A number of you were incredibly skeptical when we reported a month or so ago that some mystery hardware manufacturer had licensed the Neo-Geo brand to create some kind of handheld device...thing...and frankly, you were right to be. While the reports came from reputable sources, the lack of an identified manufacturer, as well as the fact that the initial images of the device looked like a Photoshopped iPhone 4, certainly didn't build confidence in this being anything but a crappy bootleg, at best.
So how totally bananas is it that this thing is apparently real? A press release went out this morning confirming the device's existence (evidently it is called the "Neo-Geo X"), and its manufacturer. As it turns out, Blaze, the makers of a number of different Genesis/MegaDrive-related handhelds, is putting the thing together, with official licensing from SNK. The system will come with 20 Neo-Geo classics of varying levels of classic-ness. The official list reads as follows:
- ART OF FIGHTING
- BASEBALL STARS
- CYBER LIP
- FATAL FURY
- FATAL FURY SPECIAL
- FOOTBALL FRENZY
- KING OF THE MONSTERS
- LAST RESORT
- LEAGUE BOWLING
- MAGICIAN LORD
- METAL SLUG
- MUTATION NATION
- NAM 1975
- SAMURAI SHODOWN
- SENGOKU
- SUPER SIDEKICKS
- THE KING OF FIGHTERS '94
- THE ULTIMATE 11
- TOP PLAYERS GOLF
- WORLD HEROES
There will also be an SD card slot on the device, presumably for the sake of adding additional games down the road, or maybe just so you can load photos onto it or something. No pricing has been announced yet, but it seems safe to assume it'll be a tad more expensive than Blaze's previous devices, but probably at least a bit cheaper than an actual Neo-Geo.
The Neo-Geo X is loosely scheduled for a Q2 2012 release. You can "register your interest" via this website, if so inclined. Or you could just go and make us Ultimate 11 and Top Players Golf pages, because we apparently still don't have those, which is shameful, I think.