AES II info

AES-II Specs
Inputs:

- 1 Home cart Slot (For use with all NeoGeo Home Carts)
- 1 MVS cart Slot (For use with all NeoGeo MVS Carts)
- 1 Jamma Connector (Allows for all Jamma standard boards to be used)
- Jamma Cab ready (Allows for the AES-II to be installed into any Jamma ready Cab)
- 2 Main 15-Pin D-Sub connectors (These comply with the NeoGeo Controller Standard)
- 1 AUX 25-Pin D-Sub Connector (This is for Controller 3 and 4 for use with special Jamma games. The custom controller cable is provided with the AES-II)


Outputs:

- 2 Svideo Outs (Allows 1 or 2 televisions to be used at the same time)
- 1 8-Pin Din (Standard video out connector which includes RGB)
- 1 RCA Out (Allows direct connection for video and stereo sound)
- 1 Digital Stereo out (For those who demand the best in audio)
- 1 Standard Power connector (This allows different adapters for world power standards)
- 1 8-Pin Mini Din (Allows for single cable solutions - Includes RGB, Power and Stereo within one cable)
- 1 25-Pin D-Sub connector (For the Irritating Maze controller)
- 1 15-Pin D-Sub connector (This port can be used several ways to host those Jamma boards which require extra control or hookups)


User Options:

- 3 State Bios select switch (A hardware switch which allows you to select from one of the two installed bios chips or "On Screen" mode)
- 3 State Game select switch (A hardware switch which allows you to select the system startup - NeoGeo, Jamma or Auto)
- RGB Color level dials (3 dials are located on the front of the system which gives the user the option to color correct the image)
- 2 State RGB Assist Switch (A On/Off style switch which gives you the option to allow the AES-II's built in CPU to correct the video levels for you)


Inside the AES-II:

- 68040-40 CPU (This is the AES-II's dedicated CPU for running our custom system BIOS)
- AES-II Custom System Bios (This is the core of the system which does not run with any game, instead it runs in the background)
- Developers (Debug) Bios installed (Allows language and console type changes on screen)
- Irritating Maze Bios installed (Allows the IM to run on the AES-II)
- On Screen software bios select menu (If activated this will ask the user upon startup which bios they would like to use)
- Smart Power Management (The AES-II will monitor the voltage levels for the system and anything connected to it. If a problem is detected the system will cut power to that device before anything can happen)
- RGB Auto Assist (RGB has a standard which every game company who produces arcade hardware should follow. Not every company follows it exactly which is why arcade operators use dials on the monitors to fine tune new games. The AES-II monitors the RGB and Sync lines on all outputs and if activated will correct the video for better color and image quality)
- Sony CXA2075 (This is the chip we have selected to convert the RGB out to Svideo and Composite. The AES-II has two of these installed which run side by side one for Svideo and one for Composite. One chip can do both jobs however that setup did not give us the control we were after)


How the AES-II Works:

At Startup the AES-II will do the following:

- Supply power to the AES-II only - No power will be supplied to the 2 NeoGeo cart slots or the Jamma Board connector.
- Start the 040 CPU (The NeoGeo hardware at this moment is not on)
- Run the AES-II Custom bios
- A full system check is done
- User options are checked - Bios, RGB and Game options.
- Game Auto Detect is called if selected by the user.
- Power is applied the user selected systems.
- On Screen Bios selection is displayed if selected by the user.
- Game starts


Conditions A - User selects Jamma ONLY:

If a Jamma board is installed when power is applied the game will start and play - All built in controllers will work with it.

If a Jamma board is not installed when power is applied the AES-II will detect that no game is present and display a "No Game" message on screen.


Conditions B - User selects NeoGeo ONLY:

If one NeoGeo game is present the AES-II will start in Home Mode (Default) and play.

If two NeoGeo games (1 Home and 1 MVS) are present the AES-II will start the Home cart first with the option to switch to the MVS at any time. Both carts are powered and running at the same time.


Condition C - User selections Auto Detect:

If one game is in the AES-II (A MVS Cart, Home Cart or a Jamma Board), the system will auto detect that 2 are not in use and cut power to those systems. Then continue to run the one game that is present.

If two or all slots are full on the AES-II (A MVS Cart, Home cart and a Jamma Board), the system will detect that the system is full and will start the Home Cart first.


Multi Slot Conditions:

On MVS systems that have more than 1 slot you can switch games by pressing a button. This button will not work once a credit is detected by the bios or will it work in game.

Similar to the MVS systems you can press a "Game Select" button which will switch from Home Cart -> MVS Cart -> Jamma Board and back to the Home Cart.

Since our Bios is running in the background the Jamma board will act as a 3rd slot on the NeoGeo System. For the AES-II we have modified how this works.

The main difference is the fact that you can switch games at anytime - this is not possible on any MVS unit. If you switch games during a demo the game will run in real time as if you were watching it. If you switch in mid game the AES-II will activate a hardware freeze state which will stop the game even during moments where a normal pause wouldn't work - The system will then continue on to switch to the next game. This feature allows the user to play 3 different games at the same time.


The Reset Switch:

The reset switch on the AES-II is monitored and will only reset the game currently being played. Any games paused or running on another slot will continue to run.

To reset the entire system you must power down the AES-II.

End user pricing looks to be in the $399-$459/US range. This would depend on a production run of 250 units minimum.

!Arcade!

Sounds pretty sweet from here.

If this actually gets off the ground and goes into production, I may have to pick myself up one of these babies! <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

FANTASTIC! The price ain't bad either.
Now if SNK can only pump out about at least 5 new 'STRONG' titles this would be PERFECT.
The birth of AES2 will be GREAT but to have SNK license out their projects or hang in there abit longer...
PLEASE! Motivation needed!
-BB

Wow, many more features than I expected.Looks excellent>>>

I hope the AES-II makes it into production, as I would absolutely buy one, especially at the proposed pricing. With all those listed capabilities in one machine, it would be unbeatable. Only thing I don't understand is one that interest me quite a lot, and that is the "digital stereo output". I know it is not Dolby Digital, and I assume it has to be output in PCM stereo, but what type of connection, coaxial or optical? Also, is the finished product going to look "finished" or like the Frankenstein of gaming with all kinds of attachments and wire showing? Interesting none the less to see if this was another spec spouting pipedreams or serious blueprints for a 2nd coming of the Neo, time will tell...

What's the price for an AES II? I'm still skeptical since I love owning the original. Not sure what I wanna do.

Jesus H. Christ.

As a Computer Engineer myself, that is one HELL of a feat. I mean that is a major design spec to adhear to.

The autodetect and the power montioring alone are very hard to implament w/o a major bios or OS on the system.
I wanna see this thing in action, these are VERY lofty goals. I'm not saying it's impossible, and if !Arcade! can pull it off...he should apply to Motorola or Intel or someone because that is a MAJOR project for one engineer to setup and debug.
I would have no need for such a system (I'm building my own supergun, no where near as complex), but I'm tempted to buy one of these things just to see how it's done. I mean this is really a hell of a job.

Go for it Arcade.

Peace

JHendrix

wow, that sounds kick ass.

i probably wont buy one (it would be redundant..i have an aes and mvs) but im positive my friend will. hell, if i had the cash, i would buy one too <IMG SRC="smilies/drool.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/glee.gif" border="0">

OK. If this system can do all of that, sign me up. I'll gladly pay $450 for one. I really wish other retailers such as NCS and video game depot would support them so even more units would sell, and this would keep costs down.

Matt

Those specs sound completely INSANE!! A system with all those features would easily be worth their target price, and would easily sell IF it was dependable and met expectations!! The one thing I wonder about is the tightness of the slots, the adapter is extremely tight and makes inserting/removing MVS carts difficult at best. I wonder if the new home cart system would have the same exact kind of slots? Would be nice if they were looser than the adapter slots . . .

Other than that, the specs sound incredible. The price is no problem at all, If it were a quality reliable product I'd buy one in a heartbeat.

Originally posted by chimpmeister:
<STRONG>Those specs sound completely INSANE!! A system with all those features would easily be worth their target price, and would easily sell IF it was dependable and met expectations!! The one thing I wonder about is the tightness of the slots, the adapter is extremely tight and makes inserting/removing MVS carts difficult at best. I wonder if the new home cart system would have the same exact kind of slots? Would be nice if they were looser than the adapter slots . . .

Other than that, the specs sound incredible. The price is no problem at all, If it were a quality reliable product I'd buy one in a heartbeat.</STRONG>

Click to expand...

The specs do sound insane, a little to insane.

It will be interesting to see if they can pull it off with everything they mentioned, since I don't even know if massystems could pull something like that off.

WOW,
I'd buy one, that sounds great.

Is there memory card support fpr the neo...?

Does that include a controller?

<IMG SRC="smilies/loco.gif" border="0"> too good to be treu, now the layout! <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

Cho

Btw, can any1 post the picture here? I haven't seen it yet...

Cho

Hell yes I'm getting one. That's amazing.

What.. No racing stripes? <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

Seriosly though, I'm sure that if it is completed with those specs -it'll sell several hundred units, no prob. I could see people buying it just for the JAMMA/MVS capacity.

It sounds like the have-all/end-all system for the future of Neo Geo.

Still... I can now understand, with those specs, why its taking !Arcade! so long to create it. I can picture their engineers dressed like mad scientists in a lab trying to make it all work right and fit into that package above <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

My opinions towards the AES II weren't too positive in my last posts, and basically I'm still convinced that I for myself don't really *need* an AES II, but I have to admit that the specs sound fantastic, and the price is good, too.

Must be a real pain for some owners of Novas and dedicated cabs to read these specs... <IMG SRC="smilies/smirk.gif" border="0">

If it'll be completed sign me up for some units so i can distribute them in north europe.

Originally posted by Mike:
<STRONG>The system will then continue on to switch to the next game. This feature allows the user to play 3 different games at the same time.</STRONG>

Click to expand...

What kind of Bobby Fischer Video Game Savant needs this feature <IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0">. None the less, it beats the living hell out of a pause feature!
"Hey, Blaine. Let's play Bubble Bobble *in the middle of me playing MotW*"
"Sure! *switch to Bubble Bobble*"

And then after that I can switch back to my game of MotW already in progress. That is smooth.

Given the new price, JAMMA+ Capabilites (or so I assume with the 4 player options)...it looks to be a SuperGun with a MVS board and a bad attitude. Sounds like a plan to me. Put me down for one...I've been in the market for a SuperGun.

My only questions is, is it a given that it will use AES controllers? I never saw mention of what kind of controllers there are...I'd like a Sigma style controller if possible.

All in all it does look better.

Although I was critical of this practice of 're-offering it' to 're-gauge market response' (and still am, frankly) I'm glad to see there truely WAS unmentioned functionality to the AESII (Namely the 3 simultaneous games, autodetect and the JAMMA+) and it seems to be more than just an 'ego-building' for !Arcade!.

*looks at pic*

OH RIGHT! Those are the controlers. What type of pin-out does it use for the joystick ports?

As I said before I'd like to have a heavy duty Arcade-stick (although, those small ones WOULD be very handy for traveling to cons <IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0">).

Blaine, the Neo uses a DB15 connnector for it's joysticks. It is very easy (even I was able to do it) to set it up so that your controller ports will also be able to use the neo controllers.
Plus, because he has a different input for the controllers of the JAMMA game, he doesn't have to worry about the common wire for the Neo controller. He can use the Neo standard +5V (so you can use any Neo controller), And he can set it up so that the JAMMA game only uses Ground as it's common. Very smart man.

Peace

JHendrix

Hell yeah it kicks ass. Glad to see and hear some definitive specs even if its still in design stage. yo !Arcade!, once you get it produced and ready for preorder, pls include my email evasyar@yahoo.com and indicate the price and payment options and I'll preorder/buy one or two of them puppies. Sign me up !Arcade! and great job... <IMG SRC="smilies/drool.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/drool2.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/tickled.gif" border="0">

Originally posted by Drift King EX:
<STRONG>The specs do sound insane, a little to insane.

It will be interesting to see if they can pull it off with everything they mentioned, since I don't even know if massystems could pull something like that off.</STRONG>

Click to expand...

MAS Systems doesn't even have the ability clean cart conversions. Their technical work is sloppy as hell. Don't get me wrong, I love thier joysticks to death, but comparing MAS to arcade is like comparing NGF to SNK.

Matt