Info
    Updates
    What's NGP?

Message Board

Chat Room

Question of the Moment

Players' Connection

Reader Reviews

Specials

Links

The main reason to sell the NGPC solely on the Web now is the current software. Although the NGPC launched with an impressive 15 or so titles, a major complaint about the NGPC is a lack of software. (Personally, I don't see where this complaint comes from, seeing as there's already a good amount of fighting, action, sports, casino, and puzzle games available.) However, many of these games are handheld conversions of the 16-bit Neo Geo games, and VERY good conversions, I might add. :D This is great for the traditional niche of SNK fans, but makes little difference to the more "mainstream" video game player. This is why selling the NGPC in retail stores right now would be a mistake. It simply wouldn't sell well at this time. The "mainstream" video game market largely didn't care about SNK games before, and they probably wouldn't care about the handheld versions now. (Although I don't have any sales figures, I don't think King of Fighters '95 or Samurai Shodown 3 sold too well for the PlayStation. If I'm wrong, please tell me, since I'm openly admitting that I don't know. If I'm right, we can't really attribute the lack of sales of SNK games to the fact that people weren't willing to play them on the Neo Geo cart and CD systems.) Selling the NGPC now via the SNK USA Web site targets the very people who want handheld versions of SNK's games: the "hardcore" fans who have always enjoyed Neo Geo games.

Think of it this way. The people who are really into Neo Geo games will be the same people who will regularly go to Neo Geo fan sites and the SNK Web site itself. It is also these same people who would want to buy the NGPC as soon as possible. So, it is smart of SNK to sell the NGPC via the Web only, at least for the time being. Selling on the Web is probably cheaper than having a product shipped to retail stores. In addition, it's pretty much suicide to not have advertisements in-store for a new product - especially one that would go against the mighty Game Boy Color. These advertisements (cardboard displays, in-store system setup to try out the system, etc.) cost money. You may be asking yourself, "Why DON'T they do this now?" It's the same reason I mentioned earlier. Right now, NGPC software consists mainly of handheld conversions of SNK's games, and that isn't enough to break into the "mainstream" video game crowd successfully. You may say that there are already games that would appeal to a broader market, but ask yourself this: did you buy your NGPC to play games like King of Fighters R-2 and Metal Slug: 1st Mission, or did you buy it to play games like Neo Dragons Wild? (That isn't to say that casino games like Neo Dragons Wild aren't good to have; it's just that I can't imagine someone buying an NGPC solely for such games.)

So, what does SNK have in store to draw in more of the "mainstream" crowd? Tons of third party support! This is where the NGPC stands to begin making its killing. With companies like Capcom, Namco, and Sega backing the NGPC, the powerful handheld we now enjoy will get noticed by the mainstream. However, games from these third parties aren't available yet, or at least not in large numbers. Once these games become available, it will make more sense for SNK to start marketing the NGPC to everyone, since the kinds of games the mainstream, and hopefully the rest of us, want to play will be available. We already know that the NGPC hardware is superior to the Game Boy Color hardware - it's a fact. (As for games, well, I can say that I enjoy my NGPC games much more than I ever enjoyed my Game Boy or Game Gear games, but that's just a matter of opinion.) Once killer software from some of the biggest names in the games industry becomes available for the NGPC, this is the time for SNK to start showing off the NGPC in retail stores.

THEN, you'll begin to see SNK take some of the Game Boy lion's share away! And hey, the more successful the NGPC is, the more money SNK will have to devote to bringing us more of the kinds of games that drew us into the NGPC in the first place. That's good for all of us, isn't it?

To summarize, here's how I see it. SNK USA first provides a treat for Neo Geo fans by releasing the NGPC on the Web early to get things started. The "hardcore" Neo Geo fans are happy to play their NGPCs earlier than the rest of the country, and SNK USA gets some cash that may be used when it's time to release the NGPC to the "mainstream" crowd. THEN, once a huge variety of outstanding software from many companies becomes available, SNK releases the NGPC in retail stores. The "mainstream" gamer sees a game that interests him/her playing on a system that the Game Boy Color simply cannot technologically match. In this way, SNK captures a sizable percentage of the handheld game market, and the "hardcore" fans of Neo Geo games are still happy because SNK keeps releasing the kinds of games that made us like Neo Geo in the first place! Plus, this will get the mainstream crowd to give SNK's games another shot, and hopefully a lot of them will see just how great they are. Pretty much everyone wins, wouldn't you say?

(I know I didn't mention the fact that many people imported their NGPCs before SNK USA released it, but that really doesn't change any of my points. Further, I also know that most of us play games other than NGPC games, like PlayStation and Game Boy games. I'm not trying to alienate anyone by using terms like "hardcore," "niche," and "mainstream." I simply used these terms to give a name to the the kinds of people that play certain games. I know I for one own a PlayStation, N64, and used to own a Game Boy and Game Gear before I sold them. So using my classification, I'm both "mainstream" and in a niche. Anyway, I hope you get the idea.)

Back to the Question of the Moment