Hacker Ben Heck is back to fix the flawed Neo-Geo Mini
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It's a mystery to me why SNK didn't do something in this form factor from the start. I guess to save on money since the battery probably adds cost. Also those switches he used were also a lot more expensive than the analog joy stick I bet as well. They could have had a slightly more expensive version with good build quality in a limited run though.
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As wildly impractical as it is to play on in this form factor, as a collector item paying homage to the original full-sized mini Neo-Geo cabs is pretty cool. More of a sit on a shelf than hold and play thing though.
One cool little thing is if you have an arcade stick with a Brook Universal board in it, they've updated the firmware to support the mini, so if you use it as a console hooked up to a screen you can use your stick with it.
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I wonder how well the delightful little clicky d-pad from the Neo Geo Pocket would have worked for this project if he could salvage one. I still have my NGP Color and I have always loved its little "joystick." Also, battery life was INSAAAAANE on that little system at 40 hours from just a couple AA's. I think I was the only person I knew at the time rocking Metal Slug and SNK vs Capcom on the go. Good times.
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They probably used an analog joystick because it's cheaper to build than a tactile switch joystick.
The clicky joystick used on the original Neo Geo controller is much larger than an analog joystick, and needs a custom fitted lip around the edge and extra reinforcement from underneath to hold everything together. Heck makes it look easy to design your own, but what he's put together is still not a very faithful recreation of the original controller. And not many controllers since then have tried to recreate the iconic Neo Geo joystick, it's not particularly popular due to the complexity of the design.
Analog joysticks, on the other hand, are incredibly common and cheap, and are soldered directly to the PCB. For a $100 console I wouldn't expect SNK to give us the faithful recreation of the controller, and they pulled the same nonsense when they re-released the Neo Geo Mini Pad with an analog joystick at $25 a pop.
SNK hasn't released a new console ever since the Neo Geo, unlike Nintendo and Sony. It's probably safe to say that they lost a lot of good hardware people and supply chains sometime after the 2001 bankruptcy, and it would be prohibitively expensive to try to bring it all back at this point. Unless of course you're ready to spend $300 on a system that only plays games from 20 years ago.
The clicky joystick used on the original Neo Geo controller is much larger than an analog joystick, and needs a custom fitted lip around the edge and extra reinforcement from underneath to hold everything together. Heck makes it look easy to design your own, but what he's put together is still not a very faithful recreation of the original controller. And not many controllers since then have tried to recreate the iconic Neo Geo joystick, it's not particularly popular due to the complexity of the design.
Analog joysticks, on the other hand, are incredibly common and cheap, and are soldered directly to the PCB. For a $100 console I wouldn't expect SNK to give us the faithful recreation of the controller, and they pulled the same nonsense when they re-released the Neo Geo Mini Pad with an analog joystick at $25 a pop.
SNK hasn't released a new console ever since the Neo Geo, unlike Nintendo and Sony. It's probably safe to say that they lost a lot of good hardware people and supply chains sometime after the 2001 bankruptcy, and it would be prohibitively expensive to try to bring it all back at this point. Unless of course you're ready to spend $300 on a system that only plays games from 20 years ago.
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An analog stick? Ugh, thank you for the warning. A digital pad/stick (clicky or not) is what I'd want 
edit: As a Neo Geo fanboy since it came out, this really saddens me. Doubly so when you consider the price and markup the thing has. On the plus side, SNK is finally getting a decent release schedule via Hamster Corporation on Windows (Steam next please?), and they're seemingly everywhere on consoles. So, that'll keep me happy.
edit: As a Neo Geo fanboy since it came out, this really saddens me. Doubly so when you consider the price and markup the thing has. On the plus side, SNK is finally getting a decent release schedule via Hamster Corporation on Windows (Steam next please?), and they're seemingly everywhere on consoles. So, that'll keep me happy.
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Joystick looks cute in the original but painful for actual play. Redesign looks much improved.
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Ben really should consider doing a few of these videos a year and offering conversion kits for sale to compliment each video. He could do well financially while giving the fans something great.
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Oh, I'd still find a way to play it, even if the original Gameboy style layout isn't the best fit for it. I'm all about my portables.
Speaking of which, I'm off to buy Metal Slug 3 for the Switch. I've got so many games for the thing, I could keep myself busy for the next 6 months with what I have, but it's a crying shame I've put off getting a Metal Slug for this long, and I feel like I need to do something about it.
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I have a NES and SNES Mini, a The C64 and a Spectrum Next on the way. I'm a fool, easily parted from my money.An analog stick? Ugh, thank you for the warning. A digital pad/stick (clicky or not) is what I'd want
That being said, I've passed on the Neo Geo both because of the analogue stick *and* an inexplicable decision to reorder the buttons. On a classic Neo Geo pad the buttons clockwise from the bottom are A, C, D, B. On the Mini they're B, A, C, D. So they're rotated them by ninety degrees.
Metal Slug uses A for jump and B for shoot, so on a real Neo Geo CD, run and jump are the two buttons at the bottom, shoot on the left, jump on the right. On a Mini shoot is at the bottom and jump is directly above it.
I feel it'd be like all the Famiclones that put A and B the alphabetical way around.
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When I asked him about doing a kit this morning he said "I'm still behind in making the Raspberry pi portable kit. Been quite busy since semi retiring
", so it's probably one of those things that might happen, but is just sitting on a list of other projects. I certainly know how that goes.Still, I passed your comment along.
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At least half the Neo-Geo library. You've got the King of Fighters, the Fatal Fury series, the Samurai Shodowns, the Metal Slugs, Top Hunter, Last Resort...
...there's a bunch. If you like arcade style shooters, platformers, and fighting games, you'll love the Neo Geo.
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Talk about a game that needs a good update! And a Steam version for those of us in the bifocal crowd
All arcade games, mostly fighters other there are other genres present. Its very much a part of its era and business model, so it might not be to your tastes. Plus some of the game design back there was sort of... brutal. Yay quarter munchers :3
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Neo-Geo has it all really. I have a Neo Candy 29 and keep a variety of games rotating on it.
Obviously some classic fighting games, notable examples being King of Fighters 98, Samurai Shodown II, Garou Mark of the Wolves, and Last Blade 2, but the list goes on and on. Breakers Revenge!
One of the most classic run and gun series of all time in the Metal Slug games, as well as other platformers like Magician Lord.
Puzzle games like Puzzle Bobble and Magical Drop.
Hybrid action vs games like Windjammers and Twinkle Star Sprites.
Sports games, Neo Turf Masters is a favorite. Really there isn't much in the way of filler in the whole library.
Obviously some classic fighting games, notable examples being King of Fighters 98, Samurai Shodown II, Garou Mark of the Wolves, and Last Blade 2, but the list goes on and on. Breakers Revenge!
One of the most classic run and gun series of all time in the Metal Slug games, as well as other platformers like Magician Lord.
Puzzle games like Puzzle Bobble and Magical Drop.
Hybrid action vs games like Windjammers and Twinkle Star Sprites.
Sports games, Neo Turf Masters is a favorite. Really there isn't much in the way of filler in the whole library.
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I don't remember that system at all. I remember the 2600, but I was a little kid.
What should we have learned?
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The 2600 used an 8 way stick. The 5200 had a non-centering analog.
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Talk about a game that needs a good update! And a Steam version for those of us in the bifocal crowd
All arcade games, mostly fighters other there are other genres present. Its very much a part of its era and business model, so it might not be to your tastes. Plus some of the game design back there was sort of... brutal. Yay quarter munchers :3
I once beat Battletoads with just ten quarters and The Punisher with just seven, bring it on!
I was also able to beat Street Fighter II with just three quarters, but I am quite sure that was the Rainbow edition because it had a lot of abusable exploits.
Honesty people are exaggerating about that Battletoads level, I do find a later level harder. Or maybe it was my hand really being used to the controllers.
I played a few King Of Fighters games for me they weren't anything special. Maybe I was just too used to Double Dragon, Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat.
I do have a soft spot for Darkstalkers even if I suck playing at it.
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Magician Lord and Nam'75 blew my mind when I first saw them. I remember sneaking out of the theater for Mel Gibson's Hamlet only to be greeted by my first viewing of a Neo Geo Cab in an Arcade. I had a dollar in change and promptly blew it all. The second best cab in that arcade was Irem's In The Hunt. SNK had cutting edge hardware in 1990. So good it persisted for decades to come.
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I noticed that Ben Heck went for the buttons in an arc like the arcade machine instead of the cross arrangement of the Neo-Geo gamepad.
But was the gamepad's button arrangement in a cross really so bad?
On a arcade-joystick, you have one finger for each button, but on a gamepad with buttons in an arc you would have to move your thumb between each face button.
Isn't the point of having face buttons in a cross that you would be able to press both the buttons on the vertical in the cross with your thumb simultaneously?
But was the gamepad's button arrangement in a cross really so bad?
On a arcade-joystick, you have one finger for each button, but on a gamepad with buttons in an arc you would have to move your thumb between each face button.
Isn't the point of having face buttons in a cross that you would be able to press both the buttons on the vertical in the cross with your thumb simultaneously?
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I do a lot of volunteer time for the Make A Wish foundation but usually only on the jobs where the kid doesn't want survivors.
How can I get one of these to play with while waiting to give a child their wish?
How can I get one of these to play with while waiting to give a child their wish?
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An analog stick? Ugh, thank you for the warning. A digital pad/stick (clicky or not) is what I'd want
edit: As a Neo Geo fanboy since it came out, this really saddens me. Doubly so when you consider the price and markup the thing has. On the plus side, SNK is finally getting a decent release schedule via Hamster Corporation on Windows (Steam next please?), and they're seemingly everywhere on consoles. So, that'll keep me happy.
There's been a few releases on GOG
Also, I was kinda iffy on the NG Mini, and I've only recently heard about it. But if this were in NGPC form factor, it could be $250 and I'd find a way to buy one. I mean, putting actual hardware into the tiny cab doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but maybe a small SD card with the attract screens on a loop would work better for this; it seems like a display piece, as others have mentioned.
I was absolutely singing this in my head, and wondered how long until it was posted!
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I used to go to the Metrotown Electronics Botique back in the day to worship the Neo Geo, but thankfully Magician Lord was NOT the first game I saw on it, because it was one of the few that disappointed me, it was a bog-standard platformer with nothing amazing compared to Samurai Shodown or Metal Slug. Pulstar was one that absolutely blew me away the first time I saw/played it, it was like the apotheosis of the R-Type/Gradius shooter.
But all this goodness on home ownable arcade class machine......SNK really caught lightening in a bottle at just the right time.
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"Jobs where the kid doesn't want survivors." I'm genuinely confused as to what this means......
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I would happily buy Ben's conversion even for double what SNK is asking for the mini. Excellent videos as always from him.
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The big thing with KOF was team composition plus early on there was the cross-over factor. I don't think the story really started mattering until 95 (three game arcs). The earliest ones (94 and 95) are probably the least interesting. I will say that KOF bosses were cheesy as hell though.
I'd look at the Dream Matches (98, 02) for some great KOF-age. KOF XIII and XIV were quite good too, and reasonably priced.
The arcade 2000 and 2001 were awesome in part due to K9999. Basically, he was Tetsuo from Akira :3
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Makes me remember arcades in Bibione (Italy) I wonder how many are still there and what sorts of games are they using nowadays...
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