SNK Dropping Traditional NeoGeo Hardware

Thanks to GameSpot for its news discussing SNK's decision to shift its arcade development platform from the original NeoGeo MVS cartridge format to Sammy's Atomiswave. A spokesperson for Sammy commented: "The NeoGeo's games have been played worldwide, but it ran on a 16-bit board that had reached its limits", and the SNK Playmore development chief lamented: "There have been talks in the past about when we'll stop supporting the NeoGeo, but this is going to be the real end. And that's really an indescribable feeling." Fan site NeoGeo For Life points out current NeoGeo MVS title Samurai Spirits Zero Special, the last in an era for SNK, while the GameSpot article explains: "Three new titles have been announced for release on the Atomiswave: The King of Fighters 2004, Samurai Spirits AW, and Metal Slug 6."

Comments

Farewell.

[cableshaft]

*plays Taps* It was bound to happen sometime. Farewell, Neo Geo. You lasted longer than most of the consoles out there. You'll be missed. And played :).

Metal Slug 6?

[Anonymous Coward]

I remember the original one, MS2, MS3, and MSX. But that leaves out a fifth title.(fourth one too, if you only count MSX as a remake)

What gives?

Re:Metal Slug 6?

[Fred Or Alive]

Metal Slug 4 and 5 exist as well. SNK Playmore's official sites are at:

Metal Slug 4 (Japanese)
Metal Slug 5

Wake up Neo...

[lucas teh geek]

Wake up Neo...

I suppose it was inevitable...

[Fred Or Alive]

Someday it had to stop, but it's been a bloody good run for the system, outlasting just about any other platform ever, or at least 16 bit ones (I think the Famicom outlasted it.) And quite a few very good games. Metal Slug, King Of Fighters, League Bowling, Real Bout etc. Now if only I could afford one...

it probably makes better business sense too, seeing as emulation and piracy might become a bit less of a problem, at least until a Dreamcast emulator is playable (Atomiswave is basically a cartridge based Dreamcast[1].) Sega's last console platform's afterlife is continuing...

[1] Which has been done before, as Sega Naomi arcade boards are basically a Dreamcast + extra RAM (Naomi 2 has an extra PowerVR GPU and a T&L chip as well.)

Re:I suppose it was inevitable...

[cgenman]

NES: 1983 - 1992... 9 years
2600: 1977 - 1989... 12 years
Game Boy: 1988 - either 1997 (pocket), 1998 (color), 2002 (Advance)... 13 years

Neo Geo: 1991 - 2004... 13 years

Arguably, the longest supported system in the industry. Indisputably the longest supported primary system.

I had hoped they would still be supporting it by the time I found a job which paid enough to get one. Sadly, this is not to be.

Re:I suppose it was inevitable...

[Ayaress]

Actually, the NES (Famicom/FDS) and SNES (SFC) were both discontinued in 2003, around September or so. They didn't sell outside of Japan, but you can still find new games comming out for the Famicom Disk System in Japan. They're mostly cheap two-week development cycle Hentai games, but still, when it comes down to it, the Famicom wins.

Re:I suppose it was inevitable...

[Fred Or Alive]

The Neo Geo was first introduced in 1989 (might've been 1990, but the earliest games as copyright 1989) AFAIK, so it's about 15 years old. Playstation (PSOne) is currently about 10 years old (1994-?), although I'd say it'll probably be discontinued by the time PS3 is out, as the PS2 will probably take the throne of the holdover from the last generation that's still produced. I'll probably buy one when it's discontinued, just because...

Remakes please?

[Anonymous Coward]

Considering the cost of a NeoGeo system and the games, its not suprising it didn't catch on too easier (ease up on the flames).

I hope Playmore gets around to making remakes and selling them on more mainstream systems since they stand up to well even against modern graphics.

Re:Remakes please?

[Jeff Reed]

The problem is that they've been trying to release a lot of their newer games (Samurai Shodown 5, SvC Chaos, Metal Slug 3) on the Playstation 2 in the US, but Sony has told them to take their 2D games and shove 'em, from all indications. This is, of course, business as usual for Sony. Why approve some excellent 2D games, after all, when you can approve the latest movie-licensed shoveware?

SNK did somehow convince Sony to let them release The King of Fighters 2000 & 2001 as a bundle pack for PS2 recently, but I doubt they'll be able to do that for many more of the games they want to release, sadly.

Last I heard, though, Microsoft wasn't against 2D games if they were good, so SNK's porting them to X-Box for a US release. Kind of bad news for someone like me who lacks an X-Box, but at least there'll be a legal way to play SNK's games and still support their US operations.

Re:Remakes please?

[Anonymous Coward]

what about the gamecube?

i'm still into the hardcore 2d fighters... i don't see what all of the hype is about... 3d is flashy, but 2d is ... somehow more organic... my 4 year old likes it when i play the megaman games for the original playstation... it's like watching a cartoon for her... 3d games are neat for her, but she doesn't go 'OOOH! LOOK AT THAT!' the way she does with megaman.

2d seems more like art, 3d looks more like "progress"...

hell, isn't this what the soul calibur ii joystick was all about, anyway? bringing 2d and 3d fighters into the home?

Lasted longer than all?

[Anonymous Coward]

Long run 1990 to 2004. The 2600 might be a close second

Re:Lasted longer than all?

[Fred Or Alive]

The Famicom (Japanese version of the NES) was apparently in production from 1983 to 2003. I think Neo-Geo was actually availible in 1989, or at least that's the earliest game copyright dates for the system.

MSGC

[paradesign]

I want metal slug for GC, and i want it now! And i want it 2D, none of this cheesy 3D stuff should mess up a good 2D classic, ya hear that Nintendo?

Re:MSGC

[spir0]

yes! but Xbox first!!

Re:MSGC

[Bobulusman]

If you look up MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator), you can play MS, MS2, MS3, and MSX on your PC, along with a great deal of other arcade games from yesteryear. Windows and Linux version of the software.

Re:MSGC

[DeadScreenSky]

Well, you can get number 3 for Xbox in May...

Interesting

[VGMSupreme]

Well, it was nice to see the old Neo Geo arcade machines in the arcade from time to time, brought back moments of nostalgia, which I will apperciate, but now it is time to move one to better times.

To be honest, they should also start porting those games over to consoles. I have heard many people complain about not being able to play Metal Slug anywhere but some random arcade machine in a car wash or a bowling alley. They would make a killing on that.

Re:Interesting

[AtaruMoroboshi]

Tell that to SCEA (Sony Computer Entertainment of America)

They just rejected Metal Slug 3 for release in America on the PS2. The port is absolutely perfect (I've played the import.)

This leaves me extremely pissed off, because a big reason I bought my PS2 was for the eventual release of Metal Slug 3.

However, SNK Playmore are releasing Metal Slug 3 in May in the USA for the Xbox. Perhaps they will even go Xbox exclusive. That'd be enough for me to buy an Xbox and a compatable arcade stick. ..

Re:Interesting

[Anonymous Coward]

It's called MAME.

MAME?

[leadfoot2004]

On the surface, it seemed like their reason for terminating NeoGeo is that the technology is becoming obsolete. Now the MAME developers would have to play catch-up -- emulating a completely new hardware (historically this would be several years after the hardware is in the arcades) instead of improving on the NeoGeo drivers. If I was working for SNK, I would be concerned about the risk of having the newer games emulated. Now they can buy more time...

Re:MAME?

[Ayaress]

If that was their main reason, they probably would have changed a long time ago. There have been a couple arcade systems based on the Sega Dreamcast, and as far as I know, the Dreamcast hasn't been emulated very well yet. And that's not even mentioning that there are other places they can look for arcade hardware.

They certainly gain some headway against MAME by switching, but I think they were being honest about why they're making the switch: The NeoGeo is just getting old.

Re:MAME?

[Necromutant]

At least that is part of the real reason surely... But that hardware has been out of date for quite a while now, like since the day that the PS1 was launched. So I doubt that is really the only reason they are switching. That said there alot of great games and alot of great gameplay on the NeoGeo so don't think I am dogging out the system at all. If they could stick with the NG and make any money I am sure that they would. Even worse than MAME for them is the copy cat boards and carts of their games that are out ther. They never released a SVC:Chaos MVS cart. Just JAMMA PCB, but look on eBay and you can buy the cart...

Re:MAME?

[Black Hitler]

They never released a SVC:Chaos MVS cart.

Actually they did, back in November or so. Playmore's website sort of alludes to that (in typically garbled SNK Engrish).

Re:MAME?

[Necromutant]

That is referring to the AES cart. The AES is the home Neo Geo system. The MVS is the Arcade system. They are basically the same, but their carts are incompatible with out a converter. From what I have seen there is a converter to play MVS carts on the home system but there is no such converter to play the home games on the MVS. Hope that helps...

24-bit

[Necromutant]

The NeoGeo MVS was 24-bit not 16 if I remember correctly... Looking forward to the game on the atomiswave (or whatever it is called) :)

Unbelievable

[onebeaz]

I've always been a huge Neo Geo fan, regardless of the fact that everything was ultra expensive on the collector's end --- I just stuck with the arcades.

It's truly amazing how much life SNK got out of Neo Geo's machine. While every other company was in the race for the newest machine with the largest fanbase, SNK stuck with the 16-bit tank. Good luck to them.

not really

[splerdu]

24bit came about because it had a secondary CPU, but that's more marketing rather than fact -- it can't actually address 24bits of memory.

12MHz Motorola 6800 16bit
4MHz Zilog Z80 8bit

re: no really

[bile]

68000 not 6800... and actually... the M68K had a 24bit address bus. 16 bit data bus. and 32bit data registers.

cheaper games?

[spir0]

maybe now that the stuff is no longer supported, the games will come down in price???

*hopeful look*

Re:cheaper games?

[Black Hitler]

Most older Neo-Geo games have been going down in price for a while (not surprising). Newer ones, on the other hand, are not particularly likely to drop below current levels, since only an extremely small amount of the home cartridge versions were produced. Games that came out just 2-3 years ago already sell for between $500-$1,000. So if you ever hope to get your hands on an SvC Chaos or Metal Slug 5 cart you may as well do it now.

Re: no really

[Necromutant]

Doh! Who knows! I stand both corrected and correct! ;)

Oh well.

[mrseigen]

The Neo Geo stuff had a great run.... but it's been a very poor week for hardcore gamers. :(

Emulate the Atomiswave at once!

[Anonymous Coward]

Someone out there better emulate this new board at once because I can't miss out on Metal Slug 6. We have few arcades in the US. So either port it to a console or emulate it now!

Long Live SNK

[SphericalCrusher]

I've been a huge fan of SNK ever since I was four years old... and to see them finally end their reign of the Neo Geo now just breaks my heart.

Deep down I feel that it's a big advance for SNK to put their games on Sammy's console... but being a 2D fan of SNK for so long, it's just hard to accept that.

Despite everything though, Long Live SNK!

What is Atomiswave

[bstompel]

Some details about the Atomiswave.

Essentially a bare-bones ( not even Naomi ) Dreamcast config. Not surprising, considering that several Neo-Geo games were released on Dreamcast hence they already have experience with the platform.

Also - good news for the Dreamcast community as this makes any future ports an easy task, which is quite plausible as there are already currently at least 2 Naomi ports coming up: This and This

Don't throw away your Dreamcasts just yet :)

Manufacturing vs. software production

[AllenChristopher]

" The Famicom (Japanese version of the NES) was apparently in production from 1983 to 2003. I think Neo-Geo was actually availible in 1989, or at least that's the earliest game copyright dates for the system."

But certainly, no major games were published for the NES just before it was shut down in 2003. The production was for people who wanted to continue playing older games.

The Neo-Geo still had some of the best-honed series around being produced for it. The games were selling.

It's not enough

[mangamuscle]

The reason they are moving to Atomiswave hardware it is because the Neo Geo hardware is fully emulated by several emulators (mame, finalburn, nebula, kawaks, etc.) and rom kiddiez were dumping any new game that were released for this platform. But the atomiswave is bound to be emulated in a couple of years and the cycle will start again. Atomiswave's hardware is a slightly improved dreamcast, they should at least have used hardware based on the PS2 or the Gamecube (those won't be emulated any time soon). If they didn't want to pay royalties they had time to design their own hardware, throw in it a PowerPC cpu, some nVidia graphic chips and linux to run the whole thing and Voila, you have a pretty fast, cheap and propietary system that can't be emulated with present hardware. Sigh, as things stand now we will have history repeat all over again -_-

Re:It's not enough

[Anonymous Coward]

thats off the wall wrong.

if they really had a problem with little warez kiddies, they would of switched YEARS ago, not 6 months from now. if they really wanted the rom kiddies to stop they could just market the games to home users instead.