Neo Geo
One of the most unique additions to the RGB console lineup is the Neo Geo Advanced Entertainment System (AES), better known as simply the “Neo Geo”. This device was born from the hands of SNK, a company famous for their fighting games and for offering MVS (Multi Video System) arcade games which allowed a single arcade cabinet to hold several games in the same space as a single cabinet. SNK released the Neo Geo as a very high end home machine and was marketed as being capable of bringing arcade game performance to your home.
The Neo Geo did allow arcade lovers of such games as Fatal Fury, The King of Fighters, and Samurai Showdown to play the games at home to their heart’s content but with a cost of $649.99, it was scarcely affordable compared to the $199 price tag of competitors such as the SNES. Despite this, SNK marketed to the high end customer and had a batallion of games to support the market were someone lucky enough to afford the hardware. Even though the support for the home system ceased in 2007, the Neo Geo is still amazingly popular among the Neo Geo market and their arcade machines are still prevalent in modern arcades.
The original specification for game ROM’s was 330 Megabits, prompting the machine to display “Max 330 Mega Pro-Gear Spec” when a game was loaded. Later, an enhancement was added to some games to include an additional 100 Megabits of ROM space and causing the display to read “The 100Mega Shock!” Finally, the last enhancement allowed swapping of ROM banks to accomodate 716 Megabits and displayed “Giga Power!” to alert the gamer.
Neo Geo | |
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US Release: | Feb. 2, 1990 |
Processor: | Motorola 68000, 16-bit CPU at 12MHz |
Co-Processor (audio): | Zilog Z80, 8-bit at 4MHz |
Memory: | CPU Memory – 64KB, Video Memory – 74MB, Sound Memory – 2Kb |
Video: | 16-bit Color Pallette, 4,096 Colors on-screen, 384 individual sprites onscreen |
Sound Card: | Yamaha YM2610 – 128KB sound ROM, 7 Channels |