With the high demand for Neo-Geo titles, should SNK go back to MVS/AES?

[hyper]

NG Dev is the "Last Hope" in this arena

 

[Tech&Music]

Would be awesome, but SNK really dropped the ball with Neo Geo X. Would you trust them with producing AES carts again when they couldn't even do that right. Granted, it wasn't them that did it but still.

I think there's less that could go wrong in reproducing cartridges than doing a complete new hardware project that aims to emulate their old console. Whereas the NGX required hardware and software design (loyally screwed up by Tommo Inc.), cartridges have already been made, are far less complex, and I doubt it would be very difficult to reproduce them. How else would bootleggers have made their carts? Also, they might be able to contract someone more capable to do this. Remember, Tommo thinks they can revive Bubsy. Yes, Bubsy. And Tommo seemed to have no experience in hardware production, so they probably had barely any clue what they were even going into.

Making new PCBs based around the schematics SNK probably still has (or can obtain, though I think they don't even really need them), or at least modifying them to work with the ICs readily available nowadays (just in case some ICs used in the old Neo Geo carts aren't produced anymore), having them assembled and having new cases made (they might still have plastic molds for the carts, or they can produce new ones), seems far less complex than the design behind the NGX and seems less likely to be screwed up. Unless they contract a dodgy company to produce the carts and have them do an absolute shit job in assembling them and in quality control, of course, although after the NGX ordeal I'd expect SNK to be a bit more careful with that. Again, there's still Chinese companies producing MVS carts such as multi-carts for the Neo Geo. If they can do this, so can SNK, and they can do it better provided they hire the right guys.

I think it would be more of a financial dilemma rather than a hardware one. Lower demand = higher price, and higher price = less sales. I'd applaud them if they tried it in small scale first, but I wouldn't be surprised if they steer clear from that stuff after the NGX fiasco and now solely focus on software. The NG market is probably not very large, although most NG fans are willing to pay a bit more (so it seems to this newb, feel free to scold me and correct me if I'm wrong), so I wouldn't deem it impossible, just unlikely.

EDIT: I realize I haven't gone into software at all, mostly because I'm not too familiar with the homebrew scene of NG (yet), and don't know if SNK still has employees that have the knowledge of programming for the NG. Else they would have to outsource it to homebrew programmers, and that might be tricky to orchestrate. But again, I'm not too familiar with this.

 

[Tanooki]

I think on a limited basis maybe presells and do various MVS and AES carts for existing hardware, maybe open some tech support lines back up for repairs/troubleshooting would be more interesting and practical. Beyond that, new games like NG Dev. There's plenty of hardware out there, demand too, but also demand at the right price. It's not hard to watch ebay and see how much stuff flies through every day that sells or not at what price which helps whittle out the trolls on that side of things. The question is what profit would be there for it and how much would it cost them in re-startup to do it inside or out (outsourced as the boots, etc we see now are.) It's a pipe dream but I'd be interested in MVS obviously.

 

[BanishingFlatsAC]

Even at $600 a pop and them selling 10k pieces (which they'd have a hard time doing, SNK will never do this. If you think you're going to get a repro or new homecart from SNK you're living in a fantasy world.

 

[madman]

Another one of these threads? It's not going to happen, people.

 

[Mr Bakaboy]

Unless they know of a company they can outsource it to I highly doubt it. I just don't see the new SNK caring about it. Especially since it became impossible to stop bootleggers. That was the reason they went to the Atomiswave.

 

[ShootTheCore]

Actually there is an official channel available for purchasing Neo Geo games directly from SNK - today's Neo Geo Humble Bundle Encore. Just pledge $10 and get pretty much the entire SNKP-licensed library nicely packaged for emulation on your PC.

Is it worthwhile for SNK to produce a new AES/MVS game? I'd say No - the hardware is too old and finicky for a modern games company that has to answer to shareholders and show big profits to bother messing with. It's far easier for them to produce a new KOF on current platforms - the software development environments and tools are better, there's no cartridge production to mess with, and the vast majority of fans won't care what platform it's running on as long as the game is good.

Is it worthwhile for SNK to produce an official multi-cart of all the games? Perhaps it was a few years ago, but I think that today that window of opportunity is nearly closed. The Chinese multicarts are cheap, plentiful and get the job done for the majority of retro game enthusiasts. As soon as someone develops a quality flash cart, that will address the problems with the multicarts (glitches, missing games) and put the nail in the coffin as far as multicart interest goes.

You could just as easily make the same argument for other retro consoles - Nintendo should release an official NES multicart, Sega should release an official Genesis multicart, etc. None of that is happening, and the flash carts are selling like crazy. Emulation is the easy way for game producers to milk those old game libraries - not producing new cartridges.

For better or worse, SNKP is done with the original AES/MVS/CD hardware. Embrace it and support your favorite hardware repair folks and indie development teams.

 

[ResO]

SNK could just publish a 3rd party title. It's not like SSVS was made by SNK. The majority of Neo Games don't seem to be made by SNK.

Everyone said "dream on" when SNK died in 2001...

 

[MCF 76]

NG Dev is the "Last Hope" in this arena

Ha, yeah and Kurtz / Neobitz I wish he would do more stuff K. C. was ace.