Neo Geo MVS, the new AES?

[Ash Burton]

When I first joined this site I did so as a newly minted Neo Geo MVS Arcade cabinet owner. I grew up middle class, and never had the means to own the home system but had fond memories of the Big Red sitting at the corner 7-11. So when I had the chance to pick up a nice arcade I did, and then found this awesome community which helped build my library.

Almost everyone I dealt with was fair in the marketplace, and if there was a cart I was looking for someone would point me in the right direction. I have sold countless games on here but never for profit, merely to fund the next gaming adventure. Often I took loses on deals but to me this was part of the hobby, and most other hobbies cause much greater losses.

So in my time browsing the marketplace, the tech forum and the GD, I began to notice that some of the members on here who were into AES "collecting" looked at the games as trophies rather than the treasure box of sprites that they truly are. There was often drama over price gouging, condition, scams and so on. Most of this drama had been reserved for the AES club, but over the last year or so I have noticed this attitude spilling over into the MVS community.

Perhaps its the countless MVS superguns out there, and now more and more people are buying the MVS games. Maybe it is just the market expanding. But I also notice a lot more people raving about mint kits and whatever, as if MVS kits were designed for home display. To each there own, but stamp collecting gaming used to be a trademark of AES and to me it seems the MVS games are going the same way. Anyone else notice a change, or is this just an overreaction on my part?

 

[Dark Sakul]

I know what you mean.

It isn't limited to the Neo geo either, a lot of Retro gaming becoming mainstream, and with people 20s and 30s want that nostalgia again are buying up older gaming hardware and games.
Fricking there is a local store near me that specialize in older video games that wanted fricking $80 for a loose game cart of Super Mario RPG for the SNES, the exact same game I bought on ebay two years ago for $20.

And with Super guns and consolized arcade boards (boards modified to have a built in Super Gun) are becoming more and more popular, finding hardware games are harder, and collectors become more and more demanding.
NEO GEO MVS, Atomiswave, Capcom CPS2 and CPS3 boards, Sega Naomi and Naomi2 units, and so on are shooting up in price as people realize they can play these games on their home TV.
The "up side" for you is the AES market prices are going up as well as their collectors become more demanding, and they demand more mint condition merchandise. I don't see the point of getting games you never use but to each their own.

 

[Electric Grave]

This is not new nor has it been happening recently. Mint Kit hunters are as old as they come. I'm a gamer not a collector but I do love the SNK art, it gives plenty of games a whole lot more meaning to me, like Real Bout, that pic of Geese in a suit is amazing, you better believe I want my Real Bout MVS cart in a shockbox with a full frontal insert.

I used to frown upon collectors, in a way I still do but it is what makes them happy so who are we to judge? I like to do things myself so the switch from AES to MVS was something I should have done a long time ago. When I jumped in I got some real dirty carts and I actually had fun cleaning them and printing labels, I was fascinated with printing my own inserts, cutting them and even making some myself, something I actually felt I was involved with to the nitty gritty. Restoring was a lot of fun as well and reproducing the CPO was something I eventually got pretty decent at, so I guess I'm a little different than a collector but still treat my stuff with care and want it looking good.

Everyone has their nack, time teaches you that.

 

[Tyranix95]

Lat year, I was talking about this with mainman and shadowkn55.

Seems technology (Bootlegging, MVS>AES Converters, and CMVS) has allowed the AES crowed to dip into the MVS market place. --and throw their weight and money around.

Perhaps some members have too much disposable income allocated to gaming. Perhaps not. Who knows.

In any event, yeah, I agree with you. It seems way odd when MVS stuff is graded like AES Console stuff. Imho, AES Carts have always had the reputation of being--KING--on the NEO. And thus deserve such a meticulous grading scale. But, MVS carts have never had such a reputation. In fact, MVS has had the reputation of being cheap, common, and fungible. Just ask any OP about MVS: They will tell you. I run the game 'til it stops working or stops making money, Then I get another one.

 

[NeoGeoNinja]

Check this thread out, last active in June:

http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?243671-MVS-AES-2-0

 

[neo-geo-mvs]

Check this thread out, last active in June:

http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?243671-MVS-AES-2-0

+1

was feeling a bit of deja vu here

 

[DungeonMaster]

That is definetely the case! At the age of 16 I owned a new Neo Geo AES bought from money I literally had to work my hands off for. As you can easily imagine the 2 new games (Art of Fighting & Last Resort) did not last that long to make me feel saturated. So I had to sell the machine since other systems were much more rewarding for the funds of a 16 year old back then. Later I got the Neo CD (still in my collection) but was disappointed from the C16 + datasette loading times. Many years I did not bother again or played some Neo stuff on emulators. But nothing felt the real deal. The Neo X was an even bigger disappointment. When I got knowledge of the AI CMVS the old maniac inside catched fire again. So here I am collecting (and PLAYING) MVS kits. Since I always had an eye on a pristine condition collection I do nothing but the same regarding MVS although being more a gamer than a collector. That is the point why I opted for the MVS instead of todays far too expensive price league of the AES. I can remember when all those expensive games sold for a few bucks in Akihabara on a visit aeons ago. But seeing the high prices for some MVS kits makes me also wondering what is going on. Although still being much more affordable than the AES price tags it should not take long to the point of a similar development like it happened to the AES. Best examples are games like Last Blade 2, Ninja Master's, Pulstar or Twinkle Star Sprites. But also some other ones develop high price tags actually. I just wish that I had dived into the MVS market a few years earlier. Good luck that there are still some good guys out there who keep it a fan based business without pushing prices unnecessarily. Thanks for that, mates!