Neo-Geo AES questions

[Samurai Ghost]

Yeah the cheapest option would be to get a consolized MVS, then buying one of those 200-in-1 type multicarts. The initial cost would probably be $500-$700, but that's an average price for ONE relatively sought-after AES game. And you'd have pretty much all the games which you could try first before hunting down actual copies.

[Frank_fjs]

I prefer the single slot MVS boards, they're MUCH more reliable.

[TR0N]

I have been kicking around consolizing a MVS for years. I am just not sure which MVS to get, at least a 2 slot I guess. And haven't found a deal on one yet.

2-slot if you want to use the memory card reader.Still all that does is save you're place in the game not the score.Not to mention if you put a,unibios in you can play the game however you want.I'd say if you went with a 1-slot it has to be the MV-1C since it will play it all.

[SignOfZeta]

Yeah the cheapest option would be to get a consolized MVS, then buying one of those 200-in-1 type multicarts. The initial cost would probably be $500-$700, but that's an average price for ONE relatively sought-after AES game. And you'd have pretty much all the games which you could try first before hunting down actual copies.

Has anyone actually made a multi-cart with more than the same 13 games hacked to hell and back on it? All the ones I've seen kind of suck ass.

Regardless, I'm not a fan of that kind of thing. I want to really get into a game, one or two at time, so $50 for a game is fine by me. People who have MAME machines, multi-carts, etc just tend to "flip channels" maybe blast through a game on free play, they rarely ever actually get good at it or properly enjoy it.

[Frank_fjs]

I have one of the older 150-in-1 MVS multicarts and with hacks/dupes removed it contains 100 unique and original games.

[Samurai Ghost]

Yeah the cheapest option would be to get a consolized MVS, then buying one of those 200-in-1 type multicarts. The initial cost would probably be $500-$700, but that's an average price for ONE relatively sought-after AES game. And you'd have pretty much all the games which you could try first before hunting down actual copies.

Has anyone actually made a multi-cart with more than the same 13 games hacked to hell and back on it? All the ones I've seen kind of suck ass.

Regardless, I'm not a fan of that kind of thing. I want to really get into a game, one or two at time, so $50 for a game is fine by me. People who have MAME machines, multi-carts, etc just tend to "flip channels" maybe blast through a game on free play, they rarely ever actually get good at it or properly enjoy it.

Yeah, I agree, but I've also found some awesome games I never would have checked out playing random ROMs off a flash cart. For the NeoGeo with its prohibitively expensive games it's a good way to check out some titles before taking the plunge or being able to actually play $1000+ games on the actual hardware. That said, most MVS games are pretty cheap.

[SignOfZeta]

There are no $1000 MVS games, not any you'd actually want to play. I'm not sure there are even any $250 MVS games.

[geise]

Sadly there's some MVS games that have gone stupidly up in price the past two years. http://www.jamma-nation-x.com/jammax/mvspriceguide.html has a really nice MVS price guide that has very recently been updated.  This is the closest you'll get to real world prices for MVS.  Stay away from AES, unless you want it for some of the early games.  Even some early games are going to cost you over $100.  I personally LOVE most of the early games.  I will never understand the idea that since it's an early release game it's automatically shitty compared to later released games.  Crossed Swords, Magician Lord, Nam 1975, Fatal Fury 2/Special, Sengoku, Cyber-Lip, 8 Man, Last Resort were awesome.  Hell I even like Burning Fight and Art of Fighting.  Sadly the past 3 years there's been so many getting into MVS so prices have gone kinda nutty.  Even on neo-geo.com some games are selling over $100 like Pulstar, Nightmare in the Dark, Samurai Showdown V Special, Prehistoric Isle 2.  Five years or so ago you could've  bought Pulstar for about $50-60.  Hell I used to see it for $35 back in 2002.  With so many superguns and consolized mvs systems out there now it's been easy for people to get into MVS, so some not necessarily rare, but more sought after games are going up in price.  Now I do believe NitD is fairly rare, but pulstar is common, just no one wants to part with it that usually owns it.  PM me thought if you still want an AES.  I have a japanese 3-5 rev AES system I'm looking to get rid of and still have a couple games left.  You can take it all or just the system.

[SignOfZeta]

MVS prices are not high. A once $700 cart going for $100 is not high, especially compared to a once $300 cart going for $5000 like on AES.

One very effective way to save money is to buy beater carts. Most of these new MVS guys want pristine everything, "complete kits", etc. Who the hell wants a "complete kit"? It contains stickers you're never going to use, a plain cardboard box, a piece of bubble wrap...these are a pretty poor excuse for a collectors item, IMO.

Anyway, the "complete kit" people don't want the rough stuff so you can buy stuff super cheap if its ugly. I bought a filthy-ass Real Bout 2 cart from Mexico for $15. To me, the fact that it saw 15 years of service in an arcade makes it far more legit and real and SNK than some pansy-ass plastic-wrapped collectible, and I saved a considerable amount of money.

And, for the record, I like a lot of old Neo games. League Bowling and Super Baseball 2020 are some of my favorite titles. The thing is, a non-wealthy AES collector is, effectively, buying a machine that can't play anything made after 1994 and thats a f*cking tragedy to me.

[geise]

For price I was meaning in relation to other MVS games.  To me, paying over $100 for an MVS games is kinda stupid and defeats the purpose of buying MVS.  It's just lately it's been like the turbo in prices being inflated.  So even if someone would decide to go MVS not everything is dirt cheap.  Even on neo-geo.com people are starting to ask for more than usual.  You are right about the kits.  I never understood the whole mvs kits craze.  I like to just buy and play my games so I don't care about condition as long as it works.

[grimm]

Neo geo mvs isnt exactly cheap just because its cheaper than it was new. It is probably the best way to enjoy neo geo however, but financially and relativly easy to find loose cartridges. The complete kits are for collectors, much like the AES.

I personally have an AES with an SMVS2 adapter. It works fine with almost all the mvs carts i have, except scaling is bad in the games which utilizes it. A guy on neo-geo.com which fairly recently released the ultimate adapter, Deadalus, told me he was looking into "my" adapter for a replacement board, similar to what he did for the phantom adapter, but has yet to get back to me on it. I think he is not prioritizing it now.

I did at one point basically "rent" a supergun and a mvs motherboard from Rot (well known Neo guy in UK) to try that route out, with the offer to buy it back if i didnt like it. I ended up selling it back to him. I am now looking at getting the Omega cmvs. Its similar to the wooden cmvs mentioned here, with the main difference the case being plastic, taking design queues from the AES. Its around $499 as a complete system so not cheap, but cheaper than the analogue one, and still OEM looking. If you want the cheapest possible option, the supergun + naked motherboard is usually the way to go.

[LameKat]

2 cents, buy a cab ( if you've got the room)
I got a 4 slot off CL a few years back for $75, guy couldn't verify if it worked or not because he didn't a cord for it, cracked it open and it had a Bust A Move 2 cart in it and a few others. This may be a rare find at this price but they pop up in the $250 range ( what I paid for my 2 slot with Pulstar and Bust a Move).
I prefer playing on the cab over the AES, just feels right. The cost of carts is another big selling point, I've managed to collect 74 AES games and I'm now at a stand still because of the high cost, but I've been able to pick up about 40 higher end games on MVS at a fraction of the cost. The only downside to the cab is maintance, seems like there is always something to tweek.

[Opethian]

this is all the AES I could ever own

[jeffhlewis]

this is all the AES I could ever own

let's see how my katakana is these days...from left to right:

Blazing Star
Pulstar
Last Resort
Sonic Wings 2
Crossed Swords
Nam 1975
Metal Slug 2
Metal Slug 3
Metal Slug X
Metal Slug 4
Metal Slug 5
Sengoku Denshou

that's an expensive little collection there my friend

[meka]

AES games are way too much, better to get a consolized MVS, it is usually a fair bit more than an AES system, but the games are a lot cheaper.