When was the AES released?

[Tehcno]

I'm finding conflicting information on the net and I can't seem to get a straight answer. There are places that list 1991 and other that say 1990. Does anyone have a straight answer to this? If possible any source to the information?

 

[Xian Xi]

AES 1990 in Japan and 1991 in the US.

 

[Tehcno]

Now that is what I was figuring as well. So the MVS in the US came out in 1990 as well correct?

 

[Xian Xi]

It's confusing info. On wikipedia it says what I said in the other post but if you look at the master list Nam-1975 which was the first game for the Neo wasn't released until July 1, 1991 on Japan AES.

I would assume the MVS came out first in 1990, then the AES in 1991.

If you look at the MVS version of NAM-1975 you will see that the chips were made at the latest about April in 1990 (17th week of 1990) so the game would have to have come out in May or later in 1990. Weirdly enough is that Baseball Stars Pro's Mask ROMs were produced before NAM-1975 as early as January.

 

[Tehcno]

Yup that's exactly what I'm talking about. The © date on master list earliest date is 1990 but the release date 1991. Wikipedia says Neo released in 1990 as with other Wiki sites around the net (they most likely are all pulling from same source).

Right now I'm going through old EGMs to see if I can pin-point it. Only problem... I've got a big gap in my EGM collection.

 

[Tehcno]

Ok now it's just getting even more confusing. Neogeosoft.com lists Nam MVS release 4-26-1990 and AES release 7-1-1991. So a launch game being released in July '91 you would think the system would have been released on the same day. Now reading in EGM Issue 21 April 1991 there is a letter to the editor that refers back to the Feb '91 issue talking about sales of the Neo-Geo in Japan and US not doing so well.

So there is wrong information all over the internet concerning this. Unfortunately I'm not able to pinpoint the correct date through EGM. I'll have to see if I can fin some digital copies of EGM.

 

[Tehcno]

Wow! Neo-Geo coverage in EGM did not even start until November '91. That's just crazy.

 

[Xian Xi]

Wow! Neo-Geo coverage in EGM did not even start until November '91. That's just crazy.

I'm guessing that's when it came over to the US. No mainstream internet back then so people wouldn't know about it unless either SNK did adverts or a retailer promoted it.

 

[SNKorSWM]

SNK advertised in EGM by including those mini-mags before EGM started covering the neo.

 

[Tehcno]

Well, no. The mini mag came with that issue I was referring to. I have the insert for that issue still. But a reader of EGM was upset that they were not covering it in which they responded they would start covering it the very next month (which would have been April '91). Something delayed them getting the loaner carts and they couldn't start until the Nov 91 issue. Here is a scan of the article I'm referring to.

And the only advertisements I found were not from SNK it would have been from places such as GameDude just to sell through their mail order stuff.

Now the Hotel Units were probably available before it was made retail right? So the 1990 dates that I'm seeing on the net are most likely referring to those right?

 

[SNKorSWM]

IIRC There should be 3 mini mags. One of them has the dog on cover, another one with neo system flying though open door on the cover. Don't remember what was on the third one (Baseball Stars 2 maybe?) I thought they weren't given in the same month, but from three different issues of EGM.

ed: This is the cover of one of the three, the other two don't seem to be on that site.

http://www.neogeoforlife.com/photogallery.php?photo_id=1355

 

[SuperGun]

The correct timeline

Wow! Neo-Geo coverage in EGM did not even start until November '91. That's just crazy.

No, that is absolutely false. Try January/February of 1990.

EGM Issue #9 was the first time they covered the NEOGEO. As usual, they were the best at the time and they reported on it first before any other video game magazines of the time.
They had a picture of the console shown and everything. They even mention the launch titles, among them they say a "3-D gran prix racer" (which we logically assume to be Riding Hero) and "a graphic/text adventure" (?)

I don't have a gap in my EGM collection, I have every issue from premiere through late 1995 or so when home consoles died for me so I stopped getting the mags.

Also, yes, the 3 EGM NEOGEO mini inserts had a home system flying through a door, the pit bull dog, and baseball stars 2 on the covers. However, most people don't know that there were "technically" 4 of them, not 3. I have the fourth. Heh, but don't get too excited, the fourth was merely an updated / corrected version of the 3rd. Merely a few changes were made with some pics and info.

Anyhow, none of this explains or clarifies the launch date per say, but I just had to correct the EGM part of the discussion.

 

[Tehcno]

I don't have that issue #9 that you speak of. Is that just pre-launch information? I still don't have an answer yet as to when the AES was actually launched.

 

[BRANDI]

In Japan the actual AES release dates are as follow:

1990 April 26th AES launched as a rental only console (same day of MVS launch in arcades)
1991 July 1st AES re-launched as a regular retail sale console

 

[rcantor77]

Ok now it's just getting even more confusing. Neogeosoft.com lists Nam MVS release 4-26-1990 and AES release 7-1-1991. So a launch game being released in July '91 you would think the system would have been released on the same day.

The dates I have published on NeoGeoSoft are all the Japanese release dates (obviously US where US only)
They have mostly been taken from the SNK Museum site where available...

http://neogeomuseum.snkplaymore.co.jp/english/catalogue/index.php


As Xian Xi says...

the MVS came out first in 1990, then the AES in 1991.

 

[BRANDI]

As Xian Xi says "the MVS came out first in 1990, then the AES in 1991"

This statement is not correct

AES was released in 1990 as well (same day of MVS) for rental use only

So there's not an MVS birth priority over the AES: they both saw the light the very same day (April 26th 1990)

 

[Xian Xi]

This statement is not correct

AES was released in 1990 as well (same day of MVS) for rental use only

So there's not an MVS birth priority over the AES: they both saw the light the very same day (April 26th 1990)

That makes no sense. The JP version of NAM-1975 didn't get released until July 1, 1991. Everyone knows that NAM was the first game made for the Neo. Why woluld they release the console in 1990 and then the fisrt game the following year?

 

[BRANDI]

The JP version of NAM-1975 didn't get released until July 1, 1991. Everyone knows that NAM was the first game made for the Neo. Why woluld they release the console in 1990 and then the fisrt game the following year?

The July 1st 1991 is the NAM-1975 release date for sale purpose.

This game, as well as other Neo launch titles, was already available in April 1990 as a "not for sale" but rental only game.

In fact, if you check carefully the spine of the older Neo-Geo AES games, you will find that some, under the Neo-Geo logo, have the word "rental" written in japanese katakana, meaning that the first batch of AES were intended for rental only and not for sale

http://www.vgmuseum.com/scans/scans4/namj-back.jpg

Then, when SNK decided to switch the system from rental to sale, they re-released the games in July 1st 1991 (initially in carton boxes version and then back to the plastic ones that we all know well)

 

[Xian Xi]

The July 1st 1991 is the NAM-1975 release date for sale purpose.

This game, as well as other Neo launch titles, was already available in April 1990 as a "not for sale" but rental only game.

In fact, if you check carefully the spine of the older Neo-Geo AES games, you will find that some, under the Neo-Geo logo, have the word "rental" written in japanese katakana, meaning that the first batch of AES were intended for rental only and not for sale

Then, when SNK decided to switch the system from rental to sale, they re-released the games in July 1st 1991 (initially in carton boxes version and then back to the plastic ones that we all know well)

Now that makes sense, thanks for the clarification.

Were the rental units the hotel units or actual AES systems?

 

[BRANDI]

Were the rental units the hotel units or actual AES systems?

Actual AES systems boxed in the white with green stripe box

Hotel units came later (around 1993)

 

[Tehcno]

So the chips in the Nam games being 1990 was because originally released on MVS in 1990 and chips were still used in the AES carts that were actually released in July of 91.

Thank you all for helping me out with this. I greatly appreciate it!

 

[Xian Xi]

So the chips in the Nam games being 1990 was because originally released on MVS in 1990 and chips were still used in the AES carts that were actually released in July of 91.

Thank you all for helping me out with this. I greatly appreciate it!

Correct. The only time you would probably see different chips in an AES cart is if there was a glitch or problem that needed to be patched in the game before the AES version was released.

 

[SuperGun]

"Second Runs"

Correct. The only time you would probably see different chips in an AES cart is if there was a glitch or problem that needed to be patched in the game before the AES version was released.

Yes, as an example, the famous World Heroes 1 MVS energy glitch with the character Brocken. Also other examples would include the second runs of some games such as the 10 continues versus unlimited continues.

 

[SNKorSWM]

Like the "continue on the spot" vs. "checkpoint revival" Magician Lord?

 

[HeavyMachineGoob]

^Could you clarify that? What does Checkpoint Revival mean? There's two different versions of Magician Lord out there??