NGF history and snk buyout details

So what colour genre stripe would Last Odyssey have had; pink for variety?

 

Excellent question and you bring up a very interesting topic of debate.

I would think it would have a yellow stripe and be in the puzzle classification of games.
That being said, not all yellow striped games are puzzle games.
Diggerman, Irritating Maze, Neo Bomberman, Neo Mr.Do, Pop 'n Bounce, etc...

One thing is for sure.....red or blue would definitely be wrong.
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There were also a couple Neo-Geo games were also going to contain a pink triangle for genre:
Flaming Star
The Last Gay 2
Rage of the Dragqueens
Super Sidekicks 3: The Next Gloryhole
Tip Hunter: Roddy & Roddy
Legend of Will and Grace
Twinkle Star Sprites (name change not required!)

I was going to wait until Friday to post this, but I think it's close enough.

 

Seriously? That was offensive?
I wasn't directing it towards anyone. It was just a joke and being 2 days away from April Fools Day I thought it would be ok to put in a forum where we were talking about a Pink color genre.

In fact, you may not believe me, but the last 2 titles were thought up by a friend of mine who just happens to be gay.

There is a HUGE difference between calling someone a derogatory and hurtful name and making a general joke about a color/genre of games. People really need to lighten up a bit and notice the difference.

OK, well back to serious matters I suppose & I'm sorry for the lighthearted and unintentionally offensive April Fools joke...

 

So what's the deal with the !Arcade! AES conversions of Strikers 1945+ and Super Dodge Ball? Are they officially recognised by SNK as 'real' Home Carts, or are they just unlicensed conversions?

 

Those were just unlicensed conversions. Many people make conversions these days, and some are doing very nice work. Most don't have offset print manuals as the price for commissioning a print run is too high. I have seen some homemade inkjet and laser printed manuals. Not as nice as offset printing, but still nice.

The conversion scene is something NGF first did back in 1997-98. When we first started offering conversions, people thought it was so taboo. It was such blasphemy to even mention a conversion. Times have totally changed and now people are more accepting of the process.
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Hi Dion,

thanks for posting your experience here.

I have some question too:

1) Bags. I can remember a japanese rental bag (renta-ru baggu) on SNK neogeoclub magazine, but nothing about the blue/pink padded ones... are those a US or japanese item? Maybe those items were later carry bags instead of rental-related items?

1-bis) about neogeo club magazine, was it a envelope only format to registered memebrs, or do you remember any other release form (i.e. for free at shops etc..)


2)Some of the illustrations on earlier US version of the games were amazing and original (King of the monsters, Bstars) and other definitively not (FataFury).... do you know by chance the names of the artists who made some of the inserts?

3)Any detail about Hotel (Dekki) unit? Later models (metal) have Bios copyrighted 1993, so as NeoGeoCd was released in SEPT '94, I think the joysticks were initially designed only for the DeckUnit, and after used for NGCD/NEO.
Any hints about the bios and boards "GITS" acronim could stand for!?

Thanks and keep it coming!

 

Dion,

My friend and I just launched an MVS tracking database for carts to show where they have been in the world and when they have been there.

Do you by chance have any sales records that have cart serial numbers saved and where they were sent to when initially sold?

Also my other question is, before SNK eventually declared bankruptcy, did you see a big decline in business?

 

Could you talk more on how the conversion process worked at NGF?

Was it a small cart-by-cart operation, or did you do larger batches?

Where you directly involved in the actual work on conversions (desoldering/soldering, swapping chips etc) or did you outsource the work?

 

That question was actually asked/answered in the "proto" thread.

Unreleased Game Footage
The footage you see floating around the internet of Fun Fun Brothers, Mystic Wand, Bang Busters, Last Odyssey, are all from me, from many, many years ago.

Before there was a youtube, we offered NGF Promo Video's for people. This way people could see a game in action and decide if they wanted to invest. The first promo tape I made was in 1996, NeoGeo Collectors Tape, and the last was Zupapa, Bang Busters, Last Odyssey back in 2001. I really did my best to inform the neo fans.

(I just uploaded a photo for you)

Arts/Video shelf:

<<Folder and folders of original neogeo arts:
original hand sketches/drawings, full color drawings, digital arts, every neo promo flyers, Every MVS arcade sheets/marquis(english and japanese), snk contracts and order receipts, magazine and advertisement proofs, and much more.

NGF Promo Videos:
NeoGeo Collectors Tape, Diggerman, Fun Fun Brothers, Last Odyssey, The Irritating Maze, Bang Busters, Ganryu, NitD, Sengoku 3, Zupapa, Prehistoric Isle 2, Strikers 1945 Plus, Hyper NeoGeo 64, Neo Pocket Collection. >>


NGF Conversions
As for the conversions, for "one-off" orders we would do them by hand. But for the mass releases (zupapa, etc...), both chris and myself, along with other fans, all chipped in to help. Each person did 20 conversions per release and would received their copy free. It was great how everyone came together and helped out.
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Talking of Neo Geo rental, here's some info on the POS kit retailers received:

http://castleofcollectibles.com/museum/regalia.html

And here's one of the signs that sold recently... for nearly $400!

http://page5.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/e98091236

 

Did you not see these questions, Dion?

 

MVS Tracking
Very interesting idea you have with that mvs tracking.
We never really sold and/or specialized in arcade mvs sales. With that being said, we never kept track of serial numbers for mvs cartridges. Most of the mvs cartridges in my personal collection have the NGF Signature Series stickers on them, so I wouldn't be able to contribute too much to the list. But I still have some of the original boxes with serial numbers on them.

Peak Business
During the final days of snk was the peak of our business.
SNK was purchased by aruze around early 2000. At that time we did the english KoF2000, Zupapa, Diggerman, Bang Bead, Irritating Maze, ZedBlade, Bust-a-Move official releases. Plus that's when we reloaded with our second big stock purchase.

The Decline
It was during the time of playmore that we saw the decline in both interest and sales. After we sold our stock, we didn't pursue selling the neo on a mass scale anymore. Playmore mainly focused on rehashing the same old KoF, Metal Slugs, and Samurai. Nothing really new or exciting for gamers or collectors.


Interest on the rise again
Interest in the neogeo seems to have picked back up now that I've been posting here at assembler. I never expected this good of a reception or this much interest. With over 100,000 views in less than a months time it's really been something special. Both my email and private messages receive hundreds of emails daily. It seems a lot more people have warmed up to NeoGeoFreak thanks to this NGF History Thread.

I've personally made quite a few sales this month. Of course I receive emails from collectors looking for Zupapa, Diggerman, Bang Bead, Irritating Maze, and KoF2000 daily. I wish I had a few to offer the collectors desperately searching for those titles, but we've been sold out years ago.

Also, it looks like our only Last Odyssey has been sold as well.
We never dumped the roms due to risk of erasure from the flash memory. So this is game will no longer be in our possession. It'll go to a new owner/collector. Be on the lookout for further news on Last Odyssey.


Neo Future
With new releases coming from NGDevTeam, NeoConception, and some others in the works, it's safe to say the immediate future is looking good for all the neo fans and freaks.
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Both the information on the NBM page you're linking and the auction item you report about comes and went to me. If you're interested in the history of the NeoGeo in its early days, please just let me know.

 

In all fairness, after I provide a photo isn't that all that is needed? How many times can I take a photo of the same item? I would think one photo of a cartridge, flyer, poster, artwork is all that is needed. But we're currently working on adding lots of new photos of various items.


Arts/Video shelf:

<<Folder and folders of original neogeo arts:
original hand sketches/drawings, full color drawings, digital arts, every neo promo flyers, Every MVS arcade sheets/marquis(english and japanese), snk contracts and order receipts, magazine and advertisement proofs, and much more.>>


Video
Check this video of one of the folders filled with company profile brochures, hand drawn sketches, hand drawn arts, and digital proofs. Some beautiful hand drawn Ninja Master's and Breakers arts, and even the original digital proof for Chotetsu Brikinger/Ironclad!!

[FONT=verdana, courier new,courier,tahoma,sans-serif]www.ngfusa.com/videos/neobook.wmv[/FONT]


This is just a small glimpse into some of the rare arts we have.
Keep checking back for updates.


Our goal is to eventually have all our neo items photoed, videoed, and categorized for future reference and to be able to share with all the neo fans world-wide.
.

 

Great thread Dion! Thanks for sharing all these experiences with us! Very, very interesting read. :nod: