Is it even possible to get back into the 'scene'?

[Orrimarrko]

Hey Guys,

Not new here or new to the Neo, but I sold my very nice MVS collection a few years ago, and wasn't happy about it.

I've been fighting the urge to re-enter the ring, so to speak, and have had plenty of distractions for my wallet, so it's been easy to stay away.

However, I'm starting to get the bug again, and was just wondering if it is even possible to get back into Neo collecting, or is it a lost cause at this point.

I'm retentive about condition and having everything original (anyone who knows me, knows I'm OCD about this), and my previous collection had nice clean carts with great labels and one of the better sets of original mini marquees out there.

So, I'm just curious if this kind of stuff even comes up for sale anymore, or is everything locked away in collector's hands never to be seen again. I'm also not in the mood to deal with boots, repros, etc., so if that's how things are looking these days, it would be good to know.

Anyway, I hope to hear some opinions.

Thanks,
Orri~

 

[aha2940]

While you can find most of the carts without much trouble, you should be aware of some things:

1. You cannot find much NOS kits right now (maybe Slug 4 only) so no new/mint carts for you.
2. Because of 1, most carts are in bad condition.
3. Prices have gone up a lot for some carts. I read that aroung 2006 Pulstar was a $30 cart. Now it seems to be a $150+ cart. Same for viewpoint, ganryu, garou, etc. Even the popular Slugs have gone up in price.
4. Lots of fake carts have arisen in the last years, so you should take a look inside the carts you are buying to make sure they are original.

Other than that, welcome back!

 

[noCLip]

Are you wanting to play the games or just collect them?

If you want to play now and slowly build a nice collection, pick up a multi cart to begin with so you can play most games and slowly buy the carts/kits that meet your criteria. If you just want to hold on to them and not play them then dont get back in lol

 

[andsuchisdeath]

If you want to play now and slowly build a nice collection, pick up a multi cart to begin with so you can play most games and slowly buy the carts/kits that meet your criteria. If you just want to hold on to them and not play them then dont get back in lol

roms > multicart

 

[Orrimarrko]

I don't do emulation. I do play them, and don't have desire to collect every single game ever made.

There's a solid list of games that I'd like to own, and those would definitely get played.

 

[hyper]

why? it's the same game

 

[shadowkn55]

why? it's the same game

Exhibit A: Neo-Geo X

 

[hyper]

lol ngx

psp phattys play neo roms rather well

 

[GohanX]

I'm retentive about condition and having everything original (anyone who knows me, knows I'm OCD about this), and my previous collection had nice clean carts with great labels and one of the better sets of original mini marquees out there.

Get over this shit, then get a MVS setup and a couple of multicarts. You'll be much happier. A few months back I purged almost my entire MVS collection other than a few loved titles and the multicarts and I've never been happier. Having fun with the games are much, much better than collecting them.

 

[wyo]

It can be done but you will definitely have to invest a lot more time and money this time around. Unless we're talking common games, mint carts and kits don't come cheap these days unless you luck out.

 

[Orrimarrko]

Wow. Things have changed a little bit in the last few years.

First, there's a difference between just playing the games and collecting them. There's nothing wrong with doing both. There isn't a right or wrong answer. If you're just interested in playing the games there are a thousand ways to do so. If that's all I cared about, there'd be no need to be on the forums at all.

So there are three types apparently:

Those that just play, regardless of the method.
There are those that collect (like the 'Gotta have 'em all' mentality), yet never play them.
Lastly, there's those that do both. Collect what they like, and will play, but happen to enjoy owning the original packaging, or whatever, because it's all part of the experience.

I'm in the last category.

So, some of the above comments not withstanding, I'm just trying to find out just how difficult it would be to get back into collecting for the Neo. Apparently, pretty tough in comparison.

Hell, I'm having trouble locating a very nice AES system at the moment, and that sure wasn't the case a few years ago.

Anyway, I'm not looking to be judged for what I'm asking about - I'm just trying to get a little info.

Thanks.

 

[RAZO]

Wow. Things have changed a little bit in the last few years.

First, there's a difference between just playing the games and collecting them. There's nothing wrong with doing both. There isn't a right or wrong answer. If you're just interested in playing the games there are a thousand ways to do so. If that's all I cared about, there'd be no need to be on the forums at all.

So there are three types apparently:

Those that just play, regardless of the method.
There are those that collect (like the 'Gotta have 'em all' mentality), yet never play them.
Lastly, there's those that do both. Collect what they like, and will play, but happen to enjoy owning the original packaging, or whatever, because it's all part of the experience.

I'm in the last category.

So, some of the above comments not withstanding, I'm just trying to find out just how difficult it would be to get back into collecting for the Neo. Apparently, pretty tough in comparison.

Hell, I'm having trouble locating a very nice AES system at the moment, and that sure wasn't the case a few years ago.

Anyway, I'm not looking to be judged for what I'm asking about - I'm just trying to get a little info.

Thanks.

Hey man, I'm kind of in the last category as well. Nothing wrong with wanting the real thing. Unfortunately you've picked a bad time to start building your collection from scratch as prices have gone up a lot. Are you looking to buy Home Cart games as well?

 

[Dr Shroom]

hey

Spoiler:

fuck the scene, buy a multicart or emulate

 

[Neorebel]

The key is to have patience for the right deal to come along, don't just pay the inflated price to 'have it now.' Owning one or two games to start will give you the chance to get really good at those anyway. Also, you may want to slightly step down your standards and get games that are in 'really good' condition rather than perfect or near mint.

 

[Tron]

Not the best time to get back into the mvs.Part of it is due to the demand unfortunately.Since there are more cmvs out there,then there use to be.

Like most suggested,a mvs plus a multicart is way to go if you want to save money.

 

[hyper]

to be sure a home cart is original you'd want to purchase from a reliable seller w owner history.. the time to be in the "scene" was when snk had us distro & stocked games

 

[Xionicist]

Another suggestion is to find the original carts of just a couple of games your really dig, and proceed to play the crap out of them.

The one nice part about prices being so high on retro gaming stuff lately is that you can bet that you'll be able to sell or swap 'em for other titles when you feel like it. It's a terrible market for hoarders, but if you just want a few games you can be happy with, it's absolutely doable.

 

[Tyranix95]

Dude, just get a 1 Slot & a (darksoft) multi-cart (when it comes out) and your good to go.

If you really want another big collection, and have to have it now, all at once, then just fine one and cash them out.

Otherwise, just pick up small cheap lots along the way or cheap loose carts hear and there and you'll be fine. It will grow over time, trust me.

 

[BerryTogart]

Exhibit A: Neo-Geo X

LOL - nice one

 

[Bar81]

Having just finished rebuilding both my home and arcade Neo Geo collections over the past 18 months, I would advise to not waste your time unless you have an open budget, a lot of patience and don't mind paying premiums for the games you want in mint condition since those carts likely won't be part of any deals (every seller knows what they're selling these days thanks to Ebay). I'm also extremely particular about condition (although I don't collect MMs or artsets) and the drastic reduction in mint carts from even 18 months ago when I started is pretty shocking. I am pretty sure that if I waited until now to start I would have just said fuck it and not bothered to start.

 

[LWK]

Market is a killer lately. I wanna get a variety of titles. Namely MVS breakers revenge, pulstar, SSVS above all, and the price alone on SSVS is just not justifiable for me. The way prices increase is just stupid. Even if we compare demand, there is just no reason a game should jump hundreds of dollars in no time for no reason. I get us/euro AES prices, but the MVS stuff lately, sucks hard. MVS used to support the scene as a whole, and keep the 'big tyme' stuff to one corner, and allowed the low rent guy to be involved.

The way it's going, I no longer can recommend neo.
I now give zero fucks if the cart has a nice label, or artwork. I just want to own it. I never sold any mvs, aes or cd stuff after the late 90's, and thank god for that. The market would make it impossible to reclaim certain things.

 

[NeoGeoNinja]

Dude, just get a 1 Slot & a (darksoft) multi-cart (when it comes out) and your good to go.

Is this actually going to happen?

If so, can see a lot of people flushing their expensive titles in favour of, what is effectively, an EverDrive for the NeoGeo?

I always thought the unique architecture of each cart and it's layout/set-up would have caused issues whilst trying to achieve this?

 

[Orrimarrko]

Thanks for the insight guys.

So what is driving the market prices up? There always used to be an ebb and flow of people selling off MVS carts. Aes was always ridiculous so that's not a shock. But MVS was reasonable with a few more expensive titles, even full kits were not more than $500 for the rarer ones.

Is it like the rest of the retro video game scene which has gone absolutely insane? (Deciding something with millions of copies is all of a sudden rare?) Or something else?

What's happened over the last 3-5 years?

 

[Bar81]

Thanks for the insight guys.

So what is driving the market prices up? There always used to be an ebb and flow of people selling off MVS carts. Aes was always ridiculous so that's not a shock. But MVS was reasonable with a few more expensive titles, even full kits were not more than $500 for the rarer ones.

Is it like the rest of the retro video game scene which has gone absolutely insane? (Deciding something with millions of copies is all of a sudden rare?) Or something else?

What's happened over the last 3-5 years?

The people who grew up with these systems/during the time these systems were out are in their 30s and have lots of discretionary income.

 

[noCLip]

Thanks for the insight guys.

So what is driving the market prices up? There always used to be an ebb and flow of people selling off MVS carts. Aes was always ridiculous so that's not a shock. But MVS was reasonable with a few more expensive titles, even full kits were not more than $500 for the rarer ones.

Is it like the rest of the retro video game scene which has gone absolutely insane? (Deciding something with millions of copies is all of a sudden rare?) Or something else?

What's happened over the last 3-5 years?

I think a lot of things contribute to this and there are several threads around here that kinda talk about it but what i think is one big factor is all the kids who grew up with this shit now have real jobs and disposable income where they can blow it on shit they wanted as a kid or whatever. Also consolized MVS also allow people without cabs to partake in the madness. I sold the majority of my collection not even two years ago to fund a pinball machine purchase, but now i will never get some of those games back. Im not too bummed tho cause I kept the ones i hold dear and play the rest on multi carts, its just not practical to me to purchase them for sometimes double what i sold them for lol

Just take it slow and buy what you want when it comes up at the right price, and have cash reserved for when a nice opportunity might arise for you to score something rare/more expensive. It will take awhile to get your collection to what it was and more $$ than before, but that just means "the hunt" is there to keep driving you to fulfill your collecting needs