Neo Geo questions

[psx95loren]

Hello! I have a couple of questions related to the Neo Geo systems. I have both a Neo Geo AES and a Neo Geo CD. My question is how can you tell by looking at the consoles if they are Japanese or American systems? My other question is if an American system will play a Japanese game in English? Thank you in advance for your responses!

[XYXZYZ]

I think the serial number may have some information about the console's region, other than that I believe they're identical. And an American system will not play a Japanese game in English. The game checks to see what region code is in the console's BIOS, and displays English or Japanese depending on what the BIOS returns.

However, you can get this nifty thing called a Universe BIOS that will allow you to switch between regions, change between AES and MVS, and more. You can get one here- http://unibios.free.fr/

[theclaw]

The game must still contain English to see a change, of course. Titles with only Japanese text won't switch.

[Rickstilwell1]

From my experience, Neo Geo CD systems with an American Bios are much harder to come across than one with a Japanese BIOS. Same thing with American prints of Neo Geo CD games. I've never seen a single one on ebay that wasn't an import.

[A Black Falcon]

The game must still contain English to see a change, of course. Titles with only Japanese text won't switch.

Almost anything that isn't a mahjong or quiz game has english text, though.

[todesengel]

An easy way to check if it's an American AES is to look for the FCC label on the bottom of the system, the US systems are also slightly heavier due to the metal shielding plate in them. Like was already mentioned, 99% of Japanese games will boot to English when plugged into a US system, the only downside is that some games will be censored.

[otaku]

this makes me miss my AES and makes me want a cab and or NEO CD unit!