Genesis Plus GX Sega CD bios questions

[SentaiBrad]

That reminds me when burning and ripping discs were new, my cousin had Roller Coaster Tycoon, and I asked him If I could copy and burn the disc and he looked at me like "Are you insane, NO YOU CAN'T BURN MY GAME!"

[Lordmonkus]

The Sega CD really was awful (I owned one when it was new) outside a handful of games. Android Assault, Keio Flying Squadron, Popful Mail, Sonic CD, Snatcher and the Lunar games are the highlights with a couple of others that aren't necessarily awful but nothing earth shattering or you couldn't get elsewhere. The Lunar remakes on the PS are actually better. As bad as the Sega CD was it was still far better than the 32X, 3DO and Atari Jaguar (also systems I owned when they were new) Yes I am allowed to say these systems really were that bad since I did buy them new back in the day damnit.

[weltall]

If anything, from tests i did, TurboGrafx-CD actually looks really awesome. Afar from 1-2 FMV games which looked awful, the rest looked nice and interesting. Having videos combined with 8-16 bit games and music/audio that sounds better than the midi like of old consoles, was awesome. I was stunned while playing some games on it. I also did love the Lunar ones while I was testing them. I will never forget at least one of them, since I had to watch through ALL the opening, so I could confirm it plays inside the game. I can only imagine that the 3DO was bad, but only from seeing the lsits of games between that and CD-i, I can say that 3DO was better. There are so many games on CD-i that are just music, or music with pictures or just videos or anything but games XD BUT, I will say this. 3DO and CD-i probably are the best options to play FMV games. I would definitely avoid the SegaCD or TurboGrafx-CD FMV games, as long as a playable version fo the same game existed in 3DO or CD-i. At least these consoles seemed to have better video quality. Considering Jaguar CD can't be emulated, I can't even know how that was. XD

[SentaiBrad]

A lot of those FMV games got ported to Windows too. Eventually they stopped coming out for those consoles quickly in favor of PC. Granted, not all got ported but there are quite a few more FMV games. I LPed Harvester on my personal channel... holy crap that game was... well you should go watch it. :P

[Lordmonkus]

The TG CD games that really stand out IMO is obviously Castlevania Rondo of Blood and after that the list probably about as short as the Sega CD. Cho Aniki, Cotton, Gate of Thunder, Lords of Thunder, Sapphire, Rayxanber III, R-Type (for the audio), Spriggan and that's pretty much it for me though Dungeon Explorer II and Ys are pretty good. The 3DO and CD-I are definitely way better for FMV games if that's your thing, they had much better video quality. The 3DO definitely had the better games library than the CD-I but that's not saying much. The CD-I was an awful mess with no support. The 3DO at least had by far the best home port of Street Fighter for the time. Samurai Showdown was excellent, Road Rash and Fifa were also very good but got ports to the PS and Saturn. After those games there was maybe a couple more like Return Fire and Star Control II but the list is very short. In other words aside from a couple of exclusives the best games were available elsewhere and the rest were trash. The crazy thing is that one of the worst games ever made for any system, Way of the Warrior was for the 3DO and Naughty Dog made it. How's that for a mind trip ? LOL.

[Wolf_]

weltall said If anything, from tests i did, TurboGrafx-CD actually looks really awesome. Afar from 1-2 FMV games which looked awful, the rest looked nice and interesting. Having videos combined with 8-16 bit games and music/audio that sounds better than the midi like of old consoles, was awesome. I was stunned while playing some games on it. I also did love the Lunar ones while I was testing them. I will never forget at least one of them, since I had to watch through ALL the opening, so I could confirm it plays inside the game. I can only imagine that the 3DO was bad, but only from seeing the lsits of games between that and CD-i, I can say that 3DO was better. There are so many games on CD-i that are just music, or music with pictures or just videos or anything but games XD BUT, I will say this. 3DO and CD-i probably are the best options to play FMV games. I would definitely avoid the SegaCD or TurboGrafx-CD FMV games, as long as a playable version fo the same game existed in 3DO or CD-i. At least these consoles seemed to have better video quality. Considering Jaguar CD can't be emulated, I can't even know how that was. XD

It is my experience that the top of the line systems cost the most so in exchange for superior performance fewer people can buy them so 3rd party game makers don't make those consoles as much of a priority when it comes to releasing games and as a result they die out. This happened to consoles like the NeoGeo and TurboGrafx. Just look at games like Magician Lord and Rondo... freaking works of art for their time.

[Lordmonkus]

There is definitely a lot truth to that, the more expensive the system the less likely it is to sell and in turn less games get released for it. At the same time people do not like to have to buy add ons for their systems they already paid for. The Turbo Grafx itself did ok here in North America, not great but ok. It did amazingly well in Japan as the PC Engine. The CD add on itself did not do so well in North America and yeah Rondo of Blood is arguably one of the best Castlevania games ever made and made the add on worth buying in Japan. If they brought it out over here maybe it would have sold more CD units. The Sega CD and 32X are in a similar situation. People just did not want to pay for such a marginal upgrade in performance. Expensive price tags do hurt system sales, look at the Playstation 3 as prime example. Amazing system but until the price got down to a reasonable level it suffered in sales. The Playstation crushed the Saturn mainly due to its price, there were other factors but price was the key. The NeoGeo was a double curse, expensive system and games that cost as much as other systems on their own. Crazily enough though that system actually had the longest lifespan of just just about any system out there though that is partly due to SNKs arcade division. Sometimes price alone isn't the deciding factor though because based on price the Dreamcast should have beaten the PS2 but Sega burnt all of its good will and reputation in the gaming industry with the 32X and Saturn and were being run by idiots at the time and they just couldn't hold on. For a system to be successful it needs to meet certain criteria. It needs to be competitively priced, have the power to compete on graphic quality and have the backing of 3rd party devs. Obviously these aren't the only factors but these are the big keys to being a successful system. Sometimes timing and just plain having that one "MUST HAVE" game is enough to push sales just enough to make the system and big enough seller to bring the 3rd parties.

[Wolf_]

Releasing peripherals to upgrade older systems to the "next generation" has always been a kiss of death. I have yet to see one next gen upgrade peripheral that looks remotely appealing (the 6 sega cd&32X combo games requiring the use of both are by far the worst offenders, that poor sega genesis looks like... well I don't want to say. And the TurboDuo looks stupidly better than a TurboGrafx-16 with the CD addon) not to mention making a newer system run off an older usually does 1 or more of 3 fatal flaws: 1) Fills the system with compatibility issues. 2) Limits the performance to something the previous system can support. 3) Costs as much as a new system would on its own anyways. On top of that Sega was releasing upgrade peripherals at the same time as they were releasing the Saturn so game makers had to pick between an older system with a large consumer base or take a risk on a newer system. Doing this split the early market for the Saturn and it came out with less games as a result. This started the new system out on a downward decline and thanks to the majority of the Sega CD and 32X games being fairly awful and too few in number to justify buying an entire upgrade kit for them no one was really that eager for the next generation of Sega games. This same effect happened with the Wii U, not because the Wii was still crowding the market, but because the Wii U came out on the market with no major exclusives. This resulted in low sales, low 3rd party support, lower sales, less third party support ect. Had they released a new Zelda, Mario Maker, Super Smash, ect with it then I'm sure it would have sold fantastically and gotten much more third party support. Also not supporting gamecube controllers from the get go and not offering much of a graphics improvement from the Wii hurt it as well. I'm glad Nintendo learned their lesson and is releasing the NX with a major Zelda release (Not happy about the wait but at least it will give the console a healthy start and get some games on the system). Man I miss playing transformers with all my sega parts lol.

[SentaiBrad]

Zelda historically doesn't sell great actually, it doesn't move the needle in that way. Zelda sold great on Wii (Twilight Princess), but on Gamecube it was low. Granted 1m isn't low, but for a series like this where everyone assumes it sells consoles... that's low. 2014 was the year of kick ass games on the Wii U, Smash always being called a System seller, and none of those games helped sell more Wii U's sadly. I love my Wii U, the games on it are great, but it was a shit storm coming from the Blue Ocean strategy that killed the Wii U, and the fact that it was outdated a year later. Nintendo's unwillingness to go towards Internet based stuff also has not helped. Wii U eShop sales of games only accounts for 8% of their sales, and it's not because people don't want to, it's because it sucks. I have an external drive plugged in to my 32GB Wii U because 32GB is a joke. Xenoblade Chronicles X, assuming the Wii U had nothing else on it, would fill the entire system. Nintendo lost 3rd party at Gamecube, only had some 3rd party support in Wii because of the gigantic install base but NO ONE talks about the Wii ports of anything and we obviously ignore all the shovel ware, so they didn't retain them for the Wii U.

[weltall]

Personally peripherals never bothered me, but then again I never really got one myself to feel the disappointment and then feel bad about it. What consoles though seem to do is to release smaller more compact versions, along with making the console better, be it technically or in other ways. I guess there are exceptions, like SNES 2, but then again that was meant as a budget console, for people that never experienced it. But new gen consoles always release smaller and better versions and by better I usually mean with the power converter out of the system, which results in a smaller and cooler system. Along with that they might fix problems the previous model had, with PS3 being, at least for me, the best upgrade. I never owned the 1st gen one, but a friend did. God his console was so hot, I feel if you looked close enough, you could see the radiation. But there is something that came to my attention with the latest portable devices, which started with PSP, at least I think. Now they do not only upgrade the mechanical part, but also add more power to the console, so it will play some games that needed more processing power better. 3DS, which was a console I probably would have bought, got kicked out of my mind after I saw the 3 different versions of the 3DS XL and how each had better processing power than the previous, or something alike, it has been a long time, but I do remember that was the reason I just lost motivation. I am glad I was late in entering in the mindset of buying it, mostly because my DSi XL was more than good for me, but when I saw that article, I really felt like it was wrong. I mean, the price of newer models is as high as the older model's was, so people that will buy the newer version, will be able to enjoy games with less problems and lag. Definitely a fanboy, will either get all the versions or will sell off in ebay the previous one he had and try to get the newer one. Some decisions are good and some are bad, but if anything, peripherals seem to have existed since the Atari generation (well or however people call it). Whether they were good, bad or a waste of space, it is just seem to be the norm. Oh those peripherals..

[Wolf_]

SentaiBrad said Zelda historically doesn't sell great actually, it doesn't move the needle in that way. Zelda sold great on Wii (Twilight Princess), but on Gamecube it was low. Granted 1m isn't low, but for a series like this where everyone assumes it sells consoles... that's low. 2014 was the year of kick ass games on the Wii U, Smash always being called a System seller, and none of those games helped sell more Wii U's sadly. I love my Wii U, the games on it are great, but it was a shit storm coming from the Blue Ocean strategy that killed the Wii U, and the fact that it was outdated a year later. Nintendo's unwillingness to go towards Internet based stuff also has not helped. Wii U eShop sales of games only accounts for 8% of their sales, and it's not because people don't want to, it's because it sucks. I have an external drive plugged in to my 32GB Wii U because 32GB is a joke. Xenoblade Chronicles X, assuming the Wii U had nothing else on it, would fill the entire system. Nintendo lost 3rd party at Gamecube, only had some 3rd party support in Wii because of the gigantic install base but NO ONE talks about the Wii ports of anything and we obviously ignore all the shovel ware, so they didn't retain them for the Wii U.

I wouldn't say that Wind Waker sales were a sign of the pull Zelda has but more that the GameCube was simply not as big of a deal as the previous Nintendo Consoles. The NES, SNES, and N64 had people freaking out of their minds but the GameCube received a luke warm reception. Also Wind Waker is considered one of the weaker Zelda Titles. As for Twilight Princess that was a dual release with the Wii so you can't blame people for only getting one. No one really wants to spend money on a previous gen console when something new is out. While the motion controls for the wii may be a mixed bag swinging a wiimote to swing a sword or punching with the nunchuck to shield bash are simply some of the most amazing uses for motion control so Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword were big console sellers imo. Super Smash appeals to everyone though, the rpg crowd, cross system (and nintendo) fanboys wanting to play as their fav characters, your p2p enthusiasts, and of course people just looking for a game to play in a group. Zelda is most definitely a system mover though. It has single-handedly revolutionized gaming with everything from z-targeting and a save feature that isn't just a long string of letters as a password to outright bringing the rpg market back from the brink of death. If not for Zelda a lot of amazing things might not have happened, at the very least they would be seriously delayed. (I'm a major Zelda fanboy and will T.P. your house with a triforce if you disagree with me) (just kidding... probably) (don't ban me)

[SentaiBrad]

If Zelda is supposed to be a system seller then you look at all of them, not just the first 3. Twilight Princess is the best comparison to now because the new Zelda is multi-console as well, NX and Wii U. So it's actually the only analog. Also @weltall There are only 2 distinct versions of the 3DS and I've got both of them. The regular 3DS and the New 3DS. There is the 3DS XL but it is just a bigger 3DS. I have the 3DS XL and the New 3DS XL, the new one has a better everything. It operates so much better and it was only like $20 more expensive? It was a worthwhile upgrade. The speed alone is fantastic.

[Wolf_]

SentaiBrad said If Zelda is supposed to be a system seller then you look at all of them, not just the first 3. Twilight Princess is the best comparison to now because the new Zelda is multi-console as well, NX and Wii U. So it's actually the only analog. Also @weltall There are only 2 distinct versions of the 3DS and I've got both of them. The regular 3DS and the New 3DS. There is the 3DS XL but it is just a bigger 3DS. I have the 3DS XL and the New 3DS XL, the new one has a better everything. It operates so much better and it was only like $20 more expensive? It was a worthwhile upgrade. The speed alone is fantastic.

Oh trust me... I look at all of them. And can confirm that while it stinks to have to upgrade a system for an updated system the 3ds xl new is really fantastic. As I am one of those guys that has to tilt my controls when I get really into games the 180 degree 3d field alone makes it worth it for me. I was always looking too far off to one side on the original and leaving the 3d viewing area when I got too into my games.

[SentaiBrad]

I want all of that... now. And see Zelda for us is skewed, clearly. But the sad truth is it's not a system seller. The attach rate and numbers for Wii U games is astounding considering (like the Vita) but it's dead... I do hope the NX does it, the changes they are making to Zelda sound exciting.

[Wolf_]

SentaiBrad said I want all of that... now. And see Zelda for us is skewed, clearly. But the sad truth is it's not a system seller. The attach rate and numbers for Wii U games is astounding considering (like the Vita) but it's dead... I do hope the NX does it, the changes they are making to Zelda sound exciting.

As a fanatic about Zelda... my mind is just imploding. The stupidly massive map size, the control improvements (autododge on Epona? F*** YES, no more getting stuck on that damn plank bridge only 1 space wide), the night and day cycles (which I hope to see integrated heavily into sidequests, like in Majora's Mask which had GodTier Sidequests), and not to mention the lore that is implied so far. We've seen the machine monsters, the timestone technology arrows, the sheika symbol clothing, the sailcloth of the hero, and the geography on the map has been matched to many previous games. Not to mention it was mentioned that the game will be linked (get it?) to Twilight Princess so what I'm thinking is this may be the first game in the series (chronologically) where the Lanayru desert gets created by being heavily mined for timeshift stones leading to the demon army invasion and the Dark Interlopers (Twili) attempting to seize the Triforce (possibly with the aid of Majora, or his mask, or causing them to create it) and getting banished to the Twilight Realm. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfZoUuCjkS4 Of course Zelda has always done whatever the hell it wanted and just made the timeline work around whatever the game devs put out but I'm really hoping we get to see the events that started everything.

[Lordmonkus]

The WiiU failed for a couple of very specific reasons. For starters many people (myself included) did not know it was an entirely new system at first. Nintendo did nothing to promote and differentiate the WiiU from the Wii. Many people thought it was some sort of add on or something. Second, while the tablet controller is a very cool device it drove up the price to be too high for the power it delivered. It was too expensive to compete with the PS3 and Xbox 360 and didn't have the power to compete with the PS4 and Xbox One Because it was so under powered compared to the PS4 and XBone 3rd party devs just would not put the money into porting their games to it. Then it fell into the vicious can't get third parties because it doesn't have the user base and it can't get the user base because it doesn't have the third parties. Now don't get me wrong, I love the WiiU for the handful of first party exclusives and the system is worth it for those games but it was not enough to save it. Hopefully the NX will be the return of Nintendo to the top of the pile again.

[Wolf_]

okay, so even after downloading a hq sega cd collection (82gb, only a cue, bin, and nfo file so no possible audio file rejection), downloading an official retroarch bios file and properly putting it in my retroarch system folder and setting that as the dir in the options my sega cd files still don't even pull up retroarch when I click them. (yes I imported the cue files into launchbox) When I load the retroarch genesis plus gx core then try to load a sega cd game's .cue file it immediately crashes retroarch... what do?

[Lordmonkus]

As a test just load up Retroarch, then load core and select genesis gx, then load content and browse to one of your cds and select the cue sheet. If that does not work then open your cue sheet in notepad and make sure that the first line is something like the following: FILE "Sonic CD (USA).BIN" BINARY Make sure the part in the quotes matches the bin file name exactly. If that still doesn't work recheck the System/BIOS location in the RA directories menu. If it does work then you have something set wrong in Launchbox.

[Wolf_]

lordmonkus said As a test just load up Retroarch, then load core and select genesis gx, then load content and browse to one of your cds and select the cue sheet. If that does not work then open your cue sheet in notepad and make sure that the first line is something like the following: FILE "Sonic CD (USA).BIN" BINARY Make sure the part in the quotes matches the bin file name exactly. If that still doesn't work recheck the System/BIOS location in the RA directories menu. If it does work then you have something set wrong in Launchbox.

Nope, retroarch crashes the second I hit enter on the cue file. Checked it in notepad and the file is named correctly and has file and binary in the line.

[Lordmonkus]

Ok then it is either the bios file or the cd image. I think I know what bios files you are using and if it is I know for a fact that bios file is correct and named correctly. The bios files are not in a zip file correct ? They are out loose in your Retroarch/system folder ? Something else to try is go into the Retroarch/config folder and delete the genesis_plus_gx_libretro.dll.cfg file. I have noticed sometimes something can go all funky while setting up RA the first go arounds and causes a core to crash on game load and deleting the cfg and recreating a new one fixes it.