Found a Neo Geo front loader that lived a life in storage

[daytonausa]

Wait a minute, you're putting an sd card reader into that?

Yeah. Only way to realistically play this thing without waiting a year and a day for loading. The sd solution cuts that time down to nothing. Used to only be available for top loaders, but now has a kit for front loaders. The CDZ is still left in the cold, though. At least for now.

I'll post some pictures of the process if you're interested. Completely reversable, and doesn't damage or interfere with the console's casing.

 

[kernow]

Sure why not

 

[daytonausa]

Sure why not

Cool, will post tonight.

 

[prof]

@kernow
The furrtek sd loader is a pretty sophisticated piece of kit. And rather noninvasive all things considered, especially in comparison to similar solutions on other consoles.

NeoGeo CD SD Loader

I've used the search but didn't find anything on the topic. http://furrtek.free.fr/sdloader/ They are releasing an sd loader for the NGCD, allegedly in a month or so. For me it's great news if the load times are OK, we'll wait and see but I plan on buying one from the first batch just to give...

www.neo-geo.com

 

[prof]

*ding ding*

The only "great" game on Sega CD is Sonic CD, and even that's mediocre at best compared to the rest of the games on Genesis. Otherwise the system is just a minefield of crap arcade ports, 3DO titles and such gems as Moto Cross Championship, Blackhole Assault, and the Lawnmower Man.

The only thing it's notable for is it's fierce competition with it's sister console the 32X, which it duked it out with till the death, competing for space in discount bins outside the front the front door of Funcolands across Middle America, not even worth having in the discount area INSIDE the store, because they didnt even care if they were lifted by passerbys.

I've got to disagree with that assessment. It sounds as though you're just not very familiar with the SCD library. Now, obviously it's not God's gift to gaming, but there were over 200 games released for it. And while it certainly had its share of chud, there are many great titles for it as well.

It was an under the radar system for years that had its fans, but sometime in the late 00s or so, it became a meme of sorts. Which is rather unfair, considering the glutton of failed consoles from that era. And while you mention the 32x, the SCD was out over 2 years before the 32x which came out about the same time as the Japanese launch of the Saturn. I think at least part of the reason the modern SCD hate has become the norm is likely due to the unfavorable AVGN video from that era, but it really does seem as though much of the modern internet/YT gaming community unfairly craps on the SCD. In my opinion, anyway.

Off the top of my head, here are a number of games that I believe make it a system worth owning for those who enjoy the 16-bit era of gaming, but there are surely more, and of course, ymmv.

Snatcher
Robo Aleste
Final Fight CD
Lunar 1 & 2
Android Assault
Earthworm Jim Special Edition
Road Avenger
Lords of Thunder
Soul Star
The Terminator
Shining Force CD
Thunderhawk/Thunderstrike
Popful Mail
Dark Wizard
Rise of the Dragon
Spiderman vs the Kingpin
Vay
Keio Flying Squadron
Batman Returns (exclusive 3D driving/flying stages)
Cliffhanger (exclusive 3D snowboarding stages)
Best ports of Pitfall Mayan Adventure, Mickey Mania, BC Racers

 

[Burning Fight!!]

SD Loader rules and sucks at the same time, there's a reason I decided to sell my ngcd.

 

[daytonausa]

I've got to disagree with that assessment. It sounds as though you're just not very familiar with the SCD library. Now, obviously it's not God's gift to gaming, but there were over 200 games released for it. And while it certainly had its share of chud, there are many great titles for it as well.

It was an under the radar system for years that had its fans, but sometime in the late 00s or so, it became a meme of sorts. Which is rather unfair, considering the glutton of failed consoles from that era. And while you mention the 32x, the SCD was out over 2 years before the 32x which came out about the same time as the Japanese launch of the Saturn. I think at least part of the reason the modern SCD hate has become the norm is likely due to the unfavorable AVGN video from that era, but it really does seem as though much of the modern internet/YT gaming community unfairly craps on the SCD. In my opinion, anyway.

Off the top of my head, here are a number of games that I believe make it a system worth owning for those who enjoy the 16-bit era of gaming, but there are surely more, and of course, ymmv.

Snatcher
Robo Aleste
Final Fight CD
Lunar 1 & 2
Android Assault
Earthworm Jim Special Edition
Road Avenger
Lords of Thunder
Soul Star
The Terminator
Shining Force CD
Thunderhawk/Thunderstrike
Popful Mail
Dark Wizard
Rise of the Dragon
Spiderman vs the Kingpin
Vay
Keio Flying Squadron
Batman Returns (exclusive 3D driving/flying stages)
Cliffhanger (exclusive 3D snowboarding stages)
Best ports of Pitfall Mayan Adventure, Mickey Mania, BC Racers

Nah, never really was into his vids. Was just from my memories of the system and Sega in general at the time, which killed me then as I wanted them to succeed and they just kept flubbing up.

That said, your list kinda proved my point. What I meant by no great games, I meant great genuine exclusives. You even named 3DO ports and poor arcade game ports, with most of the rest of the list being games ported to many other consoles.

From a modern perspective, I just dont see the point in collecting for it. The games are often found on better systems of the era, or have been ported to more modern consoles. Barely any, when I see them, I say to myself "that's a Sega CD game", but more just a game from that era that was on a whole host of systems. In my eyes, the system suffered from a severe lack of an identity. There was nothing outside of Sonic CD that felt like it was made for that console specifically. Even the 32X felt like it did a better job in that regard, as flawed as it was as well.

Just my 2 cents. One of the most forgettable systems imho, especially from such a large company.

 

[daytonausa]

SD Loader rules and sucks at the same time, there's a reason I decided to sell my ngcd.

What issues did you have with yours? Since updated, not heard of people having any problems with it.

 

[kernow]

@kernow
The furrtek sd loader is a pretty sophisticated piece of kit. And rather noninvasive all things considered, especially in comparison to similar solutions on other consoles.

NeoGeo CD SD Loader

I've used the search but didn't find anything on the topic. http://furrtek.free.fr/sdloader/ They are releasing an sd loader for the NGCD, allegedly in a month or so. For me it's great news if the load times are OK, we'll wait and see but I plan on buying one from the first batch just to give...

www.neo-geo.com

Yeah I've seen it before, but interested to see pics of fitting

 

[terry.330]

What issues did you have with yours? Since updated, not heard of people having any problems with it.

It's still a NGCD.

 

[daytonausa]

Touche.

 

[city41]

I've got to disagree with that assessment. It sounds as though you're just not very familiar with the SCD library. Now, obviously it's not God's gift to gaming, but there were over 200 games released for it. And while it certainly had its share of chud, there are many great titles for it as well.

I was just about to post this. The Sega CD is a great system, all things considered.

 

[city41]

That said, your list kinda proved my point. What I meant by no great games, I meant great genuine exclusives. You even named 3DO ports and poor arcade game ports, with most of the rest of the list being games ported to many other consoles.

Same thing could be said for the Neo CD, times ten. It's absolutely irrelevant while cart based Neo systems exist.

 

[daytonausa]

Same thing could be said for the Neo CD, times ten. It's absolutely irrelevant while cart based Neo systems exist.

They're still Neo Geo games on a Neo Geo consoles though. A console made to play their own games. The Sega CD just felt like an amalgamation of other system's games or multiplats of the era with hardly any stand out titles that defined it.

Like what you will, just how I've always felt about the system. Again, I felt the 32X had more of an identity, but that was doomed from the start with the Saturn around the corner.

 

[kernow]

I was just about to post this. The Sega CD is a great system, all things considered.

No it isn't

 

[Burning Fight!!]

It's still a NGCD.

Well this, lol. But on a more serious note, I never had much luck with it and I guess it's a socket seating + firmware issue since sometimes it would crash in bizarre ways, especially when doing the START+SEL combo for the debug dip/cheats menu. Might be because my NGCD has the final bios version which isn't all that common except in Brazil units, I dunno, I only know I sent my BIOS dump to furrtek and kept pestering him to no avail

 

[neo.kobe.city]

Sega CD wasn't amazing but Snatcher and Robo Aleste definitely make it worth owning one, least for me.

 

[Orpheus]

We have it torn down atm adding in the sd card reader from furrtek.

.......... Oh lord, please don't.

 

[daytonausa]

.......... Oh lord, please don't.

Have a better solution? lol

I still will use the disc drive on the few games I'll be able to get / can bear dealing with their load times on. But I mean, I'm not paying list price on a lot of the games out there, now, that's for damned sure. The SD Loader will help in those cases.

Regardless, it's frankly just a tinker project and a curiosity at this point. I have my MVS for everything else. I've always liked the aesthetics of the front loader, and figured if I could get one for under a hundred bucks, fuck it.. why not.

 

[daytonausa]

Well this, lol. But on a more serious note, I never had much luck with it and I guess it's a socket seating + firmware issue since sometimes it would crash in bizarre ways, especially when doing the START+SEL combo for the debug dip/cheats menu. Might be because my NGCD has the final bios version which isn't all that common except in Brazil units, I dunno, I only know I sent my BIOS dump to furrtek and kept pestering him to no avail

Yeah, might be your unit. I've not heard of issues like that.

I will say this, having dealt with him in the past for another mod, he's fucking impossible to get ahold of, and frankly comes off standoffish when he does. I only decided to go into this because I waited long enough for the mod to mature and for issues to get ironed out through the pain of previous users having installed it and troubleshooted it. We'll see. I've had similar issues with companies like Terraonion and the like. I'll only jump on board when/if shit gets squared away to the point where I know exactly what to expect. And even then, some companies I'll still just straight up perm avoid.

 

[Neo Alec]

*ding ding*

The only "great" game on Sega CD is Sonic CD, and even that's mediocre at best compared to the rest of the games on Genesis. Otherwise the system is just a minefield of crap arcade ports, 3DO titles and such gems as Moto Cross Championship, Blackhole Assault, and the Lawnmower Man.

Without even going into the long list of decent-to-mediocre games...
Android Assault/Bari Arm
Dark Wizard
Dungeon Explorer
Final Fight CD
Lords of Thunder
Lunar
Lunar 2
Keio Flying Squadron
Popful Mail
Road Avenger
Robo Aleste
Silpheed
Snatcher

 

[daytonausa]

Without even going into the long list of decent-to-mediocre games...
Android Assault/Bari Arm
Dark Wizard
Dungeon Explorer
Final Fight CD
Lords of Thunder
Lunar
Lunar 2
Keio Flying Squadron
Popful Mail
Road Avenger
Robo Aleste
Silpheed
Snatcher

I'll admit defeat on Silpheed. Forgot about that one, and I do love that game.

 

[Neo Alec]

I'll admit defeat on Silpheed. Forgot about that one, and I do love that game.

Wasn't expecting Silpheed to be checkmate. Robo Aleste and Popful Mail are on that list. Sega themselves did the remake of Popful Mail, and it dominates the other versions. It's a different game.

 

[daytonausa]

Wasn't expecting Silpheed to be checkmate. Robo Aleste and Popful Mail are on that list. Sega themselves did the remake of Popful Mail, and it dominates the other versions. It's a different game.

Well, I mean.. not really a checkmate per say, I still think the system lacks identity and a compelling library, but I will say I love that game and unlike others isn't represented in another system's library of the era.

 

[max 330 mega]

Without even going into the long list of decent-to-mediocre games...
Android Assault/Bari Arm
Dark Wizard
Dungeon Explorer
Final Fight CD
Lords of Thunder
Lunar
Lunar 2
Keio Flying Squadron
Popful Mail
Road Avenger
Robo Aleste
Silpheed
Snatcher

You forgot “make my video” kriss kross and marky mark editions!!