Hyper 64 Offer Explained

Hi Guys

Seems to be a little confusion, so I will explain the offer as it stands at this point - and the background...

We bought all of the hyper 64 inventory that remained at Osaka (SNK) in late dec/ early jan. This comprised of about 4000 units of software and hardware - plus an additional 1000 units of hardware in the USA. The original plan was to release a new game for the system pretty soon after we got them, but due to the cost of the ROMs and the architecture that SNK used on the boards, it is unlikely that I will get to this in the next couple of months.

There were to be 400-500 combination packs sold - this is now changed - there will be 1300 combination packs sold - the remaining hardware will be scrapped and some will be retained for spares to support existing customers and repairs for other people.

The ONLY boards that will be sold will be the JAMMA versions - or version 2 boards as some people have referred to them as. These boards have the facility for mono or stereo sound via switches on the interface board. They do not require any additional audio or power connectors.

The boards are standard boards, but the carts are japanese - come with art - some in english, some in Japanese - manuals are in japanese - the games are able to select english language via the test menu - so no problems there.

I think that this is pretty much it - ah shipping - it is supposed to be a 2-3 day service for around $50, but it would appear that the service at the USA end is not as advertised (gotta love USPS) we ship with the tarrif code for customs which means that you don't get stung for any extra taxes or import duties - again so there shouldn't be a problem there.

Hope that clears a few things up - been away for a week so haven't been able to interject on the other topics.

Also FYI - SNK called last week to ask us to assist them with game development and dev tools for MVS - gotta laugh - how the world turns around in the space of a year!!!!

jeff.ferrier@vektorlogic.com

Could you please go through the pricing on the bundles again? Thanks!

------------------
Gaming bliss does not require a third dimension.
Neo-Geo * Saturn * Dreamcast

I'm just glad that SNK is interested in game development on the MVS again! It gives credence to reports in the news forums that they are back in business after using bankruptcy to get some breathing room.

Pricing is as follows:

Full set - is one new motherboard and 3 new carts from a choice of 4

Buriki One
Sam Sho 64
Warrior's Rage
Fatal Fury Wild Ambition

You can choose any 3 out of the 4 - if you want the additional cart, then it is nominally an extra $95

Shipping charges are about $55 and a max of $80 (80 is for Asian shipments)

Hope that this helps

Jeff

Jeff, you forgot the package price, but I believe it was $350, right?

Sorry

Package price is $295 for the board and 3 carts plus shipping (which is $55 to the USA)

Jeff

What do you mean about scrapping remaining hardware? I have this recurring nightmare of a dumpster full of HNG 64 motherboards somewhere in jolly old England. Flashbacks to the evil scene in Back To The Future 2 with the alley with discarded laserdiscs bundled in plastic wrap for the trashman to pick up.

Change 1 to that - we may be bundling a load of motherboards that are non-JAMMA ready with a single cart for a close out price later in the year - watch this space - but it will be a while yet - maybe Christmas

Jeff, you are not at critical levels for the JAMMA ready version, are you? I am saving cash at this point for the $350 shipped to the US offer you have and don't want to miss out.

Far from it as yet - we still have high inventory levels of both types

Just FYI - there will be a special one off sale of the non-JAMMA boards and a single cart, later in the year - just to get people interested in the system

JF

Hello Jeff mate, could you e mail us your latest mvs list to:

MGKhan@aol.com

Thanks mate

Jeff

I am a programmer by trade and I was wondering if you have the dev tools for the MVS as well as the 64 in english?


Regards,

Hi Trunks

Yes is the answer to your question - I am finishing off the PCBs for development at this time and working on SMD technologies for the new range of MVS carts - also the new plastic cases will be completed by the CAD team next week

Hope the first game will be released on 1 Aug 01 :-)

Drop me a line and give me some extra info and I will reply directly or speak to you via voice - I am looking to sign up some 3rd party development projects in the next month or two and we can go from there.

May have some good progress on the 3D system we are working on - will outspec naomi 2 as it stands currently :-)

Rgds

jeff.ferrier@vektorlogic.com

Hello Jeff. I am saving up to buy the complete package myself(system plus four games for $390)I would like to know one thing.
is the board which you are holding off on selling better than the one you are selling now?
also, what are these plastic cases you speek of? I am inticed.
I was wondering if you guys could make some MVS cart SHELLS. I have always thought it would be A good idea to have clear colored shells made to replace the original cases and they could be done in the colors of the genre stripping that home carts have(like clear red for fighters) just A thought.

Hi there

The Hyper boards that we are holding off selling for now are the non-JAMMA versions and are not as good/ easy to use, as the JAMMA versions - extra wires etc etc

The MVS cases are the plastic shell cases that replace the black cases that SNK ship their games in. We have new cases that will be supplied in different colors and there will also be a special range of gold cases for special release Neo Geo MVS games - ie games that have extra features in them that are not available in any of the normal releases. We may make a limited number of each Gold game that may be auctioned off for charity or something similar - we'll have to see.

Thanks

Jeff F

That sounds cool, Jeff. You guys really seem to be having fun with this whole thing. I've almost sold enough of my own goodies to get that Hyper Board package! I'm trying to "make" the money instead of just using "my" cash.

I look forward to being able to replace the boring cart cases with something more colorful! My favorite is the clear green. That's what my MS_X is. Don't know if yours will be clear colors or not, but just the idea of different cart colors sounds fun.

[ May 18, 2001: Message edited by: RyoGeo ]

There will be a full range of colours including some translucent versions - not sure about full transparency as it bumps up the cost - plus the cases have a textured finish to them (like a PC case) as opposed to the full smooth finish.

The game labels are no longer on the edge of the case with our new cases, they are mounted on the top, as in the Hyper 64 setup, so you can get a nice colour rectangular label as opposed to that video cassette style label as used by SNK.

Coming soon...........

Sounds great Jeff! Looking forward to them.

Jeff , have you thought that when people have these cases of your , they will not be able to see the titles at all when they are stacked up. I think you should seriously think about doing them so some of the label will be on the top edge and visible when stacked/sorted.

Bri

It really only becomes an issue in a 4 or 6 Slot and that's as they are mounted vertically.

I needed to make the case substantially different from the SNK version for obvious reasons and it looks much better that way (at least from an eye pleasing view - especailly with the cool colours)

It's not going to be too much of a pain to do it this way, and let's be honest, how often do operators change the games anyway......

The new games will all be compatible with the older memory banking, so we will run games up to 2 or 3 GBit from a standard Neo MVS system - ahhh the joys of programmable logic....

Hopefully it will be announced that the first game will be ready by 1 Aug 01 - a progress feature will be added to the website as the pics come back from the CAD guys, and I get my self sorted out on the board fabs.

Keep watching :-)

Jeff F

The new cases sound great, but will u b supplying labels with them?

Hey, Jeff. How 'bout a teaser in terms of the MVS games you are developing? Maybe just a genre? Were I to guess, I would think that you were making some puzzle games.

They always tend to do well in bars and what not. They do not usually pose a threat to casual gamers and stuff like Bust A Move still pulls a reasonable amount of play.

So, can you spill a bit? What style games are you working on. <IMG SRC="smilies/spock.gif" border="0">

OK

The first game should be ready for preview and test on 1 Aug 01 - yes it will be a puzzle style game - imagine something like the Bubble series and you won't be too far from the style.

Next one will be a little similar to a Namco - character maze puzzle game - but it will be greater than 15% different - keeps the lawyers happy - but it WILL be different - some people out there already know what we will be working on for that.

Then comes another puzzle game from Europe and hopefully some fighting games from Korea - licenses pending on that though - want to get 4-6 titles per year and at a sensible price - AES carts will follow 6-12 months after MVS release

new carts will have labels from Vektorlogic - we will not be planning to copy any SNK artwork to produce labels for older SNK games - unless SNK authorize this - but there are talks in hand with SNK about several joint projects - but then again - these talks have been going on for 18 months now ............

Jeff F

Goddam?!? That sounds really great! Thanks for the info. Sounds like a Neo owners dream. Cool.

This sounds inexplicably cool!
What will it be like to see new Neo games being released?! Can't wait to find out.

[ May 23, 2001: Message edited by: kyoisthekof ]