Neo Geo AES/CD

[Reaperman]

I know that as a console it is easily switched, but I am curious about original packaging of the unit and whether or not the system ever had the USA language set as default in the system's factory settings when it was shipped here.

You should be able to see on the NGCD mainboard.

have a look here. Open your system up and look for tampering in that region jumper area.

Edited February 23, 2011 by Reaperman

[TheGameCollector]

I know that as a console it is easily switched, but I am curious about original packaging of the unit and whether or not the system ever had the USA language set as default in the system's factory settings when it was shipped here.

You should be able to see on the NGCD mainboard.

have a look here. Open your system up and look for tampering in that region jumper area.

 

Oh I meant as far as getting a CIB US system. What are the outer box differences bewteen US and Japan releases, and what is the rarity of original US units compared to Japanese. Japanese are probably far more common.

[kgenthe]

I went the Neo Geo CD route long ago and have loved it. The Neo Geo CD is terrible for the later fighting games, as the load times are too long. But for anything else, the system is terrific. Many of the pre-95 games have just the initial load time, and then nothing after that. And the games are soooo much cheaper. Owning an original Metal Slug for $70? Hell yeah!

 

The Neo Geo CD is nice because it has standard a/v and s-video jacks right on the back, meaning no tracking down fancy cables. As mentioned above, it's easy to mod as well. Solder one jumper, and viola, all of your games play in English. Many CD games have arranged soundtracks too. I couldn't imagine playing Dunk Dream on an AES. Some games were tweaked for their CD release as well, Magician Lord has a longer life bar which balances out the game play.

 

If you goal is to play King of Fighers, you probably don't want a Neo Geo CD. If you want to play the other games in it's library, you can't go wrong with the NGCD. There are ~94 CD titles, so that should keep you busy.

[Chris Leach]

Ive got an aes and love it..Ive actually got wo. I know if you are picking one up, the earlier models are rumored to not work well with the Phantom one converters for mvs carts. My early system proves this theory. My phantom never works with my older system, but played just fine and like new with my newer console as the pins were tighter?

 

Good luck with the neo geo system....do you like fighters...?

 

Ive had my neo for quite some time now and just recently found what I feel is a great asset to the system. A Multi cart. Over 100 MVS games on one cart adn they play flawless with a converter on your aes console..>!

 

Pick up an AES....pick up an MVS converter and then pick up a multi cart...You have three things that are great...and You can still buy all the mvs and aes carts you want, but dont need to with the multicarts....

 

[HatefulGravey]

Different style of forum is an understatement IMO. If gravey can help it, I recommend him to stay on AtariAge and get help from anybody he can get. This place is great for getting help as it is. Very noob friendly.

 

Concerning your question gravey, that edge connector you see on MVS boards IS a JAMMA port. You attach your JAMMA harness to it instead of soldering, for obvious reasons. 1 Slot boards tend to stay JAMMA-like, only adding stereo sound and 2 extra buttons. Multi-slot boards add some more fuctions to the JAMMA port, so SNK decided to label it MVS so people knew right away it was significantly different.

 

Here's hoping this thread proves useful to other AtariAgers with similar questions. Gravey, if you can, maybe you could edit the thread title to reflect the current subject of the thread? That would be awesome!

 

I know the basics of Jamma, I didn't know what the the MVS boards really were.

 

I don't know how to change to thread name.

 

I hope to find a good board in the next few weeks, talking around the 2 slot works best and I need to be sure I have the RF shielding with the board.

 

Oh, and the only reason I would go away from this forum for help would be to get the board. I can't seem to find them as readily as I hear they should be found.

Edited February 23, 2011 by HatefulGravey

[Chris Leach]

you can change the thread name by clicking on the first post....using full editor and changing the thread name near the top of your edit screen....

[brak]

I have an AES. It's a bit costly to get into, but the games are great. I got myself an AES and 14 games, all complete on box. $500. i lucked out and found it on craigslist locally.

 

The games are a lot of fun though. I know I'll never be able to afford the high dollar games like metal slug or mark of the wolves. I plan on getting myself an MVS cabinet or supergun to get MVS cart for those high dollar games.

[Chris Leach]

I have an AES. It's a bit costly to get into, but the games are great. I got myself an AES and 14 games, all complete on box. $500. i lucked out and found it on craigslist locally.

 

The games are a lot of fun though. I know I'll never be able to afford the high dollar games like metal slug or mark of the wolves. I plan on getting myself an MVS cabinet or supergun to get MVS cart for those high dollar games.

 

the rought hing about a cabinter is the fact that you still have to own the carts and you can not transport a cab very easiy...some heavy lifting, a big truck and a forklift come to mind?

 

Either way....if you are going the cab route, why not just get an emulation program...put all the roms on it and a fancy joystick..then you are set to go.

 

Ive got a pc with all those games on there including the 12000$ encounter game and to tell you the truth, Id rather play my neo with the hack multi cart of neo bomberman.....just more enjoyable to see it on my tv and sitting in my own chair, rather than standing up for a couple minutes wishing I had put 4 different games into my 4 slot mvs cab that cost me some bucks....

[Charlie_]

I've had my AES since 1990. Over the years I've had many many games but these days about 20 is what I have left.

 

I have a dedicated MVS cabinet. A local arcade was throwing away a beat up Universal Mr.Do. I did lots of body works a new monitor and MV1F board. I have several MVS carts but mostly I just use a 108 in 1 multicart.

 

I also have a Super Converter II and I use that to play MVS games in my AES. There are some scaling issues, but its not that bad, and works really well. Even the 108 in 1 multicart works great in the converter.

 

I'd recommend Magician Lord, cause its not NeoGeo with out having that game.

Then there great games like Magical Drop and any of the Metal slug games. There is where a converter comes in handy. The MVS versions are cheap. AES Metal Slugs cost a lot. Then again they are all on the 108 in 1 multicart.....

[brak]

 

 

Either way....if you are going the cab route, why not just get an emulation program...put all the roms on it and a fancy joystick..then you are set to go.

 

I got a MAME cabinet now with an X-arcade stick on it, full of roms. I just like the look of the MVS cab.

 

due to space reasons, i may have to go super gun instead.

[HatefulGravey]

I have a MAME machine in the house as well. However I went for the custom built control panel over those xarcade deals. the ipac route it much more fun and oh so worth it.

 

Now I can play MVS games on there, but that isn't near as much fun as plugging a real cart into real hardware and playing the game for real... I really like playing the real stuff you see.

 

Stupid parts. I don't know that I have ever had 2 days and the internet to find something and came up with nothing. Power supplies and such I can get. A freaking board? NOPE! I'll find it, but I tell you I'm used to being able to find things easier then this. As a matter of fact the AES is easier to find over all, just isn't as cool as customer hardware and arcade carts on the tv.

 

Come to think of it everything for this is harder to find then I would think it would be. Controllers and all. I'll find them, and when I do I'll post places to get them here I guess. I would think eBay, but so far no luck without crazy prices and/or importing that is.

[Reaperman]

I would think eBay, but so far no luck without crazy prices and/or importing that is.

Every so often, somebody dumps a bunch of $50+ship buy-it-now mvs 1-slot boards. I stress the 'every so often' part. Any more than 1 slot, and you'll never find them cheaply.

 

Shipping is almost always high on neo geo stuff too, probably because neo geo fans generally demand it. Carts and boards tend to run about twice what one would expect for shipping but usually come packed very well. There's currently a $75 1-slot on there that would be fine except for the $30 shipping.

Edited February 23, 2011 by Reaperman

[Austin]

The Neo-Geo CD gets a bad rap. Far more than it deserves, IMO. It's a fantastic introduction to the Neo-Geo platform. Games can be relatively cheap compared to carts and as it's already been stated, if you don't feel like spending a lot of money.. you can always play backups. It requires a very minimal initial investment compared to the AES platform ($100 - $200, up to $300 if you want a CIB CDZ). You will have to deal with the dreaded load times.. but is it as bad as people make it out to be? Provided you stay away from the fighting games, then not really. All games have an initial minute or two load sequence, however for many games, there is no loading after this. Essentially, you are playing the game as if you were on a MVS or AES system, albeit sometimes with an enhanced CD soundtrack.

 

For many later titles and fighting games, there is the initial boot load sequence, but there are often almost equally long load sequences between matches or levels (in Pulstar's case). In the tag team fighters, there is a long load sequence even BETWEEN ROUNDS (Terrible when it's three on three).

 

Basically, if you stay away from the fighting games, the Neo CD is a good investment. I personally keep mine around for the action games. There are plenty of them!

[Koopa64]

If anybody cares, I'm currently waiting for the rest of my Supergun parts to ship in so I can try my hand at this MVS board I got. Now I'll be honest here, I bought an MVS board that was reported as non-working, with the symptom being garbled graphics. Why would I do this? For a few reasons actually.

 

- Repairing something ups my soldering experience and I love doing it.

- It was a steal at $30 shipped.

- Came with 1 cartridge, so I can test it easier.

- Again, I am no stranger to soldering. I feel I can get this board working.

 

Now, given my analysis of repair logs for these boards, it seems that RAM errors of any kind almost always require an IC to be replaced. Now plain old garbled graphics could be caused by either dirt, eaten traces or sometimes bad ICs. It can also mean there's a problem with the cartridge, such as broken solder joints or again, too much dirt interfering with the connection.

 

Even if for some reason, the repair needed is beyond my skill level, I still got a bargain on this board. Basically I bought an MVS cartridge and got a free non-working motherboard with it.

 

I wanted to save all this for after I have some results, but I wanted to point out to hatefulgravey that there are always deals to be found. That MVS board I got was only purchased recently. Keep your eyes open gravey, you'll find an MVS board in no time.

 

Oh yeah, have you decided on a board yet? I was looking for no board in particular, I got what was available.

[HatefulGravey]

Oh yeah, have you decided on a board yet? I was looking for no board in particular, I got what was available.

 

I was told 2 and 4 slot boards work best. So a 2 slot as the 4 slot are going to be even more costly. Now that is what I want. I'll take a great deal on something else if it comes up. I really like the 1 slot consoles I have seen, but it would seem best to use the smaller board to do that and I don't see those as often.

 

So, a smaller 1 slot would be nice, of a 2 slot.

 

What kills me is a few years ago I sold the exact 1 slot board I would be wanting here and I knew it worked. I never knew this was possible so I thought "if I get a MVS machine I'll but a 4 slot anyway, what do I need this for". I could kick myself right in the face for this.

 

I have concerns that I might get a board that says it works, but with no way to test it who really knows. I could have this thing built just to find out the board was bad to start with... This is not a hobby for the weak of heart.

[Koopa64]

Wasn't Tempest or somebody looking at selling their MVS collection? He had a 2-Slot board IIRC. If he hasn't sold it, consider giving him (or whoever was selling) a PM.

 

Anyway, my personal opinion is get a nice 1-Slot or 2-Slot board. To me at least, the 4-Slot is kinda risky. For the older, larger 4-Slot, a very common problem is the leaky battery. If it goes out, it can give the board the crosshatch of death (basically the system can't recognize any cart inserted). That's why I'd be wary getting a 4-Slot board, if only because of that. If you could find a verified working 4-Slot, or perhaps the newer and smaller version, I'd say go for it. Otherwise, find a 2-Slot or nice 1-Slot board.

 

As for what my definition of a nice 1-Slotter is, it'd either be the MV-1F, MV-1A or MV-1FZ. Why the MV-1F? Because it has built in controller ports, but not as big as the MV-1. It ALSO has a plastic cartridge thingy, as apposed to a metal one which can easily corrode before you purchase it. As for the 1A and 1FZ, they are the best mix of big and small IMO. They have socketed BIOSes which makes UniBIOS mods stupid easy, compared to the soldered BIOSes in the MV-1B and 1C (the MV-1B needs a UniBIOS, otherwise it can't play some games. It was mainly used for The Irritating Maze). Not to mention, they really are the best size. Not too big and not too small. The MV-1B is insane how much the cartridge hangs over the front of the unit.

 

Lastly, yeah I agree with you on that note on the end. There's never a guarantee you'll get a problem-free board. This IS arcade hardware after all. It's gonna have been used and abused like no tomorrow. Or stored poorly, like my MVS board (tons of dust). You need to be handy with a soldering iron, or you'll quickly hit a road block.

[fdurso224]

Hi guys,

 

 

The Neo-Geo AES is a real great system! I've spent thousands of dollars and countless hours enhancing my collection and library of games? Would I do it again? Yes I would! Love the console to death!

 

Anthony....

[HatefulGravey]

I have found more MVS boards, adjusting how I'm searching eBay has turned up different stuff. I have also done some looking and reading about the boards. I have a few months to get the needed items it would seem so I'll find what I want. Seems the power supply will be easy, and the video converter I yet know nothing about. If I'm going to have a hard time with the power supply or converter please let me know now so I don't get caught sleeping on them.

 

The board I want is the MV-2F I think. It has the metal shield that can be easily used as the top of the console and the built in controller ports and I think stereo sound. A 1 slot is still of the table but the 1F is just too big. I would have to get another board and add controller ports I think. I have seen a few neat looking 1C models made....

 

If is crazy how fast you learn new things BTW. I get too into this stuff sometimes.

Edited February 24, 2011 by HatefulGravey

[Koopa64]

I have found more MVS boards, adjusting how I'm searching eBay has turned up different stuff. I have also done some looking and reading about the boards. I have a few months to get the needed items it would seem so I'll find what I want. Seems the power supply will be easy, and the video converter I yet know nothing about. If I'm going to have a hard time with the power supply or converter please let me know now so I don't get caught sleeping on them.

 

Yeah, forgot to mention that. Changing the wording of your searches can bring up hidden items. I've seen different stuff by typing in "neogeo" rather than "Neo Geo". Good job figuring that out on your own.

 

Yes, the power supply is the easiest part to get. Anything will do really, but an ATX supply is the easiest. I got a 300w supply and frankly it's overkill for what I'm using it for. I could power a 6-Slot board with this thing.

 

There isn't much to the video converter. For $40 you can easily find Composite + S-Video ones. If you want Component, you'll probably be looking at $100. I already linked to Jammaboards which DID have those converters in stock, they just emptied recently (I snagged one of them). Keep an eye open there, I'm sure they'll restock.

 

The board I want is the MV-2F I think. It has the metal shield that can be easily used as the top of the console and the built in controller ports and I think stereo sound. A 1 slot is still of the table but the 1F is just too big. I would have to get another board and add controller ports I think. I have seen a few neat looking 1C models made....

 

If you think the MV-1F is big, don't even look at the MV1. It's a freakin yacht that board is. Good luck finding a 2 Slotter, they are nice machines, but they are in large demand so the price will be steep to match that demand.

 

EDIT: Forgot something. If you're gonna get a controller port-less MVS board, remember that the new ports are suppose to go inside the supergun, not the board itself. Not sure if you already knew that or not. Jamma provides for virtually everything. It's a very cool standard I think.

 

If is crazy how fast you learn new things BTW. I get too into this stuff sometimes.

 

Yeah, except I've known all this for over 2 years now. It's amazing what happens when you just read about a certain subject over and over again over a long period of time... It just sticks. Much of what I'm talking about here is old news to me.

Edited February 24, 2011 by Koopa64

[coyo5050]

MV-2F is the way to go. I have 2. One is actually a CMVS and it is one of my very favorite "systems" The MVS carts are so much less expensive.

 

The Neo Geo CD was my first experience with Neo (Ebay seller in Japan) and it was obviously good enough to get me hooked enough to get an AES and CMVS. Got the japanese CD version but incredibly easy to mod it with a region switch. Now I can choose red blood or green blood with english so best of both worlds.

Edited February 24, 2011 by coyo5050

[+thanatos]

You can get a good starter system here: http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/167718-neo-geo-aes-collection/

 

[Koopa64]

You weren't the person I was thinking thanatos. I still think it was Tempest with the massive MVS collection with a 2-Slotter.

 

Good luck with the AES sale anyway. I still think it's overpriced, but then again, I'm a chronic cheapass, it's in my blood.

[HatefulGravey]

You can get a good starter system here: http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/167718-neo-geo-aes-collection/

 

 

I'm saving money now, and working extra hard. If I can get there soon you have a deal. Maybe Monday I'll find out that Uncle Sam is being extra nice to me. To say I was interested would be a dramatic under statement. As good as my wife is to me though I can never let her know what this one set me back, so give me some time, if its there I'm on it like white on rice.

 

@Koopa64

I have seen the ports built into the casing of the board and thats ok. I understand that means more work and as such more labor cost, but it will all be worth it when I'm done with it. I'm also thinking about building a supergun too. I might build one now ish, but more board, use the supergun to test the board and play around until I get the chance to have the consol built, and then sell the supergun here at cost. I can have my cake and eat it to in such a way. Just a thought, but from what I have seen the supergun isn't that complicated really and I can get that done. Just a thought.

[Chris Leach]

Here is a fellow AA'er selling a nice start up set Neo Geo w/games

 

[HatefulGravey]

Here is a fellow AA'er selling a nice start up set Neo Geo w/games

 

 

Somebody is late to the party...