Hanzo said:
Polymega uses emulators instead of FPGA though.

It's also almost $500. $400 for the base unit and $80 for the Hucard/Turbochip module. While this is $199 for everything

Chakoo · Oct 16, 2020

While I don't think they would do it. Since they are now doing CD drives it would be nice if they did a Sega CD addon for the Mega SG that stacks and connects like the Model 1 Sega CD. Sure it would probably be another $200 since it will needs it's own FPGA but still it would be awesome to see.

SoH · Oct 16, 2020

Fuzzy said:
You're making the assumption that the bottom rectangle is the card size when it's more likely higher than that.

We are in agreement. Sorry if my first sentence ramble wasn't clearer.

Polioliolio said:
Yeah, if you zoom in on the picture, look at the shape of the card slot. You can see on the side that it seems to be about the same shape as the street fighter card.

The everdrive is rectangular. It doesn't recess in at the top like the SF card. In any case, It is all conjecture at this stage. Only Analogue can give exact dimensions so hopefully they confirm what will fit.

Edit: here is a side by side with a regular card to get an idea how chunky it is.

Polioliolio · Oct 16, 2020

SoH said:
We are in agreement. Sorry if my first sentence ramble wasn't clearer.

The everdrive is rectangular. It doesn't recess in at the top like the SF card. In any case, It is all conjecture at this stage. Only Analogue can give exact dimensions so hopefully they confirm what will fit.

Oh, yes that one does look too large for sure.

Agent Unknown · Oct 16, 2020

Wow, that is beautiful, this will be my first Analogue system. I'm going to try to get one even though I had my Duo recapped, repaired and RGB modded a few years ago, this is too good to pass up and such a slick, stable option. I also don't currently own a Supergrafx but still have a copy of Aldynes I haven't played in years so another reason this is a must own for me.

Nerdkiller · Oct 16, 2020

The thing that bothers me about this including a CD drive is its replacement should it break. Is it possible to replace it wholesale, or can we replace any parts with easily sourced materials?

TSM · Oct 16, 2020

Nerdkiller said:
The thing that bothers me about this including a CD drive is its replacement should it break. Is it possible to replace it wholesale, or can we replace any parts with easily sourced materials?

It's likely going to have to go through Analogue to be repaired. I was hoping they'd do external USB which would make it a non issue, but they've gone custom instead. Optical drives are usually the primary point of failure for consoles, so we'll see how this works out in the long run.

Shaneus · Oct 16, 2020

AgeEighty said:
Jesus christ that's unnecessary, but I guess what can you expect from an ostensible competitor?

How is he a competitor?

Beer Monkey · Oct 16, 2020

Polioliolio said:
I'm very excited for this, but after the analog pocket fiasco, I don't expect I'll be able to get one. Remember, it sold out in, what was it, 3 minutes???

The Analogue Pocket is not sold out.

The first batch of preorders is sold out.

Huge difference.

ThorHammerstein · Oct 17, 2020

Fularu said:
The version of the Cyclone V they're using is too small to have both the MD and the MCD in a single device

It's fine for the PCE because for all intents and purposes it's just a big game card with audio tracks. The CD Rom adds no special enhancing hardware

True; I always forget it's just storage and the system cards are just RAM expansion. 😅

Polioliolio said:
Yeah, if you zoom in on the picture, look at the shape of the card slot. You can see on the side that it seems to be about the same shape as the street fighter card.

SF2 is a popular game so I'd like to think they know that and made sure it would fit in the system (and flashcarts as well).

ZeroDS · Oct 17, 2020

I just picked up military madness for 900 yen so happy with that! Lords of thunder looks great but it's kinda pricy so I might wait on it a bit. Anything else to keep an eye out for?

TheWraith · Oct 17, 2020

ZeroDS said:
I just picked up military madness for 900 yen so happy with that! Lords of thunder looks great but it's kinda pricy so I might wait on it a bit. Anything else to keep an eye out for?

The obvious one would be Rondo of Blood.

dock · Oct 17, 2020

Wow, very interesting choice for a console.

I am very tempted to get the Pocket cart adapter, but I mostly rely on the Turbo Everdrive right now. I wonder how far that would stick out of the machine.

eurogamer:
"The big question is how video output will be handled as the community recently discovered some quirks with the composite video output which are lost when using RGB."

What is the quirk referred to here? I have only ever used an RGB modded PCE.

Listai · Oct 17, 2020

AgeEighty said:
Jesus christ that's unnecessary, but I guess what can you expect from an ostensible competitor?

How is Bob a competitor?

also I don't think ostensible means what you think it means.

AgeEighty · Oct 17, 2020

Listai said:
How is Bob a competitor?

also I don't think ostensible means what you think it means.

I got RetroRGB and RetroUSB mixed up. So it means exactly what I think it means in that context, if I hadn't made that mistake.

Listai · Oct 17, 2020

AgeEighty said:
I got RetroRGB and RetroUSB mixed up. So it means exactly what I think it means in that context, if I hadn't made that mistake.

Ah gotcha.

TSM · Oct 17, 2020

dock said:
What is the quirk referred to here? I have only ever used an RGB modded PCE.

There's a pretty good explanation in this thread: https://pcengine.proboards.com/thread/979/improper-colors

Basically RGB has rounding errors in the conversion from the native YUV. The only way to avoid those rounding errors is to use composite, or in the case of FPGA or emulation to use the correct conversion. This was only discovered recently.

RedOnePunch · Oct 17, 2020

SoH said:
I know we are the minority but this is a bummer for sure.

Street Fighter probably won't fit either. Analogue, please consider

They've always been good with compatibility so hopefully they've thought of this and the everdrive already.

TSM said:
There's a pretty good explanation in this thread: https://pcengine.proboards.com/thread/979/improper-colors

Basically RGB has rounding errors in the conversion from the native YUV. The only way to avoid those rounding errors is to use composite, or in the case of FPGA or emulation to use the correct conversion. This was only discovered recently.

This is really Interesting, thanks for posting. So there is an adjustment to the RGB color values that's made by the video chip as it's converting RGB to composite. Haven't read the rest of the thread but i wonder if this is consistent across all pc engines

TSM · Oct 17, 2020

RedOnePunch said:
This is really Interesting, thanks for posting. So there is an adjustment to the RGB color values that's made by the video chip as it's converting RGB to composite. Haven't read the rest of the thread but i wonder if this is consistent across all pc engines

No, like the NES the PC Engine natively outputs in the YUV color space. To get RGB out of the PC Engine there has to be a conversion from YUV to RGB. It's during this conversion where the rounding errors happen.

Goddo Hando · Oct 17, 2020

TSM said:
It's likely going to have to go through Analogue to be repaired. I was hoping they'd do external USB which would make it a non issue, but they've gone custom instead. Optical drives are usually the primary point of failure for consoles, so we'll see how this works out in the long run.

the jailbreak will be out the first week this is released, so there'll be ways around drive failure

Polioliolio · Oct 17, 2020

Beer Monkey said:
The Analogue Pocket is not sold out.

The first batch of preorders is sold out.

Huge difference.

It'd be nice to know those are coming. I'm still waiting on the Mega SG cart adapters to reappear. It's been well over a year right?

Fularu · Oct 17, 2020

Polioliolio said:
It'd be nice to know those are coming. I'm still waiting on the Mega SG cart adapters to reappear. It's been well over a year right?

They were available this summer

Polioliolio · Oct 17, 2020

Fularu said:
They were available this summer

For more than 8 minutes?

Fularu · Oct 17, 2020

Polioliolio said:
For more than 8 minutes?

Yes?

Polioliolio · Oct 17, 2020

Fularu said:
Yes?

Okay, I do see they're in stock now. Great!

You have to spare some understanding. They were out of stock for as long as I can remember.

Kass15 · Oct 17, 2020

Still waiting on the shipping date of the nt mini noir. Thought we would get a date with the announcement.

Analogue teasing PC-Engine Duo/Turbo Duo announcement? 10/16 8 a.m. PST

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