[Modern Vintage Gamer] The SNK Neo Geo was ahead of its time
- Thread starter Satoru
- Start date
I have seen the video, and I must say that I have strong preferences for other arcade boards of the time (around 1991?).
Sega system 24 or 32
Capcom CPS1
Namco
Whatever Konami and irem had to offer.
Really demanding Neo Geo games suffered from heavy slowdowns (metal slug, last resort).
On the bright side, the platform was available at home and it was distributed for a very long time. Which enabled it to be pushed to its absolute limit with giant cartridges and experienced developers.
Sega system 24 or 32
Capcom CPS1
Namco
Whatever Konami and irem had to offer.
Really demanding Neo Geo games suffered from heavy slowdowns (metal slug, last resort).
On the bright side, the platform was available at home and it was distributed for a very long time. Which enabled it to be pushed to its absolute limit with giant cartridges and experienced developers.
For 2D at the time there was very little that could've competed with it. I wouldn't say I have a "strong" preference for them like @Alabtrosmyster said, but some of the boards he references, particularly System 24, System 32 (also the Y board specifically) & CPS 1 hit at least just as strong as Neo-Geo and in some cases even stronger.
However, what's really impressive about Neo-Geo to me is how economical it was in terms of pricing. That they were able to make a home console in 1990 for "only" $649 (which if you think about it, isn't that much for what you got spec-wise and I don't think 10th-gen consoles will be that far off from it price-wise) is incredibly impressive; I don't think those Sega boards or the CPS1 were anywhere near as cheap to manufacture or would've been as affordable as home console variants in that year.
The closest we maybe saw with those other boards is the Sharp X68000 as it's basically based on the CPS1 (or actually, I think Capcom spec'd the CPS1 around the X68K), but that was a home computer that launched at equivalent $3,000...WAY more expensive than a Neo-Geo!
However, what's really impressive about Neo-Geo to me is how economical it was in terms of pricing. That they were able to make a home console in 1990 for "only" $649 (which if you think about it, isn't that much for what you got spec-wise and I don't think 10th-gen consoles will be that far off from it price-wise) is incredibly impressive; I don't think those Sega boards or the CPS1 were anywhere near as cheap to manufacture or would've been as affordable as home console variants in that year.
The closest we maybe saw with those other boards is the Sharp X68000 as it's basically based on the CPS1 (or actually, I think Capcom spec'd the CPS1 around the X68K), but that was a home computer that launched at equivalent $3,000...WAY more expensive than a Neo-Geo!
I don’t think something built entirely of off-the-shelf parts is “ahead of it’s time”, but the Neo Geo hardware was the most powerful of its time, and an example of what you can do when you don’t concern yourself with affordability or accessibility.