nicole
Gun-headed
Posts: 50
Fave PCE Shooter: Magical Chase
Fave PCE Platformer: Legendary Axe II
Fave PCE RPG: Ys III
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Post by nicole on Nov 20, 2020 23:11:32 GMT
As far as I can tell the main thing that was removed was the little level that locks the CD-tray closed on the Duo.
I'm not sure why that lever is even there. Was it a portability thing?
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Post by SignOfZeta on Nov 22, 2020 1:03:16 GMT
OK, so that doesn't count as anything being removed, then. Unless they just changed the power plug parameters, which wouldn't necessarily save them any money. I guess you must be referring to how the Duo R doesn’t work with the Duo battery. This is only true because the cases are not the same. It’s the same reason why...I don’t know, the Master Base Converter doesn’t work work the Genesis 2, or why Warioware Twisted doesn’t work with the Gameboy Player. The cost savings of the R aren’t super obvious but then it’s not super obvious why a Super Famicom Jr is cheaper than the original. There are all sorts of boring changes under the hood needed to design a cost revision and not all of them are obvious from looking at the final product. The main ones going from Duo to Duo R are: No headphone jack Slightly cheaper plastic Less shielding No window or lock on the CD door. The Duo itself was a cost reduced version of buying an IFU system. Most of the savings there were in making it a Duo, fewer connections, fewer parts, building the System in, etc as well as dropping all the buttons and display. The CDROM itself also was streamlined compared to the standalone unit (same with Super CDROM2).
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gilbot
Punkic Cyborg
Posts: 137
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Post by gilbot on Nov 22, 2020 7:54:48 GMT
For the "removal" of the battery port part I think it was just the official wordings (or what magazines back then used to write). In reality it was changed so that the DUO battery unit was no longer compatible with R and RX (plus, the colours didn't match heh).
The original DUO was introduced alongside the battery unit and the DUO monitor (which was just a LCD monitor that could be used for something else, but it sat perfectly on top of the DUO), so that it could be converted to a "portable" system, though how well it performed was questionable, especially if you tried to boot CD games on a moving train, making it nothing more than an oversized and overpriced GT without network play. Maybe they thought people would bring it to a picnic, but WHY?
By the time they designed the DUO R they probably realised that no one cared (and how stupid it was) so they changed the port(maybe it cut some cost there as well, I don't know).
The original PCE was already designed with some portability in mind, as you could easy store it, or move it from room to room (or to your friend's house) due to the awesome form factor of the original PCE/core. When they released the CD add-on they even sold brief cases to hold the system (though it's more likely for the ease of storage) and honestly a "portable" combo of DUO + battery + monitor wouldn't be much bigger than a laptop of that era so they might think that the idea made sense.
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Post by SignOfZeta on Nov 22, 2020 17:41:30 GMT
They put it in a briefcase to make it easier to put away...because in the 80s only trash people left their video game crap out on display 24/7 like its culture. (Also, everything in a Japanese house moves at some point so having an IFU+SGX sort of collection of crap would be really the opposite of the PCE’s tidy image. No matter how many things you add to a PCE it should be just one thing in the end.)
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Post by Black_Tiger on Nov 22, 2020 21:13:41 GMT
OK, so that doesn't count as anything being removed, then. Unless they just changed the power plug parameters, which wouldn't necessarily save them any money. The black molds in general were a higher cost. The material/color, the delecate vents, all the extra bits like the headphone jack and CD door lock...
I believe that the R/RX do use a different power supply, but the internal hardware is supposed to be somewhat streamlined as well.
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mrfulci
What's a PC Engine?
Posts: 1
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Post by mrfulci on Feb 24, 2021 8:56:49 GMT
I recall years back there being some talk that the Duo-R may make it to the US, could have been mentioned in a magazine or something similar. I never thought anything concerning it was made available, though. Watching that video, at first I though maybe someone had just added a TG-16 controller port to the Duo-R, it almost looks like that in the video. Something the guy making the video mentions, is the old program with trading in a non-functioning Duo system and getting a Duo-R in replacement being a possibility. I don't think that is the case, but it could be possible. Just filling in a bit I know about my time dealing with TZD.
I know that TZD did some odd, but cool stuff in the mid-late 90s. I recall waiting a bit too long to buy Dungeon Explorer 2, and the guy telling me on the phone I could order it, but it would not be the same as the original releases. They had asked for an extra 300 or so copies to be made, to meet with demand for Dungeon Explorer 2, and they had no more manuals for it, so they would be sending a Xerox copy of the manual. That's what arrived, a legit Dungeon Explorer 2 game, with a Xeroxed manual. As far as I know, that is the only game they did that with.
I was active on the PCEFX forums, so some may recall me, but to fill in a bit, I had some friends with TG-16 systems, however I was a bit late to get one. I had a Nintendo, Atari 2600, SNES, Sega Genesis, so, trying to get funds for another game system, and games for it... I really wanted that TG-16, but at that time, I had onyl so much to ask for around Christmas, birthdays, or even with my own cash at used game stores, etc, that I did not own my own TG-16 until maybe 1994 or so. This is after TG-16 was about dead. I managed to pick up a system and many games at a place that still had some old stock of it, very clearance priced. I think I ended up with a system and about 10 games for $50-$80 or so.
After I got that TG-16, being about the mid 90s at that point, some used video game stores had stopped even buying used games for sale, due to lack of demand. Before I even had that system, I knew I could get one at one point, and I recall buying Bloody Wolf used for $5 before I even had the system, when a Video game Exchange was clearing out TG-16 inventory. They had no systems at that point. So, in my search for games, the internet was a bit sparse at that point in time, I had to go through old video game magazines I had. This was when the 800-DUO-THIS phone number was still around. I called it up, due to seeing something about the Duo, them having games, some trade-in upgrade program for TG-16, etc. I recall the people there being very helpful, when I told them I was surprised the telephone number still worked, and they said, "Well, that's what we're here for, to help provide for these systems, etc".
Something, early on in my dealings with them, was they got catalogs out to me, and they really pushed for me to trade-in a TG-16 system, with controllers+hookups, along with $50 or so, and they would send me a brand new Duo system. I was on the fence about it a bit, since I only had 1 TG-16 system, so a few months later, when I got a used one someplace, I sent that in, and that's what arrived, a brand new, shrink-wrapped, Turbo Duo. I recall asking why they could not sell them, something about having to support a system 7 years after end of life, so they could not sell the discontinued systems, and their stock of them was being saved for upgrade situations, where one would send in a TG-16 system and some $ and get a Duo in exchange, or also as mentioned in the video here, warranty reasons.
I am thinking this Duo-R in the video is just a prototype, as TZD did dump their remaining stock of Duo systems in 2002 or so. It's not a case, like with Dungeon Explorer 2, where they ran out of stock, and then did another small print run to meet demand, but couldn't print the manual/case art for it for some reason (Save costs?), and just sent a Xerox manual.
Some may find the above information useful. I'll be around this board here and there. Over the years, I have tended to take breaks from my TG-16, and other older game systems, then return to them. I did something similar from sometime during the late 90s until... 04 or so, which in a way was a shame, as I know I'd have bought up a spare Duo system when TZD was clearing them out. Been taking a break from it for a while now, I did buy the mini when the price was acceptable for me, and it had been sitting in a box for a bit, and other than testing to make sure it powered on, not done much with it, however I have been checking it out moreso lately, and that has led to me seeing what I've missed with TG-16 stuff the past years. Some catching up to do!
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Post by ccovell on Feb 25, 2021 0:38:03 GMT
I don't have a Duo-R but the black Duo had 2 recesses on the back where a battery pack could clip in. That's probably what Gilbot is referring to.
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