The History of the Neo Geo-Part 1 of 3-JGC Feature-1989-1991

For fans of arcade games, the name Neo Geo is synonymous with quality and excellence. JGC will take a look at the history of the venerable Neo Geo in its three part feature.

Any history of the Neo Geo requires discussion of that of its creator: SNK. Shin Nihon Kikaku (SNK) had spent much of the 1970s and 1980s gaining ground in the thriving arcade industry, with a few home console attempts. Games such as Baseball Stars and Crystalis are NES/Famicom favorites. At the same time, SNK gained a strong following in arcades with games such as Ikari Warrors and Alpha Mission. However, what SNK would do next would radically alter the arcade landscape at home and abroad.

Released in 1990, the Neo Geo MVS (Multi Video System) was a technical powerhouse. Featuring a Motorola 68000 and a Zilog Z-80 co processor running at an amazing (for the time) 12MHZ, SNK's hardware was the biggest and baddest console on the block. The MVS also was revolutionary in that it allowed its cartridges to be swapped. Before the MVS, most arcade boards were not changeable. The MVS allowed 2, 4, or 6 game "slots". This meant that arcade operators could just buy new carts and swap them out when new releases came out. It also allowed for multiple games for players to enjoy. Today, a few of these ancient beasts can be found still running throughout the world in various laundromats and pizza parlours.The MVS was a massive success for SNK and thousands of machines were sold across the globe during the early 1990s and beyond.


In Japan, SNK began a trial of placing Neo Geo rental units in hotels. Demand for the console reached a swelling point, and SNK soon decided to prepare for a home release of the console shortly after its success in Japanese hotels. 



Released in 1990 at a price of over 58,000 yen (over $1000 usd  adjusted for inflation), the Neo Geo AES (Advanced Entertainment System) was the most expensive home console ever released. Games retailed for over half of the console's price at around 28,000-32,000 yen each. The high price of the games was attributed to the cost of rom chips at the time. Neo Geo carts were typically 10x larger than other consoles of the day. Quality certainly came at a premium.

The Neo Geo's games came in huge clam-shell cases with massive cartridges. Early titles for the system included arcade-perfect ports such as Magician Lord, Nam-1975, and Baseball Stars. For the first time, arcade-perfect games were in the average gamer's living room. Magician Lord is an early favorite for most gamers and fans of the console. A 2D action-platformer with amazing sprites, it is certainly the best of the bunch. 



In addition to the amazing graphics and sound, the Neo Geo featured several other technical firsts. Alongside the console, SNK released a "memory card". This small unit was the first memory card released for a home console.The memory card allowed transfer of saved games and data from the arcade MVS machines to your home AES console.





Another unique feature of the AES was its massive arcade joysticks. Truly bringing everything the arcades offered was amazing for those lucky enough to actually have a Neo Geo. While early titles were making their mark on the industry, it would take the runaway success of Street Fighter 2 for SNK to shift gears to a relatively new genre that would dominate arcades for much of the 1990s: the fighting game.........continued in Part 2