Help for the new Neo Geo collector!

[raindog151]

Well, after 16 years, I've finally gotten what I've always wanted, a NeoGeo AES with a copy of Magiican Lord and a memory card!

 

I'm fairly familiar with pricing and availability of other US consoles, but I'll be the first to say I don't know a thing about the AES. Does anyone have advice on collecting carts? Prices seem to range from 25$ to Insane$, is it best to watch auctions, private sales, etc? Do JP/EU carts work in the US version?

 

Any advice is appreciated!

[spacecadet]

I'm fairly familiar with pricing and availability of other US consoles, but I'll be the first to say I don't know a thing about the AES. Does anyone have advice on collecting carts? Prices seem to range from 25$ to Insane$, is it best to watch auctions, private sales, etc? Do JP/EU carts work in the US version?

 

All carts work in all systems, and IIRC in most cases you'll even get the correct language for your system. (You can build a switch in to your system to get the other languages if you want - some carts include different content as well for different regions.)

 

The biggest resource for Neo Geo stuff, including private sales of carts (as well as public sales through their store) is http://www.neo-geo.com/

 

They're basically the AtariAge of Neo Geo, although they sell more commercial carts through the site itself.

 

As for collecting carts, virtually all Neo Geo carts start out at around $300-$400 and then almost always move downward (often slowly). Generally, NG carts are worth the most when new. So you may as well start with some of the older, cheaper games and then move up. There are some exceptions, like some of the Metal Slug games are in the thousands.

 

You can also buy an MVS converter, which sounds expensive at around $300 (they may be less now), but when you're talking about the difference between like $1,700 for a particular iteration of Metal Slug on the AES vs. $150 for the exact same game on the MVS, you can come out ahead just on that one game. And then you'll be able to buy MVS carts from then on, which are almost always cheaper than AES carts. (The difference between the AES and MVS is just the pinout, but MVS carts are universally more common.)

 

I will add that reading my post over, collecting for this system still sounds pretty insane. I personally have one cart for my AES, and it's I think the first release of Samurai Shodown, which was like $25. I may never buy any others. (I do kinda want 2020 Super Baseball, which is also only like $40.) I can't see ever paying more than that for a single game when most of the Neo Geo's games have now been ported to other systems, often with multiple games to a disc. (Admittedly, they almost never play quite as well as the originals, even on the most modern systems.)

Edited December 4, 2006 by spacecadet

[raindog151]

this is all great advice, thanks so much!

 

 

All carts work in all systems, and IIRC in most cases you'll even get the correct language for your system. (You can build a switch in to your system to get the other languages if you want - some carts include different content as well for different regions.)

 

[masschamber]

As a fellow neo geo collector/gamer I'll say do yourself a favor and snag and mvs convertor, you probably can get a purple phantom 1 for around 150-200 dollars, which you'll more then make up for with just a few games

 

also to make your system play in english you can get it unibiosed Jerry Kurtz does it for like $45 or something, I personally haven't had it done yet but it's probably a wise move

 

as far as aes games go I'd recommend going after the following games in aes format

samurai spirits 2, on a good day you can get a copy for less then 20 dollars, it's well worth it, plus outside of some absurdly rare ps1 collection it's a neo geo exclusive, that and the cover art rocks

Nam 75, about 25 bucks, it's fun, a neo exclusive and readily available

 

as far as auctions go , neogeo as a single word tends to result in lower auction prices (I personally snagged a Kof 2000 for only 60 dollars shipped because it was sold as a neogeo JES game)

 

watch auctions like a hawk and occasionally good deals will show up, bewary of games like metal slug though as odd are it's a conversion (mvs chips put in an aes board)

 

As far as more valuable games go I personally have 3 expensive games by my standards (samurai spirits 4, Svc Chaos, Senguko 3), and they are great games, plus they double as a conservative investment, but you have to ask yourself if you'll really enjoy it enough to justify the price,

[Jess Ragan]

The best advice that I can offer about collecting Neo-Geo AES games is not to start. You'd be better off getting an MVS cabinet or Supergun, then buying the arcade versions of the games. They're cheaper, and uncensored.

 

JR

[ubersaurus]

Get older games because they're the cheap ones. I also suggest looking into the quality of ports on other consoles-generally they're cheaper, and unless you're a stickler, most of them are fairly good. Particularly of newer games.

[Jess Ragan]

Yuber speaks the truth. The Dreamcast version of Mark of the Wolves at $25 is every bit as fun as the Neo-Geo version at $500. And King of Fighters Evolution on the Dreamcast is even better than its Neo-Geo cousin!

 

JR

[jesusc]

it's crazy how even the stupid games hold their value.

I have a system with 8 or 9 games, nothing that great; but the one game I really really want is League Bowling. Don't ask me why, I jsut love that game. However, I'm not willing to pay $50 for it.

[kevincal]

It seems AES games are going down in price considerably lately...on eBay atleast. Of course, with the exception of the very rare games.

[Dusk2600]

it's crazy how even the stupid games hold their value.

I have a system with 8 or 9 games, nothing that great; but the one game I really really want is League Bowling. Don't ask me why, I jsut love that game. However, I'm not willing to pay $50 for it.

 

gee i wonder where you got the games for your neo geo

 

me

[Ze_ro]

The NeoGeo collecting scene is pretty horrible. I have an AES myself, and I love it to death, but the prices are just ridiculous, and the amount of drama amung NeoGeo collectors is just brutal. There's also the prospect of converted and pirate carts that make things risky.

 

Unless you have money to burn, then you really should get a Phantom-1. Except for a handful of rare cases, the MVS versions are always cheaper (usually by a large amount too), and there are a number of good games that were never even released for AES. Unfortunately, the MVS games don't look nearly as nice as boxed AES games, but if that's important to you, then you can always buy some shockboxes to even things out.

 

As for cheap games, basically all the early AES games can be found for less than $50 on eBay... so Magician Lord, Baseball Stars, NAM-1975, and so on. Aside from these early releases, a lot of the earlier fighting games (Fatal Fury, World Heroes, Samurai Shodown, Art of Fighting) can be found for relatively cheap too, although 90% of the ones you'll see on eBay will be the Japanese releases.

 

--Zero

[Dusk2600]

there is no point of having an aes without a phantom converter, bottom line.

[Crazy Climber]

Just get an MVS

It looks really cool and all the games are cheap.

[raindog151]

there is no point of having an aes without a phantom converter, bottom line.

 

That seems to be the one piece of advice everyone has. There's only a handful of games I want to pick up (Metal Slugs, Garou:motw, NAM, handful of shmups) so that would probably be the best route.

 

This is just one of those things I always wanted to have. Can't bring myself to go the MVS route yet.

 

Thanks all for your input!

[raindog151]

I'm fairly confident on this one, but I don't need the PCB to play MVS carts on a converter, correct?

 

Thanks!

Edited December 7, 2006 by raindog151

[vincewy]

I'm fairly confident on this one, but I don't need the PCB to play MVS carts on a converter, correct?

 

Thanks!

 

 

That is correct, your AES system + converter will substitue PCB and MVS board. Also, I'm afraid you're 10 years too late to start collecting if you try to get all AES carts. If you're not prepared to spend a lot of money, my advise is not getting started at all, it's a money pit you won't soon climb out of. The only good part about it is, if I ever need to sell it (hopefully I won't have to), they'll always retain the value.

 

 

The NeoGeo collecting scene is pretty horrible. I have an AES myself, and I love it to death, but the prices are just ridiculous, and the amount of drama amung NeoGeo collectors is just brutal. There's also the prospect of converted and pirate carts that make things risky.

 

Actually it wans't like this back in the 90s, none of the games I got cost over $400, I got pretty much every game at release, especially those I knew that will be hard to find, certain titles like KOF, Real Bout, and Samurai 1-3 I actually waited til price drop. Don't be deluded by the drama queens on Neo-Geo.com, most serious collectors stay out of the site and simply lurk there, it gives very bad impressions about NG collectors, sometimes I feel embarrassed to be a NG collector but that's another topic. Games like Neo Turfmasters, Metal Slug, Blazing Star are mor ethan likely conversions today since hardly anyone is willing to part their own games.

 

As a felllow collector, I started collecting AES cart in 1994, thinking I would be content with Samurai Shodown [sic] and Fatal Fury Special alone, well, 12 years later, look at the COLLECTIONS I HAVE NOW (note: NO CONVERSION IN MY COLLECTION) , it's actually bigger than the pics since I got all the releases after 2002 plus another box of 10 I didn't pull out containing the earliest US AES carts like Magician Lord, Sengoku, etc. I also have complete sealed US Dreamcast and 100+ sealed Gamecube collections.

 

If you're serious about getting a sizeable collection and ready to spend a lot of money, I recommend combo of Enlgish and Japanese carts. I also recommend flying to Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong to get many of the games, Taiwan/HK got received all English carts when SNK released the games there, I found a lot of game sdirt cheap here, the savings you'll receive more than make up the cost of the plane ticket.

Edited December 8, 2006 by vincewy

[EmOneGarand]

Well, after 16 years, I've finally gotten what I've always wanted, a NeoGeo AES with a copy of Magiican Lord and a memory card!

 

I'm fairly familiar with pricing and availability of other US consoles, but I'll be the first to say I don't know a thing about the AES. Does anyone have advice on collecting carts? Prices seem to range from 25$ to Insane$, is it best to watch auctions, private sales, etc? Do JP/EU carts work in the US version?

 

Any advice is appreciated!

If you don't care about collecting US carts, go with Japanese. Most of the Japanese carts arn't sought after by greedy collectors for reselling so you can get some great prices and their bi-lingual so theres no language barriers. (This doesn't apply for the Metal Slug games... US or Jap.. always cost your first born child..)

[raindog151]

Don't be deluded by the drama queens on Neo-Geo.com

 

Heh, that nugget will save me a lot of time.

 

Anyone care to share their opinions on what the top 3 shmup's are?

 

Also, can someone tell me what they think a fair (buying) price is for a first gen AES controller? I paid way too much for a second gen, and it feels like a piece of s***.

[raindog151]

posted twice, sorry.

Edited December 8, 2006 by raindog151

[Ze_ro]

Anyone care to share their opinions on what the top 3 shmup's are?

1. Blazing Star
   
2. Blazing Star
   
3. Blazing Star
   

--Zero

[Jess Ragan]

Wait, I think you forgot Twinkle Star Sprites on that list. That list of one game.

 

Anyway, my personal choices are Twinkle Star Sprites (girly? Yes. Fun? DEFINITELY!!!), Blazing Star, and if you're in a really masochistic mood, Pulstar. It's basically R-Type, somehow made even harder.

 

JR

[Ze_ro]

Twinkle Star Sprites is fun, but it's hard to call it a real shooter... it's sort of off in it's own category. The rest of the shooters on the system are well done, but I find most of them to be downright unfair with the difficulty. I used to remember Viewpoint being such an amaing game when I was a kid, then I bought the game, and I can't even get to the second level. Andro Dunos and Pulstar are also very difficult, and I can't figure out what's going on in Alpha Mission II. Basically, Blazing Star is so far ahead of all of them in my opinion that there's really no competition.

 

The Shock Troopers games are fun too... they're in the vein of Ikari Warriors or Out Zone, which is good company to be in.

 

--Zero

[Kitsune Sniper]

Yuber speaks the truth. The Dreamcast version of Mark of the Wolves at $25 is every bit as fun as the Neo-Geo version at $500.

If you like having your DC's lens motor burn out because of all the goddamn disc accesses performed every time a sound is made? Then it's for you.

 

Yes, the game is fun, and it's just as good as it is on the Neo, but I don't want to wait two seconds for Terry to say ANYTHING during a fight... your DC's lens motor will also love you for it. :\

[MCHufnagel]

Yuber speaks the truth. The Dreamcast version of Mark of the Wolves at $25 is every bit as fun as the Neo-Geo version at $500.

If you like having your DC's lens motor burn out because of all the goddamn disc accesses performed every time a sound is made? Then it's for you.

 

Yes, the game is fun, and it's just as good as it is on the Neo, but I don't want to wait two seconds for Terry to say ANYTHING during a fight... your DC's lens motor will also love you for it. :\

Yes, but you can buy 10 Dreamcasts plus the game and have money left over for dinner with the wife/girlfriend for the price of the Neo-Geo version!