The Neo Geo AES home system was always the one that got away.
The first time I came across a system for sale was in 2000 at a local retro game store chain. It had just been brought out and was priced at $200, a good deal. After I went by an ATM for the cash, I returned only to find an empty space where the system was only an hour ago. Oh well, I thought, I am sure there will be other systems...
Time passes, dinosaurs became extinct, it is now the year 2010. I was browsing Craigslist and I came across a heavily modded AES with additional outputs for component video. I know these are expensive mods, but I'm not really into non OEM mods for my consoles. Still, I get in touch with the seller and...during negotiations it gets bought out from under me for probably $180 or so. I am slightly frustrated...
A few weeks ago I pop into another local retro game store and I find the owner beaming with delight as he had just hosed some poor guy selling a Japan region AES to the store. Not for sale, but if it was in the future, $500. I had enough...eBay to the rescue.
After a short search I find what looks to be a complete AES with a buy-it-now of $200, and I go for it. No hesitation. It finally arrived yesterday after a long wait for shipment, completely covered in clear shipping tape. They wrapped the system in it, each of the controllers, then wrapped each part in bubble wrap with even more shipping tape. After hours of residue removal I finally have a nice looking system. I think it is a rarer USA region system, which is a plus, completely unhacked, which I like. I also think it is one of the early models, outputting in RF. One of my first purchases will be composite cables.
Both sticks had their issues, the worst one was taken apart in an "MVS console-azation experiment" gone bad and had wires clipped clean from the pins (still in the housing connector). One pin was actually missing that I had to fabricate from a spare PC USB connector. Soldering was touch and go for a bit, but it metered out okay (continuity test) and was good to go once everything was back together. All of the screws were missing, but ones from an old PC keyboard were perfect fits. This controller that I saved is going to be the one I play the most.
I have no games at the moment, so I hope the system is okay. It does generate video, a nice blue screen. I've been paying a little attention to eBay for a couple of years, it seems like the most affordable games are going to be Magician Lord, Nam 1975, Sengoku, and ASO II (all new imports from a massive find a couple of years back). I am also considering World Heroes II, and both of the early Samurai Showdowns. I refuse to go the multi-cart way, it's not my style. I do hope the multi-carts bring down cartridge prices to more reasonable levels by dampening demand for the originals. The PS2 compilations are also helping...no way I'll be getting rid of my PS2 Art of Fighting collection, Samurai Showdown collection, or the wonderful Metal Slug collection. There has always seemed to be speculators in the AES market, seeing things as more of an investment vehicle than anything else. I'm not that type of collector, I still play my stuff!
Comparisons vs. a Neo Geo CD...
While I said the AES was always the one that got away, I did have the pleasure of purchasing a USA region boxed Neo Geo CD a few years back at the same 2000 era local used game store. I think this is actually the rarer of the SNK USA region home systems for those collecting for rarity alone. I've slowly gotten a nice library together of fast loading games and some of the slightly slower loading fighters. It turns out that the really early games are a lot easier to find and less expensive on the AES vs. the CD so I won't have a lot of duplicates. I'm not going to mind re-buying Samurai Showdown 1 & 2 for the AES. If anyone reading this is only going to have a CD, it is more than worth it for you to pick up a pair of the original AES joysticks. Trust me, there is no going back to the pads after using the sticks..
Sorry for the story of my life here, I'm a passionate collector and it shows.