The out-of-reach classic is a little more in reach today
Kids of a certain age pined for a Neo Geo Advanced Entertainment System. Released in 1990 (discontinued in ’97 but official games were still released right up until Samurai Shodown V in 2004) at the staggering price of $650 and $200 dollar on average game carts it effectively housed the same guts you’d find in SNK’s Multi arcade cabinets, making it the only possible way at the time to play legit arcade ports in your home without owning the cabinet. A true spectacle piece of hardware that was for absolutely nobody, it sold less than I million units. Side note, in Japan it was just a rental only thing for a bit but demand grew too high and they ended up selling units to consumers in the end.
Fast forward to 2026 and SNK and Plaion have announced a re-launch of the hardware full scale. Promised to be a faithful recreation, it doesn’t use emulation and isn’t FPGA but re-engineered ASIC chipset, maintaining the AV out but introducing HDMI and wireless sticks that use the same 15 pin connector so the stick can be used on legacy hardware as well. Alongside the system and joysticks are the memory card, a game pad, as well as brand new reproduction carts of some of the all time classic Neo Geo titles. Coming in at an absolutely WHOPPING 90 dollars, this is gonna be a hard sell on virtually anybody on the outside looking in, though a fanatic of the hardware might appreciate the ability to buy a game that’s going for thousands — but there’s plenty of discourse to be had.
The Neo Geo AES Plus is set to launch on November 12th primarily with two hardware options (though different bundles are available) including a base model that is a recreation of the classic black system with a wired joystick for $249.99 and an all white Anniversary Edition for $349.99 that includes a wireless joystick, memory card, and copy of Metal Slug, also in all white. It’s unfathomable to me that this exists and exists in the way it’s being released but I’m definitely going to be paying attention.
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