Pioneer Laseractive System review - Gamester81

The Pioneer Laseractive was released in 1993 and sold for $970. There were several PACs that were released to expand the ability of the system and they sold anywhere from $350-$600.
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[@Barnacules]

There is something about watching a movie on Laser Disc that is so much better then watching it on DVD. I still remember my favorite Starwars experience ever was watching the original movies on Laser Disc with a range expander and a nice big CRT!

[@notsteve82]

This was a good find, thanks for sharing!

[@ratkilla7.62]

u should 3d print another phon case :D

[@ratkilla7.62]

+kyle sullivan phone*

[@MNC122703]

Great video bro , it was really cool that you put our links in the sidebar man , your a great guy

[@Num1shark]

I'm really glad to see you made a video for this system. I have been trying to get a complete one for a long time. I have Over 550 laser discs, that I have been collecting for over 6 years now. Also four working Pioneer LD players. I got one of these to go with my large LD and game system collection, but sadly It was poorly taken care of before I got it, So on ebay it went.

[@coldlogic1]

man im in love with that collection, pretty muct all of my favorite older movies in there.

[@Drachenreiterklaus]

lovely collection of laserdiscs you have!

[@Bozzdawg1]

I never knew they made laserdiscs that were not in the hard plastic sleeves. Those were the only ones I ever knew about. This system is awesome, I'm picking one up. Thanks for the upload.

[@GamerBoyGU82]

that is quite an amazing system you have! and an awesome selection of Laser Discs

[@koopaGG]

What Laserdisc had (or in some cases still does) going for it was how excellent the audio was. There was an issue of quality between players though.

[@Gamester81]

I got mine awhile go with the Sega PAC and 10 Laserdics for $250. The demand keeps going up for these systems.

[@RA7ICU5]

when u opened up he drive i noticed spots for other sized discs any info on those? and thank u for being so informative in your videos

[@2749rnefjkbkfsgn]

I love the Wall. One of my favorite movies of all time. Great collection there Gamester.

[@AzumiRM]

Pioneer have released an LD/DVD player too now. LD is also used in nearly all Karaoke centers in Japan.

[@Atarix777]

Wooow, you have some really great classics there man - just cool :-D I love the LD, it was such a amazing format...

[@RA7ICU5]

what other pacs were there and if u had the genesis pac in could u put sega cd games in the drive?

[@johneymute]

it sounds stupid but do the laserdiscs and cd,s share the same disc tray and/or laser,i ask this becouse it seems that the cd tray also becomes a part of the laserdis tray. even strange i,ve readed that cd,s and laserdiscs can be used as both of digital and/or analogue media.

[@chanbyun7242]

The Pioneer Laseractive System along with the Sega Genesis and Turbo Grafx 16 PACs are retro items that I really want. They sell them on eBay and when it's time, I will finally purchase them as well as my favorite movies that were released on laser disc before DVDs and blur ray discs came out on the market. They'd be great collector's items that I will be proud to both possess and use.

[@KeiferMac]

voyage of the mimi! did you grow up in the phoenix area by any chance? that was around in the early 90s in grade school. i remember having to create the water distiller from the movie. thanks for reminding me of that.

[@luiscanamarvega]

@SuperWing0 good to see you're interested in all this wonderful old junk from our days, i salute you :)

[@warnerg80]

Can you use a 6 button Genesis controller with this unit rather than the actual Laseractive controller?

[@RynoTheGamer]

Very cool video! Never knew these existed.

[@Gamester81]

The Star Wars movies that I have are from the original theatrical release. They did later release a special THX edition.

[@thomasj61]

if you put this system on its side, can you hook up the sega powerbase converter and play sms games?

[@Gamester81]

The Sega Powerbase converter is not compatible with this unit and only works on the model 1 Genesis. I'm not sure about hte Game Genie because I've never tried to hook it up to this system, but my guess is that it would work on this.

[@SebisRandomTech]

I just watched an old VHS trailer for Sleepless in Seattle. Also, my school still has a bunch of Laserdisc players in their A/V room, along with some S-VHS VCRs and a few Betamax VCRs.

[@wojiaobill]

gamester81 did you ever find the pc engine pack?

[@MinecraftCool3]

Do you have the nec pac yet

[@Tecnoninjatangreen]

do you have RDI halycon can you do a review bye the way im from seatle

[@P4CJinYoYo]

So how much would this sell now sell now???

[@jeffmacknz]

Nice video. I subbed up. Nice video. You seem to know a lot about the system. Do you know if the Turbo Everdrive will work on it?

[@akumacornflakes]

Excellent find, it doesn't get much rarer than the Laseractive. My school had a Laserdisc player, but I never saw anyone use it, which is a shame since I was always really fascinated with it.

[@cabesa81]

I grew up on LD's! seen half of that collection when I was 10 yrs old

[@CodedErrors]

@Fakk28 the ceds were impossible to scratch, because you pu the case in and the disk comes into the player

[@Cyrillion]

that's just awesome. It's always baffling to see what kinds of systems actually exist

[@Gamester81]

At really random places. Ebay, Craigslist, Goodwill, and garage sales are the best places for finding my systems that I have.

[@Fuuraisen]

Great Vid. I remember back when i was like 8 or 9 my parents would rent a LaserDisc player and movies from our local Library.

[@Tecnoninjatangreen]

Awesome i really want one of these looks lots of fun

[@agreekgod11]

Hey gamester81, just wondering what the average price is of the laseractive if you wanted to buy one today....thanks

[@maestroaxeman]

This is one of the coolest systems...if you can still afford one. They still fetch $500 on eBay. I have one of these and I can do all kinds of things like play CD's, LD's, VCD's, Sega genesis and Sega CD's, Karaoke CD+G's with the Sega PAC-S1. Just like gamester81, I am looking for the US version of the Turbo GRAFX 16 PAC-N1 which plays hu-card and CD games of that model and all PAC's play Karaoke CD's as well. My system has over 175 LD's and 150 SEGA games. Truly a collector's dream! MY FAVE...

[@TheNews1990]

@Gamester81 what about the phillips LD that was suppose to be for the snes but instead had nintendo licenesed material

[@TheBroz]

Great collection and thanks for sharing. Totally jealous.

[@sinistermoon]

Way awesome collection man! I still have the remote from my Pioneer laser disc and one laser disc I refuse to part with, A Nightmare on Elm Street 5. That is crazy that those things cost so much when they came out.

[@japon68]

I have a Question, what is the average cost or more specifically did you get it for? I just won one on an auction at goodwill of all places for $50, but it is missing the controls. Also can I use a regular Genesis control to watch the LD movies?

[@thomasj61]

does game genie work on it too?

[@Lachlant1984]

I absolutely love the way that Genesis PAC slids into the fromt of the system, that's so awesome.

[@Gamester81]

@Fakk28 Cool bro. Always great to bump into other LD fans out there. Thanks for the knowledge.

[@TheKorfish]

I remember somewhere back in 2001 or so my uncle obtained a laserdisc player along with what seemed to be 200 lasr discs but for some reason it never worked good review by the way.

[@CrazyJoe]

Grew up in Seattle? Awesome!

[@BlueAcid9]

+Gamester81 Slightly off topic, but do the NEC/Sega LD games require ROM carts or CDs? Or can you play it with just the LD?

[@92greenz34]

@Gamester81 i know you are rather busy with over 6000 veiws on this vid and almost 10000 subscibers but just curious if you know if the laseractive has an auto reverse feature built in so you dont have to flip the disk? i am actually considering buying one but am not sure how high end the ld player is a lot of ppl talk about how it can play games but i want to make this my first ld player and want to know if its a good one i would'nt waste your time, but its hard to find ppl who have 1 THANKS

[@SuperSuperZ]

where do you get all your consoles from?

[@nathanallan1]

I had no idea so many movies were on LD-- some of them aren't really that old. Neat collection!

[@PhatPhunk]

Awesome man! Pioneer LaserActive is indeed a rare gem, and congrats on owning one!! I thought the PAC interchangeable module was a neat concept.. except for the ridiculous pricetag!! Also, sweet LaserDisc collection! Seems alot of guys here are now into LD :P

[@JerryTerrifying]

I put up a video showing my Laseractive playing games and I opened both disc trays you should check that out. There's two separate eject buttons. One for the CDs and one for the Laserdiscs.

[@pandaroni_epres]

wow terminator 2 lazer disk awesome so jealous/happy to see you have it and cool Netflix has it on there now too

[@echo036]

great review, everytime i go to the thrift store i check to see if there is one stashed with all the VCR's.

[@scottstgeorge5259]

Can you use a pc engine pac on a North American console?

[@Sonicthehedgehog201]

I feel proud to own this thing now. And yes a Majority of laserdiscs do have chapter select. but not a sence selction screen.

[@windyshrimp]

Yup, the next scene button that makes the no sign appear on the screen... There are 8 minutes of ads on the Skyfall DVD, all completely unskipable. You can hit the menu button or skip buttons all you want.

[@bencheshire]

But will it blend?

[@wyldelf2685]

Love the Laser active , one of the oddball licensed Sega players it's off a lot of folks radar , , some folks never heard of it , , cool machine John , 👍🎃👍

[@madmax2069]

Have you found a pac-n10 yet

[@maestroaxeman]

@JerryTerrifying yup...picked one up barely used like new for $189 and used it in my Karaoke DJ biz for about 4 months when I found out how rare they actually are. Got a ton of movies and games for it now as well....quite a cool little system despite the rarity and the lofty price for the PAC N-1 ( most sought after module: at around a grand now for the N-1 ALONE. I am still searching out mine like gamester81...

[@warnerg80]

I just found this at goodwill for 12 dollars after 20% off. Buy mine says sega genesis and sega cd. Also can other controllers work?

[@saskatoonguy]

Yeah... how many of your LD's caught disc rot though?

[@killazx9]

Thanks for the upload. I was really excited when I read about it on magazines back in the day. It was super expensive but I was ready to buy the Japanese version anyway + the PCE and the Sega packs. Luck for me, I was not successful in finding one. Soon enough the playstation came out and changed everything. My LD collection end up being tossed away when I moved. What a shame. The problem of this system, I think is because both NEC and Sega are not really willing to let it come close to out selling their own consoles.

[@strocat25]

gawwwwd! you got the abyss on laserdisc! that damn well may be my favortie movie of all time.. and pink floyd the wall too! ... sweet collection, and that genesis pac is killer!

[@megamanfan3]

I didn't even know Star Trek: Generations even came out as a LaserDisc. I lean something new every day.

[@jayzilla331]

i got the turbo gafixx plugin for this machine got it at an auction in Baltimore

[@TheSkyRender]

This video officially has over six times as many views as there were LaserActive units sold. That is just scary.

[@The90sGamingGuy]

I didn't know that LD players came with video game hardware. Is it the real Genesis hardware or emulation system? How does LD fair on an HDTV?

[@pepsiru1es92]

haha, my school still has a few laser disc players. Nice video, gamester81.

[@jefffan171]

Ahh ha !!! Found it ;-) Now about to check it out. All the best

[@Samcubegamer]

DUCK TALES!!! Legend!! Great review dude :P

[@bobskie321]

9:18 cool Jurassic Park packaging. You can open it with bigger pictures inside. I miss that. On a DVD or Bluray, the pictures are much smaller.

[@spectreair]

WOW great review........ im trying to get one

[@maverickbna]

Really nostalgic, Gamester! I remember when I was young I had an LP copy of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, narrated by none other than Michael Jackson! It'd be awesome to chat over Skype, and if I ever catch you in person I'll buy you a beer! Cheers! :)

[@DlNKYDANA]

That's a beat of a machine. It's huge!

[@Gamester81]

Yeah I've got a lot of vinyls as well and that somehow made it into my LD pile. =)

[@MaximumRD]

That is an awesome system. It was so out of my reach, damn I had product info from Pioneer back in the day, wish I had kept that doh!

[@dogeymon83]

You're wrong. Many Laserdiscs had chapter skip. The early ones didn't, but they integrated chapters into the majority of laserdiscs that I own, especially the boxed set movies.

[@spike007980]

\m/ to you having Heavy Metal on LD. I too want to own a Laserdisc player sometime soon, but I will have to invest in a rare tv that did 16:9 thats not lcd.

[@lestat34208]

@SteelSkin667 actually I heard that it does indeed play them.

[@kmoss1122]

one of my teachers in middle school still uses one of these, although it doesnt have a sega genesis PAC.

[@killdoser666]

I have a mintcondition Close Encounters of the third kind on lazer disc (It's been opened but never watched)

[@michele11804]

You know, its always a humbling experience finding out that what you think is new or cool has been done before. But for you, sir, it probably isn't, and that makes it easy to ignore or give a 'fawk' what you say.

[@RobertC19850209]

ok i see it's sega genesis and sega cd compatible. is there a way to make it 32x compatible too?

[@RedRanger2001]

Sorry, but no.

[@Enigmatism415]

Actually, In some cases, Laserdisc audio was better than that of DVD. DTS Laserdiscs have full bandwidth while DTS DVDs have half bandwidth. The PCM tracks of both were practically the same (DVDs have a slightly higher sample-rate for video-sync reasons, negligible difference). Dolby Digital tracks had about the same bandwidth on each as well, perhaps a bit less on Laserdiscs due to the RF modulation.

[@maestroaxeman]

@92greenz34 HI... I think the only player Pioneer made that was a double-sided player was the LD-199 or something like that. This system has to have the LD manually flipped. Kinda the only drawback to LD's, but they are nostalgic tech-geek fantastic, though

[@TheMetroidMurderer]

Holy crap those disk are huge.

[@jacobleb420]

Yeah, but after those 5 minutes of ads you get 1080p 5.1 quality vs 480i stereo! Not to mention the bonus features, and that you don't have to get up four times to switch sides and discs for a two hour movie.

[@BryonLape]

Laserdiscs were laid out in a linear fashion very similar to LPs.

[@SebisRandomTech]

The school was built in 1969 and was renovated in 1991. But my school never uses its old electronics. They have iPads, laptops, and projectors that they use now. (if it was up to me, they would still use the old stuff, it's way better than the Apple junk they use today.

[@JerryTerrifying]

Yes you can. With the Sega PAC you can play Genesis carts, Sega CD and Mega LD laserdisc games. with the NEC PAC you can play Turbografx Hucard games, Turbo CD games and LD ROM2 laserdisc games.

[@DURAMATRIX112]

i saw one of these at goodwill. and one that was an rca..but looked like diskettes.

[@rooty83]

brainscan...loved that movie

[@Tornado1994]

The reason why it could play Genesis and SEGA CD games is because a few years earlier SEGA had a partnership deal with Pioneer to build a LD add on for Mega Drive that was scrapped early on in development due to it's expensive budget. Which became Mega CD. Pioneer still had a deal with SEGA to use the hardware for games and in 1993 Sega sold a mod compatibly card for the LaserActive

[@astoroth88]

The rage is strong in this one.

[@Marcos_Ledinich]

i hate that you never power on the systems

[@cetrata1993]

Hey gamester, there's a site called laseractive preservation project. Unfortunately, their laseractive broke down and could end the project soon if their laseractive system doesn't get replaced. Is it possible if you could please donate or sell your laseractive to them? I know it's a lot to ask. Thanks.

[@Watcher3223]

+Chris Etrata What's wrong with their LaserActive?

[@shaneclack3234]

I personally think the audio on LDs are superior to DVD... HiFi analog DDA vs. Digitally compressed DDA