The Most Expensive Gaming Console in History
When people talk about game consoles in the 90's, they usually talk about the Nintendo SNES and the Sega Megadrive. The console wars that was fought between Sega and Nintendo almost makes you forget that there were more consoles at the time. There even was one console that was superior to both the SNES and the Megadrive
The Golden Age Of Arcades
You have to understand that in the 90's Arcades were a huge thing. Arcades had games with graphical prowess people at home could only dream about. If you wanted to play games with great graphics you had to go to the Arcade. The Arcade games were the originals and the gaming console ports were water downed versions of those games.
Neither the Sega Genesis/Megadrive or the Nintendo SNES were powerful enough to produce arcade quality graphics.
This became the Holy Grail of Gaming Consoles owners, to have a console that could produce arcade quality graphics. Would such a machine ever exist?
Well actually it already did.
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The bright idea
Back then stand up arcade cabinets just contained one game. If the arcade owners wanted to replace the game, they had to remove the inside of the cabinet and even the screen. This was not very efficient to say the least.
A company called SNK was busy working on a solution for this problem and in 1989 they presented their new arcade system, the Neo Geo MVS (Multi Video System).
The Neo Geo MVS had multiple games in the cabinet and swapping and replacing games just meant that you had to replace the cartridge which could be done in a matter of minutes. The cost of the games was also much lower than the traditional arcade games.
Of course the Neo Geo MVS became a big hit with the arcade owners but also with the arcade visitors.
The Neo Geo's power was unrivaled at the time, it was not until 1993 that Capcom introduced a system (CPS-II) that could compete with the Neo Geo MVS.
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The Promise Fulfilled
SNK made a modified version of the Neo Geo MVS in 1991 called AES (Advanced Entertainment System). It was a single cartridge unit system meant for hotels and rental to video game stores but had the same hardware as the MVS.
Now remember the Holy Grail I mentioned earlier? Suddenly this was in the consumers grasps.
SNK saw an opportunity to give gamers that had the means something that had never been accomplished....Play arcade quality games in your home on your console, even better, the games were the exact same games from the arcade!
So SNK decided to release the Neo Geo to the public.
Oh no, you didn't.....
After reading how great this console is and reading that the one ultimate wish for console owners was fulfilled by this mighty machine, you might wonder why the Neo Geo is not known as the best-selling console of that time period (or any period for that matter)?
Normally there are a number of reasons why a console did not have the financial and commercial success it deserved. In the case of the Neo Geo however there is one short answer.....The Price Tag.
The Neo Geo had a release price of $600 dollars. You might think that this is not extremely expensive but actually this means that after a correcting for inflation, the Neo Geo would cost you $1150 at the current price level. You could actually buy 2 Xbox Ones or PS4 Pro's for that amount.
And that's not all, the prices for the games were somewhere between $100 and $300! Again at today's prices that would mean that a game could set you back $576.
Even if we don't correct for inflation the price tag was still insane. The Sega Genesis/Megadrive cost $189 at release, That is 1/3 the price of a Neo Geo, even the games of the Neo Geo cost more than the Genesis/Megadrive or the SNES consoles did.
It is no wonder that the Neo Geo is the most expensive console ever launched.
On A Personal Note
The Neo Geo was the console I really wanted to have but had no chance in hell of ever owning. All I could do was drool over the pictures and ads of this unattainable super console in Video Gaming Magazines. Nobody I know has ever owned a Neo Geo, I have rarely seen one in real life, save the occasional AES rental version. It was the console I dreamed about but knew that I could never hope to have.
Luckily later in life I was introduced to emulators. Neo Geo-X made it possible for me to replay my favorite SNK games like Samurai Showdown II, Metal Slug, King of Fighters, Fatal Fury but also other gems I had never played before.
SNK had some of the best games of the 90's and one of my favorite fighting games of all time, Last blade 2. Unfortunately the price tag (that may have been warranted) made the console unattainable for most people. The Neo Geo has become almost a mythical thing, often talked about but has anyone ever seen one?
If you own a Neo Geo (the real AES version, not the Neo Geo CD or Neo Geo X Gold) please let me know in the comment section.
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The biggest upside to Neo-Geo in the past was having the ability to use the memory card at the arcades for some games. Otherwise it did have the best arcade game selection during its time for fighting games and few good action games. this was only followed by the #1 fighting games Street Fighter and closer to end of life was the appearance of Killer Instinct and Mortal Kombat.
I was happy with the Neo-Geo options. Turbografx-16 did it right for the comparable and cheaper option of arcade vs home because it had the portability option. But still Neo-Geo as arcade had the best arcade fighter games.
True, I was thinking of doing a follow-up and writing more about the snk fighting games.
Ok that would be great. Maybe snk vs capcom comparison.
Good old times. Upvoted & Followed.
thank you.
Yeah. I use emulators sometimes to go back and play some of those games.
Emulators are great for replaying the classics.
Got it whit games ,samurai showdown,last blade,king of fighters,blazing star , metal slug
I was lucky to have found it at this second-hand yard sale bought from this guy who didn't know what it was so I jumped him and trow my money on him 😁50euro good deal😊
Omg, you lucky dog. :)
😁😁😁😁hahaha 😉👍
Back when I was a kid, I was friends with another kid whose parents got a very messy divorce. They were the sort who bought his affection, so this kid got freakin' EVERYTHING.
Including a Neo-Geo.
Played it, but never owned it. Wonder if he still has it, or if it got donated to some thrift shop when he went off to college...I haven't seen him in nearly two decades.
Man, that is not exactly how you want to get your console. I hope he had some fun with it?
Yeah, he had fun with it, but I don't think it was anything special to him. Just another toy, you know?
I thought PS4 was the most expensive one.. I'm obviously wrong..
Ha, not even close. The neo geo was extremely expensive.
I would guess that people who like to talk about consoles of that time usually talk mainly about smaller consoles, that's why this one gets often overlooked :)
Great post ! Would you mind if I included it in todays "best of gaming"?
The neo geo really was an excotic console. I have no objections to being included i n the best of gaming. Btw keep up the good work
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