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 :)"

Comments

Still expensive

[Brento]

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 for these things that go for more than an Playstation 2, for crying out loud.

Vague memories

[ringbarer]

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?

Re:Pocket Colour?

[Dimensio]

Most of the fighting games are "Street Fighter" clones, heck I thought that the characters from World Heroes were direct rip-offs (one character had the appearance of M. Bison(US)/Vega(JP) and the "stretch" ability of Dhalsim). Samurai Shodown had its own unique style however. The Metal Slug series is hardly an original genre, but its intense action and cartoonish humour gives it a cult following.

Yes, many of the fighting games are SF ripoffs (which is why it was so easy to create Capcom vs. SNK) and many of the other games were rips of other genres (lots of Double Dragon/Final Fight type games), but there were a few gems amongs the bunch and almost all of them looked pretty.

Re:Instant gratification

[Croaker]

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:Instant gratification

[2Flower]

I second that. One of the heralds of classic gaming is that it's easy to get into -- Pac-Man moves around the maze eating dots, okay. The Paperboy throws newspapers, get 'em on the porch, okay. There are nuances and patterns to learn, sure, but we're not talking about 50,000 combo tricks and special techniques and secrets and play variants you need to master in order to have fun at the game. We're talking a game you can drop a quarter into, have a few minutes of fun, and then you're done -- simple, fun, fast, and never tires out.

There are thankfully some modern games with this mentality, but not enough. My favorite right now and the reason I keep my Dreamcast plugged in is Power Stone (first one, not the second). A dirt simple 'fighting game' which is really more of a crazed, high energy Hollywood movie brawl. I can play that as long or as short as I like and still have plenty of fun. AND it had those flashy gosh-wow 3-D graphics that the previous post condemned, too, go figure.

Also of note is that a lot of American arcades are taking this 'Pick up and play' route as well. 'Adult' oriented arcades like Dave & Busters don't even have joystick based games anymore, it's all simulators (adults know how to drive a car or ski down a mountain) or shooting games. Stuff that ANYBODY could play without hitting GameFAQs to memorize all the small details first.

Try the gameboy advance

[ProfBooty]

You have to look to the Gameboy Advance. Desipite being 32 bit, it has 16bit like graphics on par with the SNES. Many simialer games too, there is a gradius game, a new castlevania game(which rocks) Fzero, advance wars, a new metroid and a bunch of RPGs.

The playability of these games are great and probably the only place where you will find most new 2d games.

Re:Emulators

[56ker]

Doesn't legally emulating a platform mean you have to have access to the ROMs (ie own the thing you're emulating) - eliminating the need to actually emulate it when you can get a far better experience from actually using it?