Some Questions about the Neo Geo Pocket Color

[Single Player Gamer]

If there are any experts on the system or sites let me know cause I want to pick someones brain on the system but here are some basic questions:

1. Is there a Neo Geo pocket that isnt color with its own games? If so were there US releases for it?

2. How many US Releases are for the system?

3. Are there any published strategy guides for the games on the system?

4. In addition to the US releases how many non US releases are in english and are they hard to get a hold of?

5. Does anyone know what the launch lineup was and what the last game release was for the US?

Thanks in advance for the help. If you are an expert in the system and don't mind, send me a pm so I can ask some more questions as I think of them. I own the NGPC and have been enjoying Cardfighters but I just want some more info on the system in case I decide to get serious about collecting for it.

[CosmicMonkey]

NeoGeo Pocket Price Guide (http://www.neo-geo.com/pocket/priceguide.html)

NeoGeo Pocket Master List (http://www.neo-geo.com/pocket/)

The original version of the NGP had a monochrome screen and very few games released before the color upgrade became available. You'll find that UK games (and the few Japanese ones) in hard clamshell cases go for more than the US/Jpn releases in cardboard covers.

[tom]

We just had a thread about this not so long ago, try searching NGp

10 games for Neo Geo Pocket (B&W), no US release:
Melan Chan's Growth Diary
Puzzle Link
Master of Syougi
Neo Cup 98
Neo Cup 98 plus
Neo Cherry Master
Baseball Stars
King of Fighters
Pocket Tennis
Samurai Shodown

[Mayhem]

NeoGeo Pocket Price Guide (http://www.neo-geo.com/pocket/priceguide.html)

NeoGeo Pocket Master List (http://www.neo-geo.com/pocket/)

The original version of the NGP had a monochrome screen and very few games released before the color upgrade became available. You'll find that UK games (and the few Japanese ones) in hard clamshell cases go for more than the US/Jpn releases in cardboard covers.

Well thanks for linking to the list here (not), I guess all my hard work really pays off :p ;)

[Vectorman0]

If there are any experts on the system or sites let me know cause I want to pick someones brain on the system but here are some basic questions:

1. Is there a Neo Geo pocket that isnt color with its own games? If so were there US releases for it?

2. How many US Releases are for the system?

3. Are there any published strategy guides for the games on the system?

4. In addition to the US releases how many non US releases are in english and are they hard to get a hold of?

5. Does anyone know what the launch lineup was and what the last game release was for the US?

Thanks in advance for the help. If you are an expert in the system and don't mind, send me a pm so I can ask some more questions as I think of them. I own the NGPC and have been enjoying Cardfighters but I just want some more info on the system in case I decide to get serious about collecting for it.

1.) Yes and no. No, in that games weren't ESRB rated or sold at EB's throughout the country. However, there were some English NGP (black and white) titles available directly through SNK USA. The games you would have gotten would have been the same as the European/Asian (Hong Kong/non-Japanese) versions.

2.) 5 English NGP games, though they aren't really US specific (see above). 32 NGPC games, however Faselei! and The Last Blade were not released normally at retail and can only be found cart only. See my answer to #5 for more info.

3.) Not in America. There is a Japanese Ogre Battle Guide, and a couple Japanese Card Fighters Guides. If anybody knows of more I don't know about, please let me know!

4.) There are 7 European/Asian English NGPC games that were not released the US. (That doesn't include the complete copies of Faselei! or The Last Blade also available in those regions). The 7 are: Cotton, Dynamite Slugger, Pocket Reversi, Evolution, Cool Boarders Pocket, Neo Baccarat and Picture Puzzle. These games are all some of the hardest to find European Releases. Two of them stand out However. Pocket Reversi goes for at least around a couple hundred dollars, and Evolution always tops a hundred. The others could probably be had for around fifty dollars with some patience.

5.) I'm not sure of the last US retail release. For some reason I am thinking Gals Fighters, or Shanghai Mini, but I am not sure. I will have to look around a bit. However the ESRB rated US Faselei! and The Last Blade carts surfaced long after the NGPC was pulled from shelves. They were first seen on ebay and eventually made it back to Gamestop and other retail outlets, in blister pack bundles without boxes or manuals. The story is that they were made up before SNK pulled out of the US, but were put away with plans of converting them to other games for other markets where the NGPC was going to attempt to survive. That never happened and they eventually were sold off to resellers.

Feel free to PM me if you have any more questions.

If you are thinking about collecting NGPC, I highly recommend it as it is a great system that actually has amazing games, compared to something like 32X. The good:bad game ratio is probably the best of any system I can think of. Maybe it's tied with Vectrex though :D. The US library is very easy and fairly inexpensive to collect for. You just may have to wait a little while for a few of the games to surface. The European and Japanese collections are harder to go for as they have expensive games too, some not seen very often either.

Also, one of the forum members, Sweater Fish Deluxe, has a great FAQ which probably already has answers all of the questions you had. It can be found here: http://www.pocketfuel.co.uk/ngpc/ngpc_faq.html

[XianXi]

Just remember that if you get a japanese game it will play in japanese.

[otaku]

Not always metal slug 2 JPN will play in english on an english system for instance. Cotton is a level 7 game not easy to come by which until recently I proudly owned and enjoyed. Tons of great games you'll enjoy the system!

[Vectorman0]

Just remember that if you get a japanese game it will play in japanese.

Most of the earlier games that aren't RPGish and text heavy can play in both English and Japanese, depending on what the system is set to in the options. Later Jap

Sweaterfish's FAQ I linked to earlier has the info listed for every game. It's a good read. Even if you know the system well, you are bound to learn something new about it.

[XianXi]

True some do play in english but you might wanna do some research or ask before you buy if the game does have optional english text. I believe it's only a handful that do though. Maybe 6-9 games.

[CosmicMonkey]

I wish Tototek or another such company would produce decent NGPC flash carts. The original ones by Bung had terrible PC software for uploading games and required some ancient technology called a 'parallel port'?!?! :p

I'd love a nice easy to use USB NGPC flash cart with decent, simple to use software that's compatible with OSX, Linux and Windows. Not too much to ask for is it?

I have translated versions of Card Fighter's Clash 2 and Rockman that I'd like to play on real hardware, along with some other nifty bits of homebrew that I've found. I'd also hope that the release of an easily available flash cart would result in more homebrew and translation efforts like Ogre Battle Gaiden or Biomotor Unitron 2.

[otaku]

the only games I haven't bought yet for NGPC are: cardfighters 2, rockman and evolution (Uk I have the JPN) also don't have a UK copy of faselei yet either. So though I've played them I haven't really played them let alone finished.

[Single Player Gamer]

Well...that was very informative. Thanks for the replies to my questions everyone and especially Vectorman0. I got about 25 games when I bought my NGPC but all the games were in cart form with just the plastic covers for them. Only 17 were US release or at least in english.

I noticed I have the cart Evolution but I think its Japanese so probably not the one that goes for 100 bucks. Anyway thanks again.

[Mayhem]

Just remember (as I'm the one who put together the NGPC guide here) that the prices quoted are for COMPLETE games only. Loose games are worth pretty much nothing by comparison, even the rare ones...

[Single Player Gamer]

I figures as much but I'm not very wrapped up into the value of my games. Just the dread of having to buy them when they are expensive.

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

I wish Tototek or another such company would produce decent NGPC flash carts. The original ones by Bung had terrible PC software for uploading games and required some ancient technology called a 'parallel port'?!?! :p

I'd love a nice easy to use USB NGPC flash cart with decent, simple to use software that's compatible with OSX, Linux and Windows. Not too much to ask for is it?

I have translated versions of Card Fighter's Clash 2 and Rockman that I'd like to play on real hardware, along with some other nifty bits of homebrew that I've found. I'd also hope that the release of an easily available flash cart would result in more homebrew and translation efforts like Ogre Battle Gaiden or Biomotor Unitron 2.
Have you tried using Flavor's PocketSend instead of the NGPC_Win (or Pokelink) app that shipped with the unit? It's a lot better. Still very slow to write, but a lot more reliable. And it's a must for homebrew since you can make up a menu with all your homebrew on it at once with Pocket Send. It can't backup up or restore saves from and to commercial carts like the original app, though.

Flavor is also the main guy behind the CFC2 translation project and he has recently been trying to pick that up again and finish it (currently, only the cards are translated, not the dialog).

If you want to get PocketSend or offer help with the CFC2 translation project, check out FLavor's site here:

http://www.personal.triticom.com/~erm/NGPC/


...word is bondage...

[XianXi]

Just remember (as I'm the one who put together the NGPC guide here) that the prices quoted are for COMPLETE games only. Loose games are worth pretty much nothing by comparison, even the rare ones...

And remember that some of the loose ones are complete as that is how they were released.

[Mayhem]

?

The only "loose" ones are the US versions of Faselei and Last Blade, and that's because they kept the carts made and trashed what packaging existed when SNK pulled the business in 2001. Everything else is available complete as it was released. The US carts got "leaked" and have slowly selling on eBay ever since...