Neo Geo (system)

The Neo Geo (Japanese: ネオジオ, Hepburn: Neojio), stylized as NEO•GEO and also written as NEOGEO, is a ROM cartridge-based arcade system board and fourth-generation home video game console released on April 26, 1990, by Japanese game company SNK Corporation. It was the first system in SNK's Neo Geo family.

The Neo Geo originally launched as the Multi Video System (MVS) coin-operated arcade machine. With its games stored on self-contained cartridges, a game cabinet can easily be changed to a different game title by swapping the game's cartridge and cabinet artwork. The MVS offers owners the ability to put up to six different cartridges into a single cabinet. This unique feature was a key economic consideration for operators with limited floorspace, as well as saving money long term.

A home console version was also made, called Advanced Entertainment System (AES). It was originally released solely as a rental console for video game stores in Japan called the Neo Geo Rental System, with its high manufacturing costs causing SNK not to release it for retail sale. This was later reversed due to high demand and it was released at retail as a luxury console. Adjusted for inflation, it was the most expensive home video game console ever released, costing US$649.99 (equivalent to $1,397 in 2022). The AES had identical hardware to the MVS, allowing home users to play the games exactly as they were in the arcades.

The Neo Geo was marketed as the first 24-bit system; its CPU is actually a 16/32-bit 68000 with an 8-bit Z80 coprocessor, while its GPU chipset has a 24-bit graphics data bus. It was a very powerful system when released, more powerful than any video game console at the time, and many arcade systems such as rival Capcom's CPS, which did not surpass it until the CP System II in 1993.

The Neo Geo MVS was a success during the 1990s due to the cabinet's low cost, multiple cartridge slots, and compact size. Several successful video game series were released for the platform, such as Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, Samurai Shodown, World Heroes, The King of Fighters and Metal Slug. The AES had a very niche market in Japan, though sales were very low in the U.S. due to its high price for both the hardware and software, but it has since gained a cult following and is now considered a collectable. Neo Geo hardware production lasted seven years, being discontinued in 1997, whereas game software production lasted until 2004, making Neo Geo the longest-supported arcade system of all time. The AES console was succeeded by the Neo Geo CD and the MVS arcade by the Hyper Neo Geo 64. The Neo Geo AES and the Neo Geo CD have sold 980,000 units combined worldwide as of March 1997. One million Neo Geo MVS units have been shipped worldwide as of April 1997.