Neo Geo Portable

I'm so getting one of these...

The device, currently going by the placeholder name of "Neo Geo Portable Device," has 4.3 inch screen, two gigabytes of internal storage, and ships with 20 Neo Geo classics built in:

1.WORLD HEROES
2.ULTIMETE 11
3.TOP PLAYER'S GOLF
4.SENGOKU
5.NAM-1975
6.MUTATION NATION
7.LAST RESORT
8.KING OF MONSTERS
9.FRENZY
10.CYBER LIP
11.FATAL FURY SPECIAL
12.ART OF FIGHTING
13.SUPER SIDEKICKS
14.LEAGUE BOWLING
15.METAL SLUG
16.MAGICAL LORD
17.BASEBALL STARS PROFESSIONAL
18.SAMURAI SHODOWN
19.KING OF FIGHTERS '94
20.FATAL FURY
The games are all the North American versions with English.

According to the Famicom Plaza report, the device is 170x72x15mm and is a bit larger than an iPhone-like smartphone. It has a 2200mAh battery.

Controls on the device include four face buttons, a d-pad, four shoulder buttons, a menu button, a start button, and buttons for volume and brightness. Ports include headphones, AV and an SD.

No details yet on pricing or release date. Famicom Plaza's report does not list the maker.

http://andriasang.com/comzr4/neo_geo_pocket_2/

If Nintendo were to integrate the Shoulder buttons of the Circle Pad Pro into the 3DS revision, I'd bet that's how they'd do it.

Otherwise, certainly a nice looking handheld.

Still waiting for more news on this, I'm hoping to get one very soon, before I go on holiday hopefully.

What's the built-in memory for ? Can you add your own games on it ?

Doubt you'd be able to add romsets downloaded from the web, considering it's an officially branded product. The GP2X Wiz is good for that, but it doesn't sport the same excellent design and the controls don't hold a candle to this sleek portable Neo Geo .

( Edited 01.02.2012 12:45 by Kafei2006 )

Hmmm, unless this is one of those very cheap devices (like the Mega Drive pad you plug into your TV with games on it) I can see it flunking. It's never going to keep up with 3DS and Vita. If they're marketing it as a premium handheld gaming device to be sold internationally - big business gaff. Maybe in Japan it would do well. Nowhere else.

Not that I hate SNK or Neo Geo, I just can't personally imagine sound reasoning behind this product. Maybe it's just me?

Been keeping an eye on this one out of curiosity. It's due for release later this year. Though that price, ouch!

You do know that the price of that device is meant to be £500 right? (and that is not a typo FIVE HUNDRED)

Aye, hence the Ouch.

Echoes221 said:
You do know that the price of that device is meant to be £500 right? (and that is not a typo FIVE HUNDRED)

It's not, Blaze have made a statement:

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/new-neogeo-x-handheld-console-confirmed/092838

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-03-15-neogeo-handheld-confirmed-500-price-tag-mooted

It's coming out in December priced at $200

History of SNK (20mins)

So what is this thing? An emulator shell to run NG ROMs?

Martin_ said:
So what is this thing? An emulator shell to run NG ROMs?

Yes. It's basically a licensed branded version of what you see all over the place these days (in crude Chinese made form), but made to with some quality and style, which the brand is known for. It has an "SD slot for media expansion" - IE: ROM's. SNK are clearly OK with that aspect of this product, and I certainly am.

For your money you also get a mini Neo Geo which acts as a charger base, and mock Neo Geo Stick:

http://games.yahoo.com/blogs/plugged-in/neo-geo-returns-holiday-232755294.html

It gets my pulse racing, it'll look undeniably awesome inside that dock. I have a thing for mini mock consoles right now, have you ever seen these Japanese Saturn controller cases before? I bought them online last week, I was amazed to find two in new condition...

I guess they're capitalizing on the fact that they probably don't make much money from selling the ROMs on PSN and the like, and so rather than try and make people pay for these old-ass games that they can just get for free anyway, they're charging a big price for the hardware, which cannot be stolen on anything near the same scale or ease.

$200 is a large price for an emulator. There's a nearly identical product for Mega Drive which costs nowhere near as much as this. Less than half. I would hope that, for that price, we're getting Neo-Geo hardware and not simply an ARM chip running a Neo Geo emulator.

Ha, that MD one is made by the same company that have made this, Blaze. It's Blaze that have set the price, SNK have simply licensed the product. The high cost is in keeping with SNK console past.

I have no idea about it's internals, but I do know SNK don't make hardware of any kind these days, they're purely a software developer now.

That Blaze portable MD has a VERY poor compatibility too... the sound is awful for one thing, nowhere close to the original hardware, although the tunes are still recognisable, thank goodness. But the price certainly isn't justified. So if it's Blaze doing that portable Neo Geo, it makes me worry about the quality of the emulation on that thing (even though the exterior aspect is undeniably... sexy )

RudyC3 said:
That Blaze portable MD has a VERY poor compatibility too... the sound is awful for one thing, nowhere close to the original hardware, although the tunes are still recognisable, thank goodness. But the price certainly isn't justified. So if it's Blaze doing that portable Neo Geo, it makes me worry about the quality of the emulation on that thing (even though the exterior aspect is undeniably... sexy )

It's well known that the MD's soundchip is difficult to emulate, particularly on today's tech.

I highly doubt a company like SNK would give them the go ahead to create poorly emulated versions of their classic games, you don't see it happening on Wii or any other consoles download service.

PS: The price is justified among fans, who this product is aimed at. Neo Geo owners aren't going to care about spending £100 or so quid when they have collections worth thousands of pounds.

( Edited 01.09.2012 23:51 by Linkyshinks )

Megadrive sound is emulated quite good in Picodrive on my GP2X Wiz, I didn't notice any big difference from the original hardware in games that have complicated soundtracks like Streets of Rage (the trilogy) or Sonic 3, which are the best games to check for sound fidelity in emulators... so are Neo Geo games on the same console by the way... so I don't see any reason why professional companies shouldn't manage to get the sound of MD games right on officially licensed products. Blaze are just lazy guys, that's all.

Sega don't care much for quality anyway, Sonic Collection on DS is the best proof of that, they enlisted the homebrew developer behind jEnesisDS to make the emulator inside of it and the result was disastrous... yet they marketed it as is, despite the numerous known bugs and horrendous sound.

So I DO hope SNK are keeping Blaze on a tight leash at least. From the exterior look, that seems to be the case. I hope so for the software part as well.

( Edited 01.09.2012 23:58 by RudyC3 )

Linkyshinks said:
The high cost is in keeping with SNK console past.

Terrible grounds for the price, I'm afraid. That's like paying £££ for a DVD, because it allows you to relive a film you can pay mega-bucks for on genuine cinema celluloid reel. It makes no sense.

Linkyshinks said:
I have no idea about it's internals, but I do know SNK don't make hardware of any kind these days, they're purely a software developer now.

Indeed, everyone knows that. SNK would have thorough hardware documentation, though. With this, a good SOAC Neo Geo could be made. I'm hedging my bets with some generic CPU running an emulator, though.

Linkyshinks said:
It's well known that the MD's soundchip is difficult to emulate, particularly on today's tech.

The FM synthesis sound chip of the MD often has been emulated inaccurately, as it bears no relation to MIDI or other sampled instrument protocols. The SNES and later machines all used such protocols, which is why their sound is usually emulated very well. I don't think that means it's 'difficult' in relation to other areas of emulation that must be done. It's simply that sound is often a low priority, as emulator developers often strive for accurate graphics and speed above all else. A distorted instrument in the sound channel does not make a game unplayable. Horrible graphical glitches and bad performance can.

KEGA Fusion (multiple SEGA console/arcade emulator) has emulated the Mega Drive's soundchip with nigh-on 100% accuracy for a number of years now. Try it yourself. By the way, the Neo Geo sound chip also uses FM synthesis, with more channels and complexity at that. If most Mega Drive emulators can't get the sound right, you can believe that a generic Neo Geo emulator running on a single general-purpose CPU won't.

Linkyshinks said:
I highly doubt a company like SNK would give them the go ahead to create poorly emulated versions of their classic games, you don't see it happening on Wii or any other consoles download service.

But on those services you're paying for the games, which gives them an incentive to make sure they run correctly. They're also running on comparatively-powerful systems (not just an ARM chip). This product gives you free reign to run illegal ROMs. I personally think the opposite to what you say, there - I think SNK couldn't give two shits about this product. Blaze simply approached them, said "Look, we've done this with other retro consoles to some success, can we do it to yours if we give you money?" and SNK replied "Money? Sure. Go nuts. Knock yourself out".

Linkyshinks said:
PS: The price is justified among fans, who this product is aimed at. Neo Geo owners aren't going to care about spending £100 or so quid when they have collections worth thousands of pounds.

Then they're complete idiots. Gold bullion is awesome, but I wouldn't pay one thousandth of the value of a real 1KG bar of gold bullion for an imitation made of fool's gold. I'd pay what it is worth in materials and labour to get it into my hands, not the ethereal value of the thing it is imitating.

For the price they're charging, I would want a Neo Geo SOAC. If this comes out and it's just an emulator, and not an especially good one at that, lulz will be had by me towards those who have bought this product. The reason we get that kind of shit is because idiots pay for it in their droves.

Please, SNK, make this literally worth the price. Don't give us a generic ARM chip with an average-at-best emulator with a fake face-value just because the value of the real thing is in that range. Give Blaze all the hardware documentation you have, and ensure they develop a Neo Geo SOAC. If it must be an emulator then make sure they use a damn fine one, not some generic one on a general-purpose low-grade CPU, just barely powerful enough to run it.

Linkyshinks said:
It's basically a licensed branded version of what you see all over the place these days (in crude Chinese made form)

If this is being made by Blaze, you can bet both of your testicles that it's being made in China extremely cheaply. Open yours up when you get it. You'll probably see a tiny PCB in the middle of it with one lonely ARM chip (probably with a ROM for the built-in games), totally dominated in size by the LCD screen (which is where the vast majority of the production cost will have gone).

The first clue will be when you get it out of the box and it weighs nothing at all, and has a very cheap and nasty 'plasticy' feel to it. Have fun spending £120 on something that cost 5p to make because it has a high-brow name cheaply screen-printed on it!

P.S. You may have noticed that I don't have particularly high hopes for this product. That's because I've had a few pretend retro consoles (emulators in shells) from Blaze before, and they've always been utter shit. In some cases, well-known games would not even boot, let alone not run correctly! I beg you to treat this product with with extreme caution, my dear 'Shinks. I personally think you're going to end up feeling like your pants have been pulled down to your ankles when you get it. It won't even look like it does in those photos.

( Edited 02.09.2012 06:15 by Martin_ )

Wow, that's a lot of text wasted on me, I know all this, well, at least some of the facts.

I'm certain many owners including myself will be very happy with it, SNK won't allow their legacy games to look and play bad, they will protect a legacy which brings in long-term profits.

You are paying for games, 20 of them are pre-loaded, and you can bet your arse all of them will play as they should play, SNK wouldn't allow otherwise.

You don't seem to understand Neo Geo and it's draw at all, it's not simply another console. You also seem to forget most Neo Geo fans are 30-40 something's with disposable incomes, not kids with little money to spend on overpriced products, which this most certainly is.

I'll leave this here to help you understand the Neo Geo better:

Neo Geo fans will be more than willing to pay £120 for all this and the 20 games pre-loaded. While those outside of Neo Geo ownership, will see this as an entry level item, something they can get while they wait for an AES and a collection of games.

PS: a recent Panasonic made digital camera with a red dot Leica logo on the front, sells for £200 pounds more than the standard Panasonic branded model, simply because of a little red dot on the front. The Leica branded camera sells more than double the amount the standard Panasonic models sells - made for fans, bought by fans.

Neo Geo is the Leica of videogames.

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leica_Camera

( Edited 02.09.2012 16:23 by Linkyshinks )

I do understand the Neo Geo, it's just that we disagree on what value is. It's entirely-possible that I'm wrong and this will be a quality product. I just have a hard time believing that. You made light of retro clones made in China, but this product most certainly will be as well.

I know Blaze's history in this strata, and it's not great. We'll see who's right when the product arrives. I'm assuming you're a proud Neo Geo owner, so you'll know if something's amiss. Boot your favourite and most well-known when you get it, see how it compares to your original hardware.

Oh I know Blaze are dodgy, you only have to look at the build quality on many of their items to guess at the internals. Sega don't care as much though, sure their legacy is important to them, but as you know yourself there are issues that arise with emulation with a few of their platforms, so they have to sign off on these licensing deals regardless, because they've always been profitable to them. "It's a profit deal". The Neo Geo brand on the other hand, has always been marketed as a prestige high end one, so any thing that reeks of overt cheapness will give the game away instantly. Not something fans will appreciate. Neo Geo emu is pretty damn good, you don't need anything high end at the internals to run Neo Geo effectively, just something perfectly tuned for it, rather than attempting to also run a host of others. That's something I don't think SNK would be happy about, even though they must know it's a distinct possibility with this item, as with others like it. Hopefully, with SNK's help, everything will be in accordance to what fans expect from any Neo Geo branded item. The build quality looks like it's there, looking at the selection of PR pics released, and the design aesthetics look in line, it has that same elegance and nice detailing all over it.

( Edited 02.09.2012 20:58 by Linkyshinks )

The pictures can't be trusted. The MD stuff looks banging in the pictures, then you get it and stuff is poorly-printed, etc. There's nothing harder about the Mega Drive to emulate. They are, in fact, very similar machines. They even have the same CPU, the Neo Geo one just has a higher clock, and possibly a different instruction set. Essentially, the Neo Geo can be viewed as a Mega Drive on steroids.

I hear what you're saying, I just think money talks louder than you think it does. SEGA's PSN/XBL emulations are nicely accurate as well. The Blaze hardware emulators are not. If they can't do the MD justice, I don't see why there's any confidence coming from you that their Neo Geo offering will be any better.

As I said, don't be fooled by the pictures. That's like looking at the Sex in the City 2 poster and believing that Sarah Jessica Parker has not been airbrushed at all, and she's 22. In reality she's actually nearly 50, and covered in deep wrinkles.

When yours arrives, you'll know straight away. If it's as light as a feather, it's a piece of shit.

The quality is evident...I'm thankful 

Woo!