Turns out, the Neo Geo is only mostly dead: Game distributor Tommo said today that it will sell the Neo Geo X Gold Entertainment System beginning December 6. The $200 machine will come packed with twenty pre-installed Neo Geo games from the 16-bit era, including Fatal Fury Special, Samurai Shodown II, Metal Slug and The King of Fighters ’95.
The Neo Geo X was first announced back in January as a portable system with a 4.3 inch screen. Today’s announcement revealed that the system will also include a joystick and a docking station, which features a charger for the portable unit and HDMI and A/V video-out ports for TV play.
The original Neo Geo home console was released in 1990 in Japan by SNK (now known as SNK Playmore). Its arcade-quality home software set it apart the competition; Neo Geo games were identical to arcade ones because the hardware was the same. Of course, all that came at a price: At $650 (over $1100 today), it was too expensive to be popular.
Today, much of the classic Neo Geo library is available for download on Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
No announcements have been made concerning future software releases for the Neo Geo X, although today’s statement does mention an “expandable game card slot” which suggests more games could be added post-release.