The early 1990s were some of the greatest moments of innovations and games in video game history. Ever since the video game crash of 1983 and the release of the NES, video games started to reformulate into something that everyone can enjoy. In the arcades however? They were still booming with their cutting edge technology. Around the turn of the decade, SNK changed the game with the Neo Geo MVS and AES, arguably delivering some of the most authentic arcade experiences ever brought to the living room. Despite a premium MSRP of around $649 for the console and around $200 per game, the AES delivered on its promise, allowing fans to play the exact same MVS arcade software at home without compromise.

Fast forward to 2026, and with a collaboration project with PLAION Replai, a new system geared towards improving this system furthermore is born under the name Neo Geo AES+, a system that is a 1:1 hardware recreation of the original AES. No emulation or FPGA resources were used in the making of this, and it's set to launch on November 12th of 2026 with a price of $249.99. A special white Anniversary Edition will also be available for those willing to pay an additional $100, with you at least getting a Metal Slug cartridge for that price too. Rounding out the lineup is the Ultimate Edition, which includes the full launch lineup along with additional accessories, coming in at $999.99.

The system is set to launch alongside ten games:

• Metal Slug
• The King of Fighters 2002
• Garou: Mark of the Wolves
• Big Tournament Golf
• Shock Troopers
• Samurai Shodown V Special
• Pulstar
• Twinkle Star Sprites
• Magician Lord
• Over Top

Individual cartridges will be priced around $70 with more titles planned post-launch.

Source

 

[enarky]

This isnt "Real components" either. My understanding is that these are recreated components or "ASIC" chips based on the MisterFPGA core.

Do we already know this is based on the MisterFPGA core? Must've missed that bit of information. But yeah, just because they made their own ASICs (if they even did that, I haven't seen independent confirmation of that, either) doesn't mean they're accurate. Firebrand X brought up the point that even the MV1C has some shortcomings, most notably three columns of pixels missing on the right side of the image.

IF this console does what it claims it's going to be an absolute steal if you compare it to prices of original hardware. If that's worth to you is obviously subjective, to many in this thread it isn't. But to people into Neo Geo this is absolutely worth it, IF the hardware does what the company promises. Personally, to me there are too many uncertainties to put that kind of money into a preorder that's more than six months away. But in my opinion it's understandable why people are excited.

 

[grozio]

hi, would preorder ultimate bundle...as investment. only preorder on official site....not amazon&other ?
do you think increasing value ??

 

[shadowflare7799]

Well growing up as an arcade gamer and huge pc gamer and loving Neo Geo I can see myself getting this, but not the ultimate edition. Some of my favorite Neo Geo games are Nam-1975, original metal slug, and shock troopers. I think that the asking price for the Ultimate is wayy too much. I'll wait it out just to see how things go.

 

[TankedThomas]

It's super-cool but the website kept giving me errors after setting my region to NZ, so I'm assuming they won't ship here, and I definitely can't afford the Ultimate Edition, which is the one I'd want the most. The prices aren't amazing but they're also about what I'd expect for what you get. Perhaps if this does well enough, we'll see cheaper prices and a regular retail release, but I won't hold me breath.

What fascinates me most of all is that they're supposedly recreating the hardware, meaning it must use off-the-shelf parts (unless it's weasel wording and the ASIC claim earlier in the thread is actually true). I'll have to look into that more but perhaps I can create my own instead. The casing wouldn't be as nice, but it'd be a fun project.
A lot of consoles had at least one custom chip, or at least some chips that you can't buy new today, so I'm curious because I always assumed the Neo-Geo AES was the same. Would be nice if they gave more info on that upfront.

hi, would preorder ultimate bundle...as investment. only preorder on official site....not amazon&other ?
do you think increasing value ??

For the love of God, stop buying video games and toys and such as "investments". If you want to invest, go buy shares on the stock market.
Besides, with the amount of money this costs and the amount of time it'll take to appreciate in value to a degree worth reselling, I doubt it'll be worth it.
Just buy it if you want it, not because you think you can get rich by flipping it. I'm so sick of this mindset. That's why we end up with all these dickhead scalpers ruining hobbies in which they have zero interest.

 

[SuffahBish]

This isnt "Real components" either. My understanding is that these are recreated components or "ASIC" chips based on the MisterFPGA core.
So think of it like how a FPGA chip can be updated and reconfigured, these ASIC chips are sort of permanently configured a certain way and cant be altered once made.
Which would be fine if these chips were perfectly replicating the original chips inside the real Neo Geo. But instead the chips are based on the Neo Geo Mister core. And people who use a MisterFPGA know that cores arent perfect and get updates. So this new product will most likely be stuck in its current state and never improve, unlike say Analogue's products like the Pocket or the Analogue 3D, that use a FPGA which recieves updates to improve accuracy or add features.

So in other words, this isnt a hardware clone of the original Neo Geo. This is sort of a hardware clone of a hardware emulator (misterfpga) of a Neo Geo.

Well, yes and no. It's a reverse engineered chip because the original components are probably not sold anymore. But all an FPGA does is configure it's gates to simulate an ASIC. An ASIC wouldn't be a clone of the FPGA clone. It is the FPGA clone burned into actual silicon.

 

[SonicEVERB01]

I hope the release of the new console which is £70 of this game or above, is a good revenue for the growth of this game.

 

[MeowthBlep]

Hey could i borrow $1000 please

 

[realtimesave]

I ordered a couple white ones. The price isn't too bad, considering inflation. You have to pay for them when they ship not immediately. So that means you gotta pay for them in November if you preorder from amazon. Not bad.

 

[isoboy]

Get a mister or a Superstation One, jeeebuz christ.

 

[realtimesave]

Get a mister or a Superstation One, jeeebuz christ.

I have both.

 

[ChronoCrossfangirl2002]

if i had all the money known to man I'd by every single one, bury them underneath an ancient temple in the middle of
the amazon and never tell anyone about it.

 

[Kwyjor]

How will you extract the data, and get them running on an AES?

At this point probably the overwhelmingly vast majority of people who have played these games did not do so on an AES. I'm still not clear as to what that should offer compared to the very good emulators that are presently available.

Regardless, my point that the games being "officially licensed" does not really serve to justify the cost.

 

[Lumstar]

At this point probably the overwhelmingly vast majority of people who have played these games did not do so on an AES. I'm still not clear as to what that should offer compared to the very good emulators that are presently available.

Regardless, my point that the games being "officially licensed" does not really serve to justify the cost.

I don't know what you're hoping to prove. This product is not emulation, and its end user experience has no resemblance to emulation.

If you can manufacture AES compatible cartridges that would cost less than these games, show me the design processes and bill of materials you utilized.

 

[SuffahBish]

I don't know what you're hoping to prove. This product is not emulation, and its end user experience has no resemblance to emulation.

If you can manufacture AES compatible cartridges that would cost less than these games, show me the design processes and bill of materials you utilized.

Lol. It's the exact same argument people make against Modretro and Analogue. It's okay if you don't find this to be a good value vs emulation. Because honestly it's not. But that's not really the point. The point is to be more authentic. A hardware clone (FPGA or not) is going to function far closer to the original hardware and you'll be able to use existing accessories or add-ons. Like on GBC you can link with a hardware clone. Or use a gameshark or a flashcart. This isn't possible with software emulation (and it never will be).

 

[solitaire4eva]

A Raspberry Pi can run Neo Geo and Neo Geo Color games effortlessly. There is way to many alternatives to getting a $250 retro console in 2026. Well I'm just not part if the audience for this. Maybe if I was a collector lol

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Not sure if "no FPGA" is a good thing although they are trying to market it as if it is.
Fully hardware also means fully limited by the capabilities of that hardware, FPGA is a lot more flexible and can be extended with additional functionality through updates, while still being cycle accurate.

 

[Daggot]

People suspect that it uses the same decap data Furrtek took that was later utilized in the MiSTer FPGA core. It also may be licensing some code from Jotego(known for MiSTer and Analogue Pocket projects). The marketing about it using ASIC and no FPGA approximation is a bit strange in this case as it'd be heavily utilizing code from the MiSTer core which has rubbed some the wrong way. ASIC is fixed so if it inherets any isues they can't be ammended in an update for example. That said the MiSTer core is fucking fantastic and I don't think anyone who buys one would be able to tell the difference. I honestly think if they showed some PCB pics and were open about who was involved in the project without the current NDA restrictions it would have brought more confidence in this project than the current marketing has but hey, nerds don't know business so what do I know? I may grab a copy of metal slug.

 

[Lumstar]

A Raspberry Pi can run Neo Geo and Neo Geo Color games effortlessly. There is way to many alternatives to getting a $250 retro console in 2026. Well I'm just not part if the audience for this. Maybe if I was a collector lol

The actual game library isn't for me either.

 

[Provare]

Imagine paying over $5 for this...

Even this new console is already hilariously overpriced for what it is.
I feel it's an extremely stupid way to waste money.
Then again, people use their money on even more useless stuff, so, yeah...

Oh well, I at least hope they enjoy it for what it is.

The console should be $50-100, and games $10-20 at most.

Now, let's not exaggerate. If you consider that the packaging for games on optical media adds €15 to the final price, knowing that cartridges with circuitry cost significantly more and that it won't be a mass production anyway, the price is entirely reasonable.

The console could have cost a little less, but not much less.

 

[Viri]

I wish Sega, Nintendo, and Sony would do something similar to this. lol