Neo Geo Pocket
Prepping this post for today was brutal, as my Sunday began at 1 a.m. for a 12-hour journey home on no sleep. Cherish these complete sentences, because they were excruciatingly difficult to construct. Anyway, Neo Geo Pocket was great and this post was worth it because I can use one of my favorite Capcom illustrations. And with that, I’m gonna go to sleep now ok bye
Edit: Whoa, hey, I just realized this Thursday is the NGPC’s 10th anniversary. So, um, pretend this is an anniversary retrospective that I deliberately posted today for the sake of timing.
Aww… I still like my poor Neo Geo Pocket… and his brother Neo Geo Pocket Color… Best handheld analog stick ever made. Also, making good handheld fighting games with only 2 buttons is pretty slick. I never could find one of those Dreamcast link cables though…
Well, it wasn’t actually an analog stick, you know — just a really effective 8-way stick. I’d gladly trade the PSP’s terrible analog nub and the DS’s merely decent D-pad for the NGP stick. It was definitely the ideal digital portable control interface.
A fine remembrance for a fine system.
Now I need to get a Neo Geo Pocket Color. Thanks for keeping me poor, Gamespite!
The only shame about the NGP/C from a hardware perspective was its realtime sound capabilities. The NGP/C could only output one kind of tone from its three square wave channels (much like the Master System & Game Gear), while the GB/C could create three tones from its two square wave channels and then modify the waveform on the third channel — so it was capable of far-more diverse sounds for its music & effects. Even the white noise channel on the GB/C had the upper hand, as it could produce slightly-melodic notes when compared to the noise channel on the NGP/C.
The NGP/C did have the upper hand on pre-recorded sound, but I don’t remember seeing videos of that many games that used it.
Beyond that, though — the NGP/C was a great little system with an awesome software library. I’m certainly glad to have one.
Yeah, the “stick” on the NGPC was the best handheld control method, hands-down. God I loved that thing.
I remember that both the Dreamcast and the NGPC actually were doing better in America than they were in Japan. If this was true, it makes the early cancellation all the more heartrending.
After reading this, I’m reminded that nothing good has ever been related to the word pachinko.
I just picked up a Neo Geo Pocket Color about two weeks ago, and I’ve been absolutely enamored with it. Everything about it (at least design-wise) just seems so “right”. Also I’m incredibly addicted to Card Fighter’s Clash. It really sucks that of the two sequels one is just plain terrible and the other is Japan only. Speaking of which, are NGPC games region-free?
Yes, like every portable prior to DSi, NGP is region-free.
Man, I remember that fateful day…I had finally saved enough money to buy one, and when I got to my local EB…they had just sent out their NGPC’s back to SNK because of the cancellation. I was so pissed.
Great article. I remember getting my NGPC during the holidays back in 1999. I still have it, and occasionally like to spend time with King of Fighters R2, SNK vs. Capcom or Fatal Fury: First Contact. Those three and a port of Bust-a-Move were what I had for the system.
Curiously, I walked into my local EB in late 2003, which I visited quite regularly back then, and was shocked to discover a wall full of NGPC. Each was in clear plastic packaging, like you’d expect of an action figure, with 6 games included, displayed like the action figure accessories. I believe it had Neo Turf Masters, KOF R-2, SvC, Sonic, Fatal Fury F-Contact, and Last Blade 2. Actually, I know I have SamSho2 & Metal Slug 1st also, so I guess it came with 8 games? I don’t remember how much it was, but I snatched one up instantly. I assume this isn’t how NGPC were normally sold, so, just wondering if anyone else noticed these bundles so late after the system’s death?