Neo Geo CD: Difference between revisions

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	'''Neo Geo CD''' is a ] from ] that was released in 1994, four years after its ], in an effort to reduce manufacturing costs. It is the second console of the ]. The system was originally priced at US]300 new.{{Citation needed\|date=January 2008}} The unit's (approximately) 1X ] drive was slow, making loading times very long with the system loading up to 56 ] of data between loads. {{Citation needed\|date=January 2008}} Neo Geo ] ] prices were low at $50, in contrast to ] game cartridges which cost as much as $300. The system could also play ]s. All three versions of the system have no region-lock.		'''Neo Geo CD''' is a ] from ] that was released in 1994, four years after its ], in an effort to reduce manufacturing costs. It is the second console of the ]. The system was originally priced at US]300 new.{{Citation needed\|date=January 2008}} The unit's (approximately) 1X ] drive was slow, making loading times very long with the system loading up to 56 ] of data between loads. {{Citation needed\|date=January 2008}} Neo Geo ] ] prices were low at $50, in contrast to ] game cartridges which cost as much as $300. The system could also play ]s. All three versions of the system have no region-lock.
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	==CDZ==		==CDZ==
	The CDZ was released the ] ]<ref>http://www.neogeocdworld.info/html/fiche/fichetechniqueneogeo.htm</ref><ref>http://www.obsolete-tears.com/snk-neogeo-cd-machine-226.html</ref> as the ]ese market replacement for ]'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 ]'s ] and ]'s ], 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\|date=January 2008}}		The CDZ was released the 29 December 1995<ref>http://www.neogeocdworld.info/html/fiche/fichetechniqueneogeo.htm</ref><ref>http://www.obsolete-tears.com/snk-neogeo-cd-machine-226.html</ref> as the ]ese market replacement for ]'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 ]'s ] and ]'s ], 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\|date=January 2008}}

	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. 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.		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. 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.

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The Neo Geo CD system, with three games.

Neo Geo CD is a game console from SNK that was released in 1994, four years after its cartridge-based equivalent, in an effort to reduce manufacturing costs. It is the second console of the Neo Geo family. The system was originally priced at US$300 new. 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. 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.

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 the 29 December 1995 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.

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. 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
- Although the 68000 CPU was designed by Motorola, there were many other clones of this CPU found in the Neo Geo hardware. The most common CPU is the TMP68HC000 manufactured by Toshiba. This is essentially a Motorola 68000 clone.
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 (almost same one as used on the Sega Genesis model 1, though they are not interchangeable.) 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 Drift Out 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 Ironclad, Crossed Swords 2, Oshidashi Zentrix, ADK World, Neo Geo CD Special, The King of Fighters '96 Neo Collection and Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits Bushidō 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.

References

External links

NeoGeoCD.net - Dedicated to the Neo Geo CD System, Games, and Accessories: Neogeocd.net

Video game consoles (fourth generation)

Form factor

Functionality

Generations

Fourth
generation

Home	CD-i Commodore CDTV Neo Geo Neo Geo CD LaserActive Sega Genesis Super A'Can Super Nintendo Entertainment System SNS-101 TurboGrafx-16
Handheld	Game Boy Atari Lynx Game Gear TurboExpress Gamate Watara Supervision Mega Duck/Cougar Boy Game Master

Lists

← Third generation Fifth generation →

Categories:

Revision as of 22:00, 9 December 2010 editPincerr (talk \| contribs)Extended confirmed users3,032 editsNo edit summary← Previous edit		Revision as of 01:19, 27 December 2010 edit undoTenPoundHammer (talk \| contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Page movers, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers279,074 edits fixNext edit →
Line 1:		Line 1:
	{{Unreferenced\|date=January 2008}}		{{Unreferenced\|date=January 2008}}
	{{Expand\|date=December 2009}}
	]		]
	'''Neo Geo CD''' is a ] from ] that was released in 1994, four years after its ], in an effort to reduce manufacturing costs. It is the second console of the ]. The system was originally priced at US]300 new.{{Citation needed\|date=January 2008}} The unit's (approximately) 1X ] drive was slow, making loading times very long with the system loading up to 56 ] of data between loads. {{Citation needed\|date=January 2008}} Neo Geo ] ] prices were low at $50, in contrast to ] game cartridges which cost as much as $300. The system could also play ]s. All three versions of the system have no region-lock.		'''Neo Geo CD''' is a ] from ] that was released in 1994, four years after its ], in an effort to reduce manufacturing costs. It is the second console of the ]. The system was originally priced at US]300 new.{{Citation needed\|date=January 2008}} The unit's (approximately) 1X ] drive was slow, making loading times very long with the system loading up to 56 ] of data between loads. {{Citation needed\|date=January 2008}} Neo Geo ] ] prices were low at $50, in contrast to ] game cartridges which cost as much as $300. The system could also play ]s. All three versions of the system have no region-lock.
Line 15:		Line 14:

	==CDZ==		==CDZ==
	The CDZ was released the ] ]<ref>http://www.neogeocdworld.info/html/fiche/fichetechniqueneogeo.htm</ref><ref>http://www.obsolete-tears.com/snk-neogeo-cd-machine-226.html</ref> as the ]ese market replacement for ]'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 ]'s ] and ]'s ], 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\|date=January 2008}}		The CDZ was released the 29 December 1995<ref>http://www.neogeocdworld.info/html/fiche/fichetechniqueneogeo.htm</ref><ref>http://www.obsolete-tears.com/snk-neogeo-cd-machine-226.html</ref> as the ]ese market replacement for ]'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 ]'s ] and ]'s ], 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\|date=January 2008}}

	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. 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.		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. 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.

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