Turbob Xpress: Bringing affordable "gamer's" games to the community! Nearly Gone

[BlueBMW]

UPDATE:  This first and second batch are basically gone.  A few copies of JP Dracula X, Godzilla, Bonk 3, and Dungeon Explorer 2 remain.

Also, PLEASE please read the instructions when it comes time for requests. Send PMs to Bernie, not me to get on the lists for these.

Dynastic Hero
Godzilla - few left
Bonk 3 - very few left
Dungeon Explorer 2 - very few left
Dracula X (PC engine original) - few left

http://i905.photobucket.com/albums/ac253/bmcdanold/bootz2_zpsqnfxm7q5.jpg



Batch 1 info + history
Greeting all!

We've all watched as our hobby has been impacted (positively or negatively) by the incredible inflation of game prices.  I think many of us can agree that it is quite frustrating when we want to play some game on our original hardware but cannot justify spending $100, $200 or even $500+ for that game.  Most of us have families and responsibilities and just cannot spend that kind of cash.

A while back a group of us got together and discussed possibly having discs pressed for various expensive but desirable games.  Many of us are aware of PCE Works / Tobias and his offerings.  This post is not here to question the ethics, motives, or merits or lack thereof of what Tobias offers.  I think many of us can agree that his selling of translations was in poor taste to the community but he has since offered the translations free of charge. 

In our search for a viable method to reproduce / press discs we reached out to Tobias as he has proven he can get discs pressed that work in our original hardware.  We weren't sure what sort of response to expect from him as our intention was to offer an alternative / cheap solution for people who just want to play the games and aren't as concerned with something looking pretty on the shelf.  To our surprise, Tobias was quite accomodating and upon further discussions by our very own hair dryer specialist Bernie we came to an arrangement with Tobias that we believe you the community will appreciate and benefit from.

When Tobias produces his games he must order a set amount of discs.  He also produces the packaging etc for those discs but not always in the same quantity as the discs themselves.  As a result there are usually extra loose discs.  Some of you may remember when I handed out about 400 loose disc misprint Sapphires a while back.  This will be a similar situation.  We have made arrangements with Tobias to acquire and distribute this extra stock of discs.  The goal here is not profit but rather to get the games into the hands of people who want to play them but cannot or prefer not to use CDRs on their original systems.

There has been much controversy as of late over the PCE Works bootlegs, and we do recognize the concerns relating to such, but we feel that a compromise can be made.  Tobias is offering us the discs to distribute, and we in turn are offering them to you the community.  We don't any money for them, just a donation to cover the cost of shipping / packaging and maybe a few extra to fund the shipping of future discs.  These are loose discs, but they are pressed discs and should run perfect in your original hardware.

As a side note, we reached out to as many people as we could who have worked on translations and the like and have come to an understanding with as many as we could get a hold of.  I would certainly welcome them to chime in on this operation but I believe we have the support of most of the translation / hacker teams in the PC Engine scene.  This is just another opportunity for people to enjoy their hard work.

Ok now that you've read the background on what is going on here lets get to the meat of it.  At present time we have spindles of three different game discs to distribute.  These are going to be done in waves so as to not overwhelm the person in charge of handling them.

Regarding distribution, we are going to offer an amount of these to these forums first, and then later offer some to a few of the facebook groups also.  No minimum post count is required but there is a caveat.  If we discover that someone we sent discs to is reselling them, that person will be excluded from all future discs we may offer.  Initially we will prioritize long time members, but even newer folks will be on the list and hopefully we can supply everyone in time.  We just ask for your patience in this.   Limit one of each disc per person! All we ask for is some money to cover the shipping / packaging costs.  Any extra proceeds will go to pay for shipping of more discs from the source.  We've done the calculations and feel like the following would be appropriate within the United States.  Outside of the US would have to be a little more:

Figure on $5 each

Without further ado, he is what we have right now:

Dracula X - English translation
Beyond Shadowgate
Might and Magic 3 - Isles of Terra

http://i905.photobucket.com/albums/ac253/bmcdanold/bootlegs_zpspcbegfxh.jpg

Since these are loose discs, you will be responsible for providing your own jewel cases, inserts, etc if desired.  User brraap has expressed interest in offering quality inserts.  https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?action=profile;u=5917

Please direct your requests to Bernie.  He will handle them in order and as quickly as he can.  As requests are filled, I will update the next post to reflect such.

https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?action=profile;u=10632

Regards,
The Turbob Xpress Team

[BlueBMW]

The quick and dirty of it if you were too impatient to read (thanks to Blueraven for summing it all up:

The recipe for the candied yams with jalapenos and peanuts.

I WILL TELL ALL.

...but seriously, just check out the first 5 pages, and then do a search for round 2 and read those five as well.

To paraphrase: BMW and Bernie (and others) got the tobias dupes.

Round 1 was Beyond Shadowgate, M&M3, and Translated Drac X. - $10 donation

Round 2 is Dynastic, Bonk 3, Japanese Drac X, Godzilla, DE2 - $25 donation

Round 1 is out of stock.  Round 2 is still available. Get on it!

1 guy got caught reselling them, was found out, and has been chastised. He's a dick. We all know.

oBey. All Day. u decide.

caw

[tbone3969]

PM coming.

I want all 3.

[JoshTurboTrollX]

PM coming.

I want all 3.

I don't believe they are quite available yet, but once they are I'm sure this thread will be updated with how or who to get in contact with in regards to this community share.

[Bernie]

Yes, we still have some shipping material on the way.  The guys that helped make this happen will get their copies first.  PMs should come through to me for now, and Josh a little later once I ship his half to him.  He agreed to handle part of distributing them.  With that said, you may still PM me to get on the wait list. 


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[MNKyDeth]

Ahh wow... Sorry for that PM then. $5 for the convenience of not having to burn coasters imo is a good thing.

[BigusSchmuck]

Amen, this is awesome guys! I can't wait to see what other releases we can get!

[Dicer]

Awesome I'll be taking Beyond Shadowgate and MMIII for sure, I am covered on the dracX front...

great stuff...

[shawnji]

I would definitely want all three.  I hate the idea of putting burned discs in my duo, so this is a perfect solution.

[Psycho Punch]

I saw Nightwolve's posts on facebook, if any issue is cleared out I see no harm. That said, PM sent!

[stinkoman]

Out of curiosity since I don't know what the real discs look like compared to these, is there any indications to be able to distguinsh these between and original and one of these so people don't try to flip these as such? I ask cause I see a lot repro nes and snes carts for the same purpose but you couldnt tell the difference without taking it apart.

[Psycho Punch]

Out of curiosity since I don't know what the real discs look like compared to these, is there any indications to be able to distguinsh these between and original and one of these so people don't try to flip these as such? I ask cause I see a lot repro nes and snes carts for the same purpose but you couldnt tell the difference without taking it apart.

The discs and the repros are wildly different in design, starting with the PCEWorks logo.

[jtucci31]

Quality work from some quality members! For $10 I might as well just spring for all 3. Looking forward to this hopefully panning out as planned!

[Brraap]

I will post pictures and details about the manuals and inserts later today that I will offer for those that want them.

[stinkoman]

Out of curiosity since I don't know what the real discs look like compared to these, is there any indications to be able to distguinsh these between and original and one of these so people don't try to flip these as such? I ask cause I see a lot repro nes and snes carts for the same purpose but you couldnt tell the difference without taking it apart.

The discs and the repros are wildly different in design, starting with the PCEWorks logo.

I can't believe i missed that logo. Thank you.

[JoshTurboTrollX]

I will post pictures and details about the manuals and inserts later today that I will offer for those that want them.

Excellent quality and super affordable for those looking for more than just the loosey booties! 
I have a few manuals and back inserts made by Brraap to accompany a few loose discs that I've acquired over the years.  Thanks again man!!

[ZachSpears]

Brraap's manuals are great. I have a few myself and can also speak for their quality.

[IvanBeavkov]

Wow, cool. Do you guys think Tobias is trying to make amends or is this just good PR or both? Either way the community benefits.

I am interested in Might and Magic 3 and Beyond Shadowgate as those are games I would never be able to justify spending multiple hundreds of dollars on.

Thanks guys for making this possible. 

[BlueBMW]

I would say both.  It's a good gesture on his part.

[GohanX]

Wow, this is an interesting turn of events. Kudos to you guys for doing this, if I may be of any help let me know.

[ClodBusted]

Do not want.

[whisper2053]

Count me in for Shadowgate and M&M3 once things get settled. Thanks for doing this, guys!

[Bernie]

Planning to ship once a week on my end.  Everyone that has PM'd me thus far has been responded to.  If I do not reply back to you right away, be patient.  I will get to you. 

[Warbucks]

PM Sent

[roflmao]

Its good to see these going out to the community at cost rather than someone who'd gouge them on ebay. Thanks to all involved in making this happen.

[Brraap]

A few pictures of the Rondo manual and rear insert. For anyone interested, the manuals, rear inserts and jewel case is 12$ per game. The Castlevania manual is translated to English. The Might and Magic III does not have a full manual, it is 8 pages that tells the "story" and controller functions. A link is provided for the full manual download. (The full manual is 45 pages) Also comes with a full page map. Beyond Shadowgate is a full manual. These are CLEARLY marked as reproductions. The rear inserts are also marked as reproductions and the bar codes have been altered. (Some game stores scan the bar codes and their program gives them all the info about the game and the average sale price, so altering the bar code prevents someone from trying to pull a scam on an unknowing store.)

For shipping, I am from Ontario Canada and shipping can be crazy, standard shipping will be 7-8$ to the US and tracked shipping will be 17-19$

Sorry for the fuzzy pictures, my phone must be messed up.

[Bernie]

Nice work!


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[Jason_dicarlo85]

Wow nice job on the cases

[sirhcman]

Thanks for putting this together guys, you never cease to amaze me!

PM sent to Bernie!

[PunkCryborg]

If I had the skills I think it'd be really cool to design a Pc Engine style Beyond Shadowgate style case. But I am not good with photoshop and stuff

[jtucci31]

If I had the skills I think it'd be really cool to design a Pc Engine style Beyond Shadowgate style case. But I am not good with photoshop and stuff

You mean without the large "Duo" logo and done up to have maybe different artwork altogether? (Not that I dislike the current artwork, but new is always cool)

[Mathius]

Maybe we can get with Nanto about making some dual CD cases?

[Brraap]

If I had the skills I think it'd be really cool to design a Pc Engine style Beyond Shadowgate style case. But I am not good with photoshop and stuff

You mean without the large "Duo" logo and done up to have maybe different artwork altogether? (Not that I dislike the current artwork, but new is always cool)

The Shadowgate manual I offer has a few artwork pages added, but the cover and rear insert is original artwork

[NightWolve]

Bernie Claus comes through with his questionable gifts from Germany with Christmas just 8 weeks away...

[Bernie]

If I had the skills I think it'd be really cool to design a Pc Engine style Beyond Shadowgate style case. But I am not good with photoshop and stuff

I believe bartre was working on something for BS at one point when we were going to press the games ourselves.  He did have BS done, btu I cannot remember if it was in the style of PCE or not.  I just remember it being totally different the original.

[NecroPhile]

Maybe we can get with Nanto about making some dual CD cases?

You can find standard 24mm jewel cases at amazon, uline, etc.

[DeshDildo]

Wow!  This is quite a turn of events.  Thank you to all involved!

[GohanX]

Maybe we can get with Nanto about making some dual CD cases?

You can find standard 24mm jewel cases at amazon, uline, etc.

You can also get 2 cd insert trays as well. I did that with my copy of Ys 4 so the case holds both the original Japanese disc as well as a cdr of the translation.

[csgx1]

It's a Obey miracle!   Definitely a surprise that something like this is taking place.  Impressive work and a big thanks to each and everyone involved!

[NecroPhile]

You can also get 2 cd insert trays as well. I did that with my copy of Ys 4 so the case holds both the original Japanese disc as well as a cdr of the translation.

I'll have to check in to that.  I just stack 'em in their normal case, where it's not 100% secure but the manual holds it down well enough for a game minimally handled and mostly sitting on the shelf.

[blueraven]

Wow. This is incredibly generous of both of you to coordinate this so close to the holiday season. Kudos, I was worried I wouldn't have a chance to play these.

[o.pwuaioc]

Nice work! Kind of wish I didn't splurge on DracX already. Curious, are more games forthcoming, or at least thought about being forthcoming?

[BlueBMW]

There is a group of 7 or so of us that have been working on this project.  Hopefully there will be more games in the future, not sure which ones yet though.

[Bernie]

There are more games coming, and soon.....  ;)


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[tbone3969]

Can't wait.

[elmer]

Wow ... this is a really great thing for you guys to have organized, thanks! 

Your generous give-away of the Sapphire CDs, particularly to a newbie-like-me, is something that I'm still trying to "pay-back" to the community here.

Agreeing to sell these "spares" to you is an interesting move for Tobias to make.

I suspect that if he continues to work with you guys to make things like these available to community members, then it'll do a lot of good to his perception here, and not really have much/any effect on his actual sales (which seem to appeal to different folks than most here).

[Bernie]

He gave us the spares Elmer.  We had to pay shipping, which wasn't cheap I may add.  They heavy!


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[technozombie]

PM sent, thanks for going to all the effort of doing this.

[Gentlegamer]

So we can obtain these pressed booties and translations with clean conscience?

[BlueBMW]

Your conscience is up to you.  Everyone will have to make a choice as to how they feel about these.