Uh, heres the thing... the NEO•GEO arcade hardware predates the “AES” home console, so MVS is technically the original NEO•GEO. Also, AES is missing some games from its library, and has no exclusives. MVS on the other hand, has almost everything, and several games that were never released on AES or NGCD, making MVS the most “complete” NEO•GEO experience.
Of course, MVS is less glamorous in many ways, unless you go all out and buy a fancy arcade cabinet (which is way more expensive and arguably cooler than an AES, IMO)
So if having the most “original” NEO•GEO is what you want, get the MVS 1 slot “surfboard” with the metal cartridge guide, inside a Big Red Cabinet or one of those rare early japanese cabs with the blue hood/shade thing over the screen. That seems like a more worthy endeavor than buying four thousand+ dollar english AES carts in minty shape. I personally own an AES and an MVS, and a CD, but i dont own any games worth thousands, nor do i care to.
Take a good look at the NEO•GEO’s library of games. Dare i say download a romset and try out all of them. See which ones you really like. You may find that the amount of games you want to own and are actually willing to pay the huge price for is smaller than you’d expect. I found my favorite few neo games and i play them over and over... at the end of the day i only care to play a handful of neo games. When i got into the hobby i bought several titles that i heard were good and ended up not liking them at all and sold them. I find collecting games that i dont resonate with to be a huge waste, especially when there may be another human being out there who really loves said game genuinely. A smaller collection of items that are super special to you is much more enjoyable than a shelf full of STUFF...
But, do whatever you want with your $... i just ranting a bit here
Only came here for grown up conversation and tbh.... there’s very little here. Seriously please remove me.
