???? – 1996retired
32X
“Project Mars never quite landed, but it gave the Genesis a brave, brief boost.”
“It brought $300 cartridges down to CD prices, then made you wait a minute to play them.”
The Neo Geo CD arrived in September 1994 as SNK's attempt to make its legendary arcade hardware affordable for the living room. Same platform as the cartridge-based Neo Geo, but on CDs that cost $49 to $79 instead of cartridges that could run up to $300. It shipped with a control pad rather than the AES's joystick, though faithful AES controllers still worked.
Unfortunately, loading times of 30 to 60 seconds per game tested even devoted fans, and the machine lacked the 3D graphics the rest of the industry was rushing toward. By September 30, 1997, only 570,000 units had sold worldwide, and that year SNK discontinued production of all Neo Geo consoles. The software lived on, though, with new releases and backports continuing on the Neo Geo MVS until 2004.
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“Project Mars never quite landed, but it gave the Genesis a brave, brief boost.”
“Product of the Year 1993, gone by 1996 — even Time can't save you from a price tag.”
“It cost a fortune, played like the arcade, and never once pretended to be for everyone.”