I'm not sure if anybody will actually read this but I wasn't sure if it would be ok to post on the General Discussion forum or not. A few days ago I was at a local used games, movies, and music store and I saw they had gotten a used system and some games in. Since then I have been seriously considering buying it. The system with 2 controllers is $200 US and the games are between $30 and $60. I'm sure I might be able to get one online a little cheaper. Though I tend to put a lot more thought and consideration to online purchases whereas if something is in a store I'm usually more impulsive. The money isn't a big issue although it would eat up my budget for buying other games, comics, and dvds for the next month. Am I crazy for considering this? I'm hoping to read other peoples thoughts on why I should or shouldn't buy it.

TLDR: Should I or should I not buy a NEO GEO CD and why?

I'd hold out for a Neo-Geo arcade cabinet.

@Slay3r1583 said:

I'm not sure if anybody will actually read this but I wasn't sure if it would be ok to post on the General Discussion forum or not. A few days ago I was at a local used games, movies, and music store and I saw they had gotten a used system and some games in. Since then I have been seriously considering buying it. The system with 2 controllers is $200 US and the games are between $30 and $60. I'm sure I might be able to get one online a little cheaper. Though I tend to put a lot more thought and consideration to online purchases whereas if something is in a store I'm usually more impulsive. The money isn't a big issue although it would eat up my budget for buying other games, comics, and dvds for the next month. Am I crazy for considering this? I'm hoping to read other peoples thoughts on why I should or shouldn't buy it.

TLDR: Should I or should I not buy a NEO GEO CD and why?

If you decide to buy it, make sure you have them test it in front of you. The CD was notorious for dying, iirc.

Do you like fighting games? If the answer is yes, then by all means buy a Neo Geo CD.

Playing video games is inherently a luxury hobby. No game purchase is more or less valuable than any other. If you want to play old games on an old console instead of playing emulated versions then that's your prerogative.

I wouldn't do it because I don't like playing old games over new ones but I am not you.

I will give you the same advice someone gave me about buying an old saturn: watch out for CD drive. I doubt old console CD drives have any sort of encryption like say the Xbox360 or strange formats like Dreamcast/Xbox1. But you may want to look into how easy it is to repair one, if there are replacement drives you can buy, or if there are ghetto solutions like using a PC CDrom drive...

Or, if you just want one for your display case and you will never play it: go for it.

I'm all for old consoles and old-school gaming but unless you're trying to get this for the sake of collecting, I'm not sure I'd pick it up.

The Neo Geo was a damn good system for arcades, especially if you're into fighting games. However, the CD just didn't have the number of games that the original cart-based Neo Geo had. I'm not sure on the numbers off the top of my head but I know the difference is significant. I also don't think it had any exclusives. It just had the same Neo Geo games in CD format with CD sound but additional loading times. It is a cheaper alternative to the original Neo Geo, yes, but there aren't really too many positives to give for buying the thing.

Well, it does have some hot new releases coming up. Go for it!

@Slay3r1583:

Load times sucked, CD unit sucked, any machine needs at least an hour testing. I'd get an AES or consolised MVS instead, if I couldn't find one in good working order, which is the most important thing. CD games are considerably cheaper.

I thought about it for awhile until I realized the price wasn't worth it....a lot cheaper then AES but still expensive for what you get.

I've heard the load times are bad.