NEO-GEO Pocket COLOR 2 - New SNK-Playmore Handheld (Hell Has Just Frozen Over)

[wingzrow]

http://andriasang.com/comzr4/neo_geo_pocket_2/images/23pou/

http://www.famicom-plaza.com/blog/2012/01/0125-neogeopoket2.html

http://kotaku.com/5879082/the-return-of-the-neo+geo/gallery/1

Mother of god, this better not be fake.

Would post more but I need some sleep.

"SNK Playmore is once again in the hardware business. The Osaka-based game company is licensing a new (well, sort of) portable Neo-Geo gaming system. This is it.

The handheld sports a 4.3 inch LCD screen, 2GB of onboard memory, and an SD card slot. There are twenty pre-loaded games, all of them old Neo-Geo classics.
The games, which can be played in English, are World Heroes, Ultimate 11, Top Player's Golf, Sengoku, Nam-1975, Mutation Nation, Last Resort, King of Monsters, Frenzy, Cyber-Lip, Fatal Furty Special, The Art of Fighting, Super Sidekicks, League Bowling, Metal Slug, Magical Lord, Baseball Stars Professional, Samurai Shodown, The King of Fighters '94, and Fatal Fury.

The device is larger than an iPhone or your typical smartphone. The back reads "SNK", while the top has an AV Out slot, L1/L2 buttons, and R1/R2 buttons.

The front reads "SNK" and "Neo-Geo". There is a "Menu" button and a "Start" button. The face buttons are A, B, C, and D.

The side of the portable has a power switch and, as previously mentioned, an SD Card slot.

There are also volume controls, a slot for headphones, and brightness buttons.

Considering that this reveal came via a Japanese game blog and not from SNK itself, this does look to be a leak, and it could even be a prototype. According to the blog, the temporary name for the device is "Neo-Geo Keitai" or "Neo-Geo Portable". Note that once it goes in to production the device's specs could change.

The Neo-Geo was original a cartridge-based arcade and home console system SNK manufactured in the 1990s. The last console SNK created was the Neo-Geo Pocket, released in 1999. SNK ceased production in 2001.

Kotaku is following up with SNK and will update this post should the company comment."

[Leo_A]

We see even powerful consoles still struggle a bit with NeoGeo emulation (Load times, for instance). So I really doubt something that is essentially a plug and play with a corresponding price point will do very well playing them. Although hopefully 2 gigs of onboard memory signifies this is something they don't envision being carried in the toy section of Wal-Mart for $20-$30.

And since much of SNK's business model relies on mining their back catalog, the chances of us being able to stick any NeoGeo rom we want on to a SD card and play it are next to nothing (Although if it's there, maybe they plan to sell preloaded SD cards with encrpyted roms on it or set up some sort of online marketplace?). So I wouldn't get too excited reading that it has a SD card.

Hopefully it's something neat. But I'd urge everyone to be cautious with their excitement (If there's even any truth behind this). If real, chances are that it's nothing great and I'm personally betting that there's not even any truth behind it. How often does a blog ever break legitimate news in regards to this industry? The percentage can't be very high...

Hopefully it's going to be the SNK counterpart to Atari's Flashback II, but I doubt it.

[G-Boobie]

Dunno, Leo: most current hardware can run Neo Geo ROMs perfectly, but the official emulation usually sucks. The PS2 and PSP official releases of most SNK stuff is crap, but running a ROM in a homebrew emulator on the same hardware is great. If this thing is internally developed at SNK-P, it might be fine.

Still, that roster of games is tired. Give me Windjammers, Matrimelee, Mark of the Wolves, and Metal Slug 3 and we'll talk.

[Swamperon]

Presuming it runs the games perfectly, at the right price point that could be a very attractive purchase.

It would be brilliant if there was a way to add more games, presumably via the SD slot if there is. Will keep tabs on this.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Looks to be a a Dingoo/Caanoo clone with Neo-Geo branding.

Both can handle Neo Geo emulation pretty well, so, I would expect that this will do it the same.

[dgdgagdae]

Those shoulder buttons are bizarre. L1 is on the outside, but R1 is on the inside? It really does just look like a typical Korean emulation pocket thingie that we've seen so much of lately.

[geezuzkhrist119]

So is the NGP as powerful as a ds or PSP? if so I'm think it might be the next hack able emulator device.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

So is the NGP as powerful as a ds or PSP? if so I'm think it might be the next hack able emulator device.

This is very likely just an iteration/clone of Dingoo or Wiz or Canoo or GPX, etc. portable emulation systems ... or it might be Android based as that seems to be the next wave in that trend.

Those aren't "hackable" as much as they are fully open source for any programmer to develop emulators for.

[Bojay1997]

This is very likely just an iteration/clone of Dingoo or Wiz or Canoo or GPX, etc. portable emulation systems ... or it might be Android based as that seems to be the next wave in that trend.

Those aren't "hackable" as much as they are fully open source for any programmer to develop emulators for.


Yep, I'm not sure why people are getting excited. Isn't there a Sega branded version of an almost identical device out there? It's not like they are going to release new games specific to the device and it's likely that whatever company is releasing it just approached SNK and paid a licensing fee for the name and ROMS.

[Genesaturn]

I was briefly uber excited..but now im just excited. If its real it looks pretty solid, and if it is planned as like an emulator device that can play regular cartridges..id still buy it for the right price....if for some reason neo geo decided to try its hand at competing with sony and nintendo..which i doubt...then call me soiled.

[kedawa]

I'm glad it has shoulder buttons for all those 8 button NeoGeo games!

[markusman64ds]

If you could play original Neo Geo carts on it.....I don't know. It would be hard to hold.

[Genesaturn]

If you could play original Neo Geo carts on it.....I don't know. It would be hard to hold.


I would assume it would hold neo geo pocket carts

[Bojay1997]

I would assume it would hold neo geo pocket carts

I'm sorry, but why would you assume that? There is absolutely no slot for NGP carts present in the photos. Despite all the wild speculation, based on the minimal information out there, this doesn't even appear to be an SNK developed device. It's just some other company licensing the name and some games for use in an otherwise generic portable. As I said earlier, there is a very similar Sega branded device linked here:

http://www.blazeeurope.com/sega/handheld-console-with-20-sega-megadrive-games/prod_3.html

Everyone needs to just calm down until more details come out as currently, this appears to be nothing to get excited about.

[Genesaturn]

I'm sorry, but why would you assume that? There is absolutely no slot for NGP carts present in the photos. Despite all the wild speculation, based on the minimal information out there, this doesn't even appear to be an SNK developed device. It's just some other company licensing the name and some games for use in an otherwise generic portable. As I said earlier, there is a very similar Sega branded device linked here:

http://www.blazeeurope.com/sega/handheld-console-with-20-sega-megadrive-games/prod_3.html

Everyone needs to just calm down until more details come out as currently, this appears to be nothing to get excited about.

I can see the pictures, I was merely saying if they DID have a cartridge slot, they would most likely have it be a pocket slot. Sorry for not making that clear

[Ryudo]

I would love it if real. Shame it's a fake.

One pic it says "Start/Select" in another says "Menu/Start"

[SparTonberry]

If you could play original Neo Geo carts on it.....I don't know. It would be hard to hold.

I wonder if NeoGeo used the largest carts (physical dimensions) ever, looks like it.
(I also wonder how heavy those are, they'd seem like they'd weigh a lot. As hard as it is to imagine any cart-based system using heavier media than the N64. :P )

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I was briefly uber excited..but now im just excited. If its real it looks pretty solid, and if it is planned as like an emulator device that can play regular cartridges..id still buy it for the right price....if for some reason neo geo decided to try its hand at competing with sony and nintendo..which i doubt...then call me soiled.

Read up on the following devices. Look at pictures of the following devices with the knowledge that these devices already have near 100% compatibility with existing full-sets of Neo-Geo roms.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dingoo_A320

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAANOO

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GP2X_Wiz

If you're excited about this thing it's likely only a re-brand/re-jigger of existing hardware/software and if you want to play Neo-Geo games right now, today, on a nice portable system just buy a Dingoo A320 for around $80.

[The 1 2 P]

If it was real I'd get it. My Neo Geo Color has the best analog stick of all my handhelds. And the batteries it came with when I bought it several years ago still work just fine. I should probably change those though before they blow up or something.

[Kitsune Sniper]

The Famicom-Blog link, the supposed source of these, does not work anymore. It's gone.

So... I'm not sure this is even... real.

[retroman]

i hope its true..i will get one

[StealthLurker]

I'm glad it has shoulder buttons for all those 8 button NeoGeo games!

Since this is mostly likely another portable emulator gadget...

Mapping an A+B slash to a shoulder button (and other similar button combinations) for some Samurai Showdown,etc is a nice option.

Also if it can be modified to accept other emulators for other consoles/platforms, not locking yourself to only 4 buttons is nice.

.

[kedawa]

...Neo Geo Color...analog stick...

Does not compute.

[tofu]

Yep, I'm not sure why people are getting excited. Isn't there a Sega branded version of an almost identical device out there? It's not like they are going to release new games specific to the device and it's likely that whatever company is releasing it just approached SNK and paid a licensing fee for the name and ROMS.

Bingo.

The SEGA based product you're thinking of is the Gopher:

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-8y-49-en-70-3ijj.html

I heard about a possible licensing deal two months ago and now this image pops up. The company working on it at the time was Blazepro. I sent an e-mail to them late last night and they told me the product would release in about two months. Tommo has stateside distribution rights.

[markusman64ds]

I wonder if NeoGeo used the largest carts (physical dimensions) ever, looks like it.
(I also wonder how heavy those are, they'd seem like they'd weigh a lot. As hard as it is to imagine any cart-based system using heavier media than the N64. :P )

From what I know, they are. You could probably fit a Wii in there and you would STILL have space. I think the arcade carts are bigger than the console's though.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Does not compute.

That pad looks a lot like the one on the original NGPC. It wasn't a stick, it was kinda like the NES Max's control pad or something.