> I recall being disappointed with the US releases for 3 reasons:
> (1) They were at least 6 months, usually 1 year, later than the Japanese
> releases - WAY too much of a delay.
That's always a problem. I can't remember any specific games right now,
but I know there were some games that required next to zero, if not zero,
translation time. NEC could have just taken the jpn ROM and repackaged it
for the US market.
> (2) They were often twice as expensive in real dollars - WAY too much
> difference.
That's true. I never really considered the prices since I never bought a
TG-16 game when they came out, with exception of two Turbo CDs.
Considering that in Japan, the average game was Y5800, which at the time
was about ~$38 (no tax in japan at the time either). This is a big
difference from $59-$69 games from back then. Case in point, my friend
got a TG16 Christmas of '89 when he returned to the US to visit his
family. At that time, he bought Dragon Spirit which was like $60. Now,
at the same time, I bought Dragon Spirit in Japan for like $38 and not
only that, I saw it going for $15 (new) in another store. I was mad that
I didn't get the cheaper one, but considering that my friend paid $60, I
still got a good deal.
> (3) They didn't pick the best ones - especially after the initial year or so.
>
> Actually, David makes a fair point though. In the early days, they
> actually did a fair job.
Yeah, I didn't mention a time frame, but I was considering up to the end
of 1989.
> Far East of Eden: Ziria
I hate to play Devil's Advocate, but I doubt this game ever had a chance
for translation. Too Japanese-y. Yes, it would have been a good game to
have in English... especially for the fact that it would have been
different. Funny, if it would have been brought over, I have a feeling
NEC would have changed a bunch of stuff and called it "Monkey Boy Goes
East". :p
> Super Darius
> OMG I can't believe this was available so early for the system and they
> never brought it here. Tragedy. The music alone could have sold it.
Agreed. And that's why I bought it.
> Mr. Heli
Hmm... I thought this game was released in the US. If not, it was a loss
for the TG-16.
I'd like to add a couple more games that could have been brought to the
US. If they were, I apologize, but at the same time I doubt it would have
made much of a difference.
Ninjawarriors
Shinobi
Kyuukyouku Tiger (Twin Cobra)
Heavy Unit
Sidearms Special
NEC could have used this game to promote the CDROM system by comparing the
Hu version with the CD and showing how much the CDROM made stuff better
etc.
Notice that all of these are arcade ports.
The PCE lineup started getting really good in 90-91, and that's when NEC
needed to start being aggressive in bringing games to the US imo.
------
David Woodford
xxxxxx@umich.edu
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