Neo Geo non-mini

[Dark Jaguar]

https://plaionreplai.us/

Alright, this is some kind of amazing, but it appears we're getting a modern take on the Neo Geo of all things.  I'd intended to make the Neo Geo the next console I got, and my original plan was to get an arcade board and put it in an enclosure kit.  It was cheap, reliable, and one quirk that set the Neo Geo apart was that the arcade and home versions were ALMOST identical.

Well, they're recreating it.  Not via an emulator on a Raspberri pi, or cycle accurate emulation via a FPGA, but actually recreating all the ASIC chips themselves, in a full recreation of the home console.  Real cartridges, real accessories, and all of that.  It has both analog and HDMI output, depending on preference, and the controller this thing comes with, if you get the anniversary version, is wireless using a dongle in the controller port.  The anniversary version also recreates Metal Slug for a starter game.

Now, I said the arcade and home consoles were ALMOST identical before.  First, the pinouts were altered so arcade carts won't just plug right in without an adapter.  This seems to remain true for the new version.  The other difference are DIP switches, which only the arcade version had before, but they're added to this + edition.  They're also recreating the memory cards, or you can get alternative after market options that store FAR more data.

In any event, this seems like the most straightforward way to have it all, for anyone interested.  I say "seems" a lot in this, so that's the one thing to watch out for.  I have no idea how the build quality is going to be on this thing, and it won't be known until it's out in November and in the hands of reviewers to stress test this thing.  So, it may be wise not to preorder it off the bat.

Ugh, a rather unfortunate wrinkle in this whole thing is that Muhammad bin Salman, ruler of Saudia Arabia, more or less owns SNK now.  That makes every purchase of one of these things a direct funding of his government.  I'm not saying how you should spend your money, but at least now you're informed.

[A Black Falcon]

After some thought, I ended up ordering the full bundle (not just now, back when this was opened for preorders).  I am one of those people who has wanted a Neo-Geo for a long time but never could justify the expense of the system and especially the games, but these repro games are... actually affordable.  Of course the real things are better in some ways -- most notably in having masked roms instead of flash chips, though apparently they are using long-lived flash chips here and not the very short-lived stuff Nintendo has used in the 3DS, Switch, and Switch 2 -- but this seems pretty good, with almost every feature one could want.  I hope it's as good as it should be, it seems that all the right people are working on the project.

[Dark Jaguar]

From what I can tell, it really is the "real thing".  The chips are true ASIC designs and not just an FPGA core.  The memory card is using FRAM instead of SRAM so no need for battery backup (and FAR more storage than the originals).  The games, well, I hadn't heard if they're using FLASH or ROM chips for that, but functionally they will play identically.  Either way, the hardware's legit so even if someone preferred to just play on original release carts, that's still an option.  Of course, the prices are still obscene.  It'd be better to collect the arcade carts.  Same code, but different connector.  There's some rather expensive adapters out there, which is why I was originally going to get an MVS board and "consolize" it until I heard about this thing.