5 Brand new NEOGEO Games!..

[ST Dragon]

This weekend I tracked down a forgotten shop in the suburbs & I bought 5 brand new NEOGEO AES games:

Ninja Combat

3 Count Bout

Fatal Fury Special

8-Man

King of Monsters 2

All 5 for 150Euros (181$)

I noticed that there was no region code on the boxes, even though 2 of these only had Japanese text on them & same for the manuals.... The other 3 had English text.

Can you play these on any NEOGEO AES console or are there 3 different region systems like SNES, Genesis, PSX, Saturn?, etc…

Now I need a NEOGEO AES console to play them of course.

I live in Europe & my new 21” SONY TV can display at PAL/NTSC-50/60HZ & has RCA, Scart & RF Inputs.

Will I have any problems playing the NEOGEO on that?

How does the NEOGEO connect to the TV by the way?

Is it RCA (Yellow. White, Red) like the PS-1/2

Is it Scart? Like the Euro Saturn?

Or is it a basic Compisite RF-Out that connects to the TV-Antenna like the old Genesis model 1?

Does anyone know any good site/place where I could buy a brand new NEOGEO AES with 2 controllers?

Or at least in good working condition?

How much would it cost?

Thanks in advance

 

[it290]

Yes, you can play them in any AES console. The language will be set by the BIOS of your console by default.

Anyway, you can get various cables for the AES including RF, RCA, and SCART. Note that the AES only outputs mono sound by default -- you'll need to mod it/get it modded if you want stereo.

As for buying a brand new AES, good luck, unless you want to spend a lot of money (I'm guessing about $1000 or so). You can get a used (unmodded) Jap one for $200 or so, joysticks generally go for about $50 each or more, although the old style ones are more in demand. It's cheaper to buy them from Japan, but both the AES and its sticks are pretty hefty, so expect to pay a fair amount for shipping.

BTW, if those carts really are brand new, I would recommend selling them. None of them are worth too much used, but there are plenty of AES collectors that would pay a good price for new carts... although from what you're saying it sounds like they've been opened already.

 

[ST Dragon]

Well I opened the boxes to see if there was actually anything inside, but other than that they've never been used, the pins are clear as glass & no scratches on the carts or manuals.

Yes they are brand new & still have no NEOGEO console to try them out.

That shop also had another copy of 3-Count Bout but I didn't want to pay another 30Euros for it.

As for Ninja Combat & King of The Monsters 2, there is no way I'll sell them since they're 2 of my all time favourites & really want to play them on a real system.

As for the other 3 I might consider selling them if I'm low in cash.

Thanks for the tip.

Do you know any sites where I could buy a brand new NEOGEO AES console?

Or at least in good shape?

You're saying that the JPN NEOGEO is cheaper in general (Used or new)?

Which output would give the best picture quality?

RCA or RGB-Scart?

For example for my SONY PS-1/2, I connect them to the TV via RCA cable to the RCA-IN of the TV, but I can also use a small Scart adaptor & connect them to the SCART-IN of the TV.

I haven't noticed any difference in the picture quality though.

What type of modification does one have to do in order to get Stereo Sound output from the JPN NEOGEO AES?

It surprises me that older consoles like the PCE & Genesis had stereo output from default, but not the expensive NEOGEO!

It is not clear whether Universe Bios 2.1 will also let you change the in game text language from Japan to English? It only mentions that it gives:

“The ability to quickly and easily change country region (great for games that disable blood under USA region).”

http://unibios.free.fr/whatisit.html

But does that also count for the in game text language too?

Thanks in advance.

 

[it290]

Okay-

>The Unibios will allow you to change the text, but keep in mind that some games will be censored if you switch it to English. Samurai Shodown series, for instance. I think you can get around that by using the cheat mode of the Unibios, but I'm not sure (I have the debug BIOS in my machine).

>RGB SCART is the best picture you can get on the Neo. If you haven't noticed any difference on your TV, then either your TV sucks or it's not doing RGB input. SCART cables can carry a composite signal too, so maybe that's what you're seeing.

>For Stereo and S-Video mod info, see here:

http://spoonman.roarvgm.com/neogeo/neo-mod.htm

>Go to neo-geo.com and check the selling forums, that's where I bought my machine. There are plenty of European members there, too (mostly from the UK). Japanese machines are cheaper because they are much more plentiful than other models.

 

[ST Dragon]

OK, so to sum things up…

1. Does the black "Genesis" Looking plug on the bottom right (circled in Yellow) give composite RCA signal & connects the NEOGEO to the TV with an RCA cable & I can also get RGB-Scart-Out signal from the same plug using another RGB-Scart cable which will greatly improve the picture quality, compared to the basic RCA (Yellow - White) cable?

So is this black connector (Bottom-Right) the only one the basic stock JAPAN NEOGEO AES is equipped with by the way?

2. The other Black plug (circled in Red), is this S-Video Mod?

3. The yellow plug (circled in blue), is it an extra yellow Composite RCA video-out?

If so how different is the picture quality to the basic stock RCA-out?

4. The Red-White plugs (with the green square around them) are they the Left-Right Stereo Mod from the front jack?

5. And what are the last 3 Red-Blue-Green plugs (with the orange square around them)?

I also noticed that there is no RF-Out to connect the NEO to the Antenna of the TV.

On a side note. I found this NEOGEO site:

http://www.japangamesnow.com/

Has anybody bought anything from there, is it reliable & are their products as good as they’re described in their site?

Thanks in advance.

 

[it290]

1. Yes, the black connector is what's stock. It's like the Genesis, you can hook up SCART, RF, or RCA cables to it. Keep in mind Neo cables can be pretty hard to find.

2. Yes.

3. It's composite, the quality should be the same as with the official cable (which varies among AES units), but with this mod you don't have to hunt down that cable.

4. Yes. Also note that, like the Genesis 1 stereo mod, the volume slider on the front will control the output level from these jacks.

5. Component video, I guess? Haven't seen that one before, you would need a transcoder to make it work I think.

As for JGN, I haven't ordered from them, but I've heard they're reliable. Some people on neo-geo.com seem to have a beef w/them, though.

 

[mal]

I'm guessing that number 5 would be RGB rather than component.

 

[it290]

Actually I think it is component, I boned up a bit and apparently within the past few months or so someone has been selling an RGB->YUV transcoder that fits inside the Neo- it's called the NeoBitz. Certainly peaked my interest, I'd like to get such a transcoder for external use. Of course, one could do an RGB mod that way as well, but 3 RCA jacks wouldn't really be the optimal method for outputting RGB.

 

[mal]

You're quite correct.

This pic shows the NeoBitz video mod and has the very same socket layout: Component, stereo audio, S-video and composite.

I want to get one of those for my supergun.

 

[Mask of Destiny]

Originally posted by mal@Fri, 2005-06-24 @ 05:57 AM

I want to get one of those for my supergun.

According to the guy selling that modded AES, compatability with arcade boards is less than stellar for the NeoBitz. Composite and S-Video only worked on relatively few of the boards he tested and Component failed on a few of the boards as well.

 

[mal]

Party pooper.

 

[ST Dragon]

Thank you very much guys for the cool info on this subject.

I really appreciate it!

If you know any other reliable sites to order NEOGEO stuff, let me know.

Cheers!

 

[it290]

Well, neostore.com obviously. Also arcadeshock.com.

 

[ST Dragon]

I've heard that one could pick up a brand new Japan NEOGEO AES console from Japan, for only 120-170$?!

That's amazing if it's true.

At the japangamesnow site, the cheapest JPN NEOGEO goes for 229,99$ (Used!) So that's quite a difference compared to the Japan prices (If I got that right of course )

I don't think I should buy anything from ebay, as I don't trust them.

I have some deliberations & concerns of how good a used system will turn out to be & whether it will be working fine or not if it's used?

Most people don't take good care of their stuff the way I do & I mean that's probably why they're selling them in the 1st place.

 

[it290]

Yeah, but keep in mind shipping from Japan is going to be a bit steep for an item as large as the Neo. You'll have to ship EMS for something that big + valuable. Anyway, I would really recommend neo-geo.com forums as a good place to buy. If you really want an AES, spend some extra money and get a premodded system -- it's well worth it. However, keep in mind that AES systems and games are mainly for collectors -- if you just want to game, I would sell your AES titles and get a consolized MVS or MVS/supergun setup. Ninja Combat and KOTM2 can both be had cheap on MVS, and if you get a multi-slot system you'll have the convenience of not switching carts all the time. I have an AES w/Phantom-1, but I'll probably sell it and buy a consolized system at some point, as I only have a couple of AES carts that I really play very often.

Also, since you like KOTM2 so much, might I recommend the Genesis/Megadrive version? The gameplay is far superior to the Neo version IMO... it's more like a fighting game and less like a cheap, unwinnable quarter munching wrestler. I like KOTM and KOTM2 quite a bit, and the Neo version of KOTM1 is actually winnable with some skill, but KOTM2 is quite literally impossible to beat without credit feeding (and you'll only be able to get 5 credits on an unmodded AES).

 

[ST Dragon]

OK, I think that pretty much settles it then, but there is one more serious concern that just came up...

If I do order a NEOGEO from the US or Japan, wont it have to pass through customs here in Europe & for how long would it have to stay there before they inform me?

I would imagine that since it will be a pretty heavy package, the bastids at the customs will open it up & who knows what they'll take from the box & how much they'll charge me for taxes!

Them I trust even less than an unknown seller/site from the Internet!

I've never played KOTM2 on the Genesis. I remember starring at the MegaDrive carts in a store 9 years ago, but I never got one.

Since you recommend it I'll try it out on an Emu.

That shop where I bought the Neo Carts, had quite a few copies of KOTM1 for the SNES brand-new.

Is this any good compared to the Genesis versions?

I'll probably go there again some time to see if they have KOTM2 for the Genesis/SNES...

 

[it290]

KOTM1 on SNES/Genesis are both faithful to the Neo version, although not as graphically impressive, obviously. I don't know if the SNES KOTM2 is like the Genesis one as I've never played it. Anyway, one of the cool things about the Genesis version is that you can play as any of the monsters, not just the 3 'normal' ones.

 

[ExCyber]

KOTM2 is quite literally impossible to beat without credit feeding (and you'll only be able to get 5 credits on an unmodded AES

You can cheat that to some degree (enough to beat the game) by using a memory card. Avoiding grappling at all costs and tossing out as many level 3 supers as you can get away with helps a little bit too.