Welcome!  Gamers Helpline is an archive of knowledge, information and utilities to assist all gamers.  I'm sure everyone has, at one point or another, looked up some information about a game online.  I'm also sure everyone has found information that is flat out incorrect and a waste of time.  Occurrences such as these gave rise to this humble little corner of ClassicPlastic.net.  It contains secrets, tricks, codes and information on games as they are encountered.  The goal here isn't to replicate information found on other sites but to provide correct information in instances where many other sources all seem to say something different.  Everything here has been actually utilized and is known to work as described; they're not just tips copied from some random site.  Additionally we provide some very handy file archives and documentation, creating a clean place to gain these files as tested archives.  Updates may be slow but again, anything you find here is something that is both useful and used.

Information / Strategy:
 

Dreamcast - Shenmue

Yamagishi and the Double Blow - Without a doubt the move "double blow" is the most useful special attack in the game.  In addition to being a powerful attack it can also often get Ryo out of a tough situation by knocking a path through a group of enemies.  Unfortunately it must be learned early on and can easily be missed.  As Ryo asks around about residents of Chinese descent, he will eventually be directed to speak with Tao at the Ajiichi Chinese Restaurant.  Here Ryo learns about the "Three Blades" and gains a few new leads.  However before pursuing them, stay in Dobuita and head to Suzume Park.  There Ryo will meet Shigeo Yamagishi, who is enjoying a somber drink in remembrance of Iwao Hazuki.  He will then offer to teach Ryo the double blow move.  In addition to learning an incredibly useful move, the dialogue between Yamagishi and Ryo is my favorite part of the entire game.  If the Shenmue story is ever finished, I hope it ends on Ryo and Yamagishi sharing a drink together.

MJQ Jazz Bar and the Pool Trick Shot - After speaking with Liu's father about the "Three Blades," Ryo will be directed to investigate sailors that may be involved with a Chinese cartel operating out of New Yokosuka Harbor.  Tom will inform Ryo that sailors tend to hang out in bars, one of which is the MJQ Jazz Bar.  Once inside, a pair of sailors will offer to give information to Ryo only if he can complete a pool trick shot with a 1,000 yen bet riding on it.  To sink the ball, tap RIGHT on the control pad 17 times and shoot.  Although these particular sailors don't end up revealing any relevant information, Ryo can return to the MJQ Jazz Bar in subsequent nights for different trick shot challenges, four in all.

The Endless Days of Work at New Yokosuka Harbor - This can be both useful and annoying.  As far as the game is concerned there are only five days of actual work to be done as a forklift operator.  However if Ryo never triggers a character story encounter during a day, then that day will repeat onto the next.  For instance Ryo may be instructed to investigate a warehouse after work but if he fails to do so then the day will repeat until the task is complete.  I tend to trigger this exploit on Ryo's fourth day of work as a forklift operator, as the game expects Ryo to talk with Mark at a couple points during the day.  If Ryo avoids Mark as much as possible and doesn't converse with him at lunch or after work at the end of the day, the next day of work will be the same.  This will continue until Ryo talks with Mark at lunch and then again after being paid at the end of the day.  Without this contact Mark never drops a key piece of information, that the Long Zha might be happening in a couple of days, and there by the Long Zha continues to be delayed.  This extra time allows Ryo to continue working, earning more forklift prizes, buying more capsule toys with the extra money earned, and trying to win more raffle prizes.  If you're going to transfer your save over to Shenmue II (via the USA - UK save file patch application) then you know the key to the easy life at the start of Shenmue II is selling capsule toys to pawn shops in Hong Kong.
 

File Archives:
 

PC Engine CD / TurboGrafx-16 CD System Card Archival Set (click here to download)

After many years of searching, I have complied this set of PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16 CD system cards.  If you would like to distribute this archive, please download it and upload it to the host of your choosing.  This .zip file includes confirmed working and clean archives of the following PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16 system cards, used for CD emulation:

Games Express CD Card (JPN)
PC Engine CD Super System Card (v3.0) (JPN)
PC Engine CD System Card (v1.0) (JPN)
PC Engine CD System Card (v2.0) (JPN)
PC Engine CD System Card (v2.10) (JPN)
TurboGrafx CD Super System Card (v3.0) (USA)
TurboGrafx CD System Card (V2.0) (USA)

Tomy Tutor / Tomy Pyuuta Cartridge Archival Set (click here to download) - Release 6, updated 04/25/2021

This is an archive of all the currently known clean images of Tomy Tutor and Tomy Pyuuta cartridges, including the Tomy Tutor and Pyuuta BIOS, for use in MESS.  Please consult the documentation included in the archive for full information as well as instructions on how to contribute to the archival effort.

As of Release 6, every commercially released Tutor / Pyuuta cartridge has been archived and is included in the archival set.

Ultimarc I-PAC and J-PAC, Manual Input Programming (click here to view documentation)

Simplified from instructions on the Ultimarc website, this is an instruction and command sheet explaining how to manually program Ultimarc arcade keyboard encoders via a standard text editor.  I created this file after coming across an Ultimarc I-PAC that would not respond properly to the Ultimarc programming utility.  Although Ultimarc provides this documentation, it is extremely difficult to understand due to how it is presented on the Ultimarc website.
 

Think there's something here that shouldn't be?  Then please contact me directly and I will attempt to make any and all concessions.