| The
History of the Neo Geo CD > Written by: Jon Paul, Philadelphia,
PA USA > |
|
| |
|
|
Ah, 1994, the middle of the golden age of arcade gaming that a huge Japanese
game company called SNK helped to usher in. In 1990, SNK released the
Neo Geo MVS unit which would revolutionize the arcade industry. It was
basically a standard cabinet which could house multiple MVS game carts
(depending on the cabinet, some held 2, some 4, the highest number was
6).
The
system was a breakthrough in Japan and America for both SNK and arcade
vendors. MVS cabinets and games were relatively cheap and games such as
Magician Lord, Ninja Combat and Baseball Stars were way ahead of their
time in terms of graphics and arcade style gameplay, making them insanely
popular in Japan and even garnering a cult following in America. With
this arcade launch, SNK planned to merge arcade gaming and home gaming
into one, thus they had ready to launch that same year, the Neo Geo home
system, which would use AES cartridges. There were some problems with
this launch however. First, the AES cartridges with enormous; though they
had a certain charm and feel of force (look at a Neo AES cart and see
how dinky a Super Nintendo cartridge looks next to it), they seemed inconvenient
to store for some gamers and ultimately were turned off by the look.
The biggest problem at launch was the system and game price. For $699.99,
you got a Neo Geo, 2 awesome arcade sticks, and your choice of a game.
O.K., not casual dough, but the next generation was expensive back then,
but how about when the games are $200+ a piece? Certainly to pay that
amount of money The Super Spy or Raguy was ridiculous to a lot of people,
and so, the home system didn't sell well. But it sold well enough however,
and SNK's popularity and success in the arcade market made the company
realize that they could really sell some serious numbers if they could
make perfect Neo Geo games for the home for a low price that everyone
could afford. 1994, SNK had released the breakthrough Samurai Shodown
2, the soon to be worshiped King of Fighters 94. They knew how they were
going to sell these games, CD form. So in 1994 in Japan, the Neo Geo CD
was born. The system was still expensive, $599.99 for the system, a controller,
and a game; and the side loading design of the unit wasn't very popular,
but finally, perfect copies of Samurai Shodown and ViewPoint were available
for only $50! The system was successful in Japan and soon a new top loading
model was designed for the American launch.
|
| |
|
|
| |
Tech
Specs:
CPU: 16bit 68000chip running at 12Mhz with a 4Mhz Z80 chip helping
out. It can handle 4,096
colors
on screen at once with three simultaneous
playfields.
Sound: 13-channel Yamaha sound chip in stereo.
Memory: 7Mb of DRAM; 512K of VRAM; and 64K of SRAM.
Resolution: 320 x 224
Color
Palette: 65,536
Max
colors
on screen: 4096
Max sprites on screen: 380
Internal RAM: 56 Mbits
CD: Single-speed drive with the ability to play audio CDs. |
|
|
| |
 |
|
Samurai
Shodown 2
| 1994 | SNK
|
|
 |
|
Metal
Slug | 1996 | NAZCA
|
|
 |
|
King
of Fighters 94 | 1994 | SNK
|
|
|
The American response to the system was lukewarm however, as many
gamers didn't feel they wanted to shell out $399.99 (price of the
new model) to play some old arcade games when they could buy a shiny
new Playstation. The system was loved and hated by many people,
as it was somewhat affordable, gamers learned they got what they
paid for in excessively long load times that made games such as
King of Fighters 95 almost unplayable; though older games were little
affected by the loading. CD-ROM games were slightly improved to
make up for the loading; SNK remixed and cleared up the sound to
a lot of games (compare the AES Magician Lord to the CD-ROM version
and you'll see exactly what I mean), added new features such as
art galleries, hidden goodies, and new play modes. The load times
became so notorious however, that in 1996 SNK designed the Neo Geo
CDZ, which was a double speed system that played all Neo Geo CD
games. Unfortunately, the double speed made little difference for
some odd reason, as the load times were only a second or two faster
at best, or unchanged at all.
The
Neo Geo CDZ also had some technical glitches, like overheating after
only about a half hour and crashing CDs in the middle of play. There
were also accounts of CD games being destroyed by overheating. The
CDZ was never improved and released in limited numbers in Japan
only. After 1996, it seemed the game industry was changing. The
power of new game systems like the Saturn and Playstation were arcade
games translate flawlessly to home, and sometimes even better. Arcades
began closing down, and SNK suddenly was forgotten by the American
mainstream. SNK still had continued success in Japan however, and
in 1999, they released a little black and white handheld game system
called the Neo Geo Pocket. It was huge in Japan, so SNK decided
to make the system in color and make an investment in it on American
shores. Despite high quality game titles such as Bio Motor Unitron
and Samurai Shodown!2, the system failed miserably, practically
no one bought it. SNK began having financial trouble. Even the ill-fated
Hyper Neo Geo 64 couldn't bring SNK into the times. SNK, after years
in the game industry, finally closed it's doors in 2001. We will
always have Terry and Metal Slug :( RIP
|
|
|
|
There
was also 2 other RARE Neo Geo CD models made. The Front-loader
(left) is classed as extremely rare - only 25,000 models were
ever made. This machine was the original Neo Geo CD - it was
released before the popular Neo CD top loader.
The Neo Geo CDZ (right) was released to combat the infamous
Neo Geo CD 'load times' - it still
had a single speed CD Rom drive but using more modern technology
the games loaded quicker on this machine. The CDZ was rather
small and
was
only
released in Japan.
|
|
| For more Neo Geo CD information, please
click HERE
More information about the Front Loader and CDZ systems will
be coming soon.
|
|
Click Below for other games, systems,
and accessories for sale.
www.egameaddicts.com
and www.neogeocd.net are powered by Game Addiction: www.egameaddiction.com
Website, design, content,
and images Created by D†W†W and are owned by Game Addiction.
Copyright ©
2007
Game Addiction,
D†W†W, and www.neogeocd.net
All rights
reserved. Revised:
December 08, 2007
.
|
|
|
