The Neo Geo Pocket Color[a] (NGPC) is a 16-bit handheld game console developed and manufactured by SNK, released on March 19, 1999 in Japan with international markets following in August that year. It is the successor to the Neo Geo Pocket, which was released in 1998 only in Japan and Hong Kong; the Color features a color display instead of a monochrome one, and is fully backward compatible.
Although the system had a decent market debut, competition against Nintendo's Game Boy Color was tough, and ultimately Neo Geo Pocket Color sales were not so good. The system was discontinued in the West by mid-2000, and continued to be marketed in Japan until SNK's bankruptcy in October 2001. Despite being a commercial failure, the platform has been well regarded for a number of highly-acclaimed exclusive games derived from the Neo Geo arcade system, such as SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium and King of Fighters R-2, as well as its arcade-style microswitched joystick, which has been praised for its accuracy and being well-suited for fighting games.
History
The Neo Geo Pocket Color was released on March 19, 1999 in Japan, August 6, 1999 in North America, and October 1, 1999 in Europe, entering markets all dominated by Nintendo, competing with Nintendo's Game Boy Color.
U.S. release and marketing
The U.S. version of the Neo Geo Pocket Color had an exclusive launch on the website eToys in 1999. eToys also sold the initial launch titles in the plastic snap lock cases. The system debuted in the United States with six launch titles (twenty promised by end of year) and retail price of $69.95. Six different unit colors were available: Camouflage Blue, Carbon Black, Crystal White, Platinum Blue, Platinum Silver, and Stone Blue. In its first two months, the NGPC sold a successful 25,000 units.[3]
Prior to SNK's acquisition by Aruze, the Neo Geo Pocket Color was being advertised on U.S. television and units were being sold nationwide at Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Toys "R" Us, and other major retail chains. For the Christmas Holiday season in 1999, SNK spent $4 million on television advertisements that aired on channels including MTV, Comedy Central, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon.[3]
By May 2000, the NGPC had a 2% market share in the U.S. handheld console market; although tiny compared to the Game Boy and Game Boy Color, it was enough to turn a profit for SNK USA.[3]
NNGPC
A blue New Neo Geo Pocket Color, a translucent Japan-only variant
On 21 October 1999, a redesigned, slimmer version called New Neo Geo Pocket Color was released in Japan, selling at ¥6800.[4] It is 13% smaller than the original Neo Geo Pocket Color, with dimensions 125 x 73 x 27 mm, and also features improved sound output.[5]
Financial troubles and Aruze
After a good sales start in both the U.S. and Japan with 14 launch titles (a record at the time),[2] subsequent low retail support in the U.S.,[6] lack of communication with third-party developers by SNK's American management,[7] the popularity of Nintendo's Pokémon franchise and anticipation of the 32-bit Game Boy Advance,[8] and strong competition from Bandai's WonderSwan in Japan, led to a sales decline in both regions.[3]
Meanwhile, SNK had been in financial trouble for at least a year; the company soon collapsed, and was purchased by American pachinko manufacturer Aruze in January 2000.[3] However, Aruze did not support SNK's video game business enough, leading to SNK's original founder and several other employees leaving to form a new company, BrezzaSoft.[3][9] Eventually on June 13, 2000, Aruze decided to quit the North American and European markets, marking the end of SNK's worldwide operations and the discontinuation of Neo Geo hardware and software there.[3] The Neo Geo Pocket Color (and other SNK/Neo Geo products) did however, last until 2001 in Japan. It was SNK's last video game console, as the company went bankrupt on October 30, 2001.[10][11][12][13][14][15][16]
Post-Western discontinuation
In June 2000, Aruze (parent of SNK) decided to discontinue all SNK operations outside Japan. As a result, remaining stock was bought back by SNK for repackaging in Asia. SNK were recalling most of the back-stock of systems and games to be flashed and re-sold in Asia where the system would continue to be sold and supported. Some of the back-stock of American NGPC hardware and software began to resurface on the American and Asian markets in 2003. These units frequently appeared bundled with six games stripped of their cases and manuals. Two games often included, Faselei! and The Last Blade: Beyond the Destiny were never previously released in United States, meaning that they have no U.S.-localized box or manual; however, these titles did receive a European release, incorporating an English translation.
After the bankruptcy of SNK on October 30, 2001, the intellectual property rights were collectively transferred to the successor company SNK Playmore (later the second generation SNK), but the development of Neo Geo Pocket Color was discontinued after bankruptcy.
Features
Closely modeled after its predecessor, the Neo Geo Pocket Color design sports two face buttons on the right hand side of the system, and an eight-direction microswitched digital D-pad on the left. It is horizontally designed like the Game Gear, as opposed to the Game Boy's vertical setup and the WonderSwan's hybrid of both. Upgraded from the Neo Geo Pocket, it has a color screen in the middle.
Similar to the Game Boy and its successors, the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance, the Neo Geo Pocket Color does not have a back-lit screen, and games can only be played in a well-lit area. Like the Game.com before it, the Neo Geo Pocket Color uses a CR2032 battery to retain backup memory and keep the clock active, as well as the usual AA batteries to power the system during usage. The Neo Geo Pocket Color has no regional lockout.
The link cable for linking systems together
The system has an on-board language setting, and games display text in the language selected (provided the cartridge supports that language). Other settings include time and date, and the system can provide customized horoscopes when one's birth date is entered.
146 (or 20 in monochrome mode) on-screen out of 4096
Palettes
16 for sprites, 16 per scrolling plane, additional 8 sets of 8 colors each assigned to the 6 monochrome-mode palettes (2 for sprites, 2 per scrolling plane), backdrop, and window
Characters
512 8x8 characters, transparency + 3 colors per character
Sprites
64 8x8 sprites, each can be placed behind, in-between, or above the scrolling planes, no arbitrary scanline limitation
Scrolling
2 scrolling planes, 32x32 tilemaps with 8x8 character tiles
Special effects
Character flipping, sprite chaining, sprite coordinate offsetting, windowing, color inversion
Similar to the Neo Geo AES console, Neo Geo Pocket Color games were packaged in large clamshell-like black cases, fitted with bright, colorful cover art on them. As a way to reduce costs, in North America the games were instead shipped in cardboard boxes, a move that has been negatively received due to their general poor quality.[citation needed] Japanese games were later released in the same cardboard boxes, while all European releases used the clamshell cases.[3][19] Towards the end of the system's short lifespan in North America, games were often bundled together in blister packs and sold in stores to clear out inventory, often including previously-unreleased titles such as Faselei!.[18]
SNK sold over 25,000 Neo Geo Pocket Color systems in Japan and over 100,000 in Europe by the end of 1999.[3] By May of 2000, the Neo Geo Pocket Color retained a 2% market share in the North American handheld market; although minuscule compared to the Nintendo's Game Boy Color, it was enough to turn a profit for SNK America.[3]
Retrospective feedback for the Neo Geo Pocket Color has been positive. USGamer writer Jeremy Parish considers it an important and influential handheld for being a "technological bridge" between the 8-bit portable era and the Game Boy Advance, and for its "clicky stick" having been used for modern video game consoles.[18] He praised the game's small library for its quality and wide selection of genres, specifically titles such as SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash, Sonic Pocket Adventure, Magical Drop and Pac-Man, and for the system's build quality being robust and well-built.[18] Parish blamed the system's commercial failure on both SNK's large lack of retail presence and for Aruze acquiring the company in 2000, concluding the article with: "Neo Geo Pocket Color's life may have been painfully brief, but it was nevertheless memorable for those who experienced it. Perhaps all the more so for the system's brevity, in fact."[18] Ryan Lamble of Den of Geek felt that the Neo Geo Pocket Color was the best rival to Nintendo's Game Boy Color for its "brilliant" game library, design and overall quality.[20] Lamble expressed somber towards the system's early defeat in the handheld market, saying: "It was a premature end for a system that, although doomed to remain a distant second to the Game Boy, could have forged a great little niche of its own."[20]NintendoLife's Damien McFerran said that both it and the WonderSwan served as some of the most "interesting challengers" towards Nintendo.[19] He commended the system for its game library and clamshell boxes, hardware capabilities, battery life and lasting legacy on future systems, writing: "Like the WonderSwan, the Neo Geo Pocket Color may not have succeeded in its goal of wrestling market share away from Nintendo, but that doesn't automatically mean it was a failure. Many fans will argue that the quality of the software available was far in advance of that on the Game Boy Color, and the fantastic controls, amazing battery life, cool PDA features and excellent screen combine to make a system which is still hard to put down, even today."[19]
