Who Had An AES Growing Up in the 90s?

Takumaji

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Do you have a point?
One day I will make one, just keep on keeping on.

About the og question, yes, I bought a homecart system in 1993 (or 94? Don't remember, memories of the 90s are hazy) but I was 23/24 at that time and already had a job. Still couldn't afford one, maybe two games a year.
 

famicommander

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Never owned an AES.

First I got a Neo Geo Pocket Color, then a Neo Geo CD toploader, then a one slot MVS cab, then an Omega CMVS.
 

SignOfGoob

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One day I will make one, just keep on keeping on.

About the og question, yes, I bought a homecart system in 1993 (or 94? Don't remember, memories of the 90s are hazy) but I was 23/24 at that time and already had a job. Still couldn't afford one, maybe two games a year.
I think the OG question isn’t just “who bought a new AES?” but more specially “who owned an AES when in grade school?” and so far if anyone has answered in the affirmative to that I must have already blocked them. Whatever nine year old had one must have been the most insufferable little bastard at Brearley School.

The system was not aimed at kids even a little. The MVS, sure, but not the AES. The AES was made for unmarried Japanese salarymen dorks.
 

basic

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I think the OG question isn’t just “who bought a new AES?” but more specially “who owned an AES when in grade school?” and so far if anyone has answered in the affirmative to that I must have already blocked them. Whatever nine year old had one must have been the most insufferable little bastard at Brearley School.

The system was not aimed at kids even a little. The MVS, sure, but not the AES. The AES was made for unmarried Japanese salarymen dorks.
are you sure you didn't have one as a nine year old?
 

skate323k137

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There were 2 AES systems in my neighborhood, one at the video game store which was an independent store and did a bunch of importing of saturn, psx, etc., games, and one rich kid at our high school had an AES his dad bought him.
 

terry.330

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I bought my first home cart system in 97 I was in 9th grade, paid for it myself. I got a system, FFS, WH2J, Magican Lord, Super Spy, and Baseball Stars for around $250 from one of those ads in the back of EGM or Gamepro.

The first new game I got was KOF98. By the time I finished high school I had around 20 games. Back then I was buying new games direct from SNK and used games from misc. gaming newsgroup ads. Shit was cheap, everybody wanted DC and PS2 stuff and people were dumping carts for next to nothing. I remember getting Viewpoint, Top Hunter, Aero Fighters 2 and Sengoku 2 for less than $50 each.
 
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NGT

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We just looked at it through the glass at Toys R Us, then walked around the corner and got NES games. I didn't get my first AES until Jorge got me interested. He drove me down to SF to get my first two games too. Sam Sho 2 and FFS. $25 each in the early 2000's.
 

neo_mao

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We just looked at it through the glass at Toys R Us, then walked around the corner and got NES games. I didn't get my first AES until Jorge got me interested. He drove me down to SF to get my first two games too. Sam Sho 2 and FFS. $25 each in the early 2000's.

lol, i used to just watch Nam and Ghost Pilots on the TVs outside of Babbages. I didnt get my system until 2007 from ebay. Was disappointed it had a broken pin for the D button for the player 1 side....and still have not gotten it fixed to this day 15 years later.

:emb:
 

GohanX

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As mentioned before I think the common thread is for the the most part it wasn't really bought by rich kids' parents, rather by teenagers/young men who bought it with their own money working their first jobs. I didn't get one until Viewpoint and Jigen talked me into it around 2001 by pointing out how many of the older games were cheap and obtainable at the time.
 

basic

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As mentioned before I think the common thread is for the the most part it wasn't really bought by rich kids' parents, rather by teenagers/young men who bought it with their own money working their first jobs. I didn't get one until Viewpoint and Jigen talked me into it around 2001 by pointing out how many of the older games were cheap and obtainable at the time.
you don't even have the ultimate gameboy, son
 

HellioN

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I think the OG question isn’t just “who bought a new AES?” but more specially “who owned an AES when in grade school?” and so far if anyone has answered in the affirmative to that I must have already blocked them. Whatever nine year old had one must have been the most insufferable little bastard at Brearley School.

The system was not aimed at kids even a little. The MVS, sure, but not the AES. The AES was made for unmarried Japanese salarymen dorks.
Not really.
The AES was originally aimed at the home rental market.
 

LoneSage

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I bought my first home cart system in 97 I was in 9th grade, paid for it myself. I got a system, FFS, WH2J, Magican Lord, Super Spy, and Baseball Stars for around $250 from one of those ads in the back of EGM or Gamepro.

The first new game I got was KOF98. By the time I finished high school I had around 20 games. Back then I was buying new games direct from SNK and used games from misc. gaming newsgroup ads. Shit was cheap, everybody wanted DC and PS2 stuff and people were dumping carts for next to nothing. I remember getting Viewpoint, Top Hunter, Aero Fighters 2 and Sengoku 2 for less than $50 each.
Same here.

Junior and senior years of high school, joined this forum, and finally lived the childhood dream after getting a part time job.

Prices were at their lowest. Games like Fatal Fury Special and World Heroes, around $10 for loose MVS. Magician Lord MVS for $30. Got the first four Sam Sho games with shockboxes for $60ish iirc.

I'll see someone mention prices nowadays and just be so shocked.

edit: looks like I got Eightman for $38 shipped from BIG BEAR in September 2007. 15 years ago, Jesus. How much does a loose MVS of that go nowadays?
 
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GohanX

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Same here.

Junior and senior years of high school, joined this forum, and finally lived the childhood dream after getting a part time job.

Prices were at their lowest. Games like Fatal Fury Special and World Heroes, around $10 for loose MVS. Magician Lord MVS for $30. Got the first four Sam Sho games with shockboxes for $60ish iirc.

I'll see someone mention prices nowadays and just be so shocked.
That time period when Mvs was dirt cheap before cmvs’s became more common was magical.
 

herb

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Do you have a point?
Thank you for answering the question.

As for the OP: I was born in 1991 and didn't even know about neo until the mid to late 00's. I have vague memories of seeing an mvs at pizza hut once but that's about it. And didn't get a cmvs until 2014. Even then the games were still mostly affordable compared to today's shit market
 

terry.330

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I'll see someone mention prices nowadays and just be so shocked.
Yeah. If I had kept all my home carts the value would be insane now. I'm not sure I'd even feel comfortable having that much money just sitting around on shelves.

Initially I sold off the home cart collection and used the money to get a Big Red 4 slot, all the same games plus more for a fraction of the price and also got a Sigma Raijin superman and got heavy into shmups. Then sold the Neo cab and supergun and got a pair of Blast Cities, kind of an evolution I guess.

I miss home carts sometimes and I've re-bought the system multiple times over the years but it always just seems so frivolous once I start building up a collection again. Though I despise the english home carts aesthetically so they've just been small Japanese collections.

Still though I love the Neo but it never had quite the same magic as it did back in the day. Not to mention that back then the only way to really find out about a game was to actually play it which usually meant owning it. That was doable back then and a big part of the fun, now not only is nothing new but it's just no longer a feasible hobby money wise. Especially when there are so many alternatives.
 

Heinz

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I've also gone through the acquisition and release cycles a few times now, can't do it again. Not with emulation now serving my needs when I find myself barely playing them today anyway.
 

NGLad

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Welcome!

I had an AES in the 90's, but I worked my ass off to get one. I got a job at Target the second I turned 16 so I could save up enough to get an AES and a handful of games. In late January 1998 my dream came true. I got my boxed US AES with Samurai Shodown 2, KOF 95, and Fatal Fury Special. Not long after I got my first "new" AES game, The Last Blade. From my original AES collection, my parents only contributed one game - KOF 96.
Do you still have the box, the system and games? I never owned a Neo Geo but most of the systems I did own, the boxes either got wrecked in various moves, dinged up or tossed out. Not to mention my disgusting child hands on the game manuals.
 

kernow

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Yeah. If I had kept all my home carts the value would be insane now. I'm not sure I'd even feel comfortable having that much money just sitting around on shelves.

Initially I sold off the home cart collection and used the money to get a Big Red 4 slot, all the same games plus more for a fraction of the price and also got a Sigma Raijin superman and got heavy into shmups. Then sold the Neo cab and supergun and got a pair of Blast Cities, kind of an evolution I guess.

I miss home carts sometimes and I've re-bought the system multiple times over the years but it always just seems so frivolous once I start building up a collection again. Though I despise the english home carts aesthetically so they've just been small Japanese collections.

Still though I love the Neo but it never had quite the same magic as it did back in the day. Not to mention that back then the only way to really find out about a game was to actually play it which usually meant owning it. That was doable back then and a big part of the fun, now not only is nothing new but it's just no longer a feasible hobby money wise. Especially when there are so many alternatives.
It's the case with most retro nowadays. Why would you want to own dodgy hardware that you need to mod to get the best out of anyway. Goodbye shelves of retro
 

yagamikun

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Do you still have the box, the system and games? I never owned a Neo Geo but most of the systems I did own, the boxes either got wrecked in various moves, dinged up or tossed out. Not to mention my disgusting child hands on the game manuals.
Nah - I had to sell my original collection (not just Neo, like 90% of all my video games) in college to make ends meet. That was 18 or so years ago now. While I've gained most everything back, my original AES set (about 30 or so games) were mostly US. These days, I have 51 AES carts, 11 MVS, 10 or so CD, a decent NGPC set and a few hardware kits. ;)
 

NGLad

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Nah - I had to sell my original collection (not just Neo, like 90% of all my video games) in college to make ends meet. That was 18 or so years ago now. While I've gained most everything back, my original AES set (about 30 or so games) were mostly US. These days, I have 51 AES carts, 11 MVS, 10 or so CD, a decent NGPC set and a few hardware kits. ;)
Damn! I know the feeling! I've been recently buying back all my childhood consoles, "Sega, SNES, Saturn, Dreamcast". I remember selling them at flea markets too, boxes, manuals, all mint. Still hurts.
 

Heinz

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I didn't even know what a Neo Geo was until 2000. A local video game store had a display case with one and I always wanted to buy it so I saved and saved and thought I'll go ask if it's for sale, it wasn't.

Moral of the story is give up on your dreams because some fat fuck with a display case will say no.
 

Neo Alec

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Life is too damn short to cry over video games. Go home and be a family man.
As long as you keep perspective that your health and life are temporary, and you have the means, do whatever brings you happiness.

Ironically, now that I'm a family man I find more value in having a wall of crap from my childhood I can retreat to in the basement. I'm settled down and not about to go jetsetting around the globe in my middle age. If it becomes a burden, I'll look at getting rid of it.
 
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