in the 80s and 90s there was a slogan that you could find everywhere in all advertisements for every gaming console it was arcade at home unfortunately that was rarely the case even though some companies like Sega came close from time to time we were far from having the same quality in Home console games as in arcade halls and that's understandable because these were two different worlds that had little in common however one console managed to pull off this crazy idea of bringing the arcade experience home something that seemed Unthinkable at the time here is the uncommon story of the Neo Geo a console so mindblowing at its announcement many thought it was a scam yet it would go on to become one of the most unique consoles of its time [Music] [Music] in the mid 70s eki Kawasaki a Japanese businessman acquires a bankrupt electronics company without a clear idea of what he'll do with it he renames it Shin Nong kikaku Loosely translating to new Japanese project or new Japanese company in April 1978 Space Invaders is released in Japan becoming an exceptional success within months 100,000 arcade cabinets are sold with cues forming at every arcade some opening exclusively with Space Invaders machines the game's popularity is so immense that there are even stories of a shortage of 100 yen coins Nationwide though this leans more toward myth than reality observing the substantial growth of the market Kawasaki decides to add arcade game production and resell to the company's activities soon they release their initial games clones of popular titles the first documented game is Micon kit a breakout clone attracting limited attention however the company begins to Showcase creativity with yosaku a relatively obscure game apparently based on Japanese song lyrics it involves cutting trees while avoiding falling branches an original concept for its time osmo Wars a derivative of Space Invaders follows introducing multiple levels with different patterns despite running on the same machines as Space Invaders the AR Cade cabinets sometimes struggle resulting in occasional slowdowns early on there's a clear eagerness to push boundaries even if it means going a bit overboard other games like Safari rally bring in some money providing the foundation for more significant projects soon after Shin Nihon kikaku shifts its focus exclusively to video games abandoning other activities and designing the hardware for their arcade cabinets instead of just creating new games on existing machines in 1981 one they release a gaming Pioneer an arcade cabinet named Vanguard Vanguard is one of the earliest scrolling shoot them UPS allowing players to shoot in four different directions it also integrates special chips for synthesized voices quite impressive for its time Vanguard is considered a precursor to later genre revolutionizing games like R type and gradius although not developed exclusively in house the company collaborates with an enigmatic entity named to known for creating games for major companies without receiving due credit Vanguard becomes a massive success in Japan prompting centuri a company in the US to license and distribute the game it performs exceptionally well in the US allowing centuri to surpass their annual profit projection in a single month to avoid licensing agreements For Us distribution Shin Nihon kikaku establishes a US branch called SNK El ronics Corporation later becoming SNK Corporation of America responsible for localizing games developed by the Japanese team in the early 80s the proliferation of clones continues with copies emerging for every successful game be it Pac-Man Donkey Kong Tron Galaga Frogger digdug Defender joust or Tempest some companies specialize in cloning successful games and releasing cheaper often bug ridden versions the arcade industry which had evolved rapidly until then faces a downturn so many arcades are not updating their cabinets still featuring games from several years prior like Space Invaders now 4 years old in 1982 This Global Trend contributes to a decline in the video game industry on the console front the Atari 2600 dominating the American Market also shows signs of fatigue with declining sales and a tarnished reputation due to some scandals involving sexually explicit or violent games to address these issues Warner Brothers who owns Atari pays $25 million to secure the video game adaptation For an upcoming Blockbuster a certain ET Atari was owned by Warner Brothers one of its major shareholders and they wanted a game to coincide with the release of the film Ray casser Atari CEO recalls I asked Warner when we should release the ET game and they said Christmas 1982 it was July 23rd I replied to Warner that it takes months to make a game and it was impossible he said well you have to figure something out because I promis Spielberg the game would be on the shelves for Christmas so we had six weeks to conceive a completely new game develop it manufacture it package it and sell it it was a disaster ET was released in late 82 in a dismal State quickly gaining a reputation as one of the worst games ever created following the disastrous adaptation of Pac-Man on the same console with clones sexually explicit and violent games and poorly made titles consumers trust in video games plummeted on December 7th 1983 Atari which had invested heavily and projected a 50% Revenue increase in 1983 announced a revised forecast scaling it down to only 15% Atari had invested a total of $125 million in the game yielding only 22 million in Returns the Video Game World went into panic mode publicly traded companies saw their stocks plummet many Japanese companies that had recently opened American subsidiaries such as Namco Bandai or Shin nion kikaku faced significant challenges and cancelled numerous new game projects arcade shifted Focus to pinball or new types of games offering fewer video games some companies like Mattel which had released its own console completely abandoned the video game industry many companies declared bankruptcy marking what is known today as the video game Crash however in Japan this downturn didn't last long thanks to the release of new consoles that had a promising start sega's sg1000 the first version of The Master System and Nintendo's famicom the Japanese equivalent to the NES the famicom sold exceptionally well impressing with its intelligent design Graphics A step above the Atari 2600 and contemporary consoles ergonomic controllers with a d-pad and impressive games like pinball golf Donkey Kong or the first Mario Brothers its release coupled with popular arcade games like Kung Fu Master pole position or Astron belt gradually allowed the Japanese video game industry to quickly recover from the crash Japanese companies quickly regained momentum including Shin nion kikaku which had some small success like mad Crashers in 1984 and Alpha mission in 1985 slowly gaining recognition though remaining relatively obscure to the general public two games would completely changed that in 1985 the NES was released in the US and Super Mario Brothers launched in Japan and the US helping Revitalize the video game industry while Reinventing modern Platformers after the console sales explosion many companies turned to Nintendo for licensing adaptations of their arcade games including Shin nion kikaku which even opened a second American subsidiaries responsible for adapting arcade games into NES titles in 1986 Shan Nihon kikaku officially renamed itself SNK and released Athena a visually appealing platform action game that impressed with a slight RPG element with lots of items to collect and use this coincided with the period when Japan discovered and became passionate about RPGs with the release of Dragon Quest in April of the same year but its success was nothing compared to a new game they would release that same year aari Warriors an action game set in a war enjoyed in enormous success it was the third highest grossing arcade game of 1986 whether in Japan or the US and would be a catalyst for the upcoming trend of War themed action games like Contra which would follow the next year aari Warriors brought SNK into the spotlight legitimizing it as an Innovative and talented company of that era and starting in 1987 arcade games rapidly evolved thanks to the integration of new processors including the Motorola 68,000 with the idea of incorporating voices into games SNK releases a video game called psycho Soldier nicknamed the singing video game at the time because SNK had the idea of integrating a song directly into the gameplay listen to [Music] this you right [Music] or it stood out significantly as at the Time arcade games had aggressive sounds and effects and having a song like that softened that aspect making it unique meanwhile arcade game adaptations for the NES are a massive hit and these games are not only raking in a ton of money but also cost very little to produce the console is selling like hot cakes prompting SNK to start developing games exclusively for the system something unimaginable just a few years ago and these SNK exclusive games also bring in a decent amount of cash then in late ' 87 NEC teams up with Hudson to release the PC engine a revolutionary console that is gaining a real foothold in Japan Sega introduces the Mega Drive in Japan and swiftly brings it to the United States under the name Genesis managing to hold its own a wave of change sweeps through the console scene transforming it into a much more lucrative Market than the arcade Halls naturally all of this Sparks ideas at SNK [Music] 1987 Capcom releases Street Fighter in Japanese arcades and the game launches reasonably well however something bothers players the controls managed by a joystick and two buttons or the characters perform stronger moves the harder you press the buttons the game play is exhausting and the controls are somewhat unpredictable to address this Capcom replaces the controls with a joystick and six buttons three for kicks three for punches with light medium and heavy variations this becomes a huge success prompting Capcom to quickly export it outside of Japan and adapt it to various platforms Street Fighter stands out from the Myriad of shoot them ups and racing games populating arcades to give you an idea among the top 10 highest grossing arcade games in Japan that year seven were shoot them ups and two were racing games Street Fighter brings something different successfully capturing players attention and becomes one of the most profitable arcade games of 1988 on SNK side the game is highly appreciated and they are actively searching for its creator with the intention of recruiting him they eventually find tekashi nishima the game designer of Kung Fu Master one of the first successful beat him UPS before he was recruited by Capcom to produce new games including Street Fighter SNK attempts to recruit him but nishima refuses because of his close relationships with other employees and the CEO who personally recruited him SNK persists they offer him a dream position complete creative freedom and a supervisory role nishima isn't entirely pleased with the direction Capcom has taken leading an entire team and constantly being pushed into a producer role instead of supervising multiple games his strained relationship with his direct Superior ultimately prompts him to leave Capcom and join SNK around the late 80s Nintendo introduces play Choice 10 arcade cabinets these cabinets allow players to try out 10 different NES games on the same machine for Nintendo it serves as a way to advertise the NES directly to Consumers earn some money and maintain a presence in arcades while Nintendo might not be the first to introduce such a concept several other arcade cabinets with similar features emerge soon after allowing players to experience multiple games in a single cabinet nishima who has recently joined SNK has an idea that takes this concept even further the creation of an arcade cabinet with interchangeable cartridges similar to what is done with game consoles but where does this idea come from on a console it makes sense as it is userfriendly and facilitates game sales however in an arcade setting it seems a bit unusual since the goal is to create and sell cabinets to make money but on the flip side it allows for the sale of multiple games and offers several titles on a single C a feature that arcade owners greatly appreciate in an era where the video game Market is booming the space available in the arcade is the only limitation preventing arcades from making more money it's worth noting that during this time when arcades wanted to offer a new game they had to purchase or lease a new cabinet for each game making it a costly affair while there were occasional adaptations such as cabinets that could be re-themed and programmed differently for a different game it was not the norm and involved significant effort what Nisha proposes is that arcades can purchase a single cabinet and then the game cartridges they're interested in much cheaper obviously and allows for quick adaptation to what the players want he got this idea because in China or South America selling arcade cabinets is challenging due to rampant piracy and cloning consequently arcades in these regions order very few cabinets however being able to order them just once and subsequently ordering only the games makes the whole process significantly cheaper potentially benefiting these markets moreover the other significant Advantage is offering a more expensive cabinet for sale which means incorporating powerful Hardware much more advanced than the competition which has to sell a new cabinet for each game but if this is such a good idea why didn't anyone do it before despite some timid attempts well for several reasons firstly it's challenging to design the technical aspect of an arcade cabinet that would work for many different games because technology evolves rapidly during this era in just over 2 years we've transitioned from driving force to outrun designing a cabinet for multiple years is a risk as it might quickly become technologically obsolete secondly there's the issue of controls in arcades each game could offer different controls with some incredible cabinets pushing the simulation further like sega's hangon where controls are handled through a motorcycle handlebar having the same cabinet for multiple games limits the type of Games available designing an arcade cabinet for multiple games and multiple years is a risky gamble but one that SNK is willing to take as a result they enlist the help of alpha Deni sometimes referred to as adk which has a similar system together they conceive a monstrous arcade cabinet at that time sega's outrun is considered really impressive being one of the first 16 bit arcade cabinets and the difference is striking however SNK designs a cabinet they describe as 24-bit technically 24 bits doesn't make much sense it's a 16bit cabinet with an additional 8 bit processor usually handling the sound and notably features impressive proprietary Graphics chips much more advanced than what's seen elsewhere at that time the design process took almost 2 years to find the right balance and architecture but by the early '90s they complete the design of the cabinet naming it the Neo Geo multivideo system why Neo Geo where does this name come from HG Kawasaki explains the name Neo Geo comes from the spirit that prevailed at SNK at the time Neo Geo means New Frontier in Latin when we developed this system we solicited a few suggestions internally and one of our developers proposed the name Neo Geo we were trying to promote our new system in arcades and we found the name perfect strangely an album of the same name by ruichi Sakamoto was released in the late 80s and it was popular in Japan just before before SNK registered the trademark but during the design of the interchangeable cartridge arcade cabinet they realized that they're essentially designing a game console Nama then introduces the idea of a console version of the arcade cabinet remember the Genesis has just been released in the United States with Sega repeating that its console is the arcade at home which isn't entirely true despite sega's substantial work on arcade game adaptations the gap between the two is apparent but commercially SE approach seems to be working there's also the PC Engine with Hudson's developers working wonders and some arcade adaptations are excellent like R type which is genuinely impressive but SNK can go even further with their arcade cabinet and turn it into a true console with a seamless arcade to console adaptation but in the late 80s the Japanese economy collapses due to the bursting of a speculative bubble while the 80s were a golden decade with Japanese citizens having significant purchasing power much of which was allocated to entertainment one of the reasons why the Japanese video game Market is so big at that time and the success of the famicom but suddenly the Japanese have much less money to allocate to such entertainments however on the flip side hundreds of thousands of people lose their jobs at the same time and struggle to find new ones consequently some of these adults find themselves with much more free time and start frequenting arcades returning almost every day some even go as far as directly buying arcade cabinets from wholesalers because it's cheaper than playing daily and the phenomenon gains momentum in fact many people still had a lot of money saved up after this golden decade but no employment resulting in decent purchasing power and a lot of free time seeing this SNK thinks they could design a console that sits between arcade cabinets and traditional consoles allowing players to enjoy arcade games at home without any compromises SNK then begins designing a console that would use the the hardware of the arcade cabinet a console aimed at adults with a design much more mature than other consoles which tend to have a more childlike design notably the famicom but SNK struggled to find an appropriate form that sets it apart from other consoles and doesn't look out of place in an adult's living room toshiyuki nikai who worked at SNK during this period and participated in the consol's design says our first design concept was let's make something that looks cool many game consoles of that time had a rather childish design similar to a toy we wanted to create something that no one had seen before a console with a simple and luxurious look for this a question quickly arose about the color of the console nowadays there is a lot of multimedia equipment with metallic colors but at that time black was the most common color therefore we chose black for the Neo Geo so that it wouldn't look strange next to other audio visual equipment in a living room Black was also the cheapest color to use and that was also a reason SNK gives the console a Sleek somewhat futuristic look that quickly appeals to employees intended for playing arcade games they equip it with a joystick and four buttons a stark contrast to the controllers of other consoles all of which are based on the famicom design which was conceived for console games not arcade games SNK makes no compromises this console is technically monstrous well above the super famicom that is arriving and already promising a significant technological leap and well above sega's Mega Drive which is also based on Arcade Hardware the console also features a memory card slot that allows players to play in arcades save their progress and continue the game on the console afterward an Innovative idea marking the very first time a game console incorporates a memory card predating Sony's Playstation which would later standardize it in the early 99s the console has finalized simultaneously with the arcade cabinet and is named the neoo AES where AES stands for advanced Entertainment System even though the market seems saturated with existing consoles NES Mega Drive all the variations and extensions of the PC engine and despite the intense promotion and crazy anticipation surrounding the Super Nintendo SNK is gearing up to launch simultaneously with the arcade cabinet and the most powerful console in history throughout the console's development SNK faced a significant challenge they needed games to launch with the console to Showcase its technical capabilities SNK is a modest company far from having the resources to manage both the design of such a unique console and the development of games simultaneously this period became extremely challenging for the employees toshiyuki nikai recounts the consoles design and the development of launch games were a very challenging period trying to meet all of these very short release deadlines was really stressful since we were short on time we split the team into two a development team and a testing team we operated on 24-hour development Cycles with one team working during the day and another working throughout the night we used the company's meeting room as a place to sleep and if you didn't find a spot early enough it became even more challenging it was tough for the development team teams but also for the marketing and promotion teams who were underst staffed it was challenging for everyone in January we had to organize events and presentations then in April there were game releases that couldn't be delayed it was a hellish schedule and of course we didn't have holidays for the new year I vividly remember eating my New Year's meal in a Bento Box at work after an intense period for the entire company five games were developed in parallel with the Neo Geo and would constitute its lineup up top players golf a comprehensive golf game surpassing others in the market Baseball Stars professional a stunning baseball game maang keten a maang game considering that maang Games held significant importance in Japan especially for attracting a slightly older audience Nam 1975 a third-person shooter graphically impressive and magician Lord a platformer regarded as the best launch title what quickly becomes comes Apparent from this lineup is how diverse it is in terms of game types offering five entirely different games and more importantly these games are clearly aimed at a more mature audience emphasizing Sports maang a shooter and even the platform game with a much darker Universe than those seen on other consoles the Neo Geo was presented at the end of January in Japan and then in February 1990 at the Japanese Amusement Expo a massive trade show where arcade inovations are showcased SNK presented both the Neo Geo mvs arcade cabinet and the Neo Geo AES console it quickly caught the attention of Industry professionals who were completely won over by the idea of an arcade cabinet with interchangeable cartridges and multiple games included SNK emphasized that a new game would cost half as much as a new arcade cabinet however the console itself was not widely discussed because SNK positioned it as a rental console for bars hotels and restaurants not as something sold to the general public some journalists were skeptical thinking it was a bluff by SNK believing that a console could never be compatible with arcade games in March 1990 the Neo Geo makes its debut outside Japan at the American coin machine Exposition showcasing several impressive games once again it leaves a significant impact arcade owners recognizing a fantastic opport opportunity decide to place orders the console and games also Garner attention for their Advanced features compared to the competition SNK follows a similar strategy for the console announcing it for professional rental while some express interest in the technical prowess there are Skeptics who wonder if it might be a bluff from SNK SNK heavily invests in Neo Geo's promotion introducing a masked mascot named G manle this character resembling popular figure figures like the Iron Mask from the Japanese series The Three Musketeers anime or the character Mano from a popular Japanese series at that time G manle adds a mysterious Aura to the Neo Geo brand he appears on flyers and during events contributing to the Brand's enigmatic image the arcade cabinet hits Japan in April 1990 and quickly becomes a massive success establishing itself as the most profitable and popular arcade machine players appreciate apprciate the option to choose from multiple highquality games and snk's investment pays off immediately propelling the company to the Forefront of the Japanese arcade Market the neoo mvs sees similar success in the United States upon its August 1990 release it becomes ubiquitous generating substantial revenue for SNK from this point forward we are going to focus on the console Which experiences a more eventful life cycle when referencing the the Neo Geo it will specifically denote the console in Japan the console is initially released in hotels bars and restaurants attracting significant demand there are even Japanese Gamers that visit these establishments just to play the console since it's cheaper than playing in arcades subsequently SNK introduces a rental program for individuals through arcades and specialized stores many Japanese players rent the console captivated by its technological superiority highquality games and the opportunity to experience arcade level gaming at home SNK decides to release the console to the general public in early July 1991 in Japan albeit at a steep price of 60,000 Yen three times more expensive than the Mega Drive despite the high cost initial sales are good meeting the anticipated demand American magazines quickly pick up on the buzz presenting this formidable console as light years ahead of the competition describing it as mindboggling with the ability to display 380 Sprites on screen simultaneously five times more than the mega drive or PC engine and twice the color display capacity of Nintendo's anticipated Super Nintendo the hope is that the console will eventually make its way to the United States in June 1990 at the CES the Neo Geo was presented only to professionals away from public view in a rather discreet manner the fortunate few journalists who had the chance to try it out came away astonished The Machine's performance is incredible the June 1990 CES had a strong emphasis on portable consoles featuring The Game Boy links and turbo Express so the Neo Geo already surpassing other Home consoles left the Lasting Impression after testers had spent time with Game Boy games unfortunately it was not presented publicly it remained confidential which was not a promising sign Why didn't SNK showcased the console publicly or announce it outside of Japan the American subsidiary of SNK wasn't convinced by the console thinking it's too expensive in Japan thanks to the economic context and the thriving reputation of arcades the Neo Geo made sense and found its place however in the United States the situation was entirely different the economic context was catastrophic entering a recession and the purchasing power of households is too low to afford such an expensive console historically outside Japan consoles targeted a younger audience and a demographic that couldn't afford such an expensive console however SNK Japan firmly believed in its success encouraged by its modest success in Japan and pressured the American Branch to release the console at least to give it a try this back and forth lasted for weeks SNK announced the console in the United States then retracted the announcement the announced release state passed without the console hitting the shelves but SNK America noticed that the console was being directly imported from Japan by some stores with a few units selling here and there ultimately SNK America gave in and announced the console for the end of 1990 in the United States they took a cautious approach producing only a tiny number of consoles and games selling them slowly which significantly limited the investment in economic risks it arrived in the United States at the end of 1990 a package containing two controllers and a game of choice at the Staggering price of $600 in 1990 $600 is equivalent to $1,400 today it's an astronomical price the games also cost $200 of the time equivalent to $450 today each SNK fully embraced this the console was a luxury item not designed for the mass Market but for a niche of players who wanted quality regardless of the price the reason the games were so expensive was because they were massive cartridges with huge memory for that time several dozens of megabits for launch games that's more than most Mega Drive games from the same era resulting in more expensive but richer games it's American release stunned players worldwide garnering attention in many countries Gamers drooled over this console in its games which were more advanced than the competition the Neo Geo became a dream for millions of players most of whom were still using 8bit consoles like the NES for many the shock was intense it seemed to come from another world in the United States a rental system was put in place allowing many players to try out this monster similar to the PC engine in Europe some independent resellers started importing it like in France where the Neo Geo became available through guamu International a company owned by the founders and leaders of Ubisoft the guamu brothers they brought the console to France by the end of 199 where it quickly gained a great reputation as the ultimate but also an unattainable console with prices even higher due to importing a rental system was also established here but retailers simply refused it renting a console was not common in France they opted to sell it significantly limiting the number of people who could try the console unlike the PC engine which seemed to appeal to a larger audience the Neo Geo was distributed all over Europe albeit in limited quantities highlighting its ignition and Renown but this is just the beginning of a console with a tumultuous history and a Japanese rivalry that will change [Music] everything the year 1991 began with a promotional campaign for the Neo Geo in the United States featuring a wildly popular advertisement that showcased a comparison of the Neo Geo against other consoles showing that the Neo Geo was a gaming Powerhouse compared to its competitors soon after the Neo Geo underwent a price drop from $600 to $400 this reduction was attributed to a new bundle offering the console with a single controller and no game making it somewhat more accessible although still expensive however the main concern remained the high cost of games which did not see a corresponding decrease in price in Europe the price also saw a decline but this did not significantly impact s simultaneously the Neo Geo doubled its available game Library presenting six new titles at the January 1991 CES these included a tetris-like puzzle game a much needed shoot them up a bowling simulation a Mario Style platformer and an impressive first-person perspective beat him up the Neo Geo garnered widespread attention in early 1991 being prominently featured in various discussions however its visibility was short-lived the release of the Super Nintendo in Japan created a frenzy and when it reached the United States it performed exceptionally well despite initial skepticism especially after the success of Super Mario Brothers 3 the Super Nintendo gained popularity with Super Mario World selling at a phenomenal rate the Super Nintendo showcased a significant leap from the NES particularly with its mode 7 capabilities evident in games like pilot wings and f-z which offered pseudo 3D gaming previously unseen on consoles and that were absent on the more expensive Neo Geo mid 1991 witnessed the explosion of another phenomenon Sonic the Hedgehog after a triumphant presentation at the June 1991 CES Sonic was released on the Sega Mega Drive achieving a global launch in less than a month thanks to aggressive promotional campaigns and an impressive game Sonic quickly became sega's mascot legitimizing Sega as a competitor to Nintendo and it's Mario Sonic the Hedgehog ended up being the bestselling game of 1991 significantly boosting Mega Drive sales the Nintendo versus Sega rivalry took Center Stage overshadowing all other consoles and the Neo Geo faded from the spotlight magazines briefly mentioned it but everyone quickly forgot about it as Nintendo and Sega engaged in Fierce competition releasing big games every month with new promotional campaigns in Japan the situation was different as the Mega Drive struggled in sales and Sonic was not as popular the super famicom dominated but the Neo Geo found its Niche and was praised by older players who spent more time in arcades especially since the neoo mvs arcade cabinet was a great success featuring regularly updated games but why did the Neo Geo have so few games compared to its arcade counterpart because SNK clearly favored the arcade and did not want to directly compete with arcades using its console consequently Games took several months to make their way from arcades to the console initially SNK had announced a six-month gap between arcade and console releases and although it ended up being a bit faster it was still a slow process popular games like Robo army 8man or cross swords launched on the console several months after their arcade debut the intended audience who frequented arcades likely had already played these games and was hesit to spend $400 on a game they had experienced before additionally arcade technology evolved rapidly rendering a game obsolete by the time it took 5 months to reach the console compared to the popular games in arcades another significant issue with Neo Geo games despite their exorbitant prices is that they can be completed very quickly this is because most games on the console have unlimited continues for players unfamiliar with the era many games back then had a limited number of lives and once lost players could sometimes use continues to resume their game in arcades continuing often required additional payment but on consoles continues were bonus features to be earned however since Neo Geo console games were direct adaptations of arcade games they retained unlimited continues without the need for additional payment consequently these games could be completed extremely quickly with some finishing in less than an hour a bitter pill to swallow after shelling out such a high price the console struggled in the face of fierce competition with Sega misleading everyone about the exceptional technology of its Mega drive through a supposed but meaningless blast processing and Nintendo offering games that the Neo Geo couldn't replicate with its famed mode 7 the Neo Geo found itself in difficulty and rumors even circulated that SNK might halt production a period of uncertainty persisted for several weeks leaving the console's Fate unknown by directly comparing itself to other consoles in its promotional campaigns the Neo Geo inadvertently placed itself in competition with them contrary to its initial intent as something different noboyuki kuroki a game designer at SNK explained when we released the Neo Geo it wasn't to compete directly with Sega and Nintendo we had this idea with interchangeable arcade cabinets and we wanted to bring that experience home we were in the same Market as other competitors but we had two ways to make profits through arcade cabinets on one side and the console on the other it wasn't about directly beating others but rather seeing if there was a space for us in this market but the year 1991 also marks the triumphant entry of a game genre that had been rather discreet until then fighting games while Street Fighter 1 had introduced the genre to a few enthusiasts and final fight had tested the waters the release of Street Fighter 2 in arcades worldwide Herald's one of the greatest game Trends Street Fighter 2 quickly becomes the most popular arcade game of the year by a wide margin two factors contribute to Street Fighter 2 becoming the Monumental success it is firstly graphically the game is stunning highly detailed and notably the animations are excellent in arcades where your arcade cabinet and game are missed dozens of others standing out is crucial and Street Fighter 2 accomplishes this remarkably well the second factor is the combo system it introduces rewarding dedicated players visually impressive the combo system not only captivates players but also motivates them to invest time and money into the game Capcom knew they had something Monumental on their hands presenting the game to Arcade managers as their best game of all time remember tekashi nishima the designer of the original Street Fighter that served as the foundation for Street Fighter 2 now works at SNK concurrently he designs a new fighting game addressing the two issues he regretted from the First Street Fighter a more developed character and story and a better emphasis on special moves thus at the end of 1991 fatal Fury launches in arcades a game that will change snk's history fatal Fury quickly wins over players and positions itself as a competitor to Street Fighter 2 trailing closely behind in popularity crucially fatal Fury impresses with beautiful graphics and meticulously crafted animations at least on par with what Street Fighter 2 offers despite being different games with Street Fighter 2 emphasizing Combos and linking different moves while fatal Fury focuses more on characters their stories and the timing of special moves the two are constantly compared Capcom and SNK are seen as rival companies while Capcom Milk Street Fighter 2 with an astonishing number of releases Street Fighter 2 the World Warrior Champion Edition hyper fighting turbo the new Challengers the tournament battle Etc SNK follows up with true sequels like fatal Fury 2 or special along with new games like Samurai Showdown or art of fighting exploring new aspects of fighting games all of which end up in the top 10 most profitable arcade games in Japan SNK quickly grasps the opportunity to bring its games to the Neo Geo while previously players had to wait several months to enjoy these games on the console from late 1991 the games came much faster within a month this renewed interest revitalizes the console fatal Fury becomes so popular that it becomes snk's most recognized game and Terry Bogard its main character is elevated to the status of the company's mascot all these fighting games created by SNK in such a short time all successful establish SNK as a company renowned for its excellent fighting games that continually innovate simultaneously to reduce game prices as SNK decides to replace components in the console with cheaper alternatives further reducing the Neo Geo's price placing it around $300 for the cheapest bundle moreover Sega releases its Mega CD around the same time which costs a whopping $300 despite sega's extensive marketing campaigns it struggles to take off with journalists pointing out that the console plus the mega CD costs more than a Neo Geo which has cartridges that can contain almost as much data as CDs while being more powerful seeing this opportunity SNK launches new advertising campaigns for its console which literally comes back from the dead after disappearing for several months it is once again mentioned everywhere in the press and SNK opens the console to more licenses resulting in a more diverse game library with an average of two new games per month compared to only six in its first four months snk's Brilliance doesn't shine only in fighting games almost all Neo Geo games receive excellent reviews in the Press regardless of the genre the Neo Geo boasts a library of very highquality games recognized as such this is truly the Golden Age of SNK and its Neo Geo featuring excellent Sports simulations fantastic shoot them ups and outstanding fighting games however starting in 1993 things will quickly become complicated for the company [Music] the year 1993 proves to be a bit delicate for SNK unlike the previous year almost all of the company's games are fighting games and very few games will ultimately see the light of day less than 10 for the entire year including arcade releases this is a meager output compared to previous years and due to the cheaper components used in the console to reduce its price technical problems emerge leading consumers to complain and even express outrage after paying a fortune for the console and games they find themselves dealing with technical issues but what truly shakes up SNK in 1993 are persistent and widespread rumors of a CD version of the console although rumors of a CD add-on for the Neo Geo have been circulating since 1991 their origin remains unclear however it seems logical since the major issue with the Neo Geo is the high price of game cards cartridges still around $150 of that time on average with CDs game prices would be much lower as CD production costs are significantly less than cartridges snk's games are also being ported to other consoles like the Super NES Mega Drive and even the PC engine which will get a special card just to run the latest SNK games including fatal Fury rumors circulate that Hudson to secure the rights would develop a CD drive for the Neo Geo similar to what was done for the PC engine this is semicon by some company Executives in famitsu SNK is indeed working on a CD drive for its console however SNK quickly puts this project on hold because sega's Mega CD isn't selling well the Super Nintendo still lacks its CD drive manufactured by Sony and later Phillips and especially because the 3DO is introduced utilizing CD support SNK is cautious investing in a CD drive is costly the 3DO despite its CD support is a massive failure due to its astronomical price of $700 at that time equivalent to $1,500 today a CD drive was an extremely expensive technology during this era making it challenging to sell a console at such a high price overlapping with the Neo Geo's market for more affluent consumers despite that in January H Kawasaki and snk's CEO officially announces a CD drive for arcade cabinets and the Neo Geo console he states that game prices will be cut in half with an expected release date in June 1994 for arcades and a bit later for the console this announcement immediately grabs attention in February 1994 new rumors surface suggesting an entirely new console a Neo Geo 32-bit console directly competing with Sega and Sony both of which had announced their thir 32-bit consoles for the end of the year in Japan the console is named neostar and is rumored to focus on 3D gaming aligning with the growing interest in this new dimension the original Neo Geo which was groundbreaking at its release isn't as impressive four years later both the console and the arcade cabinet it becomes challenging to justify its price and the cost of its games compared to competitors at the Tokyo toy show where everyone expected to see snk's monst new console the neostar with all the Innovations it was supposed to bring SNK surprises Everyone by presenting a new console the Neo gocd is finally here after years of rumors nobody believed it but there it is for everyone to see however excitement quickly Fades as people realize that it's not an entirely new console but just a new version of the Neo Geo that uses a CD drive this has nothing to do with the hypothetical neostar moreover most of the showcased games are titles already released on the Neo Geo quite some time ago SNK promises RPGs on the console a genre incredibly popular in Japan that dominates the scene but is notably absent on the Neo Geo this new version clearly targets a broader audience than the original with lower prices a smaller controller more suitable for home games with a smaller joystick SNK promises a more diverse range of game genres Beyond just fighting games with a list of 25 games planned for the console's launch and significant promotional efforts and at the same time SNK releases two new games that put the company back in the spotlight the first one is Wind Jammers a game similar to air hockey where two players violently throw frisbee trying to pass it behind each other and score points it offers immediate gaming pleasure with its dynamism and surprising depth for what seemed to be a simple pong variant the other game is King of Fighters 94 a crossover between fatal Fury and art of fighting that builds on the gameplay of those series to offer a three Onre fighting game with characters taking turns something very original that becomes one of the most profitable games of 1994 surpassing legendary titles like Ridge Racer Daytona USA or parodius becoming snk's trademark however the year 1994 is also the year of the Relentless promotion of the play station and Sega Saturn every month they are in magazines headlines with the latest news and the upcoming fight Sony's entry into the gaming World generates great curiosity and enthusiasm making it challenging for others to stand out even the 3DO and the Jaguar are completely overshadowed additionally Nintendo sees the release of phenomenal games on its console in 94 including the impressive Donkey Kong Country Final Fantasy 6 Super Metroid Killer Instinct Super Mario Allstars Dragon Ball Z Fire Emblem Mega Man X these three Giants are omnipresent in 94 and remember the Neo Geo was released at a time when the NES was at the end of its life but still dominated the market making it much easier to gain media attention now as their console targets a much broader audience they need to make themselves known to the general public they are fully aware of this so to promote the release of the Neo gooc CD SNK will do something quite original they will organize a tour the Neo geoc CD live tour in the six largest Japanese cities showcasing the console letting people try it weeks before its release and even organizing tournaments on site featuring the popular fighting games from the company this tour is a success generating buzz and introducing the console properly to the Japanese audience it concludes in Tokyo in September 94 and by the end the console is available the Neo GD arrives in Japan in limited quantities with the front loading model where you insert games directly into the console and its launch is a success all 30,000 units produced are sold on the day of release which is understandable after years of anticipation for this console and its games that were too expensive moreover it comes out a few weeks before the Saturn and the PlayStation after these 30,000 units SNK replaces the front loading design with a top loading one or you insert the game on the top of the console similar to the PlayStation because it's cheaper to produce shortly after its Japanese release it is available in some European countries through certain reselling companies in France it's still gimu International which quickly offers this new cheaper version with much more affordable games in the UK it's the same it becomes available quickly through a company called New Generation created for this purpose and its release is also met with some success but soon players will realize a massive issue with the console the loading times are atrociously long 30 seconds of waiting at the start of each game with additional loading times that sometimes stretch up to 1 minute it's way too much for playing a game especially when many were already complaining about PlayStation games and their loading times for the Neo gooc CD where it's more than double the time for a more expensive console so why does the Neo gooc CD have such long loading times even longer than those of the Saturn and the PlayStation well to make it compatible with previous games developed for the cartridge format SNK had to add a considerable amount of ram 7 megabytes whereas the PlayStation and the Saturn only have 2 megabytes however Ram was quite expensive at that time quickly driving up the cost of the console to keep the cost from soaring SNK decided to use a single-speed CD drive unlike other consoles that had double speed CD drives which are twice as fast at loading data journalists were already discussing this during the initial presentation at the Tokyo toy show but SNK reassured them stating that loading times would be shorter in the final version of the console which turned out to be false at the same time SNK decided to censor the blood in its games driving many people crazy we're in the postmortal Kombat period and all the controversy it caused in the United States leading to the creation of the ESRB SNK took precautions to remove blood from its games but the console was targeting adults who were very disappointed with this choice and made it known SNK was forced to reintroduce blood accessible via a blood code a special code in the games to let players choose but at the same time the Sony's Playstation and the Sega Saturn are finally released in Japan and the duel begins a duel that will be echoed worldwide completely sidelining other consoles including the Neo GD barely mentioned here and there they start their massive worldwide promotional campaign along with Nintendo's Ultra 64 which will become the Nintendo 64 these three Titans once again Crush everything else the only way out for SNK is to release their console before the others in the United States the biggest Market but given the Japanese players reaction who are considered more tolerant to extremely long loading times and the console's price SNK first needs to find a solution from months SNK announces the Neo gocd for spring 95 in the United States priced at $400 with 50 games available at launch however throughout the year at every trade show the release date is pushed back again and again eventually arriving in October 95 in the United States but unfortunately nobody really cares journalists highlight that it's an obsolete console compared to the Saturn and the PlayStation in everyone's eyes SNK is a luxury brand and paying a premium for a less powerful console is out of the question in fact players haven't realized the firm's change in Direction now aiming to reach the general public for them SNK is too expensive and they are turning towards the PlayStation the reason for this delay throughout the year is that SNK America wanted to replace the single speed CD drive with a double speed one however SNK Japan had produce so many consoles that were not sold forcing them to take back these consoles to try to sell them in the US this completely undermined their commercial strategy and the microscopic chances the console had of succeeding in the United States despite the success of some SNK games like king of fighting 95 the year 1995 is an extremely challenging year for the company the console is expensive to produce but doesn't sell well and the games also struggle to sell because they are more expensive than competitor's games however this is just the beginning of a turbulent period for the the company akin to a descent into hell in 1996 SNK Japan aware of the loading time issue released a new version of the neoo CD the neoo cdz however unlike the American version where SNK America changed the CD drive to a double speed one here it remained single speed they aimed to reduced loading times by having a larger cache and a more efficient CD drive but it backfired the console had a significant technical problem it overheated due to the new CD drive damaging a significant number of these consol's motherboards the Neo Geo CD was a resounding failure because the audience was no longer interested in 2D games especially 2D games that were several years old even though the Saturn and Playstation had a somewhat challenging start the release of games like Super Mario 64 marked the beginning of a whole new era until then only fighting and racing games managed to utilize this new dimension effectively the arrival of Mario 64 provided many developers with the keys to adapting to this new dimension including automatic camera angles movements and level design by the end of 1996 excellent 3D games started coming out justifying the 3D dimension that had seemed like a gimmick for many game genres before and SNK hadn't anticipated the shift although 3D games had been in arcades for a while SNK had consistently produced successful 2D arcade games additionally Metal Slug released the same year achieved considerable success even though it was also in 2D they didn't expect the sudden rejection of 2D games by the public who saw the company and the Neo Geo as outdated moreover the selling point of faithfully adapting arcade games which was crucial for Neo Geo consoles became irrelevant both the Saturn and the PlayStation had outstanding adaptations of arcade games such as virtue of Fighter 2 Sega Rally Championship Ridge Racer and Tekken making them some of the most popular arcade games of their time the final blow came from the Nintendo 64 released at only $200 as it didn't have an expensive CD drive Sony and Sega matched this price by selling their consoles at a loss these consoles were half the price of the Neo gocd SNK decided to set aside the Neo gocd and start from scratch to reenter the market they attempted to catch up by designing a new 3D arcade cabinet the process took over a year the cabinet was released in September 1997 with two games Samurai Showdown 64 and fatal Fury wild ambition despite being visually impressive for its time these games failed to capture everyone's interest players were tired of fighting games especially outside Japan within Japan the competition was incredibly Fierce with virtue of Fighter 3 Tekken 3 X-Men versus Street Fighter and Street Fighter 3 being the top earners surprisingly snk's most successful games of the year were 2D fighting games like Samurai Showdown 4 Real Bout fatal Fury special and King of Fighters 97 SNK was at a loss on one hand they had invested a considerable amount of money in the hyper Neo ge64 and they needed to recover some of the investment on the other hand the games were not performing well so they ultimately decided to abandon it and focus on what worked best for them 2D fighting games ironically the genre of fighting games collapsed at the end of the90s no SNK games were present in popular arcade games in 1999 the only fighting games present were Street Fighter 03 and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure neither of which were the most popular and the arcade Market was shrinking every year as players increasingly favored home consoles in parallel to all of this SNK embarked on another project focusing on portable consoles by the end of 1998 SNK released the Neo geop pocket in Japan however sales were insufficient and after a brief stint in color the console was abandoned SNK found itself in significant financial trouble with the Neo gocd proving costly with little returns the hyper Neo ge64 being expensive to produce with only seven games released and the sudden collapse of fighting games and the handheld console project failing due to intense competition from the Game Boy Color and the Pokemon phenomenon SNK experienced a genuine descent into turmoil one from which they would never fully recover in January 2000 the company's debts became overwhelming leading to its acquisition by aruse a Pachinko manufacturer Cruz being a massive Japanese corporation saw an opportunity to leverage SNK strong licenses like fatal Fury Samurai Showdown and Metal Slug in Pachinko and slot machines however aruse had little interest in video games consequently for the next 2 years from 2000 to 2001 SNK released hardly any games only seven in total before this period they used to release around a dozen games per year moreover the few games produced during this time were only made to make money on big names like King of Fighters 2000 and 2001 or metal slug 3 amid this complicated situation and aru's indifferent management of the video game division snk's most talented employees were recruited by other companies such as Capcom Arc system Konami Namco or even form their own company dims SNK found itself lacking competent staff making a true downward spiral for the company only a few few years earlier SNK was among the top three Japanese arcade companies alongside Sega and Capcom now it was Fading Into Obscurity in 2000 Capcom proposed a collaboration to SNK for a new game Capcom versus SNK which turned out to be a huge success however Capcom reaped all the benefits since they developed and published the game aruse decided to close SNK America's subsidiary and sold the neoo mvs rights to Apple further sinking the company as it lost its revenue from the United States this proved to be the breaking point for echi Kawasaki the founder of SNK who decided to leave the group and establish a new company called broft taking snk's Executives who hadn't left yet with him Kawasaki managed to continue developing some games for the Neo Geo such as King of Fighters 2001 in August 2001 he founded a new company Playmore with brezos soft now as a subsidi AR simultaneously aruse declared SNK bankrupt and the company's licenses were put up for auction brezos soft acquired the King of Fighters license and mega Enterprise obtained the metal slug license through these auctions Playmore managed to reclaim snk's intellectual properties and attempted to bring back some former SNK employees with a few returning to the fold however aruse continued to use snk's name and characters for its pachinko machines kaas saki filed a copyright infringement lawsuit eventually recovering a considerable amount of money with this money Playmore underwent Redevelopment opening offices in other countries re-entering the arcade business and developing new games in 2003 they even rebranded themselves as SNK Playmore marking a true Resurgence after a descent into Oblivion over the years SNK Playmore focused on game development abandoning hardware and reverting to the name SNK the subsequent events took a bizarre turn as the studio was partially acquired by a Chinese mobile gaming fund sidelining Kawasaki and using snk's characters in the firm's mobile games later on it was even acquired by the prince of Saudi Arabia through one of his organizations attempting a timid comeback to the console Market SNK released the Neo goox a portable console allowing gameplay of all Neo Geo versions released in 2012 however it was quickly hacked leading SNK to Halt production only a year after its release a conflict with Tomo the company manufacturing the console ensued with Tomo ignoring snk's demands and continuing to produce the console until 2016 in 2018 SNK released a Neo Geo mini in the form of a miniature arcade cabinet that could be connected to a television complete with plug-in controllers and containing 40 games from the Neo Geo system it served as an a olic reminder for players from that era recalling the Golden Age of SNK the Neo Geo stands as unique console in the history of video games achieving what no one had before Pixel Perfect arcade game adaptations after revolutionizing arcades with interchangeable cassette-based cabinets containing multiple games it allowed those with Deep Pockets to experience incredibly advanced games incomparable to what was available on other consoles at the time in an era where everyone talked about bringing the arcade home in every advertisement SNK took that promise seriously and executed it intelligently avoiding overly ambitious goals and creating a niche they knew how to exploit while its luxury oriented Market made it less accessible and consequently less popular than the Genesis or Super Nintendo that's precisely what made it special the Neo Geo captivated Millions worldwide and even though it only sold just over a million units it was a console from another world World importantly it hosted incredible games developed by its team what was astonishing when going through all these magazines and this history is that nearly every Neo Geo game received remarkable ratings I hardly saw any game scoring below 90 out of 100 a star contrast to other consoles nevertheless after an exceptional period the Fascinations surrounding this console waned with the Advent of 3D still thanks to its highquality games especially its fighting games it managed to create an extremely loyal player base even today people continue to play King of Fighters fatal Fury and Samurai Showdown games that still feature in Competitive Gaming underscoring their lasting impact Additionally the console was the first to use memory cards allowing players to continue game started in arcades something that seemed incredible at the time the Neo Geo is one of those consoles where looking back and delving into its history you discover a fabulous console and you are surprised at how much it left its Mark even on such a limited audience a star contrast to atari's jaguar or the 3DO for example it stands as a fabulous console widely recognized as such thank you so much for watching until the end I sincerely hope you enjoyed this video as is often the case with less mainstream consoles I had a tough time finding all the information I needed but I'm so proud of the result that I don't mind it taking a bit longer feel free to share the video subscribe subcribe and like it's crucial and greatly supports the channel see you around
