NGF history and snk buyout details

Turns out I'm kind of a pioneer in calling the Nintendo Entertainment System the "NES", so I guess that makes two of us.

 

Hey that was my idea!! :lol:

 

The thing is, there is documented proof of me being the first to coin and use the term in reference to the neogeo consumer system and the cartridges.

AES = ROM/Home
Even snk-japan and snk-america did not use that term to promote or market the consumer system. And they still don't. There is not a single pamphlet or brochure that had the acronym "AES" for the consumer system in 20 years. Snk used the term ROM and HOME for the AES system and cartridges. (look at the manuals)

AEP, AEC, ProGear-Spec, Rom, home console
SNK also AEC, AEP, ROM cartridge, as well as NGH (sequence code for AES/MVS titles), but snk never used the term AES for/when they spoke and marketed their consumer neogeo product. I have boxes and invoices to further prove this.

I'll take a photo tonight of the original AEP boxes.

For now, here are some photos with the boxes saying "Home System"
(snk never used the term "AES" or "AES system" in any promotion, invoices, or packaging)






I'm just stating the facts and it's all well documented online.

 

Wait, so you're half-Norwegian as well?

 

AES is also on the MVS cabinet. Including the original Japanese one. It's also part of the MVS boot up screen.

Back in the day, AES was NOT described as "AES" carts. They were just Neo Geo Home Carts, abbreviated as NGH carts. This is still sometimes used to this day.

The Neo Geo was always the Neo Geo AES but technically so is the MVS. The Neo Geo AES MVS.

What Dion is saying is that her used popularized the concept of specifying home carts as specifically "neo geo AES carts" as opposed to just caling it a "home cart".

Both don't EXACTLY make sense. Like Dion said any cart in the home is a "home cart" but any MVS cart is still technically an AES cart.

But he DID popularized the concept of the AES/MVS differentiation.

 

Thanks for pointing this out again, but it's all been said by Dion already and also common knowledge. By the way, neither "AES" nor "MVS" are part of any boot screen.

Nice talking here. Thanks for sharing all the information, Dion. I've had a blast reading through this thread. I've got a question as well:

From today's point of view and considering the elitist Neo Geo collector's community, would consider starting to collect Neo Geo nowadays? To give you an example: I was too young to buy Neo Geo carts when they were up-to-date and now most of the rare carts have disappeared in some great collections. There's also no way to reexperience unique things like your collaboration with SNK USA/Japan did, so starting a new collection in 2011 would mean a fresh start into a dead system with a lot of hoarders and a little amount of available items.
Would you recommend to start a collection despite all these obstacles? I enjoy the Neo Geo and I buy MVS stuff to play it, but I can't bring myself to buy expensive AES cartridges because (apart from the financial issue) I'm too scared of conversions, sky-high prices for damaged items due to high demand and low supply and simply the unattainability of a "great Neo Geo collection" because the Neo collector's time seems to be over for good. :/

 

RE : AES

When I was working back in a well known second hand video game shop in central london back in 1994, we had Neo Geo cartridges listed as Neo Geo AES cartridges to show them as different to MVS cartridges which until they stopped selling AES cartridges a few years back they still called them Neo Geo AES cartridges. Also in a lot of places that sold MVS and Home Cartridges they did use the term AES...

 

Hello Ave, beautiful questions.
Deutschland huh? Are you German? (I'm Greek/German)

Ich bin halb Deutsch (Deutsch/Griechisch).
Und ich glaube nicht sprechen oder lesen zu viel Deutsch wie ich sollte. Ich wuchs in den Vereinigten Staaten, und ich spreche fließend Englisch und Griechisch, sondern nur eine kleine Menge des Deutschen.

Sie fragte eine große Frage.
Sammeln für die NeoGeo kann sehr lustig sein, aber es dauert ein wenig Geduld und viel Mühe. Aber wenn Sie dabei bleiben, wird es sehr lohnend.

danke,
Dion


Territorial Knowledge
It may be common knowledge to you and some people, but not everyone. The same can be said when people ask me about KoF2000, Zupapa, or Genre Corrected inserts. What is normally common knowledge, seems to always come up again and again to someone new, so I don't mind repeating myself. It comes with the territory.

Great, great question.
Believe it or not, the neogeo aes collectors are very far from elitists. They are usually very nice people, but they are quiet and stay way out of the loop, and never speak of the rare items/games they have.

Elitists? Not who'd you think.
The "elitists" are the people that don't have the full collection (or the money). They want to act important so they cut people down at every opportunity.

Take ng.com for example..... many people here joined that site and made a simple post or asked a simple question, only to be shot down, flamed, and yelled at. That negative attitude has turned many people away from wanting to start with the neo, and has also kept many people quiet in terms of speaking out on what rare items/games they actually own.

3 people from ng.com attacked me on this site DEMANDING that I show proof of just about everything I said, be it an unreleased games or showing court papers. I didn't have to show photos of my games, but I did (after time) just out of wanting to share information and my photos with everyone. But sometimes you really do have to bite your tongue. lol.


MVS with box/insert = wannabe/poor man's aes
Most the people at ng.com don't have anywhere near a complete collection, and most of them are "mvs with home made arts to look like aes" collectors. So their attitude is reflective against people that can afford and really own the aes cartridges, or even against people that can't afford aes carts, but what to go for it anyway. (Spend your money anyway you want. lol)
I feel mvs carts should be cart only or with the original mvs box.
(not these people trying to have the aes look with mvs fitting box and fancy insert)(that's so silly)


Starting an AES collection in 2011
As for someone thinking about starting/wanting to build an aes collection in today's market, that is up to the individual and I really can't get involved with someone's passion. As with any hobby, do it if it makes you happy. There is roughly 150 aes cartrisges and building a complete collection is fairly easy with such low number of titles. It's very achievable. Most titles can be found for about $50. A lot more for under $100. Sure, some can go from $150-$300, and of course, certain games are $500+.

Don't be worried or put off by conversions either. Many of the titles needed to complete the aes collection are from mvs only releases that need to be converted to aes format. And there's nothing wrong with that. They are still 100% authentic snk boards, chips, etc... Just find the particular artwork you prefer and go for it. Many people offer conversions these days.


I had fun
If you do it right, building a complete aes collection will be thrilling and not too overwhelming. You'll also meet some interesting people. It can be a fun and wild ride, and for me it was totally worth it. I also made some great friends and acquaintances along the way.
.

 

Ave: there's shitloads of sealed neo geo games on ebay (most coming from the telegames sold out two or three years ago. another batch coming from an old stock discovered in Dubai. don't ask me how tons of neo geo games arrived in Dubai lol)
I think you can manage to get at least half of the full set for cheap.

 

Neo-Geo Collecting
I love collecting for this system for the past 20+ years, but it's certainly not the type of system you'll want to try and collect every release for.

If you only want to experience the games, emulate... If you want to play on actual hardware, but don't care about artwork, MVS... If you want to play on real hardware and own the original artwork, manual, AES. If you want to wait long periods of time for your game to load, but in some cases have improved audio, NGCD. The Neo-Geo is certainly full of options!
AES ~ A d v a c e d E n t e r t a i n m e n t S y s t e m
I didn't didn't give this much thought to be honest. Since growing up with the Nintendo Entertainment System in '85 I had always called that the NES (EN-E-ESS) So in 1990 it made sense to refer to the Neo-Geo as the AES (AYE-E-ESS), and again in '91 with the SNES (ESS-ENY-ESS).
Though in '93 I referred to the Jaguar as a "POS"

So I see AES on the mobo.

I'm curious, does the arcade MVS board say MVS on it?

Also, Dion do you have any of this stuff?


Those 24x36 Neo-Geo posters are great! I don't know why I didn't order those back in the day. Instead I bought 2 of the Bigger, Badder, Better shirts and cut one up to use as a dust cover for my system.

 

in spite of the screwy thread this has been a VERY interesting read, as someone whos never been really into the neogeo scene ive always wondered what this whole story was about (youre absoluteley right about your fame/infamy there), and im finally starting to get the picture.

im not playing sides or anything but id like to say i appreciate you stepping forward and telling your side of this story, out of curiosity tho, what caused you to surface after all these years?

ed: wish you would have come forward like this a few years earlier, would have loved to taken you up on that verification stuff back when i visited vegas.

 

Thanks sven. I appreciate seeing/hearing from neo fans and I've always been upfront and open about everything. Just ask anyone who's been to the CGE shows or anyone who's met Chris or myself in person.


The REAL Story.
At that other site, everything was edited to only show the owners/mods point of view. If anyone posted something positive about Chris, myself, or NGF, it was phantom deleted. ng.com would also delete entire threads as well.

I haven't posted at ng.com since early 2000, and that was only cause the owner begged me to post at his site as part of the stock purchase he did. So I humored him and made some posts. (about a handful of posts)

Fake Dion account at ng.com
Also, the moderators/owner would log in under my user name "Dion" and make new threads and talk a lot of garbage. They attempted to copy my writing style, but it was clearly not me. My password and email were reset, so I wasn't able to delete the posts. At first I emailed the owner about it to point it out, but it was to no avail. The fact that he didn't reply or do anything to remove the posts and reinstate my correct email address so I could reset me password, proved it was him/them. Those fake threads are still there too. In a special archived section. Such childish actions from such childish people.

BANNED
It so bad at ng.com, and they are so one sided, that they have also banned the words "NeoGeoFreak" and "NGF" from being mentioned/typed. Try it. Try posting something about NeoGeoFreak or NGF and you'll see it will be edited or deleted.
Talk about a complete dictatorship over there.

Easy to find
Sure I've been busy with other ventures and such, but I've always been online and answering my emails, and I created a facebook account 2-3 years ago, and I've always been easy to find.

It may seem as though I was completely gone from the neo scene, only because I wasn't posting anywhere. In all fairness, at the time there was no place for me to post and I really didn't have too much to say.

ASSEMbler
I found out about this site from a recent sale. The customer mentioned this site and I liked what I saw, so I joined up. I love the freedom and the rules at this site. No flaming, arguing, swearing, etc... It's all very mature.
I spend a lot of time lurking in the "general development" forum, and in some of the other subforums, Panasonic 3do/m2 stuff, nintendo, etc...

I'm here
NGF was at the CGE shows in 2001, 2002, 2003, and I pass through them when they are in vegas. I'll be at this years CGE as well. Try to come to vegas, or drop me an email anytime you're coming. We can have some drinks and have some discussions.
.

 

I've really enjoyed this thread. Dion, thanks for coming to the party---I've seen Chris Ray pop up on N-g.com several times, but I wondered why you never did. I suppose the answer as to why is obvious.

Just because I don't think anyone ever made it too clear---I want to specifically note that the preliminary injunction against NGF that keeps getting tossed around is absolutely meaningless. Preliminary injunctions are designed to maintain the status quo before/during a case, so no further damage is done before a final resolution is reached.

Also, for what its worth, it seems reasonably clear from the final injunction and press release that the games released by Neo Geo Freak and referenced in the press release are all legit. I understand why people get upset about them ("THEY WEREN'T DONE BY SNK"), but well, I take the position, that something is official if SNK says its official. You could destroy all of the SNK inserts you want---and as long as SNK says its official and the way to go, its fine with me.

Also, Dion, do you have any NGF stamps left? Like them or not, I think few people would deny that they'd be a pretty cool Neo collectible.

Edit: Neo Credentials: Neo Player since MVS hit the arcades---WH2 is my all time favorite fighter. Couldn't afford as I was far too young back then. AES owner now, but I like arcade stuff better so I mostly collect for MVS--slowly working my way up towards owning all games.

 

Thank you for the kind words Blur.
I'm glad you enjoyed the reading and all the NGF History.
What we as NGF did was really something back then, and even now. And the best part of it was that we had a great deal of fun and and we met many interesting people.
(and if you read my earlier reply you'll see why I never posted at ng.com)

The thing is, is that NO ONE is allowed to sell any items that infringe against the copyright owner claim. NO ONE. It's against the law in every field of business.

Legal Records Forever
Now playmore has made it perfectly clear to the public, that NeoGeoFreak/NGF-USA is 100% OFFICIAL and we have FULL AUTHORIZATION to repackage all AES games with our corrected inserts, and we always have. This is verified by the press release and by our settlement with playmore in US District Court. And this is part of public record and can never be argued or taken away.

NGF Stamp and Distributor Stickers - For sale????
I think you may be speaking of the NGF Distributor sticker (warranty/void).
We only had two stamps (Denver/Vegas). For a serious collector, I would sell a strip of stickers for only $20. Now if the price was right I would sell the NGF Stamp. But only to the very, very serious collector. The NGF Stamp would be classified as a Super Freak item. Only two exist.

World Heroes!!!
You're a man after my own heart.
So many people look past the World Heroes series. My favorite with friends is WH2. I love WH2Jet for so many nostalgic reasons. But my favorite for gameplay and super moves, and overall is World Heroes Perfect.
.

 

so you think a conversion...is more collectible than a MVS with Shockbox...right.

to each their own.

 

I agree with you about shockboxes, but for what it's worth, those games are considerably more rare on MVS than home cart, so I guess they would still be worth more.

 

NG.com making things up again? Very Pathetic
I've seen the thread about me at ng.com and somehow they came up with the idea that I said conversions or worth more than the original carts. Where have I ever said that?

As an example, I would NEVER say a converted Metal Slug is worth $1000, or more than the original aes version. To me, a converted Metal Slug is worth the sum of the parts, plus labor. Maybe around $100-$120. An original aes cart will always be more valuable than a converted cart. So let get that clear and understood.


People are still reading with blinders on.
Some people that are lurking here and then running to ng.com are not really comprehending the things I've been saying. They just skim through these questions and answers and make up twisted stories. The sad thing is the people instigating all these untruths are the same people that are sending me private messages and emails buying items from me. And that's how members at ng.com have always been.


NeoGeoFreak/NGF-USA Distribution: Out of the NeoGeo Business
NGF has no monetary interset in the neogeo sales anymore. Both Chris and myself are now just fans enjoying ourselves. We are making a few sales on remaining items and collectibles, but we are no longer doing business as NGF on a mass scale. Everything we're doing now is just private "fan to fan" sales/trades (like anyone else would be doing). So please don't ask us to make a mass release of proto/unreleased games.


ASSEMbler discussions
If they(ng.com members) or anyone has something to say or questions to ask, feel free to ask me about it here. The ASSEMbler mods won't phantom delete questions that are asked intelligently and honestly, and without flames and innuendos. Take away the emotion and ask a well thought out question or make a response. I joined this site to be able to share information with anyone that is truly interested. Join in and see how beneficial open discussions can truly be.
.

 

The people there make things up about you because in the past you did alot of questionable or downright wrong things. Im not about to begin shit slinging but there are multiple stories and or evidence of you fucking people over.

Your name is well and truly dragged through the mud and until one day you hold you hands up and say 'Yes, I fucked up' It will stay that way. Your ego is too huge and ultimately has affected not only your reputation but your business too. You could've sold inserts seperately at $15-20 and the anal NG fans who cared enough about the stripes would have paid that much and you would have been laughing all the way to the bank. Everybody knows games are almost always worth more original.

 

Lol the interpretation is that you said a conversion is more collectable than the MVS with a shock box.

Maybe you just phrased it in a way that's easy to misconstrue.

 

Dion, if you sell a proto to someone do they have the rights to do a mass release or do they still have to worry about copyright infringement?