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266 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
266 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
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The following is a list of "Game Doctors" and its capabilities I
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compiled for your information. And what is "Game Doctor", and it's
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origin.
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----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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"Game Doctor" is the name giving to devices that can read the ROM
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on the video game cartridges and store it on floppy disk, which later can
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be play back on the video game consoles without the original cartridge.
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The first "Game Doctor" got its start on the Nintendo Famicom
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(Japan's NES). As most of you know, Famicom has a 2.8" disk drive
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available for it, and to save the material cost, many software maker
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publish games on the 2.8" floppy. (I think Nintendo choose to use a
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nonstardard disk size to control software piracy, as there won't be much
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blank 2.8" floppy disks around to copy the games on.) Anyway, sooner or
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later, someone has written a disk copying program(don't think it's ever
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legal in Japan). And somehow as the years go by, there's plenty of blank
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2.8" disks around. I guess that's why there's never a disk drive for the
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U.S. Nintendo, and now, most of the new games in Japan were out in cartridge
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only. To counter this, somebody made some new hardware that connects to the
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Famicom and the disk drive that backs up the games on to the floppy.
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Thus, creating the first "Game Doctor".
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Applying the same concept to other video game consoles, many
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companies in Hong Kong and Taiwan made such devices for Famicom, and then
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for PC-Engine, Genesis, etc. These were the first generation "Game Doctors",
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which only works with one type of machine, and generally uses the old 2.8"
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Nintendo disk drive. (Don't think there's ever any "Game Doctor" made
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by a Japanese company, as the software companies, Nintendo, and Sega would
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suit the pants off that company. And Hong Kong had historically ignored the
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copyright laws of other countries. They even have Nintendo Famicom clones.
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Don't know about Taiwan. )
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As there are many limitations to the first generation of "Game Doctors",
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like, limited storage of 2.8" floppy disks, only one megabit per disk,
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too expansive for multisystem owners, having to buy a "Game Doctor" for each
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of his video game system, etc., comes the second generation of "Game Doctors".
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Almost every second generation of "Game Doctors" have a 3.5" drive,
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and many of them can be use with serval different types of game systems at
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the same time.
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And right now, the third generation of "Game Doctors" have already
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been out. The latest "Game Doctor" uses the more expansive static RAM,
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to prevent hung up in the middle of the game. (as DRAM has to refresh
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itself every cycle, and ROM do not, these could cause problems with the
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video game consoles. Static RAM acts much more like ROM than DRAM.)
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Also, the new ones can be use with any video game systems that's ever out
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and will be out in the future, including portables, like Game Boy, and
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Game Gear. As all they have to do is to make a new interface. And the
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size of the third generation "Game Doctors" is about a bit larger than a
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VHS video cassette, and can be use on battery power.
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I would not discuss how the first and second generation "Game Doctor"
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works, instead, I'll talk more about the third generation, which I think
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should be the most interesting to you.
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Currently there are two "Game Doctors" that are of the third generation.
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They are 'Multi Game Doctor 2' and 'Super Twin Star', both made in Hong Kong.
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The main unit contains a 3.5" HD disk drive, a LCD display, and a
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microprocessor for controlling, with a slot on the side. They are about
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the size of a VHS video cassette, can be use on battery power or AC.
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To play a game from the disk, you first insert a special RAM cart into
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the slot on the main unit. Then you load the game data onto the cart.
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After that, you take out the cart, and plug it into an interfacing cartridge
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for your type of video game console. Then turn on the game console and play!
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Isn't that simple? As to how do you get the games on disk, first you
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get the game cartridge you want to play. Then, plug it into a special
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interface for that type of game system, and plug the whole thing into the
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slot on the main unit, and select the function BACKUP on the main unit.
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And it will back up the cartridge on to disk.
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And as these two "Game Doctor" uses the standard IBM disk format,
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you can pop the disk into your PC and modify the game, using PC Tools or
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other disk editing program. Like making the game to give you unlimited
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1-ups or invincible, etc. The possibility are endless. And as to which
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bytes to change, they're frequently published in Hong Kong video game
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magazines.
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The following is a list of all the "Game Doctors" currently
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available.
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Mega Disk Type: can only be use on Sega Mega Drive
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Company: Taiwan Sang Ting Co. Ltd.
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11/F., RM. 1101C, Ho King Comm. Centre,
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2 Fa Yuen St.,
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KLN., Hong Kong
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Tel: 7704068
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Fax: 7807653
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(Please add Hong Kong international
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area code)
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Description: a boxy shaped thing that sits on top of the
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Sega Mega Drive, much like a Genesis Master
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system converter. has a built in 3.5"HD drive.
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Has 8Megabit memory, (cannot play 12M games
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like Star Control). has a slot on top for
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plugging in cartridges, so you don't have to
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remove 'Mega Disk' everytime you want to
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play a cartridge game. since it does not have
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a battery backup, you have to reload the game
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each time you turn off the system. but takes
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only 34 seconds to load an 8 M game.
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While playing games from disk, you can plug
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in a save cart with battery into 'Mega Disk'
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to save your progress anytime, even if the
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game is an action game. each save cart can
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only save one game at a time. it can
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also back up cartridges onto disks.
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Prices: 'Mega Disk' costs HK$ 1650
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save cart HK$200
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Super Magic Drive
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Type: Super Magic Drive is for Sega Mega Drive only,
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but the company makes two versions of it for
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Nintendo Famicom, and NEC PC-Engine. And is
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about to come out with one that works with
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Super Famicom. Each version can only be use
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with the system it designed for.
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Company: don't know, the name is in Chinese
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Tel: 3870223
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Fax: 3867980
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(please dial the Hong Kong International
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area code first)
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Description: the Sega version works much the same way as
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the 'Mega Disk', also sits on top of the
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Mega Drive, but it has built in save cart,
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and can have unlimited saves by writing it
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to disk. also can have a max of 16 Megabit
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memory.
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the Nintendo Famicom version has 6M of
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Memory, while the NEC PC-Engine version,
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comes in either 4 or 8 Megabit of memory,
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all three uses the same type of 3.5" HD
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disk drive. the main unit is separated
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from the disk drive, connected by a cable.
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Prices: Sega Mega Drive version: 8M HK$1100
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16M HK$1600
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Famicom version: 6M HK$695
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PC-Engine version: 4M HK$1050
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8M HK$1300
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3.5" HD Sony disk drive: HK$550
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Turbo GD 6+ Type: for Nintendo Famicom only
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Description: plugs into cartridge slot of Famicom and
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sits on top of it. has 6M memory, needs
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to buy another device for it in order to
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save game. two piece type, main unit on top
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of Famicom with a cable connected to a
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3.5" disk drive.
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Company: don't know
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(the name is in Chinese only)
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Tel: 7282879
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Fax: 7283012
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(add Hong Kong international area code
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when dialing)
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Princes: Don't know
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Super Twin Star HM-Drive
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Type: portable, multi system, can be use with any
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system, including Gameboy and Game Gear
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Description: a portable unit about the size of a VHS
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cassette, has built in 3.5" HD disk drive,
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a two line LCD display for system function,
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and a slot on the side for accepting its
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own type of battery backed RAM cartridge,
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to play a game from disk, you first plug
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the RAM cart into its slot, then load the
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game data from disk and write it to the
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RAM cart, then, take out the cart and plug
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it into a interface cartridge for your
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game system, and plug the whole thing into
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your video game system and play.
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to copy a game from cartridge, plug the
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game cartridge into a special interface and
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then plug it into Super Twin Star, and
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select the backup command.
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the RAM cart size is about 5 AA batteries
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put together.
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right now, it only have interfaces for using
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on PC-Engine, Super Famicom, Mega Drive,
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Game Boy, and Game Gear.
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Company: FM Trading Company
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Tel: 3878985
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Fax: 7259680
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(dial Hong Kong area code first)
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Prices: main unit with 4M RAM cart: HK$2400
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8M RAM cart: HK$3200
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(includes one interface with main unit)
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All interfaces are HK$80 each, except
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Super Famicom, which is HK$400
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Note: Instruction manual is in English
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Multi Game Doctor
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Type: Multi system
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Description: two piece type, one is main unit, connected
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to the disk drive via a cable, or you can
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buy a special cable with software and use
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your IBM's disk drive.
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comes in 4M or 8M memory.
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the RAM is built into the main unit,
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connecting via cable and an interface
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cartridge, the flat cable is easy to break.
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Right now only have interface for Mega Drive,
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PC-Engine, and Super Famicom.
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Company: Makko Toy Co., Ltd.
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Tel: 7283703
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Prices: 4M Multi Game Doctor: HK$1250
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8M Multi Game Doctor: HK$2150
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3.5" disk drive: HK$850
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PC-Engine & Mega Drive
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interface: HK$80 each
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Mega Drive interface with
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built in save cart: HK$180
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Super Famicom interface
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with built in save cart: HK$650
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Multi Game Doctor 2
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Type: portable, multi system
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Description: Just like Super Twin Star, except it has
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a much smaller LCD display, and its RAM
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cart uses tiny lithium battery, and about
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the size of a Game Boy cartridge.
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can have a max of 32M memory, but right now
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only offers a max of 8M RAM cart.
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(Super twin star uses a regular AA or AAA
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battery for its RAM cart, but the lithium
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battery in Multi Game Doctor 2 RAM carts
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lasts only a month)
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right now, have interface for Mega Drive,
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Super Famicom, PC-Engine, NEC Super Grafx,
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Game Boy, and Game Gear.
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Prices: Multi Game Doctor 2: HK$1100
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1M RAM cart: HK$395
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2M RAM cart: HK$695
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4M RAM cart: HK$1125
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8M RAM cart: HK$1990
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Game Boy interface with
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save game feature: HK$185
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Game Gear interface: HK$170
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PC-Engine interface: HK$150
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Super-Grafx interface: HK$150
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Mega Drive interface
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with save game feature: HK$215
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Super Famicom interface
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with save game feature: HK$590
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Cartridge backup to disk
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interface: HK$200 for
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each system
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lithium battery for RAM cart: HK$15
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Where to get the "Game Doctor"?
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--------------------------------
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Of course if you can go to Hong Kong, you can get it there. But, if
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you are like most people, which you won't be in Hong Kong in the near future,
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and don't have any friends there, you could try to find some specialty
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Hong Kong importing company and ask them to get one for you, which they
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many times charges no less than 50% of the price of the system.
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==========================================================================
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DOWNLOADED FROM RAISING HELL - A INDEPENDENT BBS - SYSOP: PSYCHOPATH
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+46-(0)23-26893
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========================================================================== |