Neo-Geo is the name of a cartridge-based arcade and home video game system released in 1991 by Japanese game company SNK. The system was years ahead of other home systems of its time, offering huge, colorful 2D graphics, and high-quality sound. A platform for arcade games, the system was also available as a costly home console.
History
Compared to the other consoles of the time, the NeoGeo AES was incredibly powerful. The home system featured two CPUs: a 16-bit Motorola 68000 main processor running at 12 MHz and a ZiLOG Z-80A backup processor running at 4 MHz. The system's main CPU was 50 percent faster than the 68000 processor found in Sega's Genesis console. The NeoGeo AES also had the benefit of specialized audio and video chipsets. A custom video chipset allowed the system to display 4,096 colors and 380 individual sprites onscreen simultaneously (compared to 64 simultaneous colors and 80 individual sprites for the Genesis), while the onboard Yamaha 2610 sound chip gave the system 15 channels of CD-quality sound with seven channels reserved specifically for digital sound effects.
Nonetheless, this type of power carried a large price tag; the console debuted at $599 USD and included two joystick controllers and a game (either Baseball Stars or NAM-1975). Within a few months of the system's introduction in North America, SNK lowered the cost of this package to $399 and added Magician Lord to the list of pack-in options. Other games cost $200 and up—each. Even with these price cuts, most gamers weren't able to afford those prices and so the console was only accessible to a niche market.
The Neo-Geo was only to be driven further into cult status by changing mainstream tastes which soon demanded flashy, 3D graphics. Yet, the quality of Neo-Geo games kept it alive in arcades, particularly in Japan, where the newest installment of the flagship King of Fighters was certain to cause a stir with each release.
The arcade machines had a memory card system by which a player could save a game to return to at a later time, as well as high scores, and remarkably, to be used to continue play on the SNK home console of the same name.
SNK continued to produce arcade systems (and limited console cartridge runs) using the same 1980s technology until its collapse in 2000. In 2001, a new company called Playmore was formed by SNK founder Eikichi Kawasaki. By 2002, it had succeeded in obtaining the intellectual properties that SNK had once owned, including the SNK name. The company then published games for Neo-Geo and other consoles under its new name, SNK Playmore. The last game for the Neo-Geo system, Samurai Spirits Zero Special, was released on October 19, 2004. Originally, there was no form of copy protection on the system's cartridges, though it was later added, and it managed to prevent software piracy for a period of time. One of the major factors bringing an end to the system's longevity came when bootleggers managed to defeat the copy protection, leading to the eventual pirating of the cartridges' ROM data.
The Neo Geo Pocket was SNK's original hand held system. It was released in Japan in late 1998, and discontinued in 1999, with the advent of the Neo Geo Pocket Color, due to lower than expected sales with the Monochrome Neo Geo Pocket.
The system was only released within the Japanese and Hong Kong market. Even though it had a short life, there were some significant games released on the system such as Samurai Shodown, and King of Fighters R-1.
The Neo Geo Pocket can play many of the newer color games. There are, however, notable exceptions such as Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure or SNK vs. Capcom: Match Of The Millennium. The newer Neo Geo Pocket Color is fully backwards compatible, so it plays all Neo Geo Pocket cartridges.
