The Video Game Critic

One reader pointed out that a lot of my console reviews were outdated and that I should put dates on them.
It's a good idea, but maybe I should start updating them too.

One of the first I plan to update would be the Turbografx-16/Turbo Duo review
http://videogamecritic.com/t16info.htm

Since I wrote that I've had all sort of problems with my Turbo Duo (it's currently in need of repair).
Apparently they used the cheapest capacitors in that thing, so I need to mention how bad its durability is.

Maybe you guys can chime in with other ways this review could be updated/improved. I'm all ears.

One thing is that the TG-16 main unit gets a C- for being plain black, a single controller port, and being lightweight. Black and sleek are not bad choices, better than the dull NES, better than the gigantic Colecovision, and presaging the sleek Jenny. A single controller port is not great, but in an odd way, its looking forward to the WiiU or consoles where games are abandoning split screen anyway. To a modern audience, should the TG-16 get a C- on its design?

I think you have overrated the graphics since the base TG-16 model only has an RF output, not even A/V. The pins are there and you can do a home mod to A/V out, or you can track down a rather pricy attachment.

The price of games seems highly variable.

I think you should update the durability for the Xbox 360, while the early models were not very reliable, once Microsoft started using the Jasper motherboard from the Arcade model onwards the durability drastically improved with the chance of an RROD dramatically decreasing, so I think you should put two grades for it, one for the early models (D) and one for the latter models(B-).

I only have minor updates to this review since it is actually fairly accurate. One of the main things you might want to adjust is the costs for the T16. You mention that the T16 is fairly cheap to acquire. This is no longer the case as the console goes for about $100 last time I checked. You might also want to bring up the difference between the cards for the Turbografx CD. This is a huge thing to overlook for the console and can be quite expensive. The standard card, System Card 3.0 (very expensive), and the Arcade Card (Import) are necessary for the CD attachment if you want to play the CD games. The TurboDuo only needs the arcade card and a HU Card converter to play any and all CD games ever made for the console.

-As a plus you might mark that the CD games are region free.
-As a negative you might state that HU card converters for Japanese HU card games are very expensive and hard to find (better off importing a PC Engine console).
-Also the starting price for complete games, you might want to bump up to ~$30, but this can spike drastically on a lot of titles. -You might want to mention that the Turbografx is probably second only to the Neo Geo on how expensive it is to collect for if you are looking for U.S. games.
-You might recommend a PC Engine Duo R/RX + U.S. turbografx + Arcade Card as the ideal setup (cost and durability) if you want to play all the Turbografx has to offer.
-A negative is that the games are very hard to find now and if you are looking for the harder to find games it could take you years to find a copy of certain games.

Rev wrote:-A negative is that the games are very hard to find now and if you are looking for the harder to find games it could take you years to find a copy of certain games.

You ain't kidding. I'm still kicking myself for not buying Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu when I found it for $40 years ago. I wish I could find it that cheap now.

I endorse everything Rev posted, except I would add the system recommendation should be a region modded Duo-R, so you can play everything, and the Duo-R models have superior construction and don't have the bad caps issue. Some of the best games for the system were only released in Japan, so the ability to play that region's games is essential to enjoying the full system.

The update is fine as always, but updating the information to today and not adding a review date doesn't deal with the issue as such.

VGC wrote:One reader pointed out that a lot of my console reviews were outdated and that I should put dates on them.
It's a good idea, but maybe I should start updating them too.

I think he was planning to.