In January details leaked of a new portable gaming device carrying the Neo-Geo name. it looked a lot like an iPhone, yet was purely focused on playing games and would ship with 20 classic Neo-Geo titles on board.
It now looks as if that rumor was true. Blaze, who specialize in video games accessories, has signed a deal with SNK Playmore and distributor Tommo to launch the NeoGeo X. the only problem is, the price we can expect to pay renders this device dead on arrival.
The leaked specs for the NeoGeo X were slightly off. Instead of a 4.3-inch display it will only have a 3.5-inch LCD. There’s A/V output though, as well as an SD card slot. Other details about the hardware have not been confirmed, but the original leak stated there would be 2GB of on-board storage, a 2200mAh battery, and an ARM chip as the central processor.
As for the games included with the unit, they have been confirmed as:
As for the price, Blaze has confirmed we can expect to pay £500 (US$785) for the privilege of owning a NeoGeo X. if that remains the case, no one will buy it. if you consider the vastly more powerful PS Vita costs only $299.99 with 3G, how can Blaze warrant pricing this retro-gaming unit so high? it makes little sense.
Hopefully that price will be revised downwards considerably before launch and I’m also hoping for an online store offering the rest of the 158 Neo-Geo games that got released.