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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 :)"
... 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"
Live web cams
METAL SLUG
:P
Ok, more words... great little 2d platformer series. Get MAME and play it if you're bored
I might as well be the first to mention that most Neo-Geo games are supported by Mame and my personal emulator of choice, Kawaks. 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).
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.
What's your damage, Heather?
I've always thought that the neo-geo was special, if memory serves me, they are very quick and flexiable.
Emulator anyone?
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
Some Roms
Emulation
Fabio - Sumare/Sao Paulo/Brazil/South America/Earth/Solar System/Milky Way/Universe
http://www.morroida.com.br
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?
"Why did they cancel my favorite Sci-Fi show? I downloaded ALL the episodes!"
Didn't I see something about how SNK was discontinuing opperations? And why are these games SOOOOOOOOOOO expensive? It's no like Street Fighter is that new!
when they ban enctryption only criminals wi$21*J *#JF$%!@#$':
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.
Karma: Good (despite my invention of the Karma: sig)
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
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 !
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.
I have been pwned because my
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.
I remember back when this was new. I had a super nintendo, and I thought:
:-) (that was a joke)
"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
I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
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
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.
:P
Maybe I've been gaming a bit too much
God spoke to me
I believe this is the card. It worked in both the home system and the Neo Geo MVS Cabinets (basically the home system in an arcade cabinet).
Once more unto the breach dear friends...
The Samurai Shodown games are still the best fighting games ever. Especially parts 1 & 2. Street Fighter,Virtua Fighter, and Tekken are for pussies.
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
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
People are still making games for C64 too...
"I tend to think of OS X as Linux with QA and Taste", James Gosling, creator of Java
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
From my Autobiography - "Lifestyles of the Sad and Desperate"...
Take that recipe, and repeat over and over. Eventually, the game landscape looks like it does today. Tons of 3-D intensive games, loads of RTS and their offspring, and a slew of sports games. Indeed, what happened to innovative side-scrollers, stimulating puzzlers, and more traditional games?
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.
True, there are some types of thought that these gamers are exhibiting, that more traditional games might not bring out. But today's game doesn't make gamers really think. Many of today's games are simply proceed to the next goal, then repeat. Whatever happened to games that you wanted to play until you mastered them?
Those types of games are not conducive to money-making in today's gaming market. You have to buy the sequel! The upgrade! The expansion pack! You can't just pay $35 to have a game you want to play over and over. Like Tetris. If games were drugs, the addictiveness of Tetris is like cocaine, whereas that of say a highly popular FPS is like crack. That's why. Don't increase replayability, increase addictiveness!
What's a second? An hour? A day?
It has much more to do with
the Earth's rotation than with cesium.
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.
... 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...
IMHO, SNK make the best fighting games, like Fatal Fury series, King Of Fighting series, Last Blade, Samurai Showdown,
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
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
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!
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 ^__^
You need a FREE iPod Nano
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.
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.
Does anyone know if Gauntlet has been released or is being made for Gameboy Advance?
Four players, drool....
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Actually, that's true of most games. None of the old C64 games that used to enthrall me are worth 5 minutes of my time now. Stuff like Elite that seemed incredible in 1985 is just utterly dull now.
But, some games are starting to last the distance now. I still play PC games that are up to 5 years old, and not even the graphics look particularly dated. Apart from games that just hurl workload at the 3D accelerator, there's little advancement now that taxes computer technology that much from generation to generation. Check out the minimum PC specs on the side of games these days - they just aren't changing much.
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I think the biggest (only?) reason for the superior graphics was that NEO-GEO modules are much bigger (physically and logically) than those of any ROM-based console ever. E.g. Metal Slug 3 has 708 Mb. 708 Mb, IN ROM CHIPS! Compare that to the puny 16 Mb Genesis or SNES Modules.
The Game Boy Advance (16 MiHz ARM processor, Super NES-like graphics chipset) may soon top that. Right now, you can buy Visoly flash cartridges that hold 512 megabits. The biggest current games are only 64 megabits, but that will change as prices fall.
Will I retire or break 10K?
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The consumer version of the Neo-Geo (i.e. the version where each game didn't cost three figures) was CD-based. And loading isn't that bad if you can cover it up with an announcer yelling "Ryu vs. Chun-Li" or something (I don't know SNK characters, so I'm using Capcom here). Plus, you can stream data into RAM as it's needed, which is very useful for scrolling shooters such as the 194? games. If you want to see a beautiful example of streaming in action, try Einhänder for PS1.
Will I retire or break 10K?
No. The Jaguar sux. Hardcore. Actually, maybe the hardware doesn't but I remember when I bought mine. I said, that's cool... But then I began to realize that beyond a handful of games, everything else was crap. And then I was stupid enough to pick up the toilet bowl CDROM and played "Monty Python's Air Combat", otherwise known as Blue Lightining, and all my hopes for the system crumbled. I'm sorry, but beyond the handful of classics (some of which can be picked up on other consoles easily these days), there's simply no way you can compare it to the arcade emulating console of the Neo. And I don't even like the Neo Geo.
You need a FREE iPod Nano
Spacetripper is more like Defender than R-Type, but a beautiful game regardless. There's even a Linux version available. Perfect combination of gameplay and graphics, IMO.
Who the Hell would buy a ridiculously expensive system with even more ridiculously expensive games without even seeing it in action first? People can't try out a Neo Geo in the local Electronics Boutique, nor can they take it for a spin over a friend's house. The only way to take the NG for a test drive is to pirate the games for a few hours.
Wow
The US must be really proud to be in that list.
Hello Dave
Is Dave there please
You're my wife now Dave
Look at Castlevania: Symphany of the Night, its almost six years old and I'm still playing it.
Question
http://www.ironfroggy.com/
Obviously, you didn't get the point. Pride has nothing to do with the facts, which were clearly mistated by the parent. haters, haters everywhere.
You need a FREE iPod Nano
Don't let your experience on a PC screen, playing by yourself, ruin the memory. When I was in college, about 20 of us pooled our money and picked up a full Gauntlet arcade unit ($400). It was STILL fun for hours. It was always more of a social experience, especially as one of the first 4 player games. The level design and sheer number of levels kept it interesting, as does the constant struggle for power-ups. It's pure genious as a quarter muncher, too - there's no part of the game that's so tough that a few quarters can't get you through.
If you can find this game and a few friends, I think you'll realize your memories are accurate, and that Gauntlet beats most if not all of today's arcade games hands down.
Seen any BadMarketing lately?
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.
Bring back the old version of slashdot.
This system is also alive and well, some folks even have "development kits".
I have 2 Turbo Grafx systems, both with CDs, and 1 with a System 3 card.
Lords of Thunder and Neutopia are fantasic examples from the platform.
Video Game News, FAQs, etc
OK...
1. I don't like many 3D games, Jak and Daxter being an exception.
2. I wouldn't mind having an old Amiga...
3. The demise of the Dreamcast makes me sad beyond words.
4. The Neo Geo represented a leap forward in thinking that started the major decline of Arcades. Give the people EXACTLY what is used in the most state-of-the-art situations. I think it was a cool concept, regardless of cost.
Video Game News, FAQs, etc
Warning: Mouth breathing fanboy alert
:)
:)
Hardly any games yet but NINTENDO as a publisher puts out a lot of cool games. Pikmin rocks and Super Smash Bros. rocks - now where is my Mario Sunshine and Zelda?
Playing Resident Evil right now - best graphics in any game I have ever played. Bar none. It is literally seamless.
BTW, i'm not really a total fanboy - I have a playstation and play a lot of PC games too
Robots are everywhere, and they eat old people's medicine for fuel.
You're playing the wrong games. And it all depends. Mastering Half Life isn't that hard - but you don't play to master, you play because it has an interesting narrative. Same with Metal Gear Solid (haven't played Part 2, can't comment).
As far as pure play for months and months, there are still plenty of puzzle games - my girlfriend has been playing Puzzle Bobble in it's various incarnations for years. I'd put Super Smash Bros in that category too.
Basically, gaming has hit mainstream, so like mainstream, you sometimes have to look for the good in piles of crap. It's no different than the movie industry. Most of it is crap, but then something like Spider-Man is released.
Now the next question is - would Spider-Man have been half as cool if it wasn't mainstream and had a miniscule budget? Games today often lack that "spark" that older games have because more money is spent on art and cgi and so on. But there *are* games with that spark, and if those games are also easy on the eyes, then why complain?
Robots are everywhere, and they eat old people's medicine for fuel.
maybe some people dig standing up, but imo, standing when you could be sitting is for chumps. i would much rather build a wintendo or something, plug it in to a tv and sit down on a nice couch to play games. whether its console titles of yesteryear or MAME titles, sitting beats standing any day, and you don't need to waste all that time/money building a cabinet.
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.
You may not be able to try out the game at EB, but you can still find them in arcades!
There are still quite a few arcades that have the multi-video system cabinets for you to try them out on.
So stop deluding yourself that its your _right_ to download that ROM since you are just trying it out.
Arcade operators don't have this right, and neither do you.
Actually, that's not the only way. One other is to get thyself down to a decent arcade and drop some quarters into THEIR Neo Geos. Gameplay on Neo Geo arcade and home cartridge games is identical.
< tofuhead >
It is still the dark of night.
What can I tell you about them? Well, I can tell you that all of the Dreamcast and PlayStation ports are absolute shit, and that everyone I know that owns them absolutely hates them. They have excessive loading times, various glitches, and some versions of them even have huge problems such as the sound being delayed by at least half a second. I certainly wouldn't recommend them, especially for demo purposes.
As for the PC ports, the information is sketchy on those, but as far as anyone in the MAME community can tell, those are actually just MAME (not a homebrew emulator, but ACTUAL MAME) packaged with a Neo Geo ROM of the company's choice, which breaks the MAME license. Like I said, the information is currently sketchy on those, but if they really are abusing a free work for their own profit against the wishes of the people that created it, it makes me wonder why anyone should care about abusing their works for non-profit personal entertainment.
And that's all fine and good about the Neo Geo not being intended as a console system, but I don't see your point. It IS available as a console system, its arcade version isn't found in most arcades, and there's no way for most people to get a demonstration of it and its games. That statement didn't even have anything to do with what I was saying.
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.
...but if you really want to go old skool, you need a Colecovision, an Atari 2600, and, of course, a C64.
Now that's what you call a Home Entertainment System!
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.
Anyplace with more than 2 or 3 arcade machines is likely to have a Neo Geo. Granted there are large parts of the country without arcades, or possibly ANY coin-op games (what happened to video games in 7-11? I used to play Bubble Bobble several times a week there), but most people can probably find a Neo Geo to play.
That being said, I know of one instance where piracy definitely didn't hurt the neo geo, and may have helped a little.
For about 2 years, every morning before class I'd play neo geo games at the university. I eventually got into Metal Slug 2 and X. I got GOOD. I could play up to an hour on one quarter (playing for score takes a while) Eventually I downloaded these and started playing them with Neo Rage X (Which I prefer to MAME). So soon I knew where EVERY secret, EVERY bonus was. I played through using save states to try and figure out the theoretical maximum score on Metal Slug 2. And every day at school I'd keep plugging away on it trying to get closer and closer to it. One credit only.
There was a sort of cult-of-metal-slug on campus. One time a bunch of the other people who played it (but whose initials I had long since pushed out of the top 10, to fill it entirely with my own) saw me playing, dodging bullets in the 4th stage area with the helicopters and the soldiers coming from either side. Staring. I don't know why they thought that part was so tough.
Anyhow, I am a total dork, and I played more legit, because I honed my skills illegally.
There are still quite a few arcades that have the multi-video system cabinets for you to try them out on.
I've been visiting arcades since I was about four and I live in an area that has much more popular arcades than most other places in the country. Beyond the occasional rotting machine with only Samurai Shodown 1 loaded on it in Wal-Mart, I have never seen an active MVS machine outside of pictures on web pages. Maybe these things are popular on the West Coast, and I know they're popular in Asia, but they certainly aren't within a few hundred miles of where I live. And according to most of the posts I've seen in the Neo Geo boards, I'm not alone.
she could even sell these things on sex-appeal!
err, hers, that is.. not the C=1's....
although I do want one of those....
12 years and still kicking for a video game console is not long term? the only other machine to do it was the gameboy.