Neo CD vs' AES - A Financial Comparison

I have been playing Neo Geo for over 10 years now. I owned a new Neo Home System in 1992, and have bought and sold numerous home systems since then. I even bought a Neo CD system in 1996. After my last Neo purchase (a used home system in 1997) I sold every Neo item I have ever owned. I left gaming completely until last month. I performed a search on Neo Geo using Yahoo, and found Neo-Geo.com. Once I took a look, I was hooked again, and wanted to buy a Neo as fast as my little fingers could find one on Ebay.

Having used a Neo Home System in the past, as well as a CD system, I preferred the CD system due to cost reasons. Loading times are not a big deal, if you are saving big bucks. I went ahead and purchased a Neo CD from "Bivari" on Ebay (very good seller), and some games. I have added to my game collection since then, and have quickly built up a pretty good group.

Recently, I have been reading much on the forum about the loading times of the CD system, the reliability of the CD system, and the like. Of course I know that there are no new games for the CD system, and that definitely is a drawback. With this information, and using the CD system again, there are definitely pro's and con's associated with the system, when compared to the Home System.

I decided that it would be enlightening to do a financial comparison of my Neo CD system and game collection as it stands today, compared to a Home System with all of the same games, just to see how much money I have saved thus far, all at the price of "loading time".

For the AES games rates, I used the pricing guides published by Neo-Geo.com to calculate the prices for AES cartridges, using the lower price listed. If I was aware of any prices I have seen recently on Ebay for any of the titles, I used those instead. For the CD rates, I used what I actually paid for the games.

The following is a breakdown of what I found:

CD System AES System
$ 100.00 $ 195.00

Game Name CD Price AES Price
Aero Fighters 2 $ 24.00 $ 100.00
Samurai Shodown 3 $ 31.00 $ 80.00
Samurai Shodown $ 18.00 $ 35.00
Supersidekicks 2 $ 5.00 $ 40.00
King of Monsters 2 $ 10.00 $ 45.00
KOF 95 $ 8.00 $ 110.00
Baseball Stars 2 $ 10.00 $ 70.00
Samurai Shodown RPG $ 10.00 $ N/A
Windjammers $ 10.00 $ 140.00
Fatal Fury 3 $ 8.00 $ 100.00
KOF 94 $ 5.00 $ 95.00
Samurai Shodown 4 $ 28.00 $ 300.00
Real Bout 2 $ 26.00 $ 375.00
World Heroes Perf $ 24.00 $ 300.00
Samurai Shodown 2 $ 18.00 $ 60.00
Real Bout Fatal F $ 12.00 $ 270.00
World Heroes 2 Jet $ 10.00 $ 40.00
Art of Fighting 2 $ 10.00 $ 50.00
Sonic Wings 3 $ 24.00 $ 140.00
Last Blade $ 30.00 $ 200.00
Supersidekicks 3 $ 12.00 $ 65.00

Totals: $ 445.00 $ 2810.00

Total savings: $ 2430.00

I am a Father of 3 young sons, and have been married for 8 years. We just purchased a new home, and as you can imagine, have many expenses. I am personally glad that there is a cost efficient method to enjoy Neo games. Until I worked out the math, I didn't know how much money I had actually saved. It is amazing.

I remember the careless days of my youth, buying games costing more than $ 200.00 a piece. At one time I owned over 16 titles for the Neo Home System that I purchased new, along with a new system. I shudder to think of how much money I spent doing so, but with today's economy, as well as the responsibilities I have in life, the Neo CD is a great option.

I hear alot of negatives about the Neo CD system, however I believe that anyone who is interested in the Neo for the first time, or perhaps remembers the neo and wants to get back in, the Neo CD is the cost effective method to do so. There is no need to bash the system. Sure, it has loading times, but for an old fart like me, (29 years old) I need the breather between rounds of Samurai Shodown 4.

To all who are considering a Neo CD, buy one, and your checkbook will thank you.

Personally, I have said enough.... and now I need to go feed the baby.

Long live the Neo.... in all it's forms. buttrock buttrock buttrock buttrock

i am thinking about getting a AES from Bivari... a little off topic but what kind of shipping time is it? seems like he did have a few bad feedbacks which is why i hesitate in ordering ..thanks

It took him about a week to ship my system, but that was because he was out of the country on business.

I can understand his negative feedback, because while he was out, I kept emailing him for a ship date as well as a tracking number. He must have had a helper answering email while he was gone, because I was getting these lousy 2 word email responses. "Sorry, yet" was one of them.

Once he shipped the system, it arrived in 5 days, packaged very nicely, and exactly as advertised.

I bought from him again since then, and there were no delays.

He is a great seller.

leepantalone:
The following is a breakdown of what I found:

Game Name CD Price AES Price
Samurai Shodown 3 $ 31.00 $ 60.00
KOF 95 $ 8.00 $ 65.00
Windjammers $ 10.00 $ 80.00
Fatal Fury 3 $ 8.00 $ 50.00
KOF 94 $ 5.00 $ 45.00
Samurai Shodown 4 $ 28.00 $ 200.00
Real Bout 2 $ 26.00 $ 150.00
World Heroes Perf $ 24.00 $ 200.00
Real Bout Fatal F $ 12.00 $ 110.00
Sonic Wings 3 $ 24.00 $ 100.00
Last Blade $ 30.00 $ 150.00

Total savings: $ 1530.00

Click to expand...

have altered the following games to bring them more to line with modern day prices, dont get me wrong the price guide is good and i respect the effort that Simone puts into it but some games are way off target

i have used Bivari as well and i find him very reliable

the cd machine is okay - but the last fighting games released loading times are un-bearable

especially real bout 2 + last blade 2

its good to see you are back home with the neo and enjoy what you have buttrock

buster_broon

the cd machine is okay - but the last fighting games released loading times are un-bearable

especially real bout 2 + last blade 2
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Click to expand...

Well, it all depends on your point of view. Last Blade has heavy loading times, thats for sure. But the ones form RB FF 2 are ok in my opinion.

Finally, if you compare the NGCD loading times with the ones of the NG Conversions for Mega-CD, PSX or Saturn (without Mem-Expander), the NGCD IS faster. Ever saw KoF99 on PSX loading? Whuaaa...what a horror (ok, the hole game for PSX is a horror ^^).

Anyway, the NGCD is my favourite system...and the favourite system of my checkbook. wink

<img src="http://www.we-are-dark.de/Images/banger.gif" alt=" - " />My warriors scream for me...NEO GEO VICTORY <img src="http://www.we-are-dark.de/Images/banger.gif" alt=" - " />

Agreed, i recently bought Fatal Fury 3 and King Of Fighters '95 both complete on Neo CD, for a total of £13.50 shipped (roughly $20). For that kind of money you can't go wrong, when the home carts would tally up over £100 easily. Also, i play my original Neo Cd games through an emulator which helps cut load times (flame away, i'm still buying the original games, so i don't care). So i kind of win both ways. Also, the CD games have brillaint music, SNK's musicians were a really talented bunch , and shall be missed.

I had a CD-Z before and i could not stand the loading times (even if the CD-Z is a bit faster). But i guess it´s ok with older games, the loading times on thoose are not bad at all. I could also say that most games run better on NGCD then converted to PSX for example. Even if some of the games have better loading times on PSX, most have been cut extensivly in both audio and visuals. KOF 99 for example both looks like shit and sounds like shit on the PSX.

I myself prefer my AES-system. But if you can´t finance it i would go for MVS which is also pretty cheap. New titles, no loading times, the only bad thing about it is the loss of the nice looking boxes which collectors like me love. The CD-system is not a bad choice either thought, i had a blast with my system and i still recommend it to people who can´t raise funds for AES or MVS.

i got my first AES in 1994 and kept it for about 2 years, i had got 12 carts for it as well inc sam2 and kof94, but because of the price of the carts i swapped it all for a neo cd with 4 games (bad move)..i remember the load times on kof95 and sam 2 it was so slow, and that bloody stupid juggling monkey,it put me right off playing on it,then i swapped it for a n64 (2nd bad move),I got back into neo geo a few years ago again after using neoragex on my pc and this prompted me to get another neo geo AES which now sits in its place under my tele.The only problem is the price of carts but you can get some decent bargains off ebay, spesh from the japanese shops.

I know from personal experience that these games can be had for even less in home cartridge format. You just have to wait until the right price comes along...

Samurai Shodown 3 $ 35.00 (loose home cart)
KOF 95 $ 35.00 (loose home cart)
Fatal Fury 3 $ 35.00 (loose home cart)
World Heroes Perf $ 175.00 (complete)
Last Blade $ 140.00 (complete)

Yep, the aes to cd prices you quote are slighty high in comparison to the real market. Busters are more in line. But I understand your point.Im in a simaler position now with sense dictating my spending ,after so many years of reckless abandon.

As you had been out of the neo geo since 1997, you have years of neo games to catch up with!

But with the cd format u chose, that really limits your choice to 7-8 1997-99 titles which although great, are very very overpriced on the cd format.

Since 1999 the neo has seen tremendous releases on mvs and aes.Stuff that will never be released on cd.In fact some great games from that period never made it to cd, eg mark of the wolves and shocktroopers, blazing star to name a few.

In addition and somewhat ironically Games like metal slug 1, 2 and last blade 1 and 2 are actually more expensive on neo geo cd than on the actual origional mvs format.

In the years you have been away ,mvs has become far and away the most accesible and financially viable format for neo geo gaming.It really hit consumer consciousness in 1998-99.

WHat makes it the ideal selection for gamers on a budget, but who want the best overall deal and choices???........Firstly its the origional arcade neo carts your getting, so no loading and secondly its titles are the best priced ones.....I mean mark of the wolves mvs for $40, Last blade 2 for $35, Metal slug 1 for $50, the list is endless. THese same titles on aes are hundreds if not 1000s of dollars in the case of metal slug.
Plus with the mvs, you have access to the very latest games for incredible prices eg Rage of the dragons $70!!

But a mvs set up including a supergun and one slot can set you back $325 and it does take up space.Maybe not a plus point when you have kids.

personally i keep aes as I like the compactness and the nice home cart boxes. These days all the new releases come out on aes, and if you want to save costs, U can always use a mvs convertor on aes. In my case I was lucky I bought a cheaper old style one for $80.

I would far from advocate this, but some guys I know with the neo cd machine in the UK, only have it, cos they can get hold of $9 cdrs. This enables them to play slug 1, 2 and pulstar.

I have been looking for a Neo CD Rom but every time I search people want way to much for them. I basically want that so I can buy the more expensive games cheap other wise I would rather stick with my AES.

how much you willing to spend techno?