The TurboDuo (EXTRA 4 - overview of the combo TurboGrafx-16 / CD-ROM console)

[@CyborgNinja7]

This came with some of the best games for the system.

[@Sinn0100]

This reminds me of the Sega CD in 1992. My model 1 came with Sherlock Holmes, Sega Collection Pack (4 or 5 Genesis games) and Sol Feace. I was absolutely blown away that it came with like 7 freaking games! Now, I did have two of them already (Streets of Rage and Golden Axe) and Golden Axe was single player which was strange. I was so absolutely stoked as I had a CD based system which was a big damn deal back then.

[@JoeyLappin]

When I was a kid, my dad sold our NES and games and put the money toward a TG-16+CD. The games blew my mind. Having speech, cutscenes, and the extra memory really pushed the system over the edge. I never regretted the loss of the NES. I even preferred the TG-16 over the SNES. It's really a bummer the console didn't fare better in the States.

[@gabbogabbo]

I was 11 years old in 92, and I remember hearing about the turboduo and other systems like neo-geo or 3DO. They seemed like legends and quite unattainable to get. I had an NES and some of my friends had a Sega Genesis. Very good review as usual!!

[@Wyrdwad]

Nice use of Ys music. (: And wow, what a great selection of pack-in games! I would have been totally blown away if I bought a system back then with such an awesome pack-in library!

[@MrSpidahhh]

Its really silly that you dont have that much viewers as you actually deserve. You make awesome reviews, I really love them! Finally someone who takes decent time and love to review TG-16 games. I also see you got class, since our nicknames match! ;-) keep it up mate!

[@Fauntleroy.]

Even though I play all of my games via emulation now, I still treasure my original TurbuDuo which I got on Christmas Day 1992 along with Dragon Slayer, Cosmic Fantasy 2, Exile, and Prince of Persia. Best Christmas ever!

[@RetroClash95]

Such a badass machine, I'm glad my brother kept his over the years.

[@MightyNostromo]

Worked at Toys R US from 92 to 93 and always lusted after the DUO. But like many I just could not justify paying 300 bones for a console, remember I was making 4.50 per hour at the time. Had to settle for playing the in-store demo unit during my breaks. By the late nineties I was working a white collar corp job and so I picked up two DUOs and have been collecting games ever since. Long live the DUO! Great vid, keep them coming.

[@ApeAlchemist]

i love how the promo tells us the only 2 word we need to know are "turbo duo power"

[@morestuff75]

Understanding the video gaming market was one of the main reasons I took a consumer education class or later on organizational behavior and marketing classes in college.

[@sunburstbasser]

Turbo Duo prices have gotten pretty high on Ebay. I ended up getting a PCE Duo and a power converter for about 1/4 the price Turbo Duos cost now. And I love it a ton. It also kept me from having to buy a HuCard converter for all those Japan-only games.

[@TrueSoreThumb]

A thorough, in-depth, and well-composed review.. as usual! Always love your vids. 8D

[@TheAlfredEffect]

Awesome system overview man. I just got a TG16 myself but I've still got my eye out for a Duo. Keep these vids coming man!

[@spida1a]

Thanks my friend. I am working on another Extra episode with the Turbo Express. Hopefully have it up soon! Thanks for watching!

[@spida1a]

Absolutely! Thanks for watching!

[@spida1a]

Hey, that's awesome. You have a mix of everything! Ha ha. Thanks for watching!

[@armandavart5704]

Man, I like your channel and your unique style. Awesome! I had the opportunity to obtain a PC-Engine Duo-R directly from Japan and a copy of Dracula X... sadly the system was stolen. Not even the box I was able to keep. Fortunately, the Dracula X game is still safe!

[@spida1a]

Thanks my friend. I'm so glad you enjoy them!!

[@spida1a]

@ElectricIndica420 Thanks so much. I am glad you enjoy watching them! :)

[@spida1a]

@RadiumZ1 Thanks my friend! Unfortunately, the microphone "cut out" during the shooting and I had to use the shotgun! UGH...HOLLOW!! Ha ha. :)

[@SNKNostalgia]

You gotta love that Duo. I am glad I got around to buying mine from TZD around 2000-01 or so. They can have bad sound problems, but it is usually an easy fix.

[@VeganBytes]

nice one chris !!! :) love the old school advert for this system ( it was never shown here in ireland , matter of fact , i dont think this console was released here at all ) , but this console really floored the opposition in terms of tech and quality . it really should have sold better , but nec really didnt do much marketing tbh as i only ever heard of this system through your early vids on youtube.

[@SNKNostalgia]

@Chantumon I actually did the capacitor fix. It really doesn't take much to learn how to solder. It is easier than most other things. Just use the work to melt, don't overdo contact to chip solder legs and use flux. I took electronics vo-tech in high school, which made it even easier for me. Don't be afraid to try. Practice on a dead VCR or something. The Duo-R system seems to be the most reliable setup. No bad capacitor problems. It also has slightly better error correction for the CD drive.

[@gabbogabbo]

Ah if only I could go back in time, I would be all over the turbo grafx and tuboduo! Great systems!

[@SoulWarrior265]

Can you imagine companies nowadays doing what they did for the TurboDuo, packing in 5 games? WHOA! Talk about a jump start in your library! The best we seem to get today for the price point is an upcoming Xbox 360 Slim bundle which includes Forza Motorsport 2 and a voucher for a free download for Alan Wake. Crazy!

[@spida1a]

Very cool. Thanks for watching!

[@PCEngineGaijin]

You make really great videos man. I love to see the hardware, I've aways been a hardware guy more so than games. I wish I had the cash right now to finish off my PC Engine CD-ROM2 console.

[@spida1a]

@heavysaur That's a great idea! Thanks for watching!

[@spida1a]

Ha ha. Great to hear my friend. Thanks for watching.

[@starsoldier1]

Sorry to hear about the flood damage dude. Yeah, getting all those goodies in the original set was one of the best values I ever seen on a system.

[@IdentityCrisis1581]

I got mine from turbo zone direct around the time of playstation and sega saturn. I remember it was before the n64 came out so in that time frame. It was new in the box all or most of their stuff was new old stock stuff. If it was used they let you know the games in that listing were used. Unfortunately cockroaches destroyed the cd drive in my duo. But the chip slot worked. So i could at least play the chip games I had. but you get the duo to play the scd games on the upgraded system. But as far as the pack in chip. Dungeon Explorer would be awesome to get as a pack in. I bought that at a game store my friend found that had chip games back when we were still playing the original tg16. So I already had it. But it was a great action rpg on the system. I got splatterhouse as my pack in. I was collecting NEC stuff around the time it was first forgotton, but still around in pawn shops and mom and pop electronics stores. Yard sales and flea markets were a prime hunting ground. I never could find the CD add on. So when I found out about Turbo Zone Direct it was like a turbografx16 treasure trove. I wish I had kept it all weather it worked or not now. But I left it and my library of games with my friend. I started using emulators to play the games, and didn't feel bad about it because I paid full new retail price when I got most of the stuff, especially from TZD. I paid around 300 for my turbo duo when I ordered it from them. I remember it was a birthday present and I called the order in via phone. TZD had a headquarters in CA and so they had an order line, and a technical help line. It really was a helpful bunch of NEC nerds. Besides calling the order in was quicker than mailing it in. That was a thing at time. This was before you just buy everything from the internet. The internet wasn't that fast or capable back then. But they must have known then how rare and expensive this stuff was gonna get because they they weren't always nice about their prices. All the scd games were 50 to 80 bucks. The chip games were 20 and up because some rare imports like bomberman94 was around 70 bucks I think. I remember them sending me the catalog and looking through it a lot.

[@masonsushi]

Great system, and great review. I love your hardware reviews.

[@TheOldFartGamer]

thanks for the review. I never seen the unit in person back in the days. everyone I know had either a Gensesis or SNES. I did get a a chance to borrow a TG16 from my friend for a little bit. but never actually touched the CD add on nor actually seen the TurobDuo. I do'nt even remember seeing it displayed in places like ToysRUs (I'm in NYC a teen back in the days) the NeoGeo home console was another of those machines I never really touch or seen. Just one of those expensive consoles that people can't really afford. The TurboDuo is $299.99 in 1992 it is about $508.56 adjusted for inflation to 2015. There are alot of stuff included and a "good value" when you consider the games included and they are good games. but still at $299/$508 it is still alot of money.

[@TheOldFartGamer]

+Jay Farress just to add I think at the time the GEnesis/SNES were at $150 so it's half the price and have a large selection of good games. It's hard to justify paying 2x the price for the Duo

[@spida1a]

LOL! Damn right. haha Thanks for watching!

[@spida1a]

@frozenintears Ha! Hey, that sounds pretty cool. I didn't know that. Lol! Thanks for watching!

[@metalcoola]

Thank you for another great video,Chris,and im sorry that you lost some stuff in flood...

[@spida1a]

@Konuvis Oh, excellent. I love the grey one.

[@spida1a]

@spida1a PS...(ran out of characters with my blabber mouth, LOL...)...you're totally right about the Sega CD price along with the Genesis. Ha ha. I remember they used to put that in the ads: "Turbo Duo cheaper than the others combined." It's amazing Sega sold any with the price of the CD system. Ha ha. Thanks for watching and commentin', as always!

[@drunkeykong12]

I had a turbo duo in '92-'93, but traded it in for a Panasonic 3DO about two years later. I still have my 3DO. I have picked up another TG16 but no CD yet.

[@spartonberry]

The first I heard of TurboDuo was ads in magazines like EGM where NEC/TTI was offering to buy SNES and Genesis consoles for $50 off a TurboDuo. And while TurboDuo was a good system and they certainly were giving you a good value for what came in the Duo box, with the lack of games in the US it's hard to say selling either of the other two consoles would've felt like a good deal at the time.

[@spida1a]

Thanks my friend.

[@123doomdoom]

I have a Pc engine Duo-R. : )) Resolution on the duo is amazing.

[@segaprophet]

Great overview - you've earned yourself another subscriber!

[@spida1a]

Thanks for watching.

[@spida1a]

@heavysaur Yes, totally. I miss the good old days! I remember when they announced the Wii would come packaged in with a game. I almost...did something in my pants. Lol! Thanks for watching.

[@spida1a]

@Altoguy1995 That is from Ys Book I and II (I reviewed that as well....awesome game). :) Thanks for watching!

[@ricktobin8297]

mine still works just fine :p and its 22 years old :O

[@VinnieBlackLodge]

once again another awesome vid! the turbo duo is my prized system atm even though its mainly for Japaese and american cd games !

[@RadiumZ1]

Real clean production!

[@spida1a]

Yeah. It's too bad that the technology is so old (and they didn't make any). I, knock-on-wood, have not had "cap" issues yet with either my Express or Duo. But, let's face it....it's comin'. Ha ha. Thanks for watching!

[@bernielindell]

Excellent review for an excellent system. Those wanting to pick one of these up but cant afford the American version, can always spring for the PCengine Duo Japanese unit. It will play USA CD/Super CDs as well. However, some sort of modding will be required to play the USA chip games. Thanks for another awesome review Chris!!

[@InAnimateGamer]

The TurboDuo looked like a great system to own. Too bad I missed out on it. Oh well, at least I bought Ys Book 1 & 2 on the Virtual Console, so I didn't miss out entirely. Great game.

[@spida1a]

@loomp I never had a PC-FX system so...I am pretty much unaware of it. I saw one recently at Digital Press (and it was the first time I ever noticed one in person). Arcade Card is in my possession. Although honestly, I have yet to even unwrap the thing. Ha ha. Might be fun to try sometime. Oh and as to your message to me, check out my last couple videos and tell me how many people I have "responded" to. I don't get one here as much so...take no offense. Thanks for watching!

[@SplatterTrigger]

Great retrospective Chris!

[@MAMECADE]

Nice review. Turbo Chip + CD = A TurboDuo Wonder

[@VinnieBlackLodge]

@fedorajoe the memories are the best ! this system was just a dream back then. only my kool uncle owned tg-16 anything.

[@futurematt5]

Great overview Chris. You'll have people lining up to get one of these machines! I'd wager the Turbo Duo is the best looking US released NEC console. It even beats the white Japanese Duo-R and RX and blue PC Engine Duo IMO!

[@spida1a]

@sethious1 Thanks for watching and commenting sethious!

[@spida1a]

@BlackMegaManXtreme Sure will! Go for it.

[@PhatPhunk]

Excellent review!! I love the DUO too. I think it has a very sleek n sexy design. Hope to find one soon!!

[@sosoyo180]

I love this show.

[@spida1a]

Yes, that will be the next episode of "Extra" actually (hoping soon, ha ha). Thanks!

[@Superdimensional]

spida1a i think you're the only one i've ever seen that was (and continues to be) more geeked on the TurboDuo/grafx16 than me lol. Unfortunately I had to sell off all my stuff a year ago because i was unemployed and got a small fortune off eBay for it all, but I made sure to back up all my Games, and now enjoy them via HTPC to my HDTV via HDMI and enjoy them all uprezzed via Magic Engine and Ooataki, i even have a TurboPad that's converted to USB :)

[@sethious1]

Watching you and your collection makes me super jealous lmao......still have yet to pick up any new games for mine. Gonna end up biting the bullet and picking some up through amazon cause they just don't exist in the wild

[@spida1a]

@neogeouk Thanks for watching! I appreciate it!

[@96libertytt]

You have a very good reviewing style. Enjoyed it.

[@spida1a]

@Ace9921 I am actually planning in the next few months to do a "repair" video on my duo for the series. I figured that would help a lot of people perhaps on replacing those capacitors (that is...if the fix works for me). Ha ha. Take care.

[@MoreDakka101]

sooooo want to get my hands on one of these babies.

[@katsujinken10]

My TG-16 came with Neutopia as it's secret bonus pack in game - score!

[@nlafavore]

That next pinball video's got to be coming soon!

[@spida1a]

@Bylga Thanks for watching!

[@spida1a]

@danklock3 Awesome! Thanks for sharing!

[@80sMTV]

I Wish I Could Find A TurboDuo. That System Looks So Cool.

[@Bylga]

Great review! I really need to buy a Turbo Duo!

[@spida1a]

@starwarsnerd95 Hu cards you need a converter on a U.S. system (which you can see in my Import reviews). Almost all Super CDs and regular CDs will play on an American System.

[@SpiralPegasus]

Excellent job on this review mate! I've been wanting to get my hands on one of these. Sadly the only one avalilable where I live goes for $3300 (about 510 DOLLARS!!) and it doesn't come with anything but box and the first Street Fighter... It's really crazy. That's the best and most generous pack in I have ever seen. It's as if SEGA decided to bundle in Rocket Knight Adventures, Shinobi 3, Thunder Force 3, Sonic 1 and 2 with their Genesis. I surely would've laid the buck for that!

[@ScubaDiverPicker]

That's not bad actually.

[@tunicaroja86]

Chris , as always this is fucking awesome. One of the best shows on youtube :)

[@danklock3]

Always been a huge TG16 fan boy, I have a turbografx16, cd add on unit, Turbo duo, turbo tap, duo tap, 5 controllers for each, avenue pad, hu card converter and 52 hu cards and 44 cd/super cd's. Just wish I could get Terraforming, Dungeon explorer 2 (us) and cotton 2 (us), I have the pc engine version of those 2 just not terraforming. Not looking to spend over 100 bux on anything thats for sure tho....LONG LIVE THE DUO!!!

[@spida1a]

@treismac I agree. One of the things I hated about all iterations of the system. Boo! :) Thanks for taking time to watch the video.

[@segaprophet]

A very handsome console design.

[@jboypacman]

Excellent video as always Chris. : )

[@spida1a]

Hey, how is it going? Yes, the PC Engine / Duo controllers will work with the U. S. Turbo Duo (I use the Avenue 3 pad in a lot of my reviews...I even showed it in this video you commented on). If you have a regular U.S. TurboGrafx, they won't work since it has a larger port. Thanks.

[@spida1a]

@MN12BIRD Yes...but remember what else we had to choose from at this time. Nobody was QUITE into CD technology yet (and honesty couldn't have cared less which is why Sega CD really didn't light any fires) So, to most of us, the $199 or less for a SNES and the MUCH LESS by this time base Genesis was the pricing we were looking at. Duo was quite expensive at the time for something trying to grab a new audience . It is a shame, ha ha. But, regardless...I'm glad I had it eventually. :)

[@spida1a]

@maleficus1000 Yes...mine "now" is actually starting to act up. It has trouble accessing the red-book audio and has to almost "warm up." After a little bit, it seems to be just fine. But, that means the transistors are probably starting to go. Maybe this is a good thing. Then I can film a "how to fix" video (since there is a lot of documentation on the subject). Ya' know?

[@WendeXTX]

Great review of the system! I think the Turboduo looked really good for when it came out, I managed to pick one up on ebay for cheap because of a sound fault, and that it was a UK seller, I was able to fix it, play Ys Book I and II, then after a power cut it now no longer works :( I Wanna play Turboduo!!

[@treismac]

Apart from the lack of 3rd party support, I feel like the controller port fiasco was the sin that the Turbografx-16 and Duo paid heavily for. I still love the damn thing, though. :)

[@airthrow]

spida1a, it is so obvious how much passion and knowlege you have for games. I love fantasizing about having a pinball collection like yours, hahaha. =D

[@spida1a]

@mrchuck999 Excellent on the Magical Chase. I think I spent...like...$170 or something for it back in 2003. It was (along with Dynastic Hero) one of the last games I had to pick up. I'm thankful I did back then and not now. Ha ha. :) :) Take care.

[@Tubewings]

The paafekuto PC-Engine/Turbo system, no question about it.

[@ajtstvandmusicarchivechann1585]

I just ordered one off ebay modded with a region free switch and fully refurbed.

[@Chantumon]

Hey Chris. Excellent review as always :) I was just curious. Have you ever had any problems with the capacitors in your Turbo Duo? Many of the people on the PC Engine FX forums including myself have had trouble with dead capacitors, which as a result affect the sound making it staticky, or the sound cuts in and out. I think the cap problem is due to the fact the sound capacitors are scrunched near the ac adapter port. Luckily someone on the board fixed mine.

[@spida1a]

@lovelorn8888 Thanks for watching!

[@spida1a]

@Firebomber7 Yeah, that is what I found with it also. I didn't bother picking it up myself. :(

[@CommodoreFan64]

Awesome review/overview of the Duo. :-) Glad the good games are on Wii VC, cause I've been short on cash, and really want a DUO. "sigh"

[@spida1a]

@kotogoto00 Thanks for watching!

[@frozenintears]

Spida you are a legend mate!!!

[@MP83]

@Wyrdwad Speaking of Ys, I couldn't help but notice the infamous "Y's" misspelling on the TurboDuo box. If I owned a boxed TurboDuo, I'd first and foremost use a black marker to remove that apostrophe where it doesn't belong. :P

[@Najvalsa]

WIN!

[@Vayr0n]

Nice overview