SNK/Neo Geo Wallpapers! (and a few questions)

[Bhm]

Hello (again). After a long hiatus from the Neo-hobby I decided to slowly get back into it (I lost my console and games in a fire about 8 years ago).

One thing that struck me was the lack of hi-res neo wallpapers so I decided to do my own. I do not in any way claim any cred for the original artwork. I have, however, spent considerable time cleaning up the images etc.

So, without further ado, here they are:

I didn't find any of the Neo boot screens so I did my own. These actually took the longest to do. The fonts are as close to original as possible and I've hand corrected them so they are damned close to "pixel perfect". I've kept them simple so as to not detract from the "original minimalist appeal". Just some subtle shading here and there to round them off.
Neo Geo Giga Power

the second one I've done in two diff versions. With or without embossing on the Neo logo:
Neo Geo Pro Gear Spec - No embossing

With embossing:
Neo Geo Pro Gear Spec - With embossing

This one was dead simple and I do not take cred for the "P"-logo vector.
Neo Geo Pocket Color logo

Taken from article scans and I added the SNK company stamp from a scanned letter. Took me 10 mins...
Neo Geo console, top down-view

One of my favorite Neo games of all time. It plays like shit but the nostalgia factor for me is huge. The AoF logo was utter hell to clean up. The japanese text is from an AoF3 advert. I have no idea what it says...
Art of Fighting 3

Last Resort, the best god damned shmup ever (this is nostalgia talking, MSX and MS3 are technically much more fun). The box is a morphed 2D insert, that's why it might look a bit odd in some places, but overall I'm satisfied. And yes, the insert is from the Jap version and the meg count from the US version, I know. Shut up.
Last Resort - Box Art

Last Blade 2 (the absolutely best game on the Neo Geo and arguably the best fighting game of all time). Again, the logo was utter hell to clean up:
Washizuka (in speed colors, only noobs play in power mode ).
Last Blade 3 - Washizuka, speed

Kojiroh:
Last Blade 3 - Kojiroh

Setsuna and Yuki:
Last Blade 3 - Setsuna & Yuki

And on to the questions:
Is the use of AES contra NGH still "controversial"?

What happened with the NGF animosity? Are Dion and Chris still at it? What is the general concensus?

Is it possible to get an MVS PCB and hook NGH controllers to it? I'm thinking of going the MVS + shock box-route this time around. Where can I find a good "start up" tutorial?

Where are my old homies at?

Also, yes, I'll be doing more wallpapers and I can post 'em if you guys liked them.

Edit: Man, imgur jpeg coversion is shit. Uncompressed .PNG-versions are available upon request.

 

[Caprica Orange]

These look great!

 

[Setherial]

Good job!

 

[HeavyMachineGoob]

The forums seem to have changed... A lot, since those old archives. Chris and Dion are out and Tonk and DavidG are in. AES isn't offensive anymore. Tons of new members, though there's still quite a few 10 year members hanging around.

Those all look pretty darn good, I'm still deciding on one to use... I kinda wish the home system wallpaper wasn't mostly shadow.

If you still have a home system and some expensive games, like a Metal Slug, you should take a picture of a game in the system with a controller hooked up, maybe on a white background. In the corner you could add "The Future is Now". Make it look like a subtle advert. I'd totally put that on my desktop background.

 

[city41]

Last Blade 3... if only

These are awesome, thanks for making them.

 

[Caprica Orange]

As far as "controversial" goes, IF you decide to get back into AES. Make sure you buy from respected members etc. I just got back into AES again myself and noticed the very well made conversions flooding the market. Specially from Spain and Belgium what I heard. Those are bound to be sold again once as "bought from collector, looks legit". I remember the early conversions where it was more easy to tell. (we need a unibios with some kind of "conversion check" )

 

[HeavyMachineGoob]

How can you check for a conversion with the UniBIOS? Real conversions use MVS mask ROMs, they'd have the same checksum and data as a comparable AES version. To the Neo Geo, a conversion is the same as a legit cart. The only way to identify a conversion is by checking the boards and paper.

 

[SNKorSWM]

As far as "controversial" goes, IF you decide to get back into AES. Make sure you buy from respected members etc. I just got back into AES again myself and noticed the very well made conversions flooding the market. Specially from Spain and Belgium what I heard. Those are bound to be sold again once as "bought from collector, looks legit". I remember the early conversions where it was more easy to tell. (we need a unibios with some kind of "conversion check" )

Even "respected members" like TonK or insaneclown can turn heel at any time.

 

[Caprica Orange]

How can you check for a conversion with the UniBIOS? Real conversions use MVS mask ROMs, they'd have the same checksum and data as a comparable AES version. To the Neo Geo, a conversion is the same as a legit cart. The only way to identify a conversion is by checking the boards and paper.

I know, I was only daydreaming. Anyhow, seems more happened than I have even imagined.

 

[Normdog]

Very nice! Thanks for sharing these with us.

 

[cyriades]

Bhm, these wallpapers are all really cool - I love them! I think I'll even print out a few of them for decoration in my gaming area.