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The , stylized as NEO•GEO, is a video game platform released in 1990 by Japanese game company SNK. It was initially released in two ROM cartridge-based formats: an arcade system board (Multi Video System; MVS) and a home video game console (Advanced Entertainment System; AES). A CD-ROM-based home console iteration, the Neo Geo CD, was released in 1994. The arcade system can hold multiple cartridges that can be exchanged out, a unique feature that contrasted to the dedicated single-game Arcade cabinet of its time, making it popular with arcade operators.
The Neo Geo was marketed as the first 24-bit system; its CPU is actually a 16/32-bit 68000 with an 8-bit Z80 coprocessor, while its GPU chipset has a 24-bit graphics data bus. It was a very powerful system when released, more so than any video game console at the time, and many arcade systems such as rival Capcom's CP System, which did not surpass it until the CP System II in 1993.
The Neo Geo AES was originally released solely as a rental console for video game stores in Japan called the Neo Geo Rental System, with its high manufacturing costs causing SNK not to release it for retail sale. This was later reversed due to high demand and it was released at retail as a luxury console. Adjusted for inflation, it was the most expensive home video game console ever released, costing . The AES had identical hardware to the MVS, allowing home users to play the games exactly as they were in the arcades; however, cartridges are not inter-compatible due to different physical sizes, meaning that software releases differed for the two systems.
The Neo Geo MVS was a success during the 1990s due to the cabinet's low cost, multiple cartridge slots, and compact size. Several successful video game series were released for the platform, such as Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, Samurai Shodown, World Heroes, The King of Fighters, Twinkle Star Sprites and Metal Slug; game software production lasted until 2004,Hirohiko Niizumi, [1], GameSpot, July 23, 2004, Accessed June 8, 2008. making Neo Geo the longest-supported arcade system of all time. The AES had a very niche market in Japan, though sales were very low in the U.S. due to its high price for both the hardware and software, but it has since gained a cult following and is now considered a collectable. Worldwide, one million Neo Geo MVS units have been shipped and 980,000 Neo Geo AES and CD units combined.
Takashi Nishiyama left Capcom, where he had created the fighting game Street Fighter (1987), to join SNK after they invited him to join the company. There, he was involved in developing the Neo Geo. He proposed the concept of an arcade system that uses like a game console, and also proposed a home console version of the system. His reasons for these proposals were to make the system cheaper for markets such as China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Central America, and South America, where it was difficult to sell dedicated arcade games due to piracy. Nishiyama also created the Fatal Fury fighting game franchise, as a spiritual successor to the original Street Fighter. He also worked on the fighting game franchises Art of Fighting and The King of Fighters, as well as the run and gun video game series Metal Slug.
In the United States, the console's debut price was planned to be and included two joystick controllers and a game: either Baseball Stars Professional or NAM-1975. However, the price was raised and its American launch debuted as the Gold System at (). Later, the Gold System was bundled with Magician Lord and Fatal Fury. The Silver System package, launched at , included one joystick controller and no pack-in game. Other games were launched at about and up. At double or quadruple the price of the competition, the console and its games were accessible only to a niche market. However, its full compatibility meant that no additional money was being spent on porting or marketing for the AES, since the MVS' success was automatically feeding the AES, making the console profitable for SNK.
When real-time 3D graphics became the norm in the arcade industry, the Neo Geo's 2D hardware was unable to produce them. Despite this, Neo Geo arcade games retained profitability through the mid-1990s, and the system was one of three 1995 recipients of the American Amusement Machine Association's Diamond Awards (which are based strictly on sales achievements). SNK developed a new home console in 1994, called the Neo Geo CD. A new arcade system was also made in 1997, called Hyper Neo Geo 64. However, these two systems had low popularity and only a few games.
While it ceased manufacturing home consoles by the end of 1997, SNK continued making software for the original 2D Neo Geo. Despite being very aged by the end of the decade, the Neo Geo continued getting popular releases, such as the critically acclaimed The King of Fighters 2002. The last official game by SNK for the Neo Geo system, Samurai Shodown V Special, was released in 2004, 14 years after the system's introduction.
On August 31, 2007, SNK stopped offering maintenance and repairs to Neo Geo home consoles, handhelds, and games.
The arcade machines have a memory card system by which a player could save a game to return to at a later time and could also be used to continue play on the SNK home console of the same name.
The arcade version of the video game hardware is often referred to as the "MVS", or Multi Video System (available in 1-slot, 2-slot, 4-slot, and 6-slot variations, differing in the amount of game cartridges loaded into the machine at the time), with its console counterpart referred to as the "AES", or Advanced Entertainment System. Early motherboard revisions contain , used to enhance the clarity of the video output.
The MVS and AES hardware can execute identical machine code. Owners can move from one type to the other, and the game will still run. The program specifics for both MVS and AES game options are contained on every game ROM, whether the cartridge is intended for home or arcade use. However, the arcade and home cartridges do have a different pinout. They were designed this way to prevent arcade operators from buying the cheaper home carts and then using them in arcades. In a few home version games, the arcade version of the game can be unlocked by inputting a special code.
The system uses seven different specialist Microprocessor, which divide the workload for the visuals, audio and gameplay.Elizabeth Olson, "Neo Geo: The Shape of Things to Come?", Game Informer, issue 2 (November–December 1991), page 14
On-board Read-only memory: 512 KB
In the 1990 Gamest, the Neo Geo received the Special Award. alternate url At the 1991 AMOA Awards held by the Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA), the Neo Geo won the "Most Innovative New Technology" award.
In a 1993 review, GamePro gave the Neo Geo a "thumbs up". Though they voiced several criticisms, noting that the system was not as powerful as the soon-to-launch 3DO and had few releases which were not , they generally praised both the hardware and games library and recommended that gamers who could not afford the console (which was still priced at $649.99) play the games in the arcade.
The GameTap subscription service has included a Neo Geo emulator and a small library of Neo Geo games. In 2007, Nintendo announced that Neo Geo games would appear on the Wii's Virtual Console, in partnership with D4 Enterprise, Alt URL starting with , Art of Fighting, The King of Fighters '94, and World Heroes. Neo Geo games were released through Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network (for the PlayStation 3, the service was called NEOGEO Station), including Fatal Fury Special, Samurai Shodown II, Metal Slug 3, and The King of Fighters '98. Many Neo Geo games were released on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows, and Nintendo Switch through the Arcade Archives service under the ACA Neo Geo label. In 2019, Antstream also runs Neo Geo games during the gaming platform's early lifespan.
Homebrew activity began after the console's discontinuation, both by noncommercial hobbyists and commercially.
The Neo Geo has a community of collectors. Because of the limited production runs received by cartridges amongst the sizable available arcade library, some of the rarest Neo Geo games can sell for well over $1,000. The most valuable game is the European AES version of . The MVS market provides a cheaper alternative to the expensive and rare home cartridges, and complete arcade kits are priced at a premium. It is also possible to play the MVS cartridges, which generally cost much less, on the AES home system through the use of adapters.
In 2009, the Neo Geo was ranked 19th out of the 25 best video game consoles of all time by video game website IGN.
In December 2018, a limited edition Christmas themed Neo Geo Mini was released, featuring nine games previously unreleased on the other two versions. On June 27, 2019, a limited edition called "Samurai Shodown" was released, in three colors; white, red, and blue, with a black edition being released later on. This edition has 40 games, featuring all of the Samurai Shodown games, including three new games that have never been included in prior versions. Another limited edition was released exclusively in Japan on September 30, 2019, called "Samurai Spirits Kuroko", with 48 games.
In November 2020, a special limited Christmas edition of the Neo Geo Arcade Stick Pro was released. The package includes a Neo Geo CD style control pad, a cover for the arcade stick, an arcade stick ball cover, a sticker sheet and a Neo Geo 30th anniversary artbook. All 40 games are included, unlocked from the start.
In late 2023, Unico released another Neo Geo Mini, this one in the style of an MVS arcade cabinet. It could be purchased with or without an additional Unico red controller, modelled the same way as the pre-existing Neo Geo Mini controllers and an HDMI cable. It comes pre-loaded with 45 games, most of them are the same as those found on the MVSX, but with five games removed from the line up.
Display
The SNK custom video chipset allows the system to draw sprites in vertical strips of tiles (blocks of 16x16 pixels) that can be 32 tiles tall (total of 512 pixels); it can draw up to 380 sprites on the screen at a time, with the limitation of 96 sprites per scanline. Each tile can be assigned a palette, which defines 15 colors (+ transparency). Allowing up to 256 palettes at the same time, the system can display 3840 colors simultaneously. Unlike most other video game consoles of its time, the Neo Geo does not use scrolling Tile engine background layers. Instead, it has a single non-scrolling tilemap layer called the fix layer, while any scrolling layers rely exclusively on drawing sprites to create the scrolling backgrounds (like the Sega Y Board). By laying multiple sprites side by side, the system can simulate a tilemap background layer. The Neo Geo sprite system represents a step between conventional sprites and tilemaps.
Sound
The onboard Yamaha YM2610 sound chip provides 14 channels of sound.
Other
Reception
The Neo Geo MVS was a worldwide commercial success upon release in arcades, becoming one of the highest-earning machines at various arcades across markets such as North America and Australia in 1990. In North America, three Neo Geo games were later among the ten top-grossing arcade software conversion kits in December 1992: Art of Fighting at number one, World Heroes at number two, and King of the Monsters 2 at number ten. The Neo Geo MVS received Diamond awards from the American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA) two years in a row, for being among America's top four best-selling arcade machines of 1992 (with , Mortal Kombat and ) and 1993. In 1994, the Neo Geo MVS was best-selling arcade printed circuit board (PCB) worldwide.
Legacy
The Neo Geo is the first home game console to feature a removable memory card for .
Recreated hardware
Since the 2010s, SNK have revived the Neo Geo in new form factors with built-in games, created both by themselves and by officially licensed third-parties.
Neo Geo X
The Neo Geo X, an officially licensed device with a collection of Neo Geo games pre-installed, was first released in 2012 by Tommo After just one year and a lukewarm reception due to its price and poor quality of the emulation, on October 2, 2013, SNK Playmore terminated the license agreement and demanded an immediate cease and desist of distribution and sales of all licensed products.
Neo Geo Mini
On June 9, 2018, SNK announced the Neo Geo Mini, a miniature sized semi-portable arcade cabinet loosely resembling the appearance of a Japanese Neo Geo MVS, which features 40 built-in SNK titles, and was released on July 24, 2018, in Japan to celebrate SNK's 40th anniversary. The games on the system are the AES home console versions with limited continues; however, the Neo Geo Mini features a save/load state system which allows players to save and load the game at any time to continue the game and has up to four save files per game. In addition to its 320x224 pixel display, it can be connected to a TV via an HDMI cable and it has two ports for external Neo Geo Mini control pads based on the Neo Geo CD controllers.
SNK also released an international version of the Neo Geo Mini, which was released outside Japan on October 15, 2018, and later in Japan on November 15, 2018. The international version contains the same features as the Japanese Neo Geo Mini but 14 out of the 40 titles are different (including all of the Metal Slug games) and a different interface. As such, both versions have 54 different SNK titles in total. On July 19, 2019, SNK announced the discontinuation of the original Neo Geo Mini and the international version.
+List of games on Neo Geo Mini
! Games
! International
Edition
! Japan
Edition
! Christmas
Edition
! Samurai Shodown
Editions
! Samurai Spirits Kuroko
Edition
! MVS
Edition 45
Neo Geo Arcade Stick Pro
In September 2019, SNK announced the release of the Neo Geo Arcade Stick Pro. Resembling a large white arcade stick complete with joystick and 8 buttons, it has 20 built-in games as well as HDMI output for TVs. It can also be used on any of the Neo Geo Mini units via an included adapter and is also backwards compatible with the game pads released for the Mini. The initial 20 built-in games were all fighting games, but more games were added by SNK through software updates to make a total of 40.
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Unico
In August 2020, the company Unico announced the Neo Geo MVSX, an arcade Tabletop game system capable of playing MVS and AES titles that are pre-installed on the system itself, with 2 player support with a 17-inch screen, and pre-loaded with 50 games. Also available is a 32-inch stand to allow it to work as a free-standing unit resembling a vintage MVS cabinet. It was released in November 2020 in North America.
See also
Notes
External links
Categories: Official Website, Products Introduced In 1990, Products Introduced In 1991, Computer-related Introductions In 1990, Computer-related Introductions In 1991, Products And Services Discontinued In 2004, Arcade System Boards, Home Video Game Consoles, Fourth-generation Video Game Consoles, Regionless Game Consoles, Snk, 1990s Toys, 2000s Toys, 68k-based Game Consoles, Discontinued Video Game Consoles
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