Pioneer LaserActive...anyone own one of these monsters?

[OrochiEddie]

I had all but forgotten, about this guy until coming across it again while bumming around Wiki...although expensive as all this system sounds awesome. It could play laserdiscs and be a Genesis/PC-E? I'm just curious about any information regarding it, especially from anyone that actually owns/owned one.

It was a part of that massive dump of consoles from the 90s, but definitely a piece that is really interesting in any regard.

 

[Baseley09]

I've owned one with both pacs, pretty gnarly but in console terms a bit of a let down that it only offers composite output, and as an LD player its a bit duff - doesn't flip the disc.

Badass system and home to (probably) the best versions of Strahl/Triad Stone, Time Gal & Road Avenger/Blasters FX/Prosecuter.

 

[OrochiEddie]

I've owned one with both pacs, pretty gnarly but in console terms a bit of a let down that it only offers composite output, and as an LD player its a bit duff - doesn't flip the disc.

Badass system and home to (probably) the best versions of Strahl/Triad Stone, Time Gal & Road Avenger/Blasters FX/Prosecuter.

Are they prone to busting, and are they still mad expensive?

 

[smokehouse]

I had one for some time...only had Genesis pacs thought. I did get the Megadrive pac as well...it was pretty cool being able to play both US and jap cart and CD games.

The Laserdisc games were ok...and expensive depending on the title.

Forget about getting the NEC pac (Pac-N1 I believe)...it's stupid expensive, you'd be better off getting a Turbo Duo or Duo R.

As a Laserdisc player...meh...not so much. My dirt cheap Pioneer CLD-D504 was a better player and like Baseley said, the Laseractive didn't offer both side play.

 

[Baseley09]

Are they prone to busting, and are they still mad expensive?

You can get lucky, I got mine with both pacs for around £350 ($700 at the time), tho like Smokehouse says the NEC pac on it's own seems to fetch mad amounts of money, though again, you can get lucky.

When i went to resell mine it had been fine upto this point but the NEC pac developed a sound fault, though i've not read this as being common. Apart from that it worked fine all round, I think the unit can output sound over the toslink output which is the only Megadrive & PC Engine variation to do so IIRC.

While it may harbour the best versions of the games it has, a lot of them are available on 3DO & Playstation in respectable forms - strahl, pyramid patrol, time gal, road avenger, J.J.B. harold & virtual camerman among them.

 

[rarehero]

/me raises hand.
just had mine with the genny module though.

 

[smokehouse]

You can get lucky, I got mine with both pacs for around £350 ($700 at the time), tho like Smokehouse says the NEC pac on it's own seems to fetch mad amounts of money, though again, you can get lucky.

When i went to resell mine it had been fine upto this point but the NEC pac developed a sound fault, though i've not read this as being common. Apart from that it worked fine all round, I think the unit can output sound over the toslink output which is the only Megadrive & PC Engine variation to do so IIRC.

While it may harbour the best versions of the games it has, a lot of them are available on 3DO & Playstation in respectable forms - strahl, pyramid patrol, time gal, road avenger, J.J.B. harold & virtual camerman among them.

My system fetched $200 when I sold it...LOL.

My US Genesis pac had some sound issues...any LD game that used the Genesis proc for sound would sound all garbled. Anything straight off of the LD was fine.

All-in-all, unless you really want the thing, stay away from it. it's better to get the actual system as the few LD titles really aren't that great.

 

[OrochiEddie]

My system fetched $200 when I sold it...LOL.

My US Genesis pac had some sound issues...any LD game that used the Genesis proc for sound would sound all garbled. Anything straight off of the LD was fine.

All-in-all, unless you really want the thing, stay away from it. it's better to get the actual system as the few LD titles really aren't that great.

So not even worth it for the giggle of having a two in one genesis/PC-E?

 

[OrochiEddie]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pioneer-CLD-A100-LaserActive-PAC-N10-Turbo-Grafx-Duo_W0QQitemZ230331865467QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVideo_Games?hash=item230331865467&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50

2 grand...damn that is an expensive mess, but something about that giant blue monolith of a system is just so cool. Who said the x-box was big?

 

[Retrogamer]

The Pac-n10 is what makes that auction so expensive, the unit itself usually goes for 200-300 base , even with a Genny module included.

The NEC module is extremely rare.

I never had one of these, but I used to want one so bad, at the time it was available, the only store near me that had it was called Incredible Universe (R.I.P.)
And they always had one on display with Pyramid Patrol in it, and I was infatuated with that game.

 

[smokehouse]

So not even worth it for the giggle of having a two in one genesis/PC-E?

Price of admission is a bit steep...you can get the same systems sans the LD games for less.

 

[NeoDragoN]

Like base says though only composite output. Tis not good.

 

[Rade K]

I'm going to chalk this up as one of those obscure system curiosities.

Not practical today if you're an oldschool gamer, but it must have been amazing to own in 1993 (like the 3do)

 

[Baseley09]

It's deffinately luxurious, I was always enamoured with the thought of having one and it was cool when i finally did, I only sold it due to finances - if you like FMV games it's cool (tho its actually composite anaolgue video of course!) tho two of the best, Time Gal & Road Prosecuter are among the rarest games on any systems and command those sort of prices, and are like $30 a piece on PSX or Saturn.

The PC Engine pac isn't quite as hectic rare tho is usually more on its own than an actual Duo...the Turbogrfx pac tho is holy shit.

 

[Takumaji]

I'm going to chalk this up as one of those obscure system curiosities.

Not practical today if you're an oldschool gamer, but it must have been amazing to own in 1993 (like the 3do)

The hardware combination (LD and console add-ons) is what makes it obscure, but at least the add-ons let you play lots of good games, unlike the Nuon DVD-player extra. Except for Tempest 3000 and a few notable homebrew projects (Nuon Doom, etc.), there weren't more than four or five games available for it. My brother-in-law bought one of those Nuon-powered Samsung players a few years ago, the interface and extended features were quite cool but given the less-than-lukewarm reception of the system by the entertainment/multimedia industry, it almost felt like vaporware...

Ah well, another addition to the museum of ambitious but failed systems, right next to the CD-I.

 

[smokehouse]

Like base says though only composite output. Tis not good.

Actually...if you have a good Y/C filter on your set, it will outperform an older unit with S-video. My Sony Wega set does a better job with composite from my laserdsic player than it does with its S-vid out.

 

[Syn]

I have two, one with the Sega module, the other has the NEC. There was a third Karoke module, too.

The one with the Sega I got off eBay for $100 Buy It Now about 3 years ago.

Unless you have a Laserdisc collection (I do) there are better options.

Never have had any problems with either unit.

 

[bendor]

i looked this up a while back. I found a game at a pawn shop (Vajra) for a dollar. they thought it was a record. never played it. It's interseting that game consoles are finnally become the media center that the 3DO/CD-i era wanted it to be.

 

[aria]

Member vincewy is something of an expert on the system. He brought one to an early gathering, it was pretty fun --though I noticed that the Laseractive version of Gain Ground, while being much closer to arcade perfect than the Genesis version, omitted a number of levels.

Here are a photo from that gathering:

 

[IcBlUsCrN]

I have been looking for a laseractive myself for some time , to me they are expensive any way you look at it . for some reason i really like the looks.

 

[Baseley09]

Member vincewy is something of an expert on the system. He brought one to an early gathering, it was pretty fun --though I noticed that the Laseractive version of Gain Ground, while being much closer to arcade perfect than the Genesis version, omitted a number of levels.

Here are a photo from that gathering:

That would've been the PC Engine SCD version Gain Ground SX I imagine.

 

[aria]

That would've been the PC Engine SCD version Gain Ground SX I imagine.

Interesting --probably was!

 

[Retrogamer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1Z9VGjclLo

Watch up until the boss scene.

I know it looks lame to today's standards, but I love rail shooters, and I have a special love for ones that use CG backgrounds.

This is the game I would play at Incredible Universe, man I miss that store, its the same place that I discovered the Neo at.

 

[Dinodoedoe]

I dig my laseractive but I only have the Genesis Pac and two laseractive game, one of them being Triad Stone. I wish I could play the game but I'm not sure if my laser is dirty because only Triad Stone do I get wonky random audio tracks during gameplay.

edit: Ghost Rush was the other game. It plays fine but that game sucks

Also: Here's my old "review" about this cool console.

 

[kitkit.com]

I have owned and sold 2 of these, with Sega Mega Drive & PC Engine modules. The system is too bulky to my taste and I encourage you to stay away from it unless you are a die hard collector. Here is some infor:

http://www.pinkgodzillagames.com/retro_reviews/laser_active_review.php