X-pert74
@X-pert74 asked:

If you could have a fully-curated collection for any console of your choice (particularly ones you may not already have), what would it be and why?

I'm mostly there with the platforms I do own; it's just a matter of fine-tuning. However, about a year ago I acquired a NeoGeo AES by getting rid of some older expensive titles I owned that I didn't particularly care for or fit into my criteria for whatever curation process I was working with. And CIB NeoGeo AES games get really expensive once you venture outside the extremely common Japanese titles such as Fatal Fury Special, Art of Fighting 2, and Samurai Shodown 2 (all three coincidentally are very good and also games I own). At the moment I just own those three titles as well as The King of Fighters '98.

Now as for why the NeoGeo AES...well, I guess technically a NeoGeo MVS would be more ideal. It's the arcade platform version and also technically cheaper to get copies of games for (you also don't really have to worry about CIB copies, just grab carts, it's fine). The issue there is that I'm not a fan of converting a NeoGeo MVS into a supergun (essentially arcade hardware converted into a console form factor that you can use on a consumer display). If I wanted a NeoGeo MVS setup, I would want a proper arcade cabinet for that. Unfortunately, I don't really have the space to accommodate an arcade cabinet. And if I did acquire an arcade cabinet, I'd rather it be a Japanese-style "candy cab" machine rather than the American upright style, as I find the former more aesthetically pleasing, even though I do have nostalgia for the American upright NeoGeo cabinet. SNK had a couple of different cabinet models that are neat, but knowing me, I'd want to put the NeoGeo MVS in a Sega Astro City cabinet.

Actually, that didn't explain WHY I'd want a NeoGeo at all. I'm a fan of classic SNK arcade titles, and during the fighting game boom period following Street Fighter II's release, I was a kid fascinated with the arcade scene at the time. Unfortunately, I was also a baby pre-teen during this era with horrible anxiety issues being around that many people. As a resutl, I didn't get to play as much Street Fighter II or, what was also very popular during this era in the US, at least at my local arcade, Mortal Kombat. However, the arcade did have a few NeoGeo MVS machines in the back. And since very few people played those games, and they were priced at only 1 credit compared to the other two being 2 credits per play (1 credit = $0.25 USD), most of my arcade fighting game experience is from NeoGeo fighting games, particularly Fatal Fury and eventually Art of Fighting. Though it wasn't just fighting games on the NeoGeo that I was enamored with, but that was the most prevalent genre on the platform. I'm also just very fascinated with SNK's history before they went bankrupt and acquired by Aruze at the turn of the century.

So the short answer to your question is: the NeoGeo (AES or MVS)


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