Anybody else here into collecting for the Pioneer LaserActive? I've managed to put together a nice little collection over the years, a system with 2 Sega modules(US/JP) and 2 TG16 modules(US/JP), Karaoke Pac, and 18 games(17 US games and 1 japanese). The only US title I'm missing is Blue Chicago Blues. I had the 3D goggles at one point but sold them to a friend who made me an insane cash offer.

Wow, I know of NO ONE who has the US TG16/PCE pack for the Laseractive. Pretty darn cool, man.

Always thought about getting one of them for the novelty of it--playing games on my LD player! Just never got around to it. I do have a ton of Turbo Grafx 16 and PC Engine games so it would have been worthwhile for me to get one.

Have you had any compatibility issues with any Duo games (I read an article way back when in EGM about some compatibility issues, but thought it might have been limited to the "Arcade Card" titles)?

I lucked out, a while back on ebay I bought a boxed laseractive system and 3 boxed modules(TG16, Sega, and Karaoke), and everything was like new. The US TG16 module had a very low print run, and many were broken/thrown out over the years, so finding one in this immaculate condition is quite a rare find. I immediately had a friend of mine replace all the capacitors inside the PACs, since they have a tendency to go bad and leak acid, destroying vital electronic components inside the units. I've seen other Pacs that were not so lucky :/

The arcade card Titles(Art of Fighting, World Heroes 2, Sapphire etc) work fine with a JP NEC Pac. I'm pretty sure they will also work with a US TG16 pac, but you will need a converter for the arcade card, and finding one that will fit the PAC can be difficult. Fortunately I have a friend who makes custom-made PCEngine/TG16 converters. Once a NEC Pac is installed it basically turns the LaserActive into a fully functioning Turbo Duo unit.

I have a Kisado convertor, but I imagine that won't fit the TG16 PAC?

I'm not familiar with the "kisado" converter, if it is one of the "diving board" style converters it will probably have trouble fitting.

Honestly it's more feasable to just buy a JP NEC Pac, than to buy a US TG16 Pac and a converter.

This is what the Kisado converter looks like . . .

Kisado Converter

. . . it's supposed to be the most reliable PC Engine-to-TG16 converter out there.

Oh I'm sure it is...Laseractive is just such an odd beast though...the only problem is the card slot is seated deep inside the PAC, and diving board converters are typically designed for the Duo units, which have alot more breathing room...

It seems like a Kisado would work fine, but I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to get one. Anyone with a LD and a TG16 module can certainly afford a $35 TG16 unit to play HuCards on.

These days converters and US hardware in general are basically a huge stupid waste of money. You can buy two or three entire PC Engines for what people are paying for converters. Its ridiculous. I've been collecting PCE Engine/TG16 for 19 years now and I have to tell you I simply cannot understand what's going on with US collectors. You could collect Neo Geo for what these kids are paying for stuff.

For posterities sake, a pro tip: for a much better LD viewing experience, remove all PAC modules, or at least the Sega one. With the Sega PAC in the LA's (very very bad) digital frame buffer interferes with CAV playback. All multi speed, still frame, etc functions, stuff that looks much better on CAV discs, will be inexplicably run though the fame buffer anyway making them all look terrible. For some reason with the PAC out this works normally. Just one more bizarrely half-ass aspect of the LA. I love it, but its kind of...sloppily done, in a lot of ways.

For one reason or another, the remote control is also disabled when a PAC is inserted. I'm not sure if this is done under the assumption that the user is going to use a controller pad instead when a PAC is inserted, or if this was done to ensure that the remote control doesn't cause any interference during gameplay. Either way I find I always remove the PAC when I'm watching a LD movie, not being able to use the remote is just annoying.

Well, I don't have to go out of my way to get a Kisado as I already have one

I've probably been collecting PCE/TG16 games for as long as you have (bought my US Turbo Duo back in '93) and I made sure I got a Kisado as soon as I could find one (I think 95 or 96) as I was to be stationed in Japan. So of course I wanted to be able to play Japanese HuCards on my system.

And I only paid $40 for it from TZD.

So since I already have one, I would like to utilize it should I get a Laseractive.

But that only matters if I get a US PAC for the LA, and that's even more rare than a Kisado.

Just to give you an idea...

A US TG16 PAC goes for around $400 loose, or $800+ boxed. Boxed ones only turn up every few years anyway.

A JP NEC PAC goes for about $200-$250 loose. About the same price as you would pay for a Turbo Duo in good condition. (Since CDs are region free, the only thing you can absolutely not play with this is US TG16 cards, which most of them suck anyway, or have a JP release as it is.)

This of course doesn't take into account any functional problems with these PAC units. Fortunately, TG16 Pacs don't seem to have as many problems as Sega Pacs, since there are alot less capacitors inside.

I've always wanted one of these, I love Sega & LaserDiscs! Very nice! Do you have any photos to share?