SNK Is Bringing Back the Neo-Geo, More or Less

Of all the console announcements one could have maybe, possibly predicted for this day, I sincerely doubt a new Neo-Geo system would have been atop anyone's lists. Or even in the middle somewhere. And yet, here we are.

Andriasang has the translation of a report from FamicomPlaza that debuts the new system, which essentially looks and sounds like a brand-new Neo-Geo Pocket with 20 Neo-Geo games built right in. In no particular order, those games will be the North American versions (with English text) of:

• WORLD HEROES
• ULTIMATE 11
• TOP PLAYER'S GOLF
• SENGOKU
• NAM-1975
• MUTATION NATION
• LAST RESORT
• KING OF MONSTERS
• FRENZY
• CYBER LIP
• FATAL FURY SPECIAL
• ART OF FIGHTING
• SUPER SIDEKICKS
• LEAGUE BOWLING
• METAL SLUG
• MAGICIAN LORD
• BASEBALL STARS PROFESSIONAL
• SAMURAI SHODOWN
• KING OF FIGHTERS '94
• FATAL FURY

The system itself measures 170x72x15mm (slightly larger than an iPhone), has a 4.3 inch screen, and two gigs of internal storage. As you can see from the above picture, the system uses a kind of analog "nub" as a control stick, and includes four face buttons. There are also four shoulder buttons (which you can see in the screens below), and ports for headphones, A/V out, and SD cards.

There are no reports yet on pricing, a potential release date, or exactly which regions are planned for release. Heck, we don't even know who the hardware manufacturer is. All we know is that somebody teamed up with SNK in 2012 to make a new frigging Neo-Geo Pocket, which is completely insane, and potentially kind of awesome--provided it isn't, as our own Jeff Gerstmann is predicting, "just a crappy audio/video playback device that happens to have 20 old Neo-Geo games built-in." That would kind of suck.

Whether or not it receives a worldwide release, you can bet your bootlegged copy of Art of Fighting that Jeff Gerstmann will import this thing and tell you all about it, because that's just the kind of thing Jeff Gerstmann does.

Gallery

Amazing.

My body is ready.

I want it so bad.

All of my money. Take it.

who asked for this?

Why World Heroes 1?

Everyone knows it was best at World Heroes II.

So, yeah, I'm going to buy one of these, even if it kinda sucks, just for novelty's sake.

This is now the only portable system I'm interested in.

woot!!!

Wow! SNK Playmore modded the shit out of that PSP Go!

The only thing I don't understand is--why does this thing have analog controls?

Looks pretty slick, but don't include all those fighting games and ask me to play them on an analog nub, come on. And those shoulder buttons look less than amazing to use.

That thing looks really nice and i want it now.

I'm on board.

looks like a cheap iPhone knockoff.

Metal Slug, KOF, Samurai Shodown AND Fatal Fury? I'm IN.

I was born in 1992. What in the hell is a Neo Geo?

Looks expensive.

@fisher81: Do you even click on the links I include in these articles? Sheesh.

What.

GIVE ME SAMURAI SHOWDOWN II, LAST BLADE 2, MARK OF THE WOLVES, AOF 3, AND MATRIMELEE AND I AM SOLD. ALSO RISE OF THE DRAGONS AND WAKU WAKU 7. Thank you.

My favorite Neo Geo memory is when the home console was fairly new and the 200+ dollar games were in full swing. People were writing in to EGM about how horrible the Neo Geo was, so a Neo Geo owner wrote in and after spouting off about how wealthy he was and how superior the Neo Geo was, declared "Not all people are created equal, and those with the money will buy the system."

Well... this is something.

I want one.

NO TURF MASTERS = NO DEAL

My wallet is open. Take it all and give it to me.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/retro-gaming/bd6f/

Oops, I went there

Alright, sure.

Holy shit, yes!

After the initial shock of this being awesome, this is my reactions:

• Top Player's Golf should be Neo Turf Masters
• Samurai Shodown should be Samurai Shodown II
• King Of Fighters '94 should be King Of Fighters '98

Oh, and this is awesome!

Holy shit, do the people making these decisions live in a bunker without contact with the outside world?

Um... it's widescreen?

I had a Neo Geo Pocket Color. This might be kinda cool.

@Winternet said:

After the initial shock of this being awesome, this is my reactions:

• Top Player's Golf should be Neo Turf Masters
• Samurai Shodown should be Samurai Shodown II
• King Of Fighters '94 should be King Of Fighters '98

Oh, and this is awesome!

If you were a lady, I'd follow you home at night and steal your mail.

The included games list is a bit strange. Some pretty obvious ones missing there. I really hope you can download more games later on. Like some other Metal Slug, Samurai Shodown (and by that I mean 2) and King of Fighters games.

But basically I want Matrimelee and KoF 98 and I'm sold.

I will buy the FUCK out of this thing!

Although I wish it came loaded with actual Neo Pocekt games... MAtch of the Millennium and Cardfighters Clash are still godly.

No WindJammers, no sale.

I said as much in the earlier thread, but this pretty much looks to be no different from any of the myriad number of Chinese portable emulators you can buy.  Take off the branding and there's nothing about the design which says Neo-Geo (Like you know, shoulder buttons, for all the Neo Games).  The difference is that SNKP is licensing it, but it's still the same first generation games that are now available to play anywhere.  Which doesn't really matter, as you can still just put the roms of the games that you really want to play.
 
I can't fault anyone who wants this, but personally, looking at it breaks my heart a little.

Before we all whip out our credit cards to pre-order one, how sure are we that this thing is legit? Andriasang mentions that the manufacturer is unknown, and the device uses the old SNK logo, a defunct company. Legally the current IP holder of the old SNK games is SNK Playmore. That and the iPhone knockoff styling smells of Chinese bootleg.

@steevl said:

No WindJammers, no sale.

Oh man. You're being too harsh, but WindJammers is sooo good.

I might get it if it's cheap.

Haha, it looks like an iPhone with four buttons and a control stick glued on.

MAX 330 MEGA PRO-GEAR SPEC is back!

I wish Apple released this as the iPhone 5 to troll their fans XD

PSVita, beware!

That image does look like what it would take to make the iPhone a gaming system.

This is really great (and extremely odd) news, but they should have put more games in, they're not that big and there are some notable omissions like Neo Turf Masters and Shock Troopers.

If it accepts ROMs from the SD card like that Mega Drive portable console, it would be great, but I bet it's just for audio, video and pictures.

Will it also play Neo Geo Pocket (Color) games? Or are the people at SNK and Mystery Company Inc. just misleading assholes?

Totally looks like an iPhone 4 converted into a gaming device...