For those who missed it, TonK's scam of the century

[Lander]

Links: Dead
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Select Individuals: M.I.A.

A lowly shmupplicant like myself can only stare in awe, but reading such an historic thread has taught me a thing or two about my hardware-inclined peers.

Hold on, somebody's at the door...



Alright. Wait, BIL is no longer located in COLONY. OH FU- SOUND THE ALARM

[Blinge]

it's alright I planted a tag on him last time we met.

he'll never think to check in he butthole, he's too superstraight for that

[BIL]

That's what you think you little Scotch homo, you best believe the nanomachine pheromones that saw you pounding your best on my impassive boulder-like cheeks are tracking your location right to this instant (｀w´メ)

You're pretty good for a young'n though, maybe in a few years you'll be a real bummer - LIKE ME (■｀w´■)

[Blinge]

it was a humiliating experience I'd rather forget, thanks m8

impassive boulder-like cheeks

edit: ffs hahah this is the most degenerate thing i've ever read (today at least)

[Sengoku Strider]

I loved the Neo Geo since the nearby corner store got Cyber-Lip. I popped in way more quarters than someone of my limited reflexes should ever have spent banging my head against the digital wall that is Magician Lord. I was down with Fatal Fury from jump. For the second half of the 90s, King of Fighters was practically my life. I don't think I've ever owned a console from gen 5 onward without a KoF port (unless it literally didn't get one - Wii U , wai?). I was an early adopter - as it would turn out, the only kind of adopter it would have - of the Neo Geo Pocket Color. So when I finally had the discretionary income to go after a real AES, I was so excited.

Except I hardly ever played it. It's like, one of the worst ways to play those games now. I had really thought the AES versions would have...just a lot more to them. Limited or no options, no practice modes, save states, no rapid fire without an ASCII stick, or even button remapping. It was that last bit that did it. I was so pumped to plow through Pulstar on real hardware, but without being able to map charge + rapid shot to different buttons it was a notably worse experience, I just kept thinking "Why am I not playing the ACA version instead?"

The other thing was the packaging. SNK fighters are drowning in lore and background connections between the fighters, I just erroneously assumed there was some way for people who actually owned the games to know what that was. But nope, even though SNK seemingly just repurposed the same game cases the PC 88/9801 scene was using, whose publishers filled them with absurd amounts of fan materials, all Neo Geo owners get is a bog-standard instruction book. Doesn't matter if you paid $300 for your shiny new cartridge, you want details? Want to know why Iori is the saxophone player in an evil S&M jazz band? Go track down some obscure Hong Kong manhua that you can't read to get the rest of the story, printing that stuff up would add $6 to the packaging cost. We're not running a charity here.

I sold my Neo Geo back in October, and haven't thought about it twice since then. The best part of owning a Neo Geo by far was being able to say that I owned a Neo Geo. Except I promptly discovered almost nobody IRL even knows what that is. Even gamers who know what KoF is or know Terry Bogard from various media have only the vaguest of ideas. Even most gamers who played these games in the wild have no understanding of them being part of a larger ecosystem.

If Neo Geo ownership makes you happy, I totally get it. I have tons of Saturn & PC Engine & Mega Drive & Super Famicom games on my shelves, so I fully expected to be over the moon with it. But I just found that the NG scene involves too much expense for too little return for me. Spending thousands to have a worse time playing Aero Fighters 3 than someone who just spent $50 on Sonic Wings Special for the Saturn - or $10 for AF3 on ACA - isn't the kind of rap game Liberace tax bracket I'm in.

[Lander]

Sterling work gentlemen. MI6 will be posting wounded-in-action scoring medals to everyone involved.
First class signed for, of course.

I was an early adopter - as it would turn out, the only kind of adopter it would have - of the Neo Geo Pocket Color.

Poor little fella sure deserved better than it got, despite the limited library. I remember encountering one in a gamestation sometime in the mid 2000s - a silver model tucked away in the glass retro case by the counter with both Metal Slug titles, and at nominal cost. Didn't know exactly what it was at the time, but you can bet I snapped it up right quick with no regrets.

Except I hardly ever played it. It's like, one of the worst ways to play those games now. I had really thought the AES versions would have...just a lot more to them. Limited or no options, no practice modes, save states, no rapid fire without an ASCII stick, or even button remapping. It was that last bit that did it. I was so pumped to plow through Pulstar on real hardware, but without being able to map charge + rapid shot to different buttons it was a notably worse experience, I just kept thinking "Why am I not playing the ACA version instead?"

The other thing was the packaging. SNK fighters are drowning in lore and background connections between the fighters, I just erroneously assumed there was some way for people who actually owned the games to know what that was.

This is what has kept me on the emulation side of the fence for arcade and microcomputer stuff; I respect the dedication to having a genuine setup and commitment to maintaining increasingly-esoteric hardware like CRTs or aging PCB components, but the money and effort cost coupled with the what-you-see-is-what-you-get nature of arcade titles has always set the bar a little high.

Come to think of it, I'm reminded of a bloke my older sister used to date. A literal resident of Rich Guy Lane - big house, big garden, dune buggy to razz around said garden in, and a whacking great free play lightgun cab taking center stage in his two-story mezzanine living room. I don't recall the game - something 2D where one of the levels had you shooting down a missile flying through a forest - but that's beside the point. If I was that guy, then I'd be all over it

[Skykid]

Someone rang?

[BIL]

Well met, my Lord. I knew you'd be back to face down the young upstart xxx1993 (｀w´メ) I tried to school the kid but he can't help himself, being too busy with his bird and/or taking mean shits to write proper posts in the movie thread! It's making us look like amateurs, frankly.

[Skykid]

Well met, my Lord. I knew you'd be back to face down the young upstart xxx1993 (｀w´メ) I tried to school the kid but he can't help himself, being too busy with his bird and/or taking mean shits to write proper posts in the movie thread! It's making us look like amateurs, frankly.

I see the movie critic of meagre taste has usurped pole position in my stead. Nevertheless, there is a method for counteracting his folly. Read an xxx1993 review (it will be brief and consist of majority superlatives). If the ultimate conclusion is either positive or overwhelmingly positive, do not watch the movie.

I leave you with this wisdom to go forth and brave the thread undeterred by its new evil dominion.

[BIL]

Aphoristic, efficient, clean - a potent means of dispensing the gape.

[drauch]

I feel with this message in times of need from lord Kid I can continue living. Bless you.

[Lander]

What a guy...

[Steamflogger Boss]

This thread was a certified banger. A real wild ride.

I sold my Neo Geo back in October, and haven't thought about it twice since then. The best part of owning a Neo Geo by far was being able to say that I owned a Neo Geo. Except I promptly discovered almost nobody IRL even knows what that is. Even gamers who know what KoF is or know Terry Bogard from various media have only the vaguest of ideas. Even most gamers who played these games in the wild have no understanding of them being part of a larger ecosystem.

If Neo Geo ownership makes you happy, I totally get it. I have tons of Saturn & PC Engine & Mega Drive & Super Famicom games on my shelves, so I fully expected to be over the moon with it. But I just found that the NG scene involves too much expense for too little return for me. Spending thousands to have a worse time playing Aero Fighters 3 than someone who just spent $50 on Sonic Wings Special for the Saturn - or $10 for AF3 on ACA - isn't the kind of rap game Liberace tax bracket I'm in.

I thought about dipping in several times myself but never could pull the trigger. Cost didn't exactly keep me out (I have err had until recently ~$6,000 decks of stupid cardboard cards) but whenever I really thought about it that was a factor in a couple of ways. One being cost to joy ratio, tragically not in favor of the NG there. Basically what you are saying with return for expense. The other was ease of resale. Without having first hand experience and from the outside looking in it feels like a niche within a niche, something that might be hard to sell at "full value" in a reasonable time frame. Could be wrong but that's the vibe I got and I'm already in enough of those spaces with things like Laserdisc.

This is what has kept me on the emulation side of the fence for arcade and microcomputer stuff; I respect the dedication to having a genuine setup and commitment to maintaining increasingly-esoteric hardware like CRTs or aging PCB components, but the money and effort cost coupled with the what-you-see-is-what-you-get nature of arcade titles has always set the bar a little high.

Come to think of it, I'm reminded of a bloke my older sister used to date. A literal resident of Rich Guy Lane - big house, big garden, dune buggy to razz around said garden in, and a whacking great free play lightgun cab taking center stage in his two-story mezzanine living room. I don't recall the game - something 2D where one of the levels had you shooting down a missile flying through a forest - but that's beside the point. If I was that guy, then I'd be all over it

On one hand I kinda wish I had bought old Japanese PC hardware when it was still somewhat affordable. On the other hand I have like 5 pc towers and a NUC in use right now for various things and that's all just US hardware so maybe it's best that I didn't.

[Udderdude]

I'm now remembering the WATA games clusterfuck that happened recently. https://www.eurogamer.net/game-grading- ... ew-lawsuit

Wonder if a certian someone was behind the whole thing .. plenty of artificially inflated prices .. hmmmmmmm

[Lander]

On one hand I kinda wish I had bought old Japanese PC hardware when it was still somewhat affordable. On the other hand I have like 5 pc towers and a NUC in use right now for various things and that's all just US hardware so maybe it's best that I didn't.

Sharp 68k...

For me it was the Acorn Archimedes, a lesser-known british micro that could best an Amiga pound-for-pound. Also notorious for leaking corrosive capacitor juice all over itself after some years, which put paid to that idea almost immediately.

[Steamflogger Boss]

I'm now remembering the WATA games clusterfuck that happened recently. https://www.eurogamer.net/game-grading- ... ew-lawsuit

Yeah that was crazy. I remember watching it unfold in real time, first discussing it in 2018 with some big collector friends. Good stuff from the people that uncovered all the shady connections and such.

[Sengoku Strider]

[quote="Steamflogger Boss" The other was ease of resale. Without having first hand experience and from the outside looking in it feels like a niche within a niche, something that might be hard to sell at "full value" in a reasonable time frame. Could be wrong but that's the vibe I got and I'm already in enough of those spaces with things like Laserdisc.[/quote]

Actually, I was swamped with local offers from the moment I put it up for sale. They're rare enough that collectors jumped all over me for the chance to pick one up in box for cash. I don't think I've ever had an easier time selling gaming stuff.

[Steamflogger Boss]

Actually, I was swamped with local offers from the moment I put it up for sale. They're rare enough that collectors jumped all over me for the chance to pick one up in box for cash. I don't think I've ever had an easier time selling gaming stuff.

Interesting. I know I'd have to ship though. Local scene here is...not great. Maybe get someone in KC that was interested.