Neo Geo Pocket Color - Why Did This Console Fail?

When you hear the Neo Geo brand, your immediate thoughts may drift to fighting games in arcades or perhaps to the excellent Neo Geo aex home platform, the Rolls-Royce of gaming

console

s in 1990. What a crazy beast it was. that one, but today we will focus on something. Snk's much smaller,

pocket

-sized range of Neo Geo handhelds date back to the late 90s. SNK wanted to expand their Horizons and try to compete against Nintendo with Point's old Game Boy, so join me today to discuss the release of these things once they brought. to the table and some of the exciting games they have to offer, how much fun you could have with these little SNK machines, let's find out.

All that being said, I'm the lazy decade and

this

is the story of the Neo Geo Pockets

color

and ultimately why. Has

fail

ed, thanks regarding portable gaming in the 1990s, everyone could tell you that one definitive handheld dominated the market, the simple but iconic Game Boy, since the original Game Boy was released with the legendary Tetris title on Western Nintendo's budget platform with four shades of green The display was the high water mark for all gamers on the go,

this

didn't mean that others wouldn't attempt to challenge the Game Boy's supremacy, although with some early efforts offering some competition physically wonderful, Atari would challenge Nintendo with its links, NEC would make a great effort.

Literal portable PC Engine with its GT PC engine and Sega would fight valiantly for years with the Game Gear; However, in due time, Nintendo still found itself on the portable device market just after the selection. Not only was the Game Boy significantly cheaper than its competitors. with full

color

screens, but the battery life is significantly longer due to its simplicity and Tetris and a Super Mario Land in the mix, this quickly led to sales of Rapid and Game Boy with the speeds at which the soldier of Tetris hardware didn't take long to arrive. had a library of games greater than that of all its contemporaries, in 1998 the Game Boy was nine years old and thanks to the second wind of popularity that the success of Pokémon gave it, Nintendo's portable cells were still going strong with the PC GT engine Sega Game Gear and Atari Link, long doomed at this point, a competitor would be thrown into the ring as the century was ending, but to understand why SNK would join the handheld markets, we must first look at its past up to this point. spot.

In the late '80s and early '90s, arcade game developer S K Woods pioneered an innovative way of handling new releases in the competitive arcade game markets, while standard methods of releasing New York cabinets to companies would have to be a completely new machine released, SNK adopted the interchangeable cartridge. model, the Neo Geo multi-video system brought new levels of convenience to Arcade owners with a relatively powerful chipset and simple cartridge concept, multiple arcade titles could be swapped on the fly or even installed simultaneously, giving Mill Rats a variety of games to play that you could not even imagine watching at home, unless you are rich and can afford the Neo Geo AES Home

console

of course, but let's talk about the average gamer, since most people play SNK games at home and will eventually make their way to other home platforms, usually the thermicon Mega Drive PC engine and a super famicom with this obviously a fair amount of limitations would be induced into them, in particular characters like Earthquake and Samurai Showdown being omitted entirely or were greatly reduced in stature when they expanded to the 16-bit console and games like Art of Fighting had to find a solution for their innovative zoom techniques, but for handheld computers, some of the titles would make their way to Game Gear and Game Boy, but they'd basically be full of reinventions for the platform, as there's no way Nintendo If Sega's limited devices could really handle the power and often being outsourced to another third party wouldn't allow SNK to micromanage the port with the home console and arcade scoreboards concluding their era of dominance as they transitioned to 3D graphics.

SNK decided to look at three different avenues. one would be Reinventing the wheel with the hyper Neo Geo 64 based on polygonal games for arcades Neo gocd trying to cut costs at home and the topic of today's video addressing the portable market for advanced 2D games in arcades and at home which has been snk's Breads and Butter for years was no longer in Vogue, so the company would need to diversify their product range if they were to have any hope of continuing to survive in modern gaming. Unfortunately, SNK's 1994 Neo gocd products made me live up to the company's expectations with their high prices and slow loading times turning off many consumers.

This with its limited library and competing consoles released that year, such as Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn, it didn't have much chance, really the Neo gocd, its launch was already outdated in comparison. Faced with its competitors, Neo gocd struggled to gain widespread popularity and market share, leading to its ultimate

fail

ure within the gaming market. As for the hyper Neo Geo Arcane Hardware, things were no better. Snk in 1997 led to producing polygonal arcade games did not go as planned with their paid link titles compared to those released by Namco and other successful arcade giants, very few Hyper Neo Geo games were produced and it was only a matter of time until For this effort to conclude, meaning that a lot of hope was being placed on the Neo Geo handheld, the platform they would produce to compete with the old Game Boy, finally in 1998 SNK developed and released their monochrome machine, the Neo Geo

pocket

, While only offering monochrome graphics for a portable console of its time, the Neo Geo Pockets boasted impressiveness.

The hardware capabilities, its 16-bit CPU and Toshiba tlcs-900h core, allowed for smooth gameplay and relatively detailed graphics, especially compared to the Game Boy with a single 256 by 256 square black and white screen like the latest variants. Nintendo's Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket, there are two. It ran on two AAA batteries but would add a CR203 for full backup memory and clock functionality. The Neo Geo Pockets form factor was relatively compact and comfortable, making it easy to carry and play. Its size and weight made it a portable gaming option for fans who wanted to enjoy their favorite games outside their homes, the system's highly praised directional pads would replicate the Neo geocd's controller rather than being a simple membrane pad like the one seen on the Game Boy, if you haven't owned one of these, is an attempt to bring the clicky nature of arcade joysticks with a circular pad with microswitches and, according to many, one of the more solid digital pads that are revered to this day, even eight bits.

Retro-inspired controller producers have worked with SNK to replicate this in modern controllers. systems, the control scheme feels great in the features departments like Game Boy, the Neogeo Pockets Link cable allowed for a good multiplayer experience, players could connect to two Neo Geo Pockets devices using the Link cable and enjoy the game head-to-head or swap items and characters in compatible games, a smart feature considering the recent success of Pokémon, plus this SNK design, the Neo Geo pockets are for connecting to the Sega Dreamcast, of all things, a connection cable Dreamcast would provide some chances of connecting the two 90s. giants in their exit from the hardware business, six titles would take advantage of this before being the Dreamcast releases of the games Capcom versus SNK and King of Fighters, allowing points transfers, character unlocks and more to reward players who have explored the snk pocket library despite including lots. of promising design elements largely, the Neo Geo Pocket was dead on arrival and was therefore only released in limited regions that never made it to the United States or even snk Fighters-friendly countries like Brazil, with weak sales, the console would only see 10 titles divided mainly between sports, fighters and puzzles King Fighters are one and Samurai Showdown would represent fighters on the console surprisingly moving the frenetic action to the handheld despite these quality fighters, pockets of Neo Geo would have less than half the virtual children's library, so what was going so wrong? because SNK was much more popular Game Boy, well some guy at Nintendo would learn about the Neo Geo Pocket and noticed that it was shaping up to be a cool handheld with Pokémon making handheld gaming hot again in Japan, they didn't want to do it .

If SNK swallowed up a sizable chunk of market share, this would mean a whole week before snk's new monochrome laptop hit shelves. Nintendo would finally release the Game Boy Color, the full-color version of The Game Boy that games had fantasized about for almost a decade, suddenly the Neo Geo Pocket had no chance of succeeding, which meant the only chance it All SNK had to do to compete with Nintendo would be to quickly go back to the drawing board and make a color version of their new handheld and, to be fair, do what they did with the latest hardware.

Ready just five months later in 1999, SNK revised a system with color capabilities that quickly iterated on Neo Geo Pocket color. This portable console would be released internationally on a wider scale starting on March 16 in Japan and August 6 in Japan. In the US and October 1st in Europe, fortunately for those few who rushed to buy the original model, despite the system's limited library, the Neo Geo Pockets could play many of the colorful games that came after and the original Pockets would be backward compatible. most of the future library for its immediate successor, this revision would feature twice as many batteries and, beyond the graphical improvements, by adding the much-needed color, playback and power of the original, the console would launch with 14 titles that are already the best in the predecessor.

Library with huge Heavy Hitters arriving, such as iconic titles like Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure and SNK versus Capcom, the game of the Millennium for the United States, the console would launch with six titles exclusively on etoys.com for seventy dollars in six blue camouflage colors coal. black White crystal Platinum blue, platinum silver and stone blue shortly after the review was announced on TV and sold at Walmart's Best Buy and Toys R Us, unfortunately even though the Neo Geo's pockets only show some promise, SNK as a company has become extremely ill by At the time, the Neo Geo CD Hyper Neo Geo 64 and the original Neo Geo Pockets were making missteps and their older arcades were becoming less and less relevant.

The company was in serious financial trouble and the business collapsed. SNK would have to be bought by the American Pachinko manufacturer. ruse in January 2000. With a ruse to buy SNK, the console would be retired to some extent in June 2000, reusing many of the units in Asian market kits, as well as removing much of the packaging and packing six games into a blister pack, this would also lead to an accidental exclusive release of the title installation and the latest blades that would otherwise not be released in the states, would end up being released in the UK, meaning they would eventually have English translations, a third version of the handheld, the new Neo Geo.

The color of the pockets would slim down the device at a price of 6800 yen for Japan, with this version being around 13 Thinner than the previous model, but there were no significant changes otherwise, but before delving deeper into the lifespan of this system, let's review some key games that can be enjoyed on the Neo Geo Pockets color as mentioned above, one of the important titles available on the system is SNK versus Capcom Match of the Millennium and a crossover fighting game developed by SNK that features characters from the SNK and Capcom universes that bring together iconic characters from games like Street Fighter King of Fighters Samurai show down and others, if that's not significant on our handheld, I don't know what is at launch, players were welcomed both by critics and fans alike due to its impressive roster of characters, smooth gameplay, and nostalgia. of seeing characters from two beloved companies pitted against each other, it offered a variety of game modes including a story mode versus a mini-game mode, adding to its overall appeal and there was plenty to do in it, offering something completely different than what could you.

Get on the Game Boy, a Neo Geo seriesParticularly famous were the Metal Slug games and, fortunately, the Neo Geo Pockets color had something to call its own. These games offer nostalgic gameplay and fans of the Metal Slug series will appreciate the familiar Run and Gun action and arcade-style fun, the controls are well optimized for a handheld console, making it easy to maneuver and shoot enemies with multiple levels and challenges that keep you engaged throughout the experience, whether you're playing the first Metal Slug mission or a second sequel mission, you don't get more. s 10K that these talking about franchises strongly associated with SNK, how about King of Fighters kofr2 was first released in 1999 as a sequel to King of Fighters R1 and features a similar 2D fighting style with simplified controls that suit the Neo Geo pocket colors and buttons limited?

The game's art includes a roster of characters from various SNK fighting games, including King of Fighters and Fatal Fury, among others. In Kofr, two players can choose a team of three characters and battle other teams in a tournament-style environment. Each character has unique moves and abilities and players must use various combos and strategies to defeat opponents. The game was well received by critics and fans alike for its stunning graphics and gameplay, making it the most popular game for any Neo Geo pocket collection. Sonic the Hedgehog pocket Adventure is part of The iconic Sonic the Hedgehog franchise presents the exciting adventures of the main character Sonic and his friends as they try to stop the evil Dr.

Robotnik from taking over the entire world, I don't know why I'm explaining to you what It's Sonic the Hedgehog, but it's too late. I have just done it. The game follows the classic 2D platforming style that the Sonic series is known for. The game was developed for Neo Geo. Pockets colored to help showcase the portable console's capabilities and offered a portable Sonic experience for fans. Released the Sega flop Game Gear, although the game is not as well known as other titles in the Sonic series, it received positive reviews for its faithful recreation of the classic Sonic game and for being a solid addition to the Neo Pocket Color library.

Geo, so give it a try if you get the chance, another classic fighter for the Neo Geo Pockets color is Samurai Showdown 2. It is a possible adaptation of the original arcade game that aims to replicate the experience of the home console version on a larger scale. smaller. The Neo Geo Pocket color version of Samurai Showdown 2 retains the essence of the arcade version with a similar roster of characters and signature moves and weapon-based combat. system despite the limitations of handheld hardware compared to the arcade, SNK managed to deliver a satisfying fighting experience on the ngpc now considering the main reason the Game Boy range was so popular in the late 90s was the Pokémon success. so the logical thing would be to make a game that has some similarities except for the Neo Geo Pocket color and that is exactly what Dark Arms Beast Buster 1999 is about.

In this game, players take on the role of a character who discovers a bracelet mysterious known as Dark Arms. This bracelet can capture and control monsters. The main objective is to use the dark arms to capture various monsters and use their powers to defeat enemies and progress in the game. The game features a combination of action and role-playing. gameplay elements, players will explore different environments, fight various monsters and unlock new abilities by capturing different creatures as the story unfolds, players will face challenging enemies and bosses leading to an ultimate showdown with powerful adversaries. When you look at the game, it doesn't look much like Pokémon, but you can certainly see that some thematic elements are similar.

Fighters Clash is a classic collectible card game that revolves around players taking on the role of a card fighter who takes down opponents using card decks featuring characters from popular games. Age cards represent a character or item with specific abilities. attack and defense points and other attributes the game involves strategically assembling a deck of cards considering their abilities and synergy and participating in turn-based battles against other players or computer-controlled opponents the objective is to reduce the opponent's health points to zero by attacking with cards that use special abilities and defense against incoming attacks, Fighters Clash cards had two versions, SNK vs Capcom card, Fighters Clash and SNK vs cam, Fighters 2 card, expanded edition, adding more games to the stellar selection of Capcom SNK crossovers that are available to experience the ultimate.

Blade Beyond the Destiny is part of The Last Blade series, a popular fighting game franchise known for its unique gameplay mechanics, beautiful 2D graphics, and compelling stories set in a fictional version of Japan during the Bakamatsu period. Players can choose from a roster of diverse in-game characters, each with their own fighting style and special moves, the game features fluid animation and responsive controls that offer an enjoyable fighting experience on the portable platform, drawing further In the colors of Neo Geo Pockets, an extraordinary pedigree of fighting games, these are obviously just some of the great games that can be enjoyed on Neo Geo laptops with many more amazing experiences available to unearth and ultimately discover. with SNK having financial problems and the need to compete with all the Smash Hit Game Boy Color the Neo Geo Pockets color never rises to South Temptations the Game Boy Color had a massive library of games, a stronger brand presence and a widespread popularity, making it challenging for the Neo Geo Pocket color to gain significant market share even though some excellent games in the ngpc game library were relatively small compared to its competitors, the lack of a variety diverse. and the wide range of games was a major drawback for potential buyers, as gamers prefer to choose consoles with a wide range of gaming options.

Another problem that hindered its success was that SNK's Neo Geo brand was primarily associated with arcade games and home consoles, not Nintendo handheld devices. Game Boys, on the other hand, had earned a reputation as a reliable and successful portable gaming platform. The Neo Geo brand did not have the same recognition in the wearable device market. Which aggravated the fact of being left behind. snk's marketing efforts for the color Neo Geo Pockets were not as aggressive. or a dish as widespread as Nintendo, in addition, the distribution channels were not as broad, which limited the availability of the console in some regions with more powerful portable devices such as the Wonder Swan color that arrived in 2000 and the Game Boy Advance that hit shelves in 2001.

The success of the Neo Geo Pockets color window series was extremely small anyway, but that doesn't mean there isn't still a reason to celebrate this now obscure platform. History now shows us that the Game Boy was known for many genres, but outside of a limited port of Street Fighter, the best fighters were in monochrome. The handhelds were produced by Takara and based on SNK Fighters, even in 2023, tributes to this concept of the super deformed but technically incredible fighter would come in the form of Pocket Rumble, this game wears its Neo Geo Pockets color story on its sleeves. and that's not just Neo Geopocket's reverence on modern consoles, the recent ports of Neo Geo Pocket color selection volumes 1 and 2 have ruled great slaves of the story library for modern devices, so that we can enjoy some of the system's lesser-known classics on more recent platforms such as handheld computers. of the old ones, although only 2 million units were sold at the end of the era and in all versions, a ruse would buy the manufacturer in 2000 and they would immediately end the international distribution of the console shortly after for the Japanese domestic market, which which would end the The previously announced sequels to Lords Wizards and Ikari Warriors will leave the console with less than 100 titles in all regions and will end with SNK vs Capcom's expanded edition of Fighters Clash 2 on September 13, 2001.

So while there are plenty of reasons to revisit and celebrate the game Go, even though it was ultimately a flop, the color of Neo Geo Pocket was also great. If you like learning about old, obscure hardware, check out my two-hour video on the strange world of Nintendo add-on consoles next time.