SNK Neo-Geo

The Neo-Geo was a powerhouse in the 16-bit era, but could not truly compete with the Sega Genesis, SNES, and TurboGrafx-16, due to its price of $650 per unit, and the games sold for $200 or more a pop, thus putting the Neo-Geo and its games exclusively in a niche market. The Neo-Geo has two versions, the arcade version, which is the Multi Video System (MVS), and the home version, the Advanced Entertainment System (AES). The MVS proved to be really popular in the arcades, because of its awesome-for-their-time graphics and CD-quality sound, and owners can install up to six game cartridges in a single machine, depending on the motherboard used. Some boards (MV-1 series) play only one game, one plays two games, one plays four games, and one plays six games. Before you insert a quarter to play a game, you can switch to another game at the push of a button, something like a jukebox, except it's for video games! Both the arcade and home versions are based on the very same specifications, thus translations of arcade games to the home version are perfect! The Neo-Geo is also the very first video game system to use the memory card, which can be used between the home and arcade versions, and you can save your progress on it, up to 27 save files, but not your scores, sadly. Those who cannot afford the home console often had to rent it and/or a game or two (or=If there are those who already had a Neo-Geo home console).

The Neo-Geo has also produced some of the most memorable arcade game franchises like Samurai Shodown (which won EGM's Game of the Year 1993), King of Fighters, Metal Slug, Fatal Fury, and such.

Sounds realy cool never knew thanks.

I remember being in a "Neo-Geo phase" back in Junior High School! I was so obsessed with it.

Wanna hear more?

Well then, there is also Neo-Geo CD, which is meant to be a less expensive alternate to the cartridge system, but it has atrocious loading times due to a slow single-speed CD drive. There were two versions of the Neo-Geo CD, one with a motorized CD tray, and one with a CD lid. There is also a Neo-Geo CDZ with a faster single-speed CD drive for improved loading times, but the cruel fact was, is that consoles like the PlayStation and Sega Saturn were on the scene and 3D games were dominating the market. Oh, and also, Neo-Geo CD doesn't use memory cards. There was a prototype 32-bit version of the Neo-Geo CD that is more advanced than the final product, the Neo-Star, which boasts infared controllers with palm grips and headphone sockets, compatibility with the Neo-Geo cartridges, a new CD1/CD-ROM drive to play special Neo-Geo games (the CD1 features allows for movie-quality sound/graphics to be played with video game interaction via the cartridges. On top of that, the CD-ROM dual features allows for bigger games to have extra graphics or information to be stored on special CDs), 640x480 resolution, RISC CPU's that are claimed to clock around 14.5MHz to make it five times faster than the original Neo-Geo, special surround sound sockets that allow the machine to be plugged into stereo Hi-Fis to offer mind-blowing sound, Super-SCART, and an expansion port that can be used with a special cable-TV/Modem connector to allow for multi-player gaming, also with home-banking features and buying stuff off of your TV, along with a 3D goggles system and a keyboard facility (would've been used in-conjunction with the home-banking feature). I almost forgot, the Neo-Star would've come with 3D graphics

There is also Hyper Neo-Geo 64, a 64-bit Neo-Geo with 3D polygon graphics, something I believe SNK should have given the Neo-CD. Unfortunately, it didn't do very well because most of the long-time fans preferred the 2D games rather than 3D, and there were also plans for a home console version of the Neo-64, but never made it past the drawing board. There are four versions of the Hyper Neo-Geo 64 motherboard. There's a "Fighting" board for playing the fighting games and there were two revisions of it; one of them has a standard Neo-Geo harness rather than a custom one like the other. Also there's a "Racing" board for playing racing games, a "Shooter" board for playing this zombie-shooter game Beast Busters: 2nd Nightmare, and a "Korean" board for playing these two Samurai Shodown games released for Hyper Neo-Geo 64. Also, they didn't make too many games for this system because it proved to be a failure in the arcades.

how much were they.

The top-loading Neo-Geo CD, which is sold worldwide, sold for $300 new and the games costed $50, more or less. The front-loading version was released in Japan only (plus, around 25,000 units were produced), the same with the CDZ. Plus, they never said how much the Hyper Neo-Geo 64 costed when they were selling the kits to any arcade owner who ordered them.

Thats a lot.

On what part?

There's still one more Neo-Geo system that I'll talk about before I put up any pictures!

The Neo-Geo Pocket and Neo-Geo Pocket Color. SNK's answer to Nintendo's Game Boy Color, boasting a 16-bit processor, better graphics, linkability to the Sega Dreamcast, and similar to the original Game Boy, it has a Link Cable for multiplayer battles. When they released the Neo-Geo Pocket Color, they released it worldwide. I remember seeing the TV commercial when I was a kid and I've always wanted one but it was too expensive for my parents at the time, I mean, we're a middle-class family for Pete's sake!

There's also something else about the AES you also need to know about. It started out as a rental unit used in hotel chains, bars, and restaurants, and they're only capable of playing one MVS cartridge. This early iteration of the AES is known as the Neo-Geo Deck. Plus, it resembles something like a microwave.

Now for the pictures, starting with the systems. Keep in mind that there are many types of cabinets used for the MVS hardware.
This is the AES main unit, along with two joystick controllers and a few games
This is the packaging for the Neo-Geo memory card model no. NEO-IC8, which is powered by a lithium button battery, and based on the 68-pin JEIDA ver. 3 computer memory card
This is an American MVS cabinet that can play two games, and I know a Godfather's Pizza in the town where I live having one or two of these machines.
This is the MV-1, the first version of the single-slot motherboard
This is the limited production front-loading model of the Neo-Geo CD, pictured with a control pad and the hook-ups.
And this is the more-common top-loading version that was sold worldwide
This here is the main unit of the CDZ with that faster 1x speed CD drive
This here is the Fighting model of the Hyper Neo-Geo 64 motherboard with the Buriki One game cartridge
And this is one of the cabinets of the Neo-64. Plus, it's compatible with other arcade motherboards, especially MVS
This is the Neo-Geo Pocket Color, and it comes in different color schemes.

You know, there has been a mention on neogaf forums of a Millenium 128, a 128-bit Neo-Geo with a Matrox graphics chip that never made it past the drawing board, and in recent years, the president of SNK Playmore hinted of the possibility of a 256-bit Neo-Geo that's in the same generation as the Xbox 360 and PS3, but nothing more is ever uncovered.

Cool i had the loading ver. well my older cousin did but i used it alot.

You had a Neo-Geo CD? Which one?

The more-common top-loading version. It wasnt mine though it was my older cousins but i used it alot.

( Me and my cousin lived in the same house )

Oh, wow! Your older cousins had a Neo-Geo CD, and it's the top-loading version! So, did you get irritated with the loading times?

What games did you play on it?

it was irritating and i cant remeber any games i was about 3-4 years old.

Here's a link to a concept sketch of the Neo-Star on Photobucket
https://media.photobucket.com/image/Neo-Star/scorponok/neo-star.jpg

Also, here's a few pictures of the original iteration of the AES, the Neo-Geo Deck!
The unit, pictured with a few Japanese MVS cartridges, two Pro Joystick controllers, the keys to the coinbox, and the operating manual.
Another pic of the 'Deck, with the same kind of Pro Joysticks as the first one above
The Neo-Geo Deck open, with an MVS cartridge in the slot
A small ad of the Neo-Geo Deck showing its structural stability.
The operating manual
An excerpt from the operating manual with the Pro Joystick.
The front and rear views of the Neo-Geo Deck.

So, what version of the Neo-Geo do you like the best? I almost forgot, there's also a mahjong controller released for the AES, and is quite rare. Below here is the controller itself

Yeah thats the one.

You like the Neo-Geo Deck, huh? I like it too.
Would you want one of these?

Also, here's a few commercials!

This is the commercial I've seen when I was a little kid living in Kent, Washington.
The original Fatal Fury (Garou Densetsu in Japan) for AES and MVS.
A commercial (and a rather quirky one at that) of the front-loading Neo-Geo CD
The equally-quirky commercial for the top-loading version
The ad for the original Samurai Spirits (Samurai Shodown in the US) for Neo-Geo

You know that pic of the Neo-Geo memory card? That was the packaging!
This is one version of the memory card seen in the American ads for the MVS
And this is the other version of the memory card

And this here is the American 6-slot MVS cabinet

Also, there's this site about MVS called hardMVS. Here's the link: http://www.hardmvs.com/

Okay, so, I'd just thought I'd let you know something about the memory card pictures in the last post. The first one was the American version, and the second one below it was the Japanese version. But, there's another version of the memory card seen in this scan of an older Neo-Geo ad below


This part of this ad is scanned by a member of videogameobsession.com named SpooNMan, to let you all know!

Do you think that the memory card in this ad was a prototype version?

Nope i dont need any i have alot odf games systems now/

So, have any of your older cousins ever rented the Neo-Geo cartridge system?

I dont think so.

Well, I assumed they did because they had a Neo-Geo CD. Anyways, which memory card do you like better, the American version, or the Japanese version?

Japan man there always better.

better-performing or better-looking. You know, I saw a picture one time of a button of an American Neo-Geo Fan Club that existed at one point in the 1990s

I cant realy remember but i think it was better performing.

I like the one used in the older ads about the rental system and MVS.

1. Because it's shiny
2. Its artwork looks unique