Neo-Geo

Introduced in 1990, the Neo Geo was very unique in that it was both an arcade platform and a home console. Since the home console hardware was exactly the same as the arcade hardware, it was finally possible to truly have arcade games at home. However the home console was ridiculously expensive at $649 and individual games were around $200, about the same as the full Genesis or SNES consoles from the time.

I wanted one so bad when I was a kid. I concocted all sorts of schemes that involved me combining Christmas and birthday gifts across multiple years and doing tons of chores in hopes of getting one.

Thankfully, my parents were sane and didn’t listen to my wishes. If they had, I would probably still have to mow their lawn (which now would involve air travel) and still wouldn’t be able to receive any gifts from them. Plus, if they got me one I would have been one of those spoiled brats with a Neo Geo. I was already that spoiled brat with an Amiga, so if I got a Neo Geo too that would have just been absurd.

My desires were soon replaced with something else, and the world moved on. But… Neo Geo is still cool, and I’ve always kind of wanted one. Since the home console Neo Geo (or AES) was so expensive and not a huge success, it is still fairly rare and expensive. However, the arcade hardware (or MVS) was a huge success and is really common. Since these days I like arcade hardware, I bought a Neo Geo MVS motherboard and some games. It’s awesome!