Neo Geo Pocket
 | |
 | |
| Manufacturer | SNK |
|---|---|
| Product family | Neo Geo |
| Type | Handheld game console |
| Generation | Fifth generation |
| Release date |
|
| Retail availability | 1998–99 |
| Discontinued |
|
| Units sold | 2 million, including Neo-Geo Pocket Color units (as of July 30, 2007)[1] |
| Media | ROM cartridge |
| CPU | Toshiba TLCS900H |
| Power | Two AAA batteries for 40 hours of play, CR2032 for backup memory and clock |
| Successor | Neo Geo Pocket Color |
The Neo Geo Pocket is a monochrome handheld game console released by SNK. It was the company's first handheld system and is part of the Neo Geo family. It debuted in Japan in late 1998 but never saw a western release, being exclusive to Japan and smaller Asian markets such as Hong Kong.
The Neo Geo Pocket is considered to be an unsuccessful console. Lower than expected sales resulted in its discontinuation in 1999,[1] and was immediately succeeded by the Neo Geo Pocket Color, a full color device allowing the system to compete more easily with the dominant Game Boy Color handheld, and which also saw a western release. Though the system enjoyed only a short life, there were some significant games released on the system such as Samurai Shodown, and King of Fighters R-1.
Technical specifications
- 16-bit TOSHIBA TLCS-900H high performance core CPU
- 32-bit/16-bit register bank configuration at 6.144 MHz
- Virtual screen 256×256, 16 palettes per plane, 64 sprites per frame
- Z80 8-bit CPU to control the soundchip
- SN76489 soundchip equivalent (three square-wave tone generators, one white-noise generator, and direct access to two digital-to-analog converters)
- I/O serial SIO, one channel at 19200 bit/s
- 4-bit internal memory
Games
The Neo Geo Pocket is forward compatible with the majority of Neo Geo Pocket Color titles, although games for the color system will play in monochrome on a Neo Geo Pocket. Likewise, the Neo Geo Pocket Color is backward compatible and the entire Neo Geo Pocket library can be played on the color system.
Only nine monochrome games were released for the Neo Geo Pocket before it was discontinued:
- Baseball Stars
- King of Fighters R-1
- Melon-chan's Growth Diary
- Neo Cherry Master
- Neo Geo Cup 98
- Neo Geo Cup 98 Plus
- Pocket Tennis
- Puzzle Link
- Samurai Shodown
After the release of the Neo Geo Pocket Color, several of these titles began receiving re-releases, updated to include color. All but King of Fighters R-1, Melon-chan's Growth Diary, Samurai Shodown and the original Neo Geo Cup 98 (the "Plus" version was updated instead) were eventually re-released for the color system.
References
- 1 2 Snow, Blake (2007-07-30). "The 10 Worst-Selling Handhelds of All Time". GamePro. Archived from the original on 2008-09-18. Retrieved 2008-10-31.