Should i buy a $200 AES?

[IrishNinja]

You really shouldn't have come here.

Spoiler:

i see you, Guntz

This question comes around here a lot and against better judgement I still went with the AES. I would personally recommend that you hit up James (member Xian-Xi) to make you a CMVS or SuperGun and collect for MVS. For the same price of the AES and a small handful of games, you'll have a CMVS/SuperGun which will allow you to collect a broader range of genres on the Neo for significantly cheaper.

A ton of people have gotten into the AES initially as their first Neo but ditch it due to the exorbitant prices that are attributed to its games. You'll run of out $60 games quite fast and quickly get into the $100-200 range.

really appreciate this perspective & advice, and looking at the short list of games i know & want, i think you're quite right & this would just cost me more in the long run.

as for James: yes, i very clearly burned that bridge coming in, but for what it's worth i'd like to also publicly apologize for shitting on the man's work: again, i may not be a fan of the white box's form factor but i appreciate his comments on the video quality & i didn't need to be a dick about it.

Show some fucking respect!

misunderstood the earlier posts & took for granted it was his work. again, I apologize.

 

[Yodd]

Show some fucking respect!

Past the point of no return.

 

[CORY]

 

[Jibbajaba]

But after that tupperware remark, go fuck yourself.

As a very happy JNX CMVS owner, I would like to cosign the living shit out of this. This faggot isn't getting his balls busted nearly hard enough.

 

[Earthquake24]

You gonna get got son. JAMESUS is the man. This ain't no tupperware.

My pride and joy! Xian/James built that CMVS for me a few years back. I still own it today, am very proud of it and it works as great today as it did the day that I got it. His work is second to none. If you want the best, he is the one to do it. James was very kind and considerate during the process of making the unit for me, keeping me notified the entire way through. He's a very precious asset to the Neo community. OP, insulting his work the way you did. You only have one way to go from here and it's not pretty. Should probably have read the forums for a little while before wanting to join the "Baller" club.

 

[Rori]

Spoiler:

i see you, Guntzreally appreciate this perspective & advice, and looking at the short list of games i know & want, i think you're quite right & this would just cost me more in the long run.

as for James: yes, i very clearly burned that bridge coming in, but for what it's worth i'd like to also publicly apologize for shitting on the man's work: again, i may not be a fan of the white box's form factor but i appreciate his comments on the video quality & i didn't need to be a dick about it.



misunderstood the earlier posts & took for granted it was his work. again, I apologize.

Spoiler:

Look man, you along with myself are relatively new users so it's alright to be asking questions but be careful with insults because this forum is a tight-knit group.

If I were you, i'd go apologise to Xian Xi and hope on your lucky stars that he'll accept and take in an order from you.

The reason being is that Xian Xi is probably the leading resource for technical information on the Neo Geo hardware and its repairs. Another alternative for you to consider is shadowkn55/Quan's Omega CMVS which is around the $550~ range which looks very close to an AES, in style/design.


While there are other people who can make you a CMVS, a few of them are made by unscrupulous people with shoddy work quality and trustworthiness (see Analogue Interactive CMVS).
Anyway Xian Xi and his site, Jamma-Nation-X, likely served as THE point to learn how to consolize Neo Geo hardware and are profiting off of the wealth of information he willingly hosts on his site for all of us to learn and benefit. I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone who'd make you a CMVS/SuperGun that would admit they weren't using some of the information on that site.

I totally get not wanting a "tupperware" enclosure but that's the brilliance of customized work. You can have the work customized for your design aesthetic and appeal -- but don't be insulting people and their hard work. After all, it's the wiring and quality of work inside the unit that counts most for reliability and operational function. While looking into getting a SuperGun made by Xian Xi, I learned he offers a 1-year warranty on his work/craftsmanship. I think that's a testement in his confidence in producing a quality product. I've also read good things about shadowqn55's work but I can't personally say as I don't know too much.

Anyway, there's pictures of shoddily made stuff (like the Analog CMVS) held together with freakin' HOT GLUE. Good luck on your quest on the Neo. I think you didn't mean to insult anyone but just worded it.. poorly

 

[IrishNinja]

Yeah, i deserve the shit i'm taking for this.

If I were you, i'd go apologise to Xian Xi and hope on your lucky stars that he'll accept and take in an order from you.

The reason being is that Xian Xi is probably the leading resource for technical information on the Neo Geo hardware and its repairs.

i did just that & PM'd him regarding my insults to his work, but really, my ignorance on his contributions to the scene make me feel worse about it. really am sorry for offending him.

 

[cdamm]

That's a good start.

 

[aha2940]

I have both. First I got a neogeo AES. It came with Fatal Fury Special an KoF 94 and a Hori stick. I was happy. Then I got Magician Lord and NAM1975 for the AES. Then I realized getting all my favorite games (all the slugs, garou, the KoF, etc.) would cost more than my car so I bough an adapter (MVS Magic Key) and a 161-in-1 cart. I played the 161 some months, but then I found several things wrong with it. Too many hacks and duplicated games, other games having bugs that made them unplayable (Aero Fighters 3), games playing wrong sounds or music, some games being beta unstable versions and not final ones, etc. At that point I started getting the MVS carts I wanted. Now I have many great games in original carts and all of them costed me less than the single Metal Slug in AES flavor. I'd say get the CMVS with original carts. If you really want the AES, getting the AES you are being offered and a good converter is a really good option too. I have not found any issues with the converter I have, it plays every game I've tested on it, including all KoFs, and all slugs. At some point I bought a really cheap MV1C MVS board and I decided to buy an Omega shell for it. It works beautifully.

Regards.

 

[Xian Xi]

I read the apology, it's fine. Just remember that I'm a CMVS builder so I can make a CMVS out of any enclosure. Plus I don't charge people for stuff they aren't going to use. If you only plan to run RGB then you don't get charged for an encoder you are never going to use. Custom units as low as $250 is unheard of anywhere else.

 

[Jibbajaba]

Plus I don't charge people for stuff they aren't going to use. If you only plan to run RGB then you don't get charged for an encoder you are never going to use. Custom units as low as $250 is unheard of anywhere else.

This is what initially drew me to James' systems. I wanted an RGB-only unit and didn't want to pay for extra shit. I forgot what I paid exactly, but it was stupid cheap. I can't really comment much on the video quality because I've never seen another CMVS in action, but I will say that this unit's RGB picture is as good or better than every other game console that I have. And it's way better than the Neo CD.

 

[werejag]

popcorn time over

thanks IrishNinja

 

[Xian Xi]

This is what initially drew me to James' systems. I wanted an RGB-only unit and didn't want to pay for extra shit. I forgot what I paid exactly, but it was stupid cheap. I can't really comment much on the video quality because I've never seen another CMVS in action, but I will say that this unit's RGB picture is as good or better than every other game console that I have. And it's way better than the Neo CD.

I need to look into the CD then. Should be fixable.

 

[Dr Shroom]

You really shouldn't have come here.

Irony.

 

[joe8]

like most Sega kids, i would fawn over NG stuff in gaming mags in the day, and even wanted to do those contests in like every EGM to win a baller setup, until i realized you had to pay to enter, and fuck that cause if i had money i wouldn't be out here kicking these rocks to begin with.

Anyway, local CL listing has what looks like a nice AES (something about a clean motherboard) for $200 w/cables, wants to talk about price for the stick...being that it's decades later & i'm still not even a bronze level member of the Elite Ballers Club™ I've been told for a while that a consolized MVS is the way to go, but i really do dig the AES form factor! and the closest thing ive seen to that is the Omega which holy fuck that's pricey before even having a controller.

so yeah, pardon the noob questions (still working my way through the forums for info) but i wanna know if there's any way i could justify this. My setup can run RGB, but what about:

1) what's the current state of MVS adapters, what are my best options for price & compatibility?

2) given that an Everdrive looks like it won't happen, how are multi carts? i'd really like to dive into the library a bit & then after paying stuff off, do a cost/benefit analysis of my favorite games vs necessity of minor organs/etc

3) are there any better options I'm not seeing here? the lower end of CMVS's ive seen looked like they were house in tupperware, which is not a good look even for a scrub such as myself

much love to any help offered here!

You could both, an AES with an MVS adaptor, and a CMVS. Then get most games in the MVS version.
you said you have RGB, is that a PVM or something?

 

[KalessinDB]

Original question on $200 AES... without sticks, I'd say not worth it. I spent a little under that on mine with 2 old-style sticks, and the dude threw in a copy of Sengoku AES because of some nonsense with the 2nd stick (it didn't work, so he sent me a pad at first while he got the stick fixed, which took like a month, so he apologized with Sengoku)

Of course, then I had James pimp it out with a UniBios and full video output mod.

And then I ran into the whole "crap AES games are expensive" issue everyone has, and got a Fusion converter (another long story) and have started collecting MVS titles.

Aaaaaand now I'm thinking about getting a cmvs. I'll never sell my AES though, not my style. So yeah, do yourself a favor and go MVS from the get-go.

 

[DaytimeDreamer]

James modded my AES to the point of no return. A fuck-a-load of things.

Here are the modifications done for a VERY legit pricing shipping from USA to the UK

Component mod
S-video mod
Stereo fix (3-3 system)
Unibios 3.1 w/socket
Blue Power LED
Changing caps/resistors on the AV socket for a better picture

 

[Jibbajaba]

I need to look into the CD then. Should be fixable.

You think something is wrong with my Neo CD? The picture isn't horrible or anything. It's just nothing great. I have multiple systems with a better RGB picture.

 

[wyo]

You think something is wrong with my Neo CD? The picture isn't horrible or anything. It's just nothing great. I have multiple systems with a better RGB picture.

Neo CD usually puts out an excellent RGB picture. I'm not sure if it varies by mobo revision like the AES.

 

[GohanX]

Yeah, both my top loader and cdz put out rgb that rivals nearly every other system I have. It is a bit darker than my cmvs, but I've been meaning to put some resistors or something on mine to bring the brightness down a touch.

 

[OMFG]

Still rocking this one made by James. I'm debating on having it upgraded to output rgb as well.

 

[joe8]

James modded my AES to the point of no return. A fuck-a-load of things.

Here are the modifications done for a VERY legit pricing shipping from USA to the UK

Component mod
S-video mod
Stereo fix (3-3 system)
Unibios 3.1 w/socket
Blue Power LED
Changing caps/resistors on the AV socket for a better picture

You can mod the AES for s-video and component output by adding chips to it (like the Neobitz chip). But you can only get the best RGB from doing the RGB mod on it. A CMVS will have better RGB than an unmodded AES. If you're going to use it on an RGB monitor, you might as well get the best picture possible.

 

[Samuray]

Changing caps/resistors on the AV socket for a better picture

Huh? Is that something everyone should look into?
My AES has a serial of 50k and for all these years I've been more than happy with the picture quality so maybe I shouldn't ask, but this made me wonder.

Or maybe it's only necessary for SVideo/ Component output? I only use RGB.

 

[joe8]

Huh? Is that something everyone should look into?
My AES has a serial of 50k and for all these years I've been more than happy with the picture quality so maybe I shouldn't ask, but this made me wonder.

Or maybe it's only necessary for SVideo/ Component output? I only use RGB.

Isn't RGB picture quality reduced unless you remove the conversion to composite out?

 

[DaytimeDreamer]

Joe and Samuray,

It was late and I forgot to explain:

It has the Neolitz encoder for component and s-video.
I know AES is far behind when compared to MVS for the RGB mod. The system was a 3-3 with a low serial but the RGB mod was also done to it.

I can't remember exactly why we changed the caps on the AV socket, maybe James can elaborate