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The Neo Geo AES+ is a modern take on classic hardware with no emulation in the picture

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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.

:arrow: Source
 
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Honestly, while I'm not personally a huge Neo Geo person (only having interest into Magical Drop, Ghostlop, and a bit of the Metal Slug series), this seems kinda cool, but that ultimate edition... I don't know about that price tag honestly.
 
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Least it's not done in the same vain as the Neo-Geo X; oh, how much that was a dumpster fire. This seems very promising given that it uses no FPGAs or emulation, it's a 1:1 identical copy of the ASIC chips used in the original Neo-Geo. You can't go wrong for what it offers, but the price for both carts and the base model is a hefty price to pay (that includes the Ultimate model if you want to go nuclear on your life savings).

Honestly, while I'm not that much deep into Neo-Geo stuff, I enjoy some fair share of good games for the system, including Metal Slug, Magic Pop, Last Resort, and Garou: Mark of the Wolves.
 
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Scarlet said:
Super aesthetic but I have zero attachment to the Neo Geo, so it'd just be a money pit for me lol. Looks fantastic for those that do have that nostalgia though.
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Same. I always wanted to own a NEO GEO, but just have no nostalgia for it.

Those launch games don't particularly interest me very much so getting second thoughts about ordering it.
 
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DragonMals said:
What was that one about?
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Tommo created the Neo-Geo X, which is essentially an emulation device. To put it simply, it failed hard due to how poor the emulation was; they cheapened the cost to build it by using a low-cost processor, and released games on SD cards with the pins swapped so it wasn't as easy to put any random SD card in without modifying an adapter (which is what people did to load it with emulators). Tommo also violated the Final Burn Alpha license by not asking for permission to use it, and the license states that you cannot sell the emulator for profit.

And the final nail in the coffin for Tommo was due to heavy backlash; they were forced to discontinue it after SNK stripped the Neo-Geo license from them, and they vanished off the face of the earth.
 
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Neo Geo was super cool back in the day, and I appreciate why people are still into it, but when I lost interest in fighting games that didn't leave a great deal on its lineup for me, besides the Puzzle Bobble series.
This product is an interesting one in how they're choosing to do it, will be curious to see how successful it is.
 
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Kwyjor said:
Weren't the problems with that generally unrelated to the actual emulation quality, though? Like the NeoGeo mini..? https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/9/7/17830868/neo-geo-mini-review-arcade-imperfect

It seems to me they just needed to fix the controls and the video output.
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Both the emulation, the cheap build quality, but also the video output from the dock. It's almost like converting composite video through HDMI and upscaling it to something worst that it can display. It won't look bad on a CRT but not on a HDTV which most people had.
 
SylverReZ said:
Tommo created the Neo-Geo X, which is essentially an emulation device. To put it simply, it failed hard due to how poor the emulation was; they cheapened the cost to build it by using a low-cost processor, and released games on SD cards with the pins swapped so it wasn't as easy to put any random SD card in without modifying an adapter (which is what people did to load it with emulators). Tommo also violated the Final Burn Alpha license by not asking for permission to use it, and the license states that you cannot sell the emulator for profit.

And the final nail in the coffin for Tommo was due to heavy backlash; they were forced to discontinue it after SNK stripped the Neo-Geo license from them, and they vanished off the face of the earth.
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No wonder that system was a disaster LOL. I feel so bad considering that a portable Neo Geo would've worked out extremely well. Maybe if management was better maybe this system could've been saved?
hippy dave said:
besides the Puzzle Bobble series.
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I didn't know the Puzzle Bobble series also originated on there!
 
hippy dave said:
The very first version of the first game was on Taito's own B System arcade hardware, then it was re-released for Japan and the West on Neo Geo, sequels continued on Neo Geo too.
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That's incredbile! I only know them for their PlayStation counterparts minus the first game. Time to look into the Arcade originals
 
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I'm more curious about the hardware if it's not FPGA, wasn't the 68K discontinued?

Marc_LFD said:
Same. I always wanted to own a NEO GEO, but just have no nostalgia for it.

Those launch games don't particularly interest me very much so getting second thoughts about ordering it.
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I only have nostalgia for Metal Slug, one of the few arcade games I ever got addicted to during a trip to Greece one time.
 
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this woulda been cool if they werent charging so much for it. $70 for games that are decades old. lol. are they going to include fan mods and other stuff that has been made with each game? i think not.

hardware is better than emulation but at the cost and how pigeon-holed this seems to be emulation is better.

greed ruins alot of cool things nowadays.
 
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AndorfRequissa said:
this woulda been cool if they werent charging so much for it. $70 for games that are decades old. lol.
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Yeah...The King of Fighters 2002 is currently sale priced at a little over two dollars on Steam. Mark of the Wolves is ten dollars as its non-sale price. Metal Slug is eight bucks, etc. Add in the fact that the controllers have too few buttons to be used on any other platform, and it becomes very hard to justify the price for a collector's item that's just gonna sit on the shelf.

Oh, and for those unaware: the Saudi royals own SNK now. Minimizing the profit margin here wouldn't exactly have bankrupted them.
 
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