December 13, 2001
      a new NeoGeo 

It seems that Playmore will create and keep a branch devoted specifically to the NeoGeo. Working under the new name "SNK NeoGeo" Playmore will be pushing the NeoGeo brand name and releasing games in the near future. Their first major release was KoF2001 and the next title will be Metal Slug 4. Playmore plans on opening NeoGeo branches in Japan, China, Korea, and the USA. From Playmore's site "We have taken over all the intellectual property rights including trademark rights, patent rights and copyrights of the former SNK CORPORATION famous for game software titles such as "THE KING OF FIGHTERS", "SAMURAI SPIRITS" and "METAL SLUG". We are determined to take challenges of developing new titles and new fields such as pachinko and pachislot while making the most of those intellectual property rights previously owned by SNK. All in all, this is good news for all us NeoGeoFreaks! As long as the NeoGeo keeps getting more games, we should all be happy.

November 30, 2001
      a new sun plays more

During the news of the close and shut down of SNK offices, we wondered what would become of the upcoming scheduled titles of KoF2001, Metal Slug 4, SNK vs. Capcom, and any other titles that may have been planed. The good news is that Playmore has purchased the NeoGeo trademark from Aruze along with many of the gaming rights. Aruze at this time still owns the rights to some of the marquee names (Samurai Shodown, Fatal Fury, etc...) but it's nice to know that Playmore has purchased the NeoGeo trademark and that Sun Amusement will be handling distribution. Check www.playmore.co.jp for more interesting news. Something NGF has always said from the beginning..... the NeoGeo will live on long after SNK is gone.

November 16, 2001
      more lost games appear

This one isn't really a "lost game" per say, but since the close up of the SNK offices in Japan, the older game "Zintrick" has now appeared in Japan. NGF always stated that games were first made on AES and then ported over the MVS and the old NeoGeo CD system. Well now, the once thought of "CD only" game has surfaced and actually been dumped on the emulator scene. NGF staff already has a copy of this and we are offering promo videos of the game in action on AES format. Just as we have always said, the NeoGeo will keep living long after the now defunct SNK name is forgotten. Zintrick was developed by ADK in 1996. 

November 03, 2001
      Zupapa AES from NGF via Face and Aruze

NeoGeoFreak / NGF-USA in collaborations directly with FACE Co. Ltd and ARUZE Corp. have come to agreements for NGF-USA to be the exclusive distributor world-wide of this wonderful AES cartridge. We've successfully negotiated for the release rights of this title. As part of this agreement, FACE Co. Ltd has granted us full AES production rights, complete with all original art files sent to us on MOs, positives, with original proof sheets, and screen captures all for the intended 1994 release of this game. This will be a full English only release. Quantities will be limited to a one time production run of only 500 pieces.

October 30, 2001
      Goodbye SNK

The company that has brought us the system we all love and collect for is closing down. They have been having troubles lately brought on by terrible management and a lagging arcade economy. Don't fear, the NeoGeo will still be supported from many third party companies. The statement below is from their web site.

"Dear all NeoGeo fans/customers:

"It is with deepest grief that in the fall of 2001, SNK will close the company history in its business. It was all of your favor and encouragement which made our passion running to make better games for SNK fans. We'd like to take this opportunity to thank every one of you for your continuous help and assistance since SNK's incorporation in Japan July in 1978. Without your support SNK would not have been possible throughout 23 years of operation. With all our heart-felt gratitude, thank you once again."

October 19, 2001
      KoF 2001 for NeoGeo in November

SNK announced that the KoF2001 will be on the NeoGeo system. News has it that it will be on both MVS, and yes, AES platforms. KoF2001 is being developed by Eolith and compiled from the original SNK codes. It looks like it will be a strong title. Metal Slug 4 is shaping up and looks to carry on the tradition of the original Metal Slug game, with more of a military feel to it. Let's hope they keep this style of action game on par.

October 04, 2001
      AMOA 2001 NeoGeo news

In our last updates we had mentioned the news/rumors about the new "Multi-NeoGeo" mame type cabinet along with the news that the NeoGeo would finally be getting an old action game titled "Zupupa," which has been sitting in the shelves for 7 years. Some interesting observations about the items shown: "Zupapa" was sporting a new 2001 date on the intro screen, which was obviously changed from the original 1994 NGF prototype version (as shown on the NGF Zupapa promo video available for a mere $10). The Zupapa original NGH number of # 070 is still assigned and has not been changed to reflect something newer. 
The "Multi-NeoGeo" cabinet was on loan from the Ultracade. This cabinet contained 44 different NeoGeo games, with the games being available in "packs" delivered on CD-ROM. These CD's are proprietary, hardware specific, and will not allow duplication. The interface is very slick, and the games seemed very smooth. 
KOF2001 was privately shown at the Eolith booth (a first time AMOA attendee). KoF2001 was running direct from a computer interface, and was said to be running at 80%. The game looked very strong with the graphics being on par with KoF2000 and the play was just as fast, but felt stiffer. No music was programmed into the game for this advanced showing, so we cannot comment on that aspect. No word was revealed as to what platform Eolith would be releasing their KoF2001 on, but we can all hope that it will be on the NeoGeo MVS and AES platforms. Keep checking back for a full report at our websites: www.NeoGeoFreak.com (all the latest news) www.NGFUSA.com (discuss this news at the NGF Information Exchange)

September 20, 2001
      Mystery games from SNK reveiled....

Online rumors are spreading fast about their being a "new mystery game" being showed from SNK for the NeoGeo system. It is partially true but only to a certain degree. NGF wants to be the VERY FIRST to speak the REAL truth about what is being released. Some people may be happy to know that there will be somewhat of a "multi-NeoGeo" game coming. A lot like the ideas of "multi-carts" and now "multi-arcade" cabinets being released by many companies, like the dual "Ms.Pac Man / Galaga" cabinet and the new "Centipede / Millipede / Missile Command" cabinet, SNK has licensed their games out to Ultracade (makers of the MAME type arcade cabinets) to allow them to now offer a new "Multi NeoGeo" cabinet. At first we were BEYOND happy to hear of the idea of a "multi-NeoGeo MVS cart" being released with ALL the NeoGeo games, but the bad news is that it will NOT be an MVS cartridge. It is basically a NeoGeo MAME type cabinet, much to the exact specifications of the new "Ultracade (MAME) cabinets. Ultracade has been offering their "CLASSIC GAMING" MAME cabinet for over a year now with very good results. This new Multi-NeoGeo cabinet could be someone's dream come true, but with a rumored cost of over $2500.00, it is a lot of money. But when you consider that many games like Super Dodgeball, Metal Slug, Driftout, Pop 'n Bounce, Last Blade, Shock Troopers, AeroFighters 3,  KoF series, etc... it does seem that it may be worth it. But then again, many of the other games on this "new" system can be purchased for $5 to $10. Games such as Fatal Fury, Nam 1975, Baseball Stars, Samurai Shodown, etc.. So in the end, this is NOT a new game or new idea, but the fact that it's a "Multi-NeoGeo" cabinet is the only thing new, and it's coming from Ultracade! It's nice to see some of the unreleased games being on this "Multi-NeoGeo" cabinet, like Shock Troopers, etc... it makes it very interesting. Only time will tell. AS always, NGF is first to report the newest news.

September 19, 2001
      Strange things are afoot.

Upcoming news and wording have it that SNK-Japan is in more difficulties than ever before. Even though they applied for a financial restructuring bankruptcy agreement, they seem to have too many outstanding problems and troubles following them with debt, and the game market. Words has it that SNK will be laying off many of it's current employees and gaming staff. The only thing that has been keeping SNK alive so far is the generosity of their parent company, Aruze.

September 07, 2001
      More Slug action to come?

Rumors come forward talking about a new segment in the Metal Slug series titled as Metal Slug 4.  This is great news and we'll post more on this as the news comes in. Maybe there will be some test cartridge or showing at the upcoming AMOA show this October in Las Vegas.

September 03, 2001
      Bringing back the lost games

For the past few months we have mentioned that we owned one of the lost games from the past. We have owned a game many people either thought didn't exists, or that is was only a "working name" or "rumored" game. We were ecstatic when we got our very own copy of "Zupapa." This game has been floating around being debated as to if it was ever made or if it was just a rumor. We can 100% verify and confirm that this game is REAL and 100% complete. We have been offering a video tape on the "NGF Promotional Video" series for over 6 months now. Now the interesting aspect is that our version is from 1994 and says so on the start up screen. Our version of Zupapa from 1994 has the NGH code number of # 070. We are very interested to see if the new 2001 release will have a changed NGH product number and if it will have a new "Year date" assigned to the game. We do think it will have the year "2001" on the start up screen, because we can't see SNK possibly releasing ANY new game to market with an old "1994" screen date on it, that is a 7 year delay! Only time will tell what year will be on the start up/logo screen and what NGH product number it will have.

August 25, 2001
      Legend of Sengoku fighting

As we stated back in October of 2000, Sengoku 3 is being released for both the MVS arcade market and supposedly for the AES consumer market. The consumer version of the new Sengoku game is slatted for an October release on AES. The MVS version had an advanced/limited release back in May of this year, but the response was very low. This does not seem to be on par or have anything to do with the past Sengoku games. It's a shame that the company responsible for programming the game got SNK's permission to name the game into their series, and give it the "Sengoku 3" name because it has not lived up to classic game play of the other games in the series. 

August 17, 2001
      Metal Slug 3 AES confirmation

An overnight conference with SNK Japan confirms that they will in fact be releasing new quantities of the AES cartridge Metal Slug 3.  In an interesting development, SNK's international dept manager, Hiroshi Miyajima, has confirmed the sale of a large quantity of Japanese Metal Slug 3 AES carts to a US based coin op distributor, Apple Photo Systems.  They also purchased the artwork to produce an English package version. SNK has delivered the artwork to them for domestic production of the English package version of MS3. The overall quantity (worldwide) of new cartridges is tagged at 2000 pieces. This is a great thing and we are extremely happy to see that an English version is finally being produced for all the AES collectors. Apple plans on selling the games to all the United States retailers that used to deal with SNK-USA. With luck, this will relight the NeoGeo fire with retailers, who in the future may keep buying newer releases. 

July 22, 2001
      will it ever end?

As always, yet we didn't think they would go into 2001, there plans to be a KoF2001 game coming to the NeoGeo. SNK's marquee game sees to keep coming out. We feel that the KoF series should have ended at KoF2000, just to end on a good number.

July 18, 2001
      delays of mass releases

There has been many delays during the past year with NeoGeo releases, and now it has once again hit. The current delay is now with the full release of Sengoku 3 MVS and Nightmare in the Dark AES. Sengoku 3 has had an initial "partial" release, and the full release is expected in 2 weeks with numbers in the 10 thousand+ range. As for the release delay on NitD, SNK has given no exact date of shipment. They claim that their reshuffling of their staff and infrastructure and moving of their offices from their original main office in Osaka to Tokyo, and now from Tokyo back to Osaka, have given them numerous delays in many of their ventures. They also are still recounting and releasing many of their older MVS stock, which may account for all the delays in these "newer" games being fully released. They feel it is more important to move the older stock, before they try and sell any new stock. We will have to keep waiting as we did last year with the KoF2000 AES release, which had almost a 4 month delay last year (original release date was Sept 8, 2000, to October, to November and then to the actual release date which was December 21, 2000). So we'll have to keep waiting on the release of NitD AES to come through from SNK soon.

July 05, 2001
      NOS MVS found

SNK has told us that they have found a mass amount of older MVS cartridge kits. These kits are all 100% new. The cartridges range from early older titles from 1990 to new titles from 2000. Among the find was over 14,000 copies of Metal Slug 3 kits. Expect to see these titles and many more in the next few weeks or possibly sooner from many arcade distributors all as complete new kits.

June 22, 2001
      Real Excite Boxing

Back in the early Neo days, there was an announcement of a boxing game titled "Heavy Glove Boxing" and there was also a rumor of a game called "High Voltage 12+1."  These games were never released or confirmed as really existing. Some speculated that "High Voltage 12+1" was the working name for "Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer," which was always questioned. But there is a new game that may be coming to the Neo titled "Real Voltage," and it is a BOXING game, which may be based on those other 2 titles. The interesting aspect is that the developer is "ARUZE." The game will feature rendered graphics with a view type as the original "Punch-out" games. Aruze is planning on bringing "Real Voltage" to the PSX2, DC, and even to their slot machines, as they did with Samurai Shodown (the SS slot machines with LCD screen have been a complete success, and Aruze will be using the same type slot cabinets with LCD screen for their upcoming "Real Voltage" slots). Aruze has confirmed with NGF-USA directly about this upcoming game. They told us that so far there are 6 characters (boxers): Ryuji, R3KO, Fujio, Shark, Gody, and Rudolf. They plan on adding another 6 characters to that line up, possibly more, bringing the total to 12+ boxers. If all goes well "Real Voltage" will be released on the NeoGeo MVS by March/April of 2002, and hit the PSX2 and DC shortly there after. We'll have to keep our fingers crossed and hope that this game will be released on MVS and not passed or "lost."

May 23, 2001
      NeoGeoFreak gets a new face

To keep inline with our new sister site at www.NGFUSA.com, we decided to revamp our original NeoGeoFreak site to match. Now both sites will intermingle and be co-linked with news, pictures, and all other aspects of NeoGeo coverage. As always, our sites will remain 100% ON TOPIC.

May 03, 2001
      NeoGeoFreak/NGF-USA opens new site

With all the anticipation and future planes that NeoGeoFreak/NGF-USA has forthcoming, we have been getting organized to open our new site at www.NGFUSA.com. We have been working on our new BBS system since April 10 and we have now decided to open it to the public as of today. The page is now partially up and running, so everyone will be able to see it evolve and grow. Due to popular demand, we will be incorporating a new discussion board:  the NGF "Information Exchange." This will be the first and only 100% ON TOPIC fully flame free Neo discussion BBS online. It will be a place where NeoGeo fans world-wide can come to post questions,...read REAL replies,... and get back to the good old days of friendly and informative NeoGeo talk. Another NGF first! Extending our efforts to our growing NeoGeo user base was done to bring everyone together in more of a positive and upbeat site. We are hoping to bridge all Neo fans globally together in our new Information Exchange. Join up today!

April 18, 2001
      Line 'em up

We reported back on March 8th of a new gambling game coming to the Neo. It has now been released and the name is  "V-Liner."  It is a 3rd party game and seems very interesting. It is destined for Asia only. NGF will supply this game for the serious collectors on AES format on a "per order" basis as a converted "NGF made cartridge." 

April 03, 2001
      TGS: no more AES from SNK-Japan

The trip to Japan was well worth it. We locked in some great plans on upcoming releases. Aruze's booth was very big, but nothing in regards to the NeoGeo AES. SNK has confirmed they themselves will no longer support the AES market. It's quite a sad occurrence, but SNK will still support the MVS. NGF will be releasing all future games from SNK. We have the first pass/refuse options on all upcoming projects. Minimum orders will be in lots of 2000 or more units, which we feel can be absorbed with ease by the entire global Neo market. Other than that news, there was no real Neo stuff to mention from the TGS. Aruze was showing a new Neo Pocket special box set of a NeoGeo Pocket Color and the new upcoming release titled "DELSOL" and Aruze is also releasing a NeoGeo classic to the Sega Dreamcast, "Mark of the Wolves." Seeing as these aren't NeoGeo related, there is nothing else to write.

March 18, 2001
      Aruze to show at TGS! 

With Aruze's acquisition of SNK , they will be showing consumer products at this years "Spring 2001" Tokyo Game Show in Japan. The TGS will be running the same weekend as the ASI. We will be in Japan for the TGS and to seal negotiations with SNK and Aruze. We will post as much information as we can on any Neo related finds. Our sources say Aruze will be bringing NeoGeo games to some of the other platforms. This can be the start of a new trend to expose the world to that which is "Neo gaming."

March 08, 2001
      gamble games hit the NeoGeo 

Rumors have it that a new recreational only "gambling" game will soon hit the NeoGeo systems. It will be a slot machine style game like those found on the NeoGeo Pocket system. The tentative title is "Victory Line Match." It will be interesting to see some new style variety games coming out on the Neo. It could be a first in the line of slot and gambling games coming.

March 03, 2001
      SNK back to the US for ASI 

SNK officials will be present in full force at this years ASI show in Las Vegas being held March 28th till March 30th. SNK is bringing with them the new NitD and the highly anticipated Sengoku 3. SNK wants to reestablish their market presence in the USA, as well as internationally. The ASI is an International show with vendors coming in from all over the world. Hopefully with Aruze's market savvy management team, SNK will once again thrive in the arcade market place.
                     
                                 

February 28, 2001
      getting really scared now 

February is over and still no sign on NitD. SNK representatives still insist that NitD will be released soon enough. Release date is now slated for March 12, 2001. We finally have some good news to report, Sengoku 3 will be released! NGF wants to be the first to proclaim this is OFFICIAL news and not just a rumor. It is being shown by SNK and Aruze at this years AOU show in Japan. We'll get more information posted soon.

February 07, 2001
      scary times get a little delay 

It looks like the NitD will be delayed yet again. This time the scheduled release date is late February or early March. Only time will tell if this game will be released or if it will go back to the "lost game" section. We have heard more of the rumors on the upcoming MotW2 and the new Sengoku 3 that we also mentioned back in October, but nothing is confirmed at this time. SNK is keeping a tight lip on things as usual. Of the three titles coming, we are excited about Sengoku 3 because it has been 9 years since the last installment of the Sengoku series was released. We want to see if Sengoku 3 has the feel and look of an older game, or to find out if it is a completely new and reprogrammed game. Our contacts have told us that it is a new game and will feature different characters.

January 18, 2001
      scary times are still coming 

Even though we told everyone of the new coming Neo game titled "Nightmare in the Dark" last September, it looks like it will be finally getting released at towards the middle of February. Even though the release isn't for another 4 weeks, we already have our NitD and promo videos are now available for anyone who wants to check the game out. Seeing the game in action really gives you a good feel for the game. Expect to see this on AES from the NGF staff.