Hi, I want to get a real TGM 3 arcade machine. I've been looking everywhere with no luck... But I did find this gameboard on Alibaba: http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Tetris-The-Grand-Master-3-Terror_559345158.html I want to know if this is a legit machine? Would it be worth my money if I buy this or is it just a scam? Thanks in advance! // coolboy74
It is not legitimate. Don't buy it. If you want the real game, you can buy it from http://sophia-corp.jp/ at almost all times. If they don't list it on their site, don't worry...just email them. You will need a Taito Type X motherboard and the TGM3 kit for it. They might sell both as a bundle or not; I'm not sure what the current situation is.
It is a bootleg, using similar specs to the original typex hardware, as well as a jamma to jvs i/o board. It doesn't even output jamma video on the edge connector, requiring use of one of those exposed vga ports. It apparently even has it's own security dongle. (always hilarious when bootleggers protect their bootlegs) I have pictures of the inside of this thing, having suckered them into snapping some. http://eunich.cochems.com/~zaphod/tgm3bootsmall.jpg
Isn't the actual release just an USB dongle kinda thing with the software on it? TypeX is actually a Windows based hardware, so it doesn't use carts or anything like that. I'm sure that's also why TGM3 is a lot cheaper than TGM2 at Sophia Corp. I just ordered TGM2 from them - stand up service, but expensive in shipping and customs. PS: Never trust anything on alibaba. It's the stronghold of Chinese bootlegs
Prices can be found here (in Japanese, and in Yen): http://tops-game.jp/list/taito.htm Ti is currently listed for ¥51,840: タイトー/アリカ テトリス ザ・グランドマスター3 (S) 51,840 専 05 H 4 落ちものパズル HDD+ドングルのみ Taito / Arika Tetris: The Grand Master 3 (S) 51,840 Dedicated 05 H 4 Falling block puzzle HDD + dongle only
Remember that the price that Muf listed is for the game software alone ("HDD + dongle only") -- you'd also need a Taito Type X (the PC) and JVS I/O (unless you have an arcade cabinet that already natively supports JVS). And, of course, if you don't have an arcade cabinet, then you'd need a supergun to hook up controls to the I/O board. Normally I'd say the PC, I/O, and HDD + dongle would likely run you up to ~$1000 USD. Though, with the prices listed right now and the yen rate, it looks like $720 USD before shipping. That's "a pretty good deal" comparatively.
Gotcha. But it's the only* way to have recognized times/grades because the leaderboards on the arcade boards are networked, correct? Are there substantive gameplay differences between the real hardware and something like NullpoMino, assuming you throw enough hardware at NullpoMino to remove any lag? *legitimate
Ah, ok. I figured the idea of user accounts implied network, but if they're only local that's different. Thanks.
Yeah they are local only. Too bad TTC won't let them relase for PC or a modern console to get real leaderboards.
Nullpomino has always felt weird to me for TGM games. For SRS (40L, multiplayer, etc) I've never really had issues with it, but the TGM implementation just doesn't feel right. If you're not using MAME then I'd recommend Texmaster as the next-best alternative. The implementation there isn't perfect either, but it feels a good sight closer.
I don't think it's something inherent to Java, but to the graphics or input implementation -- whether it's something inherent to the libraries used or the way they were used, I don't know. It's also very possible there are deficiencies in the engine code itself; given the multitude of different options and how they affect the game rules, there are a load of different branches and conditions and any one of those could have some uncaught bug or corner-case. It's something that the team wanted to address as part of the full-scale rewrite (Nullpomino 8), but that never quite got off the ground. NullNoName sort of dropped off the radar and the rest of the devs sort of fell by the wayside as well. I know esialb has a still-active fork of it in the form of Zeromeaner, but I don't know if this is something that he has looked into specifically.