Was the Neo Geo home console a flop

[klee123]

Probably a flop considering that SNK knew very well that the system was going to be slaughtered in sales, but still kept at it with the advertisements.

 

[oliverclaude]

...but still kept at it with the advertisements.

Yeah, livin' large at it's core .

 

[keilmillerjr]

SNK closed in 2001 due to financial trouble. Every retro video game store I find, I ask if they have any neo geo games. Only 1 in Salem mass knew what a neo geo was, and actually had a few AES games. Only 1. So, yes. It was a flop. However, it was an awesome console that had a very long lasting production run.

 

[lions3]

Flop.

Only knew one friend that could afford it back in the day. And he could only afford 2 games. I still remember the glorious day I sat at his house and played "real" arcade games on a TV. Blew my mind.. Followed shortly there after by looking up the cost to mail order the system. Yeah, my teenage self could only dream.

The cost put it out of the market from 99.99% of the kids who wanted one.

 

[DNSDies]

It would be neat to know the costs of the parts in an AES console when it was released, and do some fuzzy math on units sold vs units produced.

Maybe they high price allowed them to make enough money to justify it in the end? I doubt it generated huge profits, but surely it lessened the financial impact.

The games were likely expensive to make, too. 2 huge PCBs and all those mask roms and ICs.

 

[Dr Shroom]

There's another theory I just happen to be a devotee of...

Keep fighting the good fight, claudia. I'm sure you will fit in here one day.

 

[Kid Panda]

...... Every retro video game store I find, I ask if they have any neo geo games. Only 1 in Salem mass knew what a neo geo was, and actually had a few AES games........

Alot of people that run Retro game stores are nothing more than flippers, don't confuse their ignorance with the Neo's lack of market penetration. Most if not all of my gaming friends knew/know what a Neo is even though they never owned nor played one before meeting me.

 

[madman]

It would be neat to know the costs of the parts in an AES console when it was released, and do some fuzzy math on units sold vs units produced.

I would imagine the units produced and units sold are the exact same number. It's not like the Atari Jaguar where you can still find NOS units available.

 

[itsofrustratin]

AES wasnt a flop, it is and always has been a niche product. SNK intended it to be rental product in luxury hotels, and people demanded to buy it despite the high cost of the hardware and games. The AES was never met to compete directly with SNES and genesis, hence why AES games were ported there. It was a technologically uncompromised product for those that could afford it. Although if it wasnt for the MVS the AES never would have lasted as long as it did.

SNKs demise was mostly caused by the end of the arcade era of video games. The company was basically run like shit tho

 

[city41]

SNKs demise was mostly caused by the end of the arcade era of video games. The company was basically run like shit tho

The HN64 sure didn't help.

 

[oliverclaude]

I would imagine the units produced and units sold are the exact same number. It's not like the Atari Jaguar where you can still find NOS units available.

Tell that to Telegames UK.


Edit...

Keep fighting the good fight, claudia. I'm sure you will fit in here one day.

The kiss of death.
That's all I need.

 

[xsq]

penetration

.

 

[keilmillerjr]

AES wasnt a flop, it is and always has been a niche product. SNK intended it to be rental product in luxury hotels, and people demanded to buy it despite the high cost of the hardware and games. The AES was never met to compete directly with SNES and genesis, hence why AES games were ported there. It was a technologically uncompromised product for those that could afford it. Although if it wasnt for the MVS the AES never would have lasted as long as it did.

SNKs demise was mostly caused by the end of the arcade era of video games. The company was basically run like shit tho

So your saying that the aes wasn't a flop, but their home and portable consoles wasn't enough to carry them into the new melinium. They went out of business due to finances. Obviously their strategy didn't work well. I think the aes was cool, but wasn't the smartest choice to make them successful.

 

[oliverclaude]

I think the aes was cool, but wasn't the smartest choice to make them successful.

Ever considered that "successful" wasn't an issue? Placing dirty money in a hard-/software company on the other hand has bite.

 

[MySoberCompanion]

I don't think it's a flop, as said it started as a niche and found an unexpected success that brought to the decision of launching it to the consumer market.
I suppose that despite low numbers, the AES project had no so much costs.
Just the hw revision and the manifacture to adapt the different boards from MVS to AES.
It had no R&D and specific game investments like a domestic console (being a small rib of the core business in the arcade market), so they could afford very small run of copies with probably a reasonable profit.

In the first times (until NGCD), games were printed in huge quantities and is quite easy to find some of those NOS titles.
Things changed from '95, I still remember that titles like KoF'95 or Real Bout had to be ordered, so they probably changed the production line and cartridge almost doubled the prices.

 

[shadowkn55]

I don't think it's a flop, as said it started as a niche and found an unexpected success that brought to the decision of launching it to the consumer market.
I suppose that despite low numbers, the AES project had no so much costs.
Just the hw revision and the manifacture to adapt the different boards from MVS to AES.

This is pretty much it. The only real incurred costs of producing the AES were the molds for the console shells, cartridges shells, and the snaplocks. The real meaty costs of console development like asics and maskroms were already taken care of and in production by virtue of the MVS.

 

[GohanX]

Of course it's a flop, it only had official releases for 15 years and homebrew releases to this very day. What a flop, just like your mom's tits.

 

[geise]

I'd say it was a success with the niche crowd it was made for. The people with the money that wanted the "true arcade experience at home".

 

[Electric Grave]

Hey Gaiz the Dreamcast wasn't a flop and SEGA is doing great, right you gaiz?!!!

 

[KingJavo]

Due to the price point, it was a flop in terms of being a US global success IMHO. It would have run circles around the competition if it was more affordable back then. I always wanted one, but the price for the AES system wasn't even possible to sell to my parents.

Now it's more viable, then back then even though the prices are still crazy.

 

[bravojohny]

At least SNK had the guts to release a home system with specs of the arcade. That's all that matters.

 

[TikTekTak]

Niche success
vs.
Mainstream flop

 

[FinalbossNYC]

SNK wasn't looking to be Nintendo they were just filling a small demand, I don't think they took a loss.

 

[oliverclaude]

Not with MVS, everything else tho was within the thin red line but still kept going. I mean, one just has to admire them for such bravado. That's what heroes are made of.