Speaking with SNK representative report

Well, here is a little 'extra' from my Game Show experience, as I've already reported I've got my chance to chat a bit with two SNK representatives.

They were both young guys, one mainly a salesman, the and the younger being some kind of developer I think.

I basically talked with the salesmen, who was clearly the 'highest in rank' and thus the one allowed to public chat?
Actually, I've been stalking him as a total nerd as he was to attend some businness meeting!

He was very proud of Slug5, the newest release. And of course very proud of the new Samurai. He seemed to be very interested in the western image of the Neo, which frankly impressed me quite more of a bit! I mean, you know I'm a total freak of the Japanese NeoGeo, so I was continuoisly referring to games with their original Japanese titles, and such. On the contrary, he was very proud of the US and western released, and was correcting me with lines such as 'No, it's not Samurai Zero, it's Samurai 5 in the western maket!'. Al in all, guess I seemed more JPN-oriented than him... very funny.

What was clear anyway, is they hwere NOTHING interested in the Neo Homecart maket. On the other hand, they emphasized on the next-gen console ports market, and were speaking about the upcoming US PS2 release of KOF2001.

Also, they remarked the best way to support their businness is go and play their games in the arcade. Too bad no arcade in Italy support SNK new releases anymore.

Well, in the end it was evident the Neo marked is a niche. Is a niche more than ever, and it's just our passion, from both they as produces and we as buyers, wyhihc keeps the Neo alive. Especially the homecart market, is evidently just a fanbase stuff.

SNK is back, and it's back for us. We have to keep it alive for our passion with our passion itself.

While talking with the SNK guys, I strongly felt like a real supported of my beloved system. From this point of view, I strongly respect Shawn and his business, more than ever now.

There's no other wat to support NSK but to by their products, in any form, and keep their businness alive. In a narrow niche like this, even each single copy sold may be considered relevant.

I hope any real NeoGeo fan like me may eventually feel a bit touched by this actual situation of the market, as I hope the NeoGeo and SNK will be able to produce many other games in the upcoming years.

The possibily rely just on us.

Just wondering, was there any mention of the SvC cart from SNKP themselves at the show?

Shito, I think you made a very good point about going to the arcades and playing their games to support their efforts.

There is a Time Out near me, which I think I will go to today and put $ 5.00 in quarters through each of their SNK machines. (SVCC and Matrimelee)

I would suggest to each dedicated Neo fan out there to find a SNK machine nearby and plug a few quarters down to support the cause.

Sadly, I believe that soon, ports are all we will have to play with, as SNK can clearly see that selling 20K PS2 copies of KOF2k1 is better then selling 500 homecarts of SVCC. It just makes financial sense.

Long live the Neo!

I had backed out of Svcc, but will definitely pre-order MS5 and SSzero based on your reports. Hopefully I can scrounge up enough cash soon

Thanks for your awesome reporting Shito-san.

Droid

Shito,

I admire your diligence in finding out all this great news, I really appreciate your effort. Your almost heartfelt report was still good news, and definately hit home. All your 3 reviews and this last thread were a joy to read indeed.


And your english is fine. I can't speak an ounce of Italian, Japanese, or Swahili for that matter...

Thanks for all the kind words, guys!

And, just forgot, I *obviously* asked the SNK guys about KOF2003, and they confirmed it coming for the very end of this year! :-)

Shito, thanks for taking your time to write up such great reviews.

You are a real and an ardent SNK enthusiast. Your passion and love of this great game, Neo Geo, is very admirable.

You are right! In order to support SNKP, we need to support her products. Thanks again for your enlightenment.

Not interested in the home market???

I'm sorry guys, but this pisses me off. They're not interested in the home market at all, huh? $335.00 is 1340 quarters. You have to be a truly obsessed fan to spend that kind of money on one game in an arcade. For a company that relies on die-hard fans so much, SNKP is CLUELESS about it's fanbase.

Matsukaze

Re: Not interested in the home market???

matsukaze said:

I'm sorry guys, but this pisses me off. They're not interested in the home market at all, huh? $335.00 is 1340 quarters. You have to be a truly obsessed fan to spend that kind of money on one game in an arcade. For a company that relies on die-hard fans so much, SNKP is CLUELESS about it's fanbase.

Matsukaze

Click to expand...

I don't think so.

Simply, I believe sales number for the homecart market are anyway too low to funds new games productions.

SNK has ALWAYS been more an arcade game producer than a home game maker, NeoGeo on top.

I'm not saying the home cart productions are loss business for SNKP, but I guess it's NOT that businness which makes their company alive.

NeoGeo home cart is a niche in the niche today!

So, we have to respect the passion SNKP puts it its own production to still bring them out, in the arcade first and in home format later. The second step is indeed a businness all devoted to no one else than ourselves, the NeoGeo fanbase.

G.

Re: Not interested in the home market???

matsukaze said:

I'm sorry guys, but this pisses me off. They're not interested in the home market at all, huh? $335.00 is 1340 quarters. You have to be a truly obsessed fan to spend that kind of money on one game in an arcade. For a company that relies on die-hard fans so much, SNKP is CLUELESS about it's fanbase.

Matsukaze

Click to expand...

i'm ok with paying 335 for a cart

because here i have NO arcades(


what pisses me off is when AFTER i paid 335


they simply delay the game

i ll support them only if they don't joke around with SS0 or else i ll be buying only old ng carts

Re: Re: Not interested in the home market???

Ilovejapangirls said:

i'm ok with paying 335 for a cart

because here i have NO arcades(


what pisses me off is when AFTER i paid 335


they simply delay the game

i ll support them only if they don't joke around with SS0 or else i ll be buying only old ng carts

Click to expand...

This sounds quite a bit childish, Fede.

I mean, SNKP is a company. They do not play with releases. If they had to delay SVC, they surely had their reasons.

Is it that difficult to accept?

Yes, we can't know those reasons. Nor we are able to guess it.

Simply, we have to say in our place, the fan&buyer place, and wish all the best for the makers of the game we love.

There is no need for us to peep inside their own problems. And moreover, standing on a total selfish and egocentric stand points as 'what they did piss me off period' is nothing like positive.

I know it s only a month and all


but we get a game that was supposed to be "new"

4 months after it s release


i don't feel like discovering a new game that way

since japanese players know already good combos(i saw them from vids)

and strategies

the coolness of having a neo is the possibility to be part of the start of a game(sorry for my bad english)

and i feel left out this time


i don't know if i explained well my point




but anyway good work with the salesman shito^__^


i'll get some carts off you when my money ll start to grow up again(got a big problem as of now and i hope i ll solve everything)

Ilovejapangirls said:

I know it s only a month and all


but we get a game that was supposed to be "new"

4 months after it s release


i don't feel like discovering a new game that way

since japanese players know already good combos(i saw them from vids)

and strategies

the coolness of having a neo is the possibility to be part of the start of a game(sorry for my bad english)

and i feel left out this time


i don't know if i explained well my point

Click to expand...

Yes, I think you made your point pretty clear and I get it, yet I think this is not the original NeoGeo prospective.

The NeoGeo it's not about 'playing a game FIRST'.

It's about 'playing an arcade game at home'. The ACTUAL arcade game at home, not an inferior port.

I think this is the very NeoGeo essence.

You say SVC was someway 'spolied' in its 'new release' appeal by having been delayed, thus you saw all those vids and such?

Well, on the total contrary, I think what really spoils my NeoGeo experience is I can't find anymore any decent arcade to play the Neo new release in arcade FIRST.

NeoGeo to me has always been like 'you see it in the arcade, you play it in the arcade, you love it in the arcade. You DREAM to have it at home and then BANG, the AES is now out and the dream comes true!'

The NeoGeo feel is and arcade feel to the end. NeoGeo brings that arcade unique feel at home, just like some kind Arabic Phoenix for our generation of gamers.

Too bad nowadays we have to experience Neo new releases just as any other 'home system' new releases...

First of all, Shito, thanks for the information.

Quote from Shito:

"There is no need for us to peep inside their own problems. And moreover, standing on a total selfish and egocentric stand points as 'what they did piss me off period' is nothing like positive."

As much money and time as I spend on the Neo*Geo, I have a vested interest in SNKP's problems (and mistakes). You expect me not to care that the representatives were totally uninterested in the home market? You expect me not to care if they stop making home cartridges? I'm not being totally selfish or egocentric by stating my opinion. SNKP should not disrespect it's *UNBELIEVABLY* loyal home user fanbase.

You say the Neo is a niche market. That is exactly my point. We spend THOUSANDS of dollars on Neo*Geo products. One home system user or home MVS user spends the same kind of money as a DOZEN truly hardcore arcade-only players. We spend as much money as dozens, or even HUNDREDS of casual players. Not only that, most people who own a Neo*Geo STILL go to the arcades and spend EVEN MORE money! I'll be spending tons of money on SS0 in the arcade, and you'd better believe that I'm going to buy the homecart.

Does SNKP get most of its revenue from arcades? Probably most of the time. I would guess that that is not always the case, however. How often do you see a Neo in a US arcade these days? If you say, "all the time," I envy you (oh... you're in Italy). Furthermore, most home users are the kind of people who get lots of other people interested in the Neo*Geo. We were instrumental in keeping the company going during all the years they were struggling. In any case, they're not manufacturing home carts just for the sake of the fans. Corporations don't work that way (unfortunately). They make homecarts so they can make money. I just think some SNKP employees don't realize how important the home users have been to their company.

If I didn't love the Neo*Geo, I wouldn't spend this much time and money on it. I just think it's ridiculous to disrespect people who have done so much to support SNK and SNKP.

Matsukaze

First of all, let me say I respect your point and I think this is an interesting discussion.

Well, as for me I think the HomeCart market is not a place of great profit for SNK. Maybe it used to be bach in 1991-93, but since the CD based console came out it surely narrowed more and more till becoming the niche is today.

Homecart are expencive, sure, but still I think any production run of a NeoGeo homecart release still is not a big resource in term of profit for SNK.

The NeoGeo system has always been more arcade oritned than home oriented: almost ALL games were and still are developed for the arcade market, and THAN *eventually* launched in the 'consumer market' as well.

Thus I say the homecart market itself is most probably mantained by SNK as a sort of 'reward' for their loyal fans.

In this term, I think SNK has maximum respect for us, and always proved to be very devoted to its die-hard fan base.

On the other hand, businness is bussinnes and a companty can't live just out of passion, thus I find logical a 'salesman' may be not very interested in a low-profit market.

Not that he dis-respceted the homecart fanbase in any ways, thought. Please also do not over-interpret my words!

Re: Not interested in the home market???

matsukaze said:

I'm sorry guys, but this pisses me off. They're not interested in the home market at all, huh? $335.00 is 1340 quarters. You have to be a truly obsessed fan to spend that kind of money on one game in an arcade. For a company that relies on die-hard fans so much, SNKP is CLUELESS about it's fanbase.

Click to expand...

Quick quiz.
Pick your favorite video games of all time, and try to fathom just how much money you have spent on them. For me, I know I've spend more than that on Bubble Bobble when I was a kid. And SF2? At 50 cents a pop, $335 was nothing compared to the amount of money other people put into that machine for 2-3 years. Think of it this way... $10 of game tokens for 33 days. Sounds like a typical summer, or even just a regular "once a weekend" habit.

They're not clueless... they just need to have a focus on an audience that isn't so "hardcore". Most people aren't going to forecast into the future how many times they have played a game to figure out how much they have spent on it in a few months or a year. But SNKP needs to somehow grab hold of a steady home market to really get the notice these days... arcades are just part of the equation.

Re: Re: Not interested in the home market???

Originally posted by VinylBoy At 50 cents a pop, $335 was nothing compared to the amount of money other people put into that machine for 2-3 years. Think of it this way... $10 of game tokens for 33 days. Sounds like a typical summer, or even just a regular "once a weekend" habit.

Click to expand...

On top of that, there's a little bonus with buying the homecart and abstaining from playing this favorite game in the arcade...

the home cart has resale value. Blowing $335 on a homecart, you will get more play than at the arcade, plus this 'tangable' homecart has resale value to it.

spending $335 at the arcade gets you the same good time but you have no tangable material to resell later, if you desire.

That's why buying homecarts are > playing in the arcade. Its like buying equity versus renting.

Anyway, I think we could all agree that the good ole' release order

MVS -> homecart -> other systems

is dying away slowly but very surely, even more as SNKP is heading towards Atomiswave.

Re: Re: Not interested in the home market???

You don't get it. Your interview makes the sales people seem to express that they won't support the homecart scene much longer, and are trying to shift completely to the POS2 (not just biased talking. I recently bought one, and it's about to die).

As a huge homecart buyer, you most certainly cannot be looking forward to the day that the sales people get their way, and drive a stake through the heart of the home cart system.

Shito said:

I don't think so.

Simply, I believe sales number for the homecart market are anyway too low to funds new games productions.

SNK has ALWAYS been more an arcade game producer than a home game maker, NeoGeo on top.

I'm not saying the home cart productions are loss business for SNKP, but I guess it's NOT that businness which makes their company alive.

NeoGeo home cart is a niche in the niche today!

So, we have to respect the passion SNKP puts it its own production to still bring them out, in the arcade first and in home format later. The second step is indeed a businness all devoted to no one else than ourselves, the NeoGeo fanbase.

G.

Click to expand...

Re: Re: Not interested in the home market???

There was an arcade in the mall up until 3 years ago, and I swear to god that I spent money on the SSII cab every visit I made to that mall.

Even if the sticks were in shit condition, I played.

I can't say the same for any other games but the neo geo ones. There only a few games for other systems that are old and would still get play into their old age. Capcom's last game like that was SSF2T. Not alpha 3 or third strike, even though I really dig them. If you use Sunnyvale Golfland as an example, you'd know what I mean. SSF2X still gets plenty of play there.

I wish arcades weren't getting shut down in order to free up space for nail salons. Why not rub more sulphur on the wounds and replace them with EBs.

VinylBoy said:

Quick quiz.
Pick your favorite video games of all time, and try to fathom just how much money you have spent on them. For me, I know I've spend more than that on Bubble Bobble when I was a kid. And SF2? At 50 cents a pop, $335 was nothing compared to the amount of money other people put into that machine for 2-3 years. Think of it this way... $10 of game tokens for 33 days. Sounds like a typical summer, or even just a regular "once a weekend" habit.

They're not clueless... they just need to have a focus on an audience that isn't so "hardcore". Most people aren't going to forecast into the future how many times they have played a game to figure out how much they have spent on it in a few months or a year. But SNKP needs to somehow grab hold of a steady home market to really get the notice these days... arcades are just part of the equation.

Click to expand...

Shito, you're THE MAN!

Luckily, Im a constant Arcader (Here in Mexico there are Arcades almost every corner around ), cuz for me, HONESTLY there's no better way to enjoy NEO-GEO games than Arcading em'

EVERYONE PLEASE CONTRIBUTE AS POSSIBLE!!!

Yeah, I've heard Mexico is almost an arcade oasi as for the western world/market, and you surely deserve Angel!

PS
Do Angel-like girls really exist in Mexiko?

ITTADAKIMANMONSUUU! <- Mayumi Shintati seriously RULEZ, guyz!

Re: Re: Re: Not interested in the home market???

EvilWasabi said:

(not just biased talking. I recently bought one, and it's about to die).

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