Changes

The '''Neo Geo''' <span style="font-weight: normal">(ネオジオ ''Neo Jio''^{[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Installing_Japanese_character_sets <span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?</span>]})</span> is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ROM_cartridge cartridge]-based [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcade_system_board arcade system board] and home [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_console video game console] released on January 31, 1990 by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan Japanese] game company [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNK_Playmore SNK Playmore]. Being in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_video_game_consoles_%28fourth_generation%29 fourth generation of video game consoles], it was the first system in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo_Geo Neo Geo family], which ran throughout the 1990s before being revived in December 2012 with the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo_Geo_X Neo Geo X] handheld/home system.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Kotaku_1-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo_Geo_%28system%29#cite_note-Kotaku-1 [1]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Eurogamer_2-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo_Geo_%28system%29#cite_note-Eurogamer-2 [2]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-test_3-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo_Geo_%28system%29#cite_note-test-3 [3]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-GR_4-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo_Geo_%28system%29#cite_note-GR-4 [4]]</sup> The original system's hardware featured comparatively colourful [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2D_computer_graphics 2D] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_graphics graphics].

The '''MVS''' (Multi Video System), as the Neo Geo was known to the coin-operated arcade game industry, offered arcade operators the ability to put up to six different arcade titles into a single cabinet, a key economic consideration for operators with limited floorspace. With its games stored on self-contained cartridges, a game-cabinet could be exchanged for a different game-title by swapping the game's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ROM_Cartridge ROM-cartridge] and cabinet artwork. Several popular franchise-series, including ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal_Fury_%28series%29 Fatal Fury]'', ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King_of_Fighters The King of Fighters]'', ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Slug_%28series%29 Metal Slug]'' and ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samurai_Shodown_%28series%29 Samurai Shodown]'', were released for the platform.

The Neo Geo system was also marketed as a very costly [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_console home console], commonly referred to today as the '''AES''' (Advanced Entertainment System). The Neo Geo was marketed as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24-bit 24-bit], though it was technically a parallel processing 16 bit system with an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8-bit 8-bit] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zilog Zilog] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zilog_Z80 Z80] as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprocessor coprocessor]. The coprocessor was used as a CPU, and for sound processing.

Production of the system was discontinued in 1997, but official production of game cartridges lasted until 2004;<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo_Geo_%28system%29#cite_note-5 [5]]</sup> The Neo Geo was ranked 19th out of the 25 best video game consoles of all time by the video game website [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IGN IGN] in 2009.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo_Geo_%28system%29#cite_note-6 [6]]</sup> There continues to be a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homebrew_%28video_games%29 homebrew] market for the system over a decade and a half after its discontinuation.<sup class="Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed citation needed]'']</sup>