Fire Down Below


Tossin It Up by Kyle Stahl





	Introduction May 29, 2000
Hello everyone. I'm Kyle from Philadelphia. I've been playing Neo Geo games since they first hit the arcades. I loved them so much, and always wished that somehow I could own a Neo Geo. Unfortunately, it's price was out of my reach, so I had to make trips to local arcades in order to play them. My brother and I would loved to play all of the classics...from Magician Lord, Ninja Combat, and Sengoku to Fatal Fury, all the way up to the Samurai Shodown series! I must've spent more than the cost of a home cart system in quarters alone on Neo games over the years! Around High school I got into the underground punk and hardcore scene, which is really great around Philly! Inspired by my favorite bands, I took up playing the bass. In early college (I'm 21 now), I met BJ (guitar) and with Michael, James and Helen we formed "Fire Down Below" in March of 1999. Since then, we've come a long way, writing lots of songs and playing all over the place! Feel free to check our page for more info (http://www.angelfire.com/pa2/firedownbelow). Recently, since my musical accomplishments were becoming fulfilled, I didn't need to spend as much time practicing, since I could do that with my band. They got me back into playing video games, and I wondered why I had given them up for all those years! BJ was constantly getting new games all of the time (old ones that can't be found in store any longer), and I asked him how the hell he was doing this. He told me about Ebay, and since I had a Turbo Grafx 16 from when I was younger, I picked up a few TG games from Ebay that I wanted years ago, but never got. One day, I found out about the TG-16's "Arcade card", which allowed the CD player to play more advanced games, such as Fatal Fury 2, Fatal Fury Special, World Heroes, etc. Suddenly, all of my Neo Geo memories came rushing back to me, and I hurriedly typed in "Neo Geo" on Ebay's search engine. I was shocked to find that all of my favorite classic games from the arcades were there, and more affordable than ever! I picked up a couple Neo Geo AES package deals, both with Gold systems, one package including 9 games, the other with 10. ...and the best part is that both packages were around $450! After collecting nearly all of my old school favorites, I began to get deeper into the Neo underground. My first Neo Geo friend was Chris Ray, who IMed me after I outbid him on a Neo auction! He was very helpful in answering the hundreds of questions I was throwing at him whenever we talked! Shortly later, I was invited by Dion to join the only real Neo list, and things have been great ever since! I've picked up TONS of awesome games, and perhaps in a year or two, I may have the whole collection! Currently, my prized games include (but are not limited to) Both Last Blades (US), all of the Fatal Fury games (except 3, and MotW...argh), all the KoF's (except 96), all the AoF's, MSX, Ninja Master (jap), and I am loving my growing NGF collection! The games look so INCREDIBLE on display! All are NGF! This brings me to where I am today. I'm a college student who plays in a band, and loves the Neo Geo. Things are coming together for me, and I'm glad that I finally own the system of my dreams! I also have other stuff, like a DC and PSX, but as you probably guessed, ALL I PLAY IS MY NEO GEO! ! ! I love games that are just tons of fun to play by themselves or with friends. This is why the Neo is my all time favorite system! Fighting games are my favorite genre, due to their HUGE reply value! Even after you finish the games with every characters, you can have countless matches with your friends, and it's always a blast! I also love games which are awesome two player games, like Magical Drop. Puzzle games are so much fun at parties! Too bad most of the home versions are unreleased, but THANK GOD FOR NGF!! The Neo Geo truly is, in every way, the best video game system that has EVER EXISTED! Well, this has been an epic pos...thanks for reading the whole thing. Pat yourself on the back, and relax with some Neo games! I'll be writing more in the future when I get the chance...I hope you can pull some useful stuff out of this! Talk to you later! NGF ALL THE F----ING WAY!! Kyle ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Runaround May 29, 2000 I am REALLY GLAD that NGF has taken over the US releases! That means that from now on, they'll be done RIGHT! No more screwed up genre stripes, and no more bullshit SNK USA runaround. I should currently own Mark of the Wolves for example. I called SNK USA to preorder, and they said they didn't know how many they'd get, and that I should call them back on the day of release (Feb 25th), and get one then. Figuring, "How could I go wrong if I get a copy STRAIGHT from SNK," I called back on the 25th. "We don't have it...try somewhere else," was what those A--HOLES told me when I called back on the 25th. How was that for customer satisfaction? Unfortunately, I had to learn my lesson the hard way, and I have no MotW to show for it. God only knows what kind of price I'll have to pay for it now...THANKS SNK USA! <sarcasm> This is why it is so great the NGF has taken over...I've preordered my MS3, and I'm getting the ENGLISH version, which is something that SNK USA wasn't even going to bring out for their loyal Neo devotees! I'm so glad that US versions are FINALLY available through COMPETENT people who understand and love the Neo like the rest of us do! Thanks NGF! This is why I am SO THANKFUL for NGF! Never give it up, you're doing an AWESOME job! Awesome! Thank you VERY MUCH!! I'll do everything I can for NGF! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Look at the facts! June 2, 2000 I think that more than anything else, the fact that NGF is the only company that cares enough to STILL be releasing US Neo Geo games speaks for itself. In my opinion, their service is incredible AND THEY ACTUALLY CARE about the Neo Geo (you may have heard about me being jerked around when I tried to get MotW from SNK USA). I don't even really care about who is right about predictions or whatever...look at the facts, people. NGF is the ONLY way to get US versions of new NeoGeo games, UNRELEASED GAMES, correct inserts, the way they were meant to be, and US inserts for the games that SNK USA didn't bother to let us have, like Blazing Star, Shock Troopers 2, and Kabuki Klash. Well everyone, perhaps soon people will realize how "official" NGF really is. I don't know how many people can say this, but very soon, I'll be enjoying my US Metal Slug 3, which I preordered with no hassles from NGF. I don't know about you, but I'll be able to READ my instructions. Man, that game is going to look DAMN GOOD next to all of my other US NGF action games! ....thanks NGF!! -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tossin It Up