SNK Brings Neo*Geo Back As Handheld
- Scribbled on January 26th, 2012 by Jordan Lund
- Filed in Retro, Rumor Mill
Following a report out of Famicom-Plaza (which seems to be not working currently), classic 90s game hardware producer SNK is attempting to bring back the Neo*Geo brand.
For those who may not remember, the Neo*Geo was an arcade cabinet squished down into a console. It used the same hardware as the arcade and as a result it was the first really, really expensive home console system. The Neo*Geo originally launched in the US for $650 and the games were priced in excess of $200. That was the price you paid to have true arcade graphics and sound in the home. Hey, cheaper than an arcade cabinet.
Now, SNK is behind a new hand-held which includes 20 original Neo*Geo games in a fraction of the space of the original. While no pricing has been announced, it’s fair to say that it will be significantly less than the $4,000+ it would have cost you to buy them all new back in the day.
This is not SNK’s first or even second attempt at a hand-held device. They first came out with the black and white “Neo Geo Pocket” in 1998, which played scaled down versions of the classic Neo*Geo titles. When they realized nobody was interested in black and white games anymore, it quickly vanished in 1999 and was replaced by the “Neo Geo Pocket Color” which featured many of the same games plus original and new titles like Biomotor Unitron and Faselei!, all in color.
SNK has done some wacky things in the past, such as providing a link cable between the Pocket Color and Sega Dreamcast, so be on the lookout for this re-entry into gaming. Who knows what they’ll cook up this time!
(Built in emulation… please… built in emulation.)
February 1st, 2012 at 7:24 pm
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