Neo Geo


The, stylized as NEO•GEO, is a video game platform released in 1990 by Japanese game company SNK Corporation. It was initially released in two ROM cartridge-based formats: an arcade system board and a home video game console. 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 cabinets 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 CPS, 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, 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.

History

Development

The Neo Geo hardware was an evolution of an older SNK/Alpha Denshi M68000 arcade platform that was used in Time Soldiers in 1987, further developed in the SNK M68000 hardware platform as used for P.O.W.: Prisoners of War in 1988. Contrary to other popular arcade hardware of the time, the SNK/Alpha Denshi hardware used sprite strips instead of the more common tilemap-based backgrounds. The Neo Geo hardware was essentially developed by Alpha Denshi's Eiji Fukatsu, adding sprite scaling through the use of scaling tables stored in ROM as well as support for a much higher amount of data on cartridges and better sound hardware. The system's hardware specifications were finalized in December 1989.
Takashi Nishiyama left Capcom, where he had created the fighting game Street Fighter, 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 ROM cartridges 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.

Release

The Neo Geo was announced and demonstrated on January 31, 1990, in Osaka, Japan. SNK exhibited several Neo Geo games at Japan's Amusement Machine Operators' Union show in February 1990, including NAM-1975, Magician Lord, Baseball Stars Professional, Top Player's Golf and Riding Hero. The Neo Geo then made its overseas debut at Chicago's American Coin Machine Exposition in March 1990, with several games demonstrated. The system was then released in Japan on April 26, 1990. Initially, the AES home system was only available for rent to commercial establishments, such as hotel chains, bars and restaurants. When customer response indicated that some gamers were willing to buy a console, SNK expanded sales and marketing into the home console market in 1991.The Neo Geo's graphics and sound are largely superior to other contemporary home consoles, computers and even some arcade systems. Unlike earlier systems, the Neo Geo AES was intended to reproduce the same quality of the game as the arcade MVS system. The MVS was one of the most powerful arcade units at the time, allowing the game ROM to be loaded from interchangeable cartridges instead of using custom, dedicated hardware for each game.
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.

Lifetime and discontinuation

In January 1991, Romstar released an arcade conversion kit version of the Neo Geo in the United States, allowing the conversion of an arcade cabinet into a Neo Geo system. The same month, the Neo Geo home console version made its North American debut at the Consumer Electronics Show. SNK also announced that there would generally be a roughly six-month gap between the arcade and home releases of Neo Geo games.
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. 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.

Technical specifications

Each joystick controller is 280 mm × 190 mm × 95 mm and contains the same four-button layout as the arcade MVS cabinet.
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, with its console counterpart referred to as the "AES", or Advanced Entertainment System. Early motherboard revisions contain daughterboards, used to enhance the clarity of the video output.
The MVS and AES hardware can execute identical machine code. Owners can move EPROMs 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.

ROM sizes and startup screens

The original specification for ROM size is up to 330 megabits, hence the system displaying "Max 330 Mega Pro-Gear Spec" upon startup. While no technical advances were required to achieve it, some games over 100 megabits, such as Top Hunter, followed this screen by displaying an animation proclaiming "The 100Mega Shock!". The original ROM size specification was later enhanced on cartridges with bank switching memory technology, increasing the maximum cartridge size to around 716 megabits. These new cartridges also cause the system to display "Giga Power Pro-Gear Spec" upon startup or during attract mode, indicating this enhancement.
The system uses seven different specialist processors, which divide the workload for the visuals, audio and gameplay.

Processors

  • CPU: Motorola 68000 @ 12 MHz
  • Coprocessor: Zilog Z80 @ 4 MHz

    Memory

  • Main 68000 RAM: 64 KB
  • Video RAM: 84 KB SRAM
  • * Main VRAM: 64 KB
  • * Palette memory: 16 KB
  • * Fast video sprite RAM: 4 KB
  • Z80 sound RAM: 2 KB SRAM
  • Battery-backup save NVRAM: 64 KB SRAM
On-board ROM: 512 KB
  • Zoom look-up table: 128 KB
  • Fix layer graphics: 128 KB
  • Z80 sound: 128 KB
  • 68000 BIOS: 128 KB