How do you support your Neo Geo addiction?

So recently I did something I'm feeling a little guilty about. Pre-ordered a copy of the Gunlord MVS reprint. So I guess by AES standards 450 USD is pretty cheap and obviously Neo Geo is known for being premium quality...but shit I never spent this much on a game in my life. But whatever, being able to own and play NG games on real hardware is one of life's greatest joys.

I can afford the game obviously, but just barely. And it got me wondering..how the fuck do people spend literally thousands of dollars on a single game? Genuinely curious where AES collectors get their money..like what kind of jobs do these people have. Doctors, lawyers, some other high level positions? Or are y'all just like, murdering people for these AES carts.

My MVS habit is already taking a dent in my bank account, can't fathom how people don't end up homeless on the street due to needing their AES fix. Or is that the end of the line for every NG fan?


Also fuck if my wife found out I spent this much on a game she'd be TIGHT.

How do I support?

Well I don;t pre-order reprints of fake games, brother.

I save the money for the real AES deal, and don't join forums after late dried up market.

I get money easily, but I'm not rich that's how i do it.

Gunlord isn't very good.

OP, if you were a real fan you wouldn't be so late to the party.

You call it an "addiction"? You think $450 is a big deal?

You spend the money on a game that isn't even a real neo geo game.

Do some soul searching, then ask this question in the future. That's assuming this "addiction" isn't just a fickle phase and asking such questions remain relevant.

I stick to a budget and if something's beyond what I'd pay I don't hem and haw and convince myself a day later, it's just not getting bought. Not that hard.

Also I mod arcade sticks on the side and the money earned from that basically goes directly towards games (Neo included of course).

i buy the lower-end games on AES and save the rest for MVS

Well Turrican is awesome, and hey if I end up not enjoying Gunlord I can always sell it for profit on eBay

andsuchisdeath said:

OP, if you were a real fan you wouldn't be so late to the party.

You call it an "addiction"? You think $450 is a big deal?

You spend the money on a game that isn't even a real neo geo game.

Do some soul searching, then ask this question in the future. That's assuming this "addiction" isn't just a fickle phase and asking such questions remain relevant.

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Always loved NG games, and yes the REAL ones. But just never had the means to afford real hardware until recently. Bought plenty of the compilations, ports, etc over the years. Also, this isn't about whether or not Gunlord is a real, or even a good game. Like I said in the OP, $450 is NOTHING compared to the prices out there. I'm not hating on those that spend thousands on a single game, I just wonder how people can justify prices like that

johhnnyD14 said:

i buy the lower-end games on AES and save the rest for MVS

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smart. it kinda blows my mind how early games like magician lord are double or triple price for mvs compared to aes. seriously makes me want to do this as well at some point.

MOLTOMOLTO said:

Well Turrican is awesome, and hey if I end up not enjoying Gunlord I can always sell it for profit on eBay




Always loved NG games, and yes the REAL ones. But just never had the means to afford real hardware until recently. Bought plenty of the compilations, ports, etc over the years. Also, this isn't about whether or not Gunlord is a real, or even a good game. Like I said in the OP, $450 is NOTHING compared to the prices out there. I'm not hating on those that spend thousands on a single game, I just wonder how people can justify prices like that



smart. it kinda blows my mind how early games like magician lord are double or triple price for mvs compared to aes. seriously makes me want to do this as well at some point.

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Some carts are 20x the price, even for JPN versions on Yahoo auctions. I thought AES was expensive when the great games averaged from $250-350 each. Maybe $500 for a rare gem, and only thousands for games as rare as hen's teeth.

Yea so far on my AES most of my games are 200 bucks and less. Best place to start IMO.

MOLTOMOLTO said:

Pre-ordered a copy of the Gunlord MVS reprint. So I guess by AES standards 450 USD is pretty cheap and obviously Neo Geo is known for being premium quality...

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Mega Turrican costs about a Franklin, for your $450 you can get all previous Turrican games and then some. Now these were premium quality, while GL is just a harmless indie plagiarism with a cheapie DC alternative existing.

Once you'll realize these facts, there prolly won't be anything of an "addiction" left, to support. So, now at least you now, how to not support it. Go from there, doing just the opposite and your backing should be fine.

MOLTOMOLTO said:

I can always sell it for profit on eBay

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You'll find this forum very comfortable.

there's no addiction. i stopped throwing money at neo geo games a while back. and probably sell off all my games in the near future.

how i get my fix?. i play on emulators . i will never stop playing neo geo games. and emulation as proved to be the most convenient.

Many members here have had their collections for a long time, pre-price explosion. I think most members here have already most of what they want (and are just picking up what they missed before) or have sold out and gone different routes (emulators for consoles, mvs for neo geo games, etc.) It can be difficult not to spend a ton of money, my advice is to start off buying some of the cheaper games you know you will enjoy, plus maybe splurge on one expensive one that you want.

It does seem to help that many members seem to have pretty decent jobs.

Sounds like op needs to save his money and cancel that pre-order of gunlord. Just go ahead and buy the DC version if your interested in the game. Now is not a good time to start buying original neo games. The collection I have now both Aes and Mvs were bought when prices were still very reasonable. There are a few games now that I passed on in the past because they were too expensive and now they are way out of reach. Could have bought that aes jp MOTW for like $350 a few years back and now people want $800+ for it. That's just a example of how crazy shit has become. Great for those who purchased Aes games for regular price back in the days.

Damn. I spent $450 on my whole mvs machine, and it included puzzle bobble.

The games cost too much money for me to collect like I used to do with nes games. I spend my time making a mame front end for the neo geo. Don't worry, it only plays neo geo games. And I will keep original hardware.

I love neo fighters especially, i got into the game late too, but i have almost all the games i want for the mvs. Just acouple others i want orginals to.(last blade2/rage of the dragons) the rest of the games i pretty much can use the 161 in 1 for when ppl that dont like fighters come over.
But yeah I went the MVS route cause its cheaper. Even though i like to play on real hardware more than half the time im on fightcade, cause i crave human vs human matches. Im not one of those blokes that can just sit and play against the computer and be happy.

MVS+supergun - I'm a small timer 4 life.

xsq said:

MVS+supergun - I'm a small timer 4 life.

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Word. dirty carts, worn labels, it's all good. The name of the game is the game.

When I want to buy an AES game I'll sell off games/systems I no longer play until I meet the price point. Along the way I also resist the temptation of purchasing games for the current gen. $60 a pop for PS4 games add up big tyme.

I really enjoy Gunlord, but I'd suggest the Dreamcast version rather than the MVS version if the $450 is a push. They're both 'official' NGDEV releases, so there is really no difference apart from the price.

Regarding my collection, a lot of the time I've bought games with bonuses/commission. My salary pays for day to day life, but if I get a nice bonus then that's for pleasure. I also sold off my Saturn collection a few years back and put most of that money back into Neo Geo. I rarely buy these days though, the prices are just a bit too high on games I still want.

WoodyXP said:

When I want to buy an AES game I'll sell off games/systems I no longer play until I meet the price point. Along the way I also resist the temptation of purchasing games for the current gen. $60 a pop for PS4 games add up big tyme.

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I did the same thing for some time but now I calmed down alot. I think the last neo game I purchased was Crossed Swords 2 Mvs and the last Aes game I purchased was crossed swords on amazon for like $50.

I have a pretty decent paying job. Though I do have a big family and student loans, I still have room to fuel my AES collection. I went a little nuts over the past few months, but have now come to a chill out period. Some of my more expensive games were obtained in 2011-2012, so those didn't hurt me too badly.

Other than having a change of heart and loading up on some loose AES carts and getting back a few of my MVS favorites, I don't plan on obtaining any more Neo Geo games for now, I have what I want.

LOL, the Neo is nothing compared to some of the serious money-sink hobbies. Go hang out on the musicians or photographers forums and see the kind of money that gets dropped daily by folks. I've seen people not even blink and buy $10-20K stuff, and then be in the market for more the very next day.

Fuck me, I don't know how they do it, but GAS is real in all hobbies, Neo included. At least you have a cheap(er) alternative in MVS carts. And, how did I fuel my buying? Well, to be completely honest it got out of hand in the early 2000s. I was buying carts non-stop, but back then there were very few games over $100 a pop. Actually, quite a few were in the $15-25 range if you were buying from Japan (and for a short while in the late 90s on eBay). Still, I had a pseudo-intervention from friends who noticed box after box coming in and asked me if I was alright. I was pretty hooked on getting every MVS game, but I was trying to be smart about it... Tried to get things cheap. Let things pass when they weren't, with a few exceptions of course if something was just crazy hard to find and I was afraid I wouldn't find it again.

Anyway, I guess my advice is the typical, "Buy a time machine," but barring that... Just don't worry about catching them all right now? I mean... They've been around for twenty-plus years already. A few more won't make them that much more out of reach... and waiting it out and finding these games at good prices is really most of the fun of collecting Neo, anyway. I still remember the killer deals I got on a few games, SS5S included.

Blow slangin'....