Neo-Geo : The Game Console That Won't Die

xonox writes: "Perhaps you heard about the Neo-Geo game console when it came out some 12 years ago. Most people remember it because it was very expensive. Well, after 12 years, it is still alive and getting brand new commercial games for it. It may be a bit of a niche item but still. The Neo-Geo console was essentially the arcade hardware of the same name inside a prettier case. 3 games have been produced this year for the arcade hardware and two of those 3 have been released for the home console. If you think 2d games are cool, then you should check out http://www.neo-geo.com for more information about one of the greatest 2d platforms of all time. I'm picking playability over 3d anyday :)"

Look out Xbox...

... because you have some competition from Neo-Geo now!

"3 games have been produced this year for the arcade hardware and two of those 3 have been released for the home console"

Two words...

METAL SLUG

Ok, more words... great little 2d platformer series. Get MAME and play it if you're bored :P

Emulators

I might as well be the first to mention that most Neo-Geo games are supported by Mame [mame.net] and my personal emulator of choice, Kawaks [retrogames.com]. If you'd like to try the newer Neo Geo games before you consider the high price road, you should download those emulators and then try searching for some ROMs in various websites, IRC channels, and P2P programs. My personal game recommendations are "Garou: Mark of the Wolves", "The King of Fighters 2000", and any of the Metal Slug games, especially "Metal Slug X".

Oh, and if you see any of the PlayStation ports of Neo Geo games in stores, don't bother with them. They're buggy, bastardized versions of the games with at least twenty to sixty times the amount of loading time (and no, that's not an exaggeration).

Re:Emulators

Yes, but there are two things about MAME emulation of Neo Geo titles:

1. MAME has an internal "ethics" clause forcing them to wait two years before emulating a game, so if Metal Slug 4 is released this year then it will be 2004 before MAME emulates it. Granted, if MS4 never hits the arcade, then perhaps MAME will never emulate it (since it's an arcade emulator).

2. Neo Geo games, at least at one point in time, employed heavy encryption. As a result, it takes quite a while to dump the cartridges in any working form. Metal Slug 3 was released in 2000 but it was mid-2001 before working dumps showed up, and of course 2002 before MAME would support it.

Granted, Kawaks supported it right away and the old NeoRageX doesn't have to have predefined games, so as soon as a game gets dumped you can usually play it right away, but it's not like a "on the Internet before it's in stores ala AOTC" situation.

Still expensive

Most people remember it because it was very expensive.

And most people still do, because they still go for more than a Playstation 2. There are games [ebay.com] for these things that go for more than an Playstation 2, for crying out loud.

I've always wanted one... .

I've always thought that the neo-geo was special, if memory serves me, they are very quick and flexiable.

Emulator anyone?

More info on Neo Geo

Maybe many of you never heard about this wonderfull console, I got some links here on my bookmarks so you all can have a look at it (and play it on emulators):

Neo Geo Temple [neogeotemple.com]

Some Roms [classicgaming.com]

Emulation [emulationzone.org]

Vague memories

Didn't this console come with a smart-card type thing that allowed you to transfer game stats to and from the arcade machines?

And while we're at it, whatever happened to the PC Engine?

Didn't they just recently kill this system?

Didn't I see something [slashdot.org] about how SNK was discontinuing opperations? And why are these games SOOOOOOOOOOO expensive? It's no like Street Fighter is that new!

Re:Didn't they just recently kill this system?

On the SNK issue: Sengoku 3 is the last game they will be publishing. Also remember the SNK isn't NEO-GEO, although they are the main publisher for the system.

On the price of the games: The games come out with 90-600 meg cartrages. It's nothing for those cart to come out with 20-150 individual burned chips.

That a lot silicon compared to the data stored on a CD-ROM or now a days a DVD-ROM.

fond farewell

I think anyone who came of age in the late 80's and early 90's (colloquially known as "the 80's") will testify to the wonder and mystique of the so-called Neo Geo.

Hours spent playing games.

This was the architecture that paved the way for the 32-bit and better machines and consoles that today are commonplace. In addition to the introduction of parallelism and coprocessing into games, Neo Geo raised the bar for graphics and presaged the whole "multimedia" craze hyped by the media and ignored by consumers.

Modern PC games pale by comparison.

Yet I think they will rise again.

This is somewhat ridiculous...

More people probably play neo geo games via emulator than own the console...

I mean, its like saying that Windows 3.1 is an amzingly viable OS right now just because some programs run in it/are used in XP under the compatibility layer.

It seems that "usability" and "playability" is always the argument brought up by die-hard fanatical supporters of dying/dead platforms. And I would know, as a mac user, that this doesn't buy crap in the real world. If the hardware, and more importantly, the games, are crap, then no-one will think even once about buying it. And right now, games with 3d are what people want. I just feel like laughing at whoever would be willing to pay the price to actually buy one of these things, especially when the dreamcast is ultra-cheap. (Now there is a decent 'dead' console. Don't give me that 80's crap)

Of course, I could give you a great deal on an old Amiga, if you're interested ;-)

"I'm picking playability over 3d anyday :)"

That's why my girl-friend and me were playing SNES and Genesis games the last weeks :-) Toe Jam and Earl rules ;-) Besides, is it just me or are there really fewer types of games released today ? I mean, have you seen any scrolling shooters like R-Type lately, or adventures ? Even jump'n'runs seem to be rare today :-( Damn 3D-philia !

Re:Instant gratification

Kids today are obsessed with visuals. If the game doesn't look kick-ass, they don't want to play it. If the game doesn't involve fragging and dying every 30 seconds, they don't want to play it. Most of today's kids want the immediate gratification that games like Q3, UT, HL, etc. offer.

That's exactly the opposite of what I think. The games these days require so much investment of time in order to master. Take a look at most FPS games, or most of the console fighting games these days. You need to learn a half-dozen to a dozen different commands, dodges, weapon combos, and advanced strategies. It's hard to get into these games unless you're a kid who has a load of time to kill.

Me, I'd like to get a quick gaming fix now and again, but I simply don't have the time to invest in the average game these days. Bring back more of the games with simpler, easily accessable gameplay. Stop equating "more complex" with "more fun." You can still create a game that can hold long-term interest while being accessable. It's just harder.

Re:"I'm picking playability over 3d anyday :)"

It's true about girl-friends as well.

Neo Geo has never been popular at home

For reasons including its exorbitant price, the Neo Geo has never been a big hit with the home market.

It has some pretty impressive hardware, which makes it a popular machine for arcades. With the processing power of today's machines, it isn't an exaggeration to say that Neo Geo was ahead of its time.

gosh......

I remember back when this was new. I had a super nintendo, and I thought:

"wow neo-geo is a 32 bit system!!!! that has got to be the pinical of gaming technology!!!! it will never get better than that!!!"

little did I know......it didn't :-) (that was a joke)

Niche platforms.

If you think 2d games are cool, then you should check out http://www.neo-geo.com for more information about one of the greatest 2d platforms of all time.

Check out the Sega Saturn too -- they're pretty close to free in the used game shops around here, and absolutely kick ass for 2d gaming.

Street Fighter Alpha 2, for example. [drool]

--saint

holy shit I feel old

I remember when Neo Geo just hit the arcades and I got a neogeo card for Xmas. 12 years is a long time for one of the last "new" things I remember in the arcades.

Maybe I've been gaming a bit too much :P

Samurai Shodown

The Samurai Shodown games are still the best fighting games ever. Especially parts 1 & 2. Street Fighter,Virtua Fighter, and Tekken are for pussies.

Why it failed

Yeah, the performance was great, but a $1,000 system with games that cost $100 a piece was not going to be picked up by the gaming public in an era where the primary game players were under 18 at the time. Also the hardware was ahead of the time, but Neo-Geo emulates fine on my secondary PC (333 mhZ K6-2 with only 64 MB of RAM).

Bottom line? Stick with a PS2 or GameCube, you get more bang for your buck. (But less geek appeal...)

-Evan

C64

People are still making games for C64 [c64.com] too...

Re:C64

People are still making games for C64

People are still making the C64 [geocities.com] itself! (I submitted this to /. last week but it got rejected, so feel free to mod me up :)

Pocket Colour?

Everybody seems to be reminiscing about when "every game was unique" in the 80's. I just looked at the Neo-geo site, and most of the games appear to be 'Street Fighter' clones or variations.

Get a grip, I have a Pocket Colour I bought just before the unit was pulled from Europe and all I can get are the same few game types.

What about the early to mid 80's(C64, Speccy etc.)? There were far fewer game clones then.

Hang on, I think I've turned into Granpa from the Simpsons...

In my day.... blah blah yadda yadda rhubarb

Failed?

I don't think so. The Neo-geo bios is always running in every place, on arcade machines. There are LOTS of Games running, and they're the best choice for all the gamers I know. Specially the King Of Fighters games are the preferred fighting game for everybody I know.

IMHO, SNK make the best fighting games, like Fatal Fury series, King Of Fighting series, Last Blade, Samurai Showdown, ... There's a place here in town that I always go, and while the King Of Fighters machine is always occupied by someone, the "Capcom vs. Street Fighter" machine running a dreamcast is always empty... Playability is all! The fancy graphics aren't always the best choice...

Get a Neo Geo MVS

If you're looking for a Neo Geo and find the prices of the home consoles high, look into one of the arcade games themselves. The arcade versions are high, but the low price of the games balances things out. I picked up (locally) a 4-slot (meaning, capable of holding four games at once and switching between them) Neo Geo with a 27" monitor for $500 - $600. Throw in another $30 for new buttons and joysticks (that anyone with a basic knowledge should be able to install) and it'll play just like new. MVS (arcade version) games on eBay typically go for much less than their AES (home version) because they were produced in larger quantities. Many games weren't even released for home play ever. You can find games anywhere from $3/ea to $300/ea, but you should be able to assemble a complete Neo Geo MVS arcade collection for under $1000. I did.

There's just something so much nicer about the original hardware. Even if you do build your own emulation machine. (Which is also in my collection: http://www.nuxx.net/gallery/arcade)

Mmm... Magical Drop III tournaments on a 27".

-Steve

Cart prices killed

I remember the NeoGeo being up against the Sega MegaDrive (Genesis) in the old playground 'my console could have your console' battles. The Nintendo was for poofs and kids, the MegaDrive was mainstream, and the techie boys loved the NeoGeo to pieces.

Only the PCEngine was worth more street cred - but that was because you could actually get games for it! The NeoGeo games available in the UK went for at least £100, sometimes £250.

Mmmmmmm.... Metal Sluuuuuug

Hey, I agree!

I'm picking playability over 3d anyday

Looks like I'm not the only one who hasn't been brainwashed by SCEA that unaliased jagged jumpy polygons AREN'T the future!

$$$Money$$$

Yeah, and this had to be one of the most expensive consoles ever sold with the most expensive games to boot. I'm one for playability, but damn. If only every console had such a long shelf life and retained their value as well as this one... Maybe my NG Pocket will do the same ^__^

Playability...

I'm picking playability over 3d anyday

And you're talking about the Neo Geo here?

Uh... the same game system which had some of the world's crappiest games on it, both in the arcade and on the home system?

Look, if you want cheap and playable then go out and get a $200 PC and play PC games from yesteryear. Go get MAME and other emulators and also play old arcade games like Qbert, Qix, Dig Dug, and so forth.

Neo Geo 3D

It should be noted that there is a 64-bit version of the Neo Geo. It's called the Hyper NEO GEO 64, although I think it's only an arcade board. The only game I know of released on it was called Samurai Shodown 64, which I suppose is not the same as Samurai Shodown 4.

You know, you could probably buy a NEO GEO arcade motherboard for about $50, then pick up a JAMMA cabinet with a crap game in it for $200, and you wouldn't have to worry about encryption OR copyright violation OR finding ROM dumps.

Geo had the magic

Hand drawn animation, well thought out music. Characters WITH character. SNK did it right. They've had their ups and downs, Should have stuck with the NGCD system, just needed a little more ram and a slightly faster cd drive. As a sidenote, those guys at neo-geo.com are a little crazy, so much as a mention of roms and they'll ban your ass. I suppose it'd be because the guy that runs the place makes a livin off those fools that will pay upto $5k for a cart. Mind you they were never more than $400 tops direct from SNK. Once its sold out from snk, and been dumped just get one of those x-sticks or whatever they are called and play it on mame. some anti-aliasing definately makes it better. I'd suggest trying out last blade 2, damned good game. Neo-Geo=arcade fighters Saturn=Best shooters Latest and greatest=flashy crap There was also a system SNK released, hyper neo 64 I believe, 64bit arcade machine. you can pick one up for $500 or so. there were only a handful of games made for it. Essentialy just a step up in the graphics.

Why only Action and Fighting games?

It's amazing how SNK has been able to keep somewhat of a hold on the gaming market with what would be considered "outdated" hardware by industry standards.

What I've always questioned, though, is why are they only focusing on fighting and action based games? I think they would get much more exposure if they ever released a sequel to Crystalis. Just a thought...

Rom Sizes

I was always wondering, why were NeoGeo titles so expensive. Besides manufacturing a limited amount of titles, its the rom size. Has anyone ever taken a look at the rom size of these things? Some of the games are 48mb, some are 64mb. Thats gotta drive the cost up. Aside from N64, I don't think any other cart based systems have had roms this large.
Whats the largest Neo Geo cart anyway?

insert subject

Woo. [penny-arcade.com]

Nethack

I'm picking playability over 3d anyday :)

Does it run Nethack [nethack.org]? Didn't think so.

I'm not dead yet (paraphrase-alternative version)

Marketplace: Bring out your dead! Bring out your dead!

Sony, Microsoft, et al: Here's one.

Neo-Geo: I'm not dead yet.

Marketplace: He says he's not dead

Sony, Microsoft, et al: Well, he will be soon. He's very ill.

Neo-Geo: I'm getting better.

Sony, Microsoft, et al: No, you're not. You'll be stone dead in a moment.

Marketplace: Oh, I can't take him like that. It's against regulations.

Neo-Geo: I don't want to go on the cart!

Sony, Microsoft, et al: Oh, don't be such a baby.

Marketplace: I can't take him.

Sony, Microsoft, et al: Well, do us a favor.

Marketplace: I can't.

Sony, Microsoft, et al: Well, can you hang around a couple of minutes? He won't be long.

Marketplace: No, I've got to go to Sega Headquarters. They've lost their whole hardware division today.

Neo-Geo: I think I'll go for a walk.

Sony, Microsoft, et al: You're not fooling anyone, you know. Look. Isn't there something you can do?

Neo-Geo: I feel happy. I feel happy.


(metal) SLUG

Sony, Microsoft, et al: Ah, thanks very much.

Marketplace: Not at all. See you on Thursday.

Game Systems you Should Know About...

I collect ORIGINAL games for the original systems that they came out on. Why? Because, most/all retain value, and some increase in value - it's a hobby that keeps giving, too.

THAT SAID..

Here are some consoles that you should run out and buy (and WHY):

Turbo Grafx 16, with CD-ROM and system 3.0 card: Why?: Games like Lords of Thunder (great 2D shooter), Bonk's Revenge (2D platformer), Y's Books 1 and 2, and Neutopia (think Zelda).

Wonder Swan: Why?: Bandai's Japan-only color handheld system has a huge library of games. It was released within the past two years, and is a major challenger to Game Boy in Japan. Why it isn't released here, I'll never know.

TI-99/4a: Why?: This innovative computer (for the time) has many games, and a few features that were seldom found elsewhere. It had a speech synthesizer, in '81! Parsec has to be one of the more fun side scroll shooters I've seen; you can re-fuel your ship and your laser overheats. Great Atari classics can also be found on this system, with improved graphics.

Sega Master System: Why?: Two words; "Phantasy Star". If you can think of a more ground breaking RPG, I'd like to hear it. This system had a little for everyone; check out the 3D specs with games like Missle Command 3D!

Atari 7800: Why?: Ms. Pac Man was a -great- game on this system, and with the old Atari joysticks, it just "felt right". You can play 2600 games on this beast, making it versatile and fun.

Dreamcast: Why?: Emulation abounds on this machine; you can even play Quake I if you were so inclined! Personally, I think this is one of the best systems that was ever made available. Soul Caliber is still one of the top fighting games EVER MADE.

PlayStation 2: Why?: Backward compatibility and the best games to date.

I can't be the only one...

I can't be the only one that thinks that many 2d games _look_ better than many 3d games, can I? So many 3d games are ugly, angular and blocky, with straight lines on many of the rendered graphics where there should be a smooth curve.

Drawn graphics only give you a limited viewpoint, but it's a _smooth_ and pretty image. Recent 3d games are _starting_ to look good, for some of them, but most still suck. Until 3d games look like Shrek, I'd rather see pretty hand drawn images tiled into the game.

clearance

I guess I should have bought these when the had them on clearance for $30 a couple of years back at the local Kay-Bee toy store.

The article misses the point.

The article completely misses the fact that the Neo Geo was not created to be a home console system. It was created as an arcade board, to be used in arcade centers. Eventually a home version was released for those who wanted to have the arcade at home.

My point is that the Neo Geo cannot be compared with the GameCube, Playstation 2 and XBox, for the simple reason that it is a different market. Of course the Neo Geo is more expensive than these, because it was not designed to be played at home. If you want to compare the Neo Geo to something, what about Sega's Naomi, Sony's System 236 (is that the number?) and more recently the incoming Nintendo/Sega/Namco TriForce? As an arcade system the Neo Geo has ben failry succesful. Maybe not in the US, but it has been in other countries, Mexico and Asian countries being good examples.

----
Jabel D. Morales - VMan of Mana

Some guy lazy to register.

Neo Geo was good...

...but if you really want to go old skool, you need a Colecovision [oriole.net], an Atari 2600 [oriole.net], and, of course, a C64 [oriole.net].

Now that's what you call a Home Entertainment System!

playability over 3D

That's an ironic thing to say, considering that in the first 2 or 3 years, the selling point of the Neo Geo was it's graphics and sound (everyone was wowed by the amount of speech!), and the games mostly played like crap.

Re:Neo-Geo? Pah!

Simply because there are great games avaible for the Neo-Geo, especially if you like fighting games :-) I've never owned one but a friend of mine has, and the Neo-Geo is a really cool console with really cool games.

Re:Playabilty...

Anyone remember Gauntlet?

I do. I remember it to be a fantastic game, and spent hours and hours playing it. Sadly, the harsh reality of MAME emulation means that I can play today what I simply remembered before. It can be unforgiving experience - loading it up now I find the magic has gone.

However, your general point on playability is well taken and I entirely agree. How about Jumping Jack Flash on the Spectrum? Mono graphics, a stick figure and some 2-pixel high black lines with gaps. A fabulous game that I still play today.

Cheers,
Ian

Re:When I was a kid..

Does anyone know if Gauntlet has been released or is being made for Gameboy Advance?

Four players, drool....

Re:Another Hater Wannabe.

Wow

The US must be really proud to be in that list.

Re:Playability over 3D?

I think he was refering to the fact that there is still so much hype over great 3D graphics when most of the games get boring after a few minutes anyway.

Look at Castlevania: Symphany of the Night, its almost six years old and I'm still playing it.

Re:3DO anybody?

I just wish someone would write a 3DO emulator so I could play Twisted without having to buy a 3DO just for one game- though with a big group of friends, it's almost worth it just for that one game! You've won a large glazed donut dipped in tar!