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The Neo Geo CD was released in 1994, four years after its cartridge-based equivalent, in an effort to reduce manufacturing costs. The system was originally priced at US$300 new.[citation needed] The unit's (approximately) 1X CD-ROM drive was slow, making loading times very long with the system loading up to 56 Mbit of data between loads.[citation needed] Neo Geo CD game prices were low at $50, in contrast to Neo Geo AES game cartridges which cost as much as $300. The system could also play Audio CDs. All three versions of the system have no region-lock.
The Neo Geo CD was bundled with a control pad instead of a joystick like the AES version. However, the original AES joystick could be used with all 3 Neo Geo CD models, instead of the included control pads.
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Models
Three versions of the Neo Geo CD were released:
- A "front-loading" version; only distributed in Japan, 25,000 total units were built.
- A "top-loading" version that was marketed worldwide; it is the most common model.
- The Neo Geo CDZ; this was also in Japan only
CDZ
The CDZ was released in 1996 as the Japanese market replacement for SNK's previous efforts (the "front loader" and the "top loader"). The Neo Geo CD had met with limited success due to it being plagued by slow loading times that could vary from 30 to 60 seconds between levels, depending on the game. Although SNK's American home entertainment division quickly acknowledged that the system simply wasn't capable of competing with 3D-capable powerhouse systems of the day like Sega's Saturn and Sony's PlayStation, SNK corporate of Japan felt they could continue to maintain profitable sales in the Japanese home market by shortening the previous system's load-times.[citation needed]
Popular speculation suggests that SNK made several changes to the CD hardware to end up with the CDZ, most prominent is the rumor that they increased the CD-ROM drive speed from 1x to 2x.[citation needed] The truth of the matter is that the CDZ had a larger amount of cache. Though the CD-ROM motor in the CDZ may have been more efficient than the one in the original, it was still a 1x speed CD-ROM.
The console had a design flaw which sometimes caused it to overheat after certain periods of time, breaking the console in the process and making it hard to repair. This was a result of a lack of ventilation in the cramped housing of the smaller unit and the inability to dissipate heat generated by the newer drive, which could damage the circuit board.
CDZ availability
The CDZ was only officially sold in Japan during its production. However, its lack of a "region lock," and the fact that it could play older CD software, made it a popular import item for enthusiasts in Europe and North America. Today they can be found sporadically on the internet, especially through auction sites such as eBay.
Technical specifications
- Main Processor: Motorola 68000 running at 12 MHz
- Co-Processor: Zilog Z80 running at 4 MHz
- Colors On Screen: 4,096
- Colors Available: 65,536
- Resolution: 304 x 224
- Max Sprites: 380
- Max Sprite Size: 16 x 512
- Number of Planes: 3
The system is also capable of reading Redbook standard compact disc audio.
In addition to the multi-AV port (exact same one as used on the Sega Genesis model 1[citation needed]) all Neo Geo CD models had composite RCA A/V and S-Video out jacks on the rear of the console.
The CD system's 58 Mbit / 7 MB of RAM was split accordingly:
- 68000 Program Memory: 2 MB
- Fix Layer Memory: 128 KB
- Graphics Memory: 4 MB
- Sound Sample Memory: 1 MB
- Z80 Program Memory: 64 kB
- VRAM: 512Kb (For graphics attributes)
- SRAM: 2 KB (For high scores / general save data)
Exclusive games
While the Neo Geo CD library consisted primarily of ports of MVS and AES titles, there were a few MVS arcade games which were not officially released for the Neo Geo AES and ported instead to the Neo Geo CD. This includes Puzzle Bobble, Janshin Densetsu (a Mahjong game also released for the PC Engine), Power Spike II, Neo Driftout and Futsal - 5-on-5 Mini Soccer.
A few games which were unreleased in MVS and AES formats were also released exclusively for the Neo Geo CD. These includes Iron Clad, Crossed Swords 2, Oshidashi Zentrix, ADK World, Neo Geo CD Special, The King of Fighters '96 Neo Collection and Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits: Bushido Retsuden (an RPG spinoff of the Samurai Shodown series that also released for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn). Idol Mahjong Final Romance II, an arcade game which was not an MVS game, was also ported to the Neo Geo CD.
See also
External links
- NeoGeoSpain.com - Spanish NeoGeo CD Site
- NeoGeoCD.net - Dedicated to the Neo Geo CD System, Games, and Accessories: Neogeocd.net
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