So I found out that one of the directors at my company has a Neo Geo AES sitting in storage, and he said he'd sell it to me at a cheap price as while he thinks it's awesome to have, he'd rather it go to someone who would actually use it a lot. These things are extremely rare out here in Australia as far as I know, I've never actually seen one in the flesh. There are a handful of games I want (Street Hoops, Metal Slug etc.) but I'm definitely wanting to get this because of Windjammers.

I had a quick scout on Ebay without much luck. How much am I looking at for an AES copy of this gem? Where is the best place to look? Are there any great traders online where I might be able to pick a copy up? The only one I've found so far is a Japanese copy that is approximately $700 Australian dollars, which is ridiculous!

Neo Geo games are ridiculously expensive. This is the cheapest I've found so far:

ebay link

good god the prices

I just had a look on eBay and I found a sealed copy for $60.

EDIT: Nevermind, I didn't realise AES used cartridges.

In the context of AES NeoGeo, that is actually a hell of a bargain. If you're serious about going down this rabbit hole, that's a pretty good option.

Well, wondering you guys this this is a good deal:

Neo Geo AES with 2 controllers
Baseball Stars 2
Nam 1975
Soccer Brawl
Art of Fighting 2
World Heroes

$750 AUD. I know AUD is a little more expensive than the US, but do you guys think it's worth the plunge?

Before you go down the AES route, I'd try to figure out how much the games you really want go for. When I got into Neo collecting I was originally looking at an AES, but after realizing how huge the price difference was between the home and arcade carts I went down the MVS route instead. The very early Neo Geo games on the AES aren't generally that expensive, but games can get pretty astronomical. Especially if you want a copy of Metal Slug. That was almost the singular reason my interest in getting a home console died immediately.

I really have no idea what the current AES market is like, but I imported an MVS copy of Windjammers from Japan for a little more than a hundred USD. I'd recommend signing up at the Neo Geo forums if you have questions.

AES to MVS converters are also available, but like 4-500 USD. Getting a consolized MVS in terms of image quality, price and ease of use are the way to go if you want to play on genuine hardware.

Or you could just get a supergun or a cabinet and just run right down that rabbit hole now.

Thanks for the advice guys. The main reason I'm picking it up is because my boss has one here, in the country, which as I said, I've never seen one here in Australia. It's more a convenience thing. Thanks for all the advice. The games I want are few and far between, so I'll take a look at some other options and let you all know how I go.

MVS is the way to go. Consolized MVS systems have more bang for your buck and the DIY tech folks have made including arcade sticks with DB-15 inputs are amazing. The arcade community make more use of MVS setups than AES which is more for collectors.