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[The Take Out Bandit]

I too would have loved to play Garou against people around the world, I know there is options on the PC, such as GGPO, but I would like to play comfortably from my PS3, with good matchmaking options. Why does SNK ignore the most important feature (online play).

Japanese developers dude. Especially a niche Japanese developer.

BlazBlue and Phantasy Star Portable 2 are the exceptions, not the rule. The rest of Japanese online games are middling to terrible quality.

I suspect at this point it's due partially because of a lack of knowledge and partially because their internet speeds there are so insane that bad netcode isn't an issue. :\

Didn't Arc System Works help out with Arcana Heart 3 netcode? It will be interesting to see impressions of that, and ASW should infiltrate all the inferior developers to provide sexual netcode!

 

[Shadow780]

GOD DAMMIT SNKP.

 

[DasRaven]

Yep, netcode is pretty bad. I can't even get a character selected in SamSho before people drop from the lag.
I'm pretty pissed about the sweat-blood when using the ENG region. I wanted red blood AND awful Engrish!

Still, it is everything I wanted in emulation for single player and local multiplayer.
The container is also nice with screen fit/smoothing options, sound player, a black wallpaper, and save states.
Even the "software manual" is pretty cool. Still deciding whether I like the "Smooth" graphics option.

 

[Enk]

I got about two matches in Samurai Shodown and didn't have any input lag what-so-ever. Maybe I just got lucky. I'm liking the presentation of these releases a lot more than their XBLA offerings. Lots of options and little touches.

If anyone wants to play some rounds feel free to add me: Elecman

 

[lupinko]

Wait so the roms are just the US versions? You can't change them?

Hmm, with that said, I guess I"ll just be picking these up off JPSN then.

 

[DasRaven]

Wait so the roms are just the US versions? You can't change them?

Hmm, with that said, I guess I"ll just be picking these up off JPSN then.

You can region toggle in the container.
ENG = White blood, English text
JPN = Red blood, Japanese text

What you can't have is red blood and english text unless there's some way to access the dips/bios I haven't noticed.

 

[lupinko]

Oh ok then, if that's the case then I'll just get them on the NA store then and not bother wasting any Yen.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Damn SNK netcode

 

[Edgeward]

FFFFFFFFF, why can't they do better online than what MAME has been doing already? ;_;

My KoF 02 and Garou will be tainted with the awful netcode.

 

[DasRaven]

FFFFFFFFF, why can't they do better online than what MAME has been doing already? ;_;

My KoF 02 and Garou will be tainted with the awful netcode.

Regarding the netcode, has anyone had a match with a 5-bar ping? How was it?
I've had 2 quick matches, with indeterminable ping that were bad. I'm currently doing an "only 5-bar ping" search while playing.
Should I get that match that will be how I judge the netcode.

So all hope isn't lost (is it?)

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

Need some direct feed videos, NOW!

 

[Yes Boss!]

Can't seem to find any of the titles on the PSP store (via the handheld, not the PS3) other than Fatal Fury and Metal Slug. :-( No Magician Lord or Alpha Mission.

EDIT: nevermind...seems only two of the ten went up for PSP. Sucks.

 

[isamu]

A shame about the crappy netcode. Thankfully, the person I play with the most is only about 6 miles away from my house.

Other than that, I hope most of you will realize there are way better options on the PC, namely GGPO, and now *MAME Hub*

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

Okay, so I volunteered to be one of the guinea pigs for the Neo Geo Station, and I had a little time to play Metal Slug. So here's my thoughts:

Overall, the emulation quality is very good. It looks like the ports were done by M2, and it shows. The slowdown seems to be in all the right places, there's no input lag, and the game looks razor sharp. I did notice a graphical glitch with the second stage boss, which has a weird, black hitflash instead of an orange one. It's a minor issue, but seriously... what the fuck? This should be perfect, especially for $9.

Audio quality seems to be fine, though I did notice an occasional clicking sound when I was fighting the first stage boss when shit was really getting chaotic on-screen... can't remember if that was in the original off-hand, but it probably was and my memory's just failing me. Again, a minor issue if it is actually a discrepancy.

I tried the online mode briefly. Lagfest. Don't bother.

The frontend itself is really, really nice, though. I like how everything is really well organized and pleasant to look at, and there's no shortage of visual options. Thankfully, you can turn all the stupid smoothing filters off and keep the proper aspect ratio so that it looks absolutely mint. Hell, I think this may actually be sharper than any way you can actually play the original cart, or even better than MAME/Nebula/Kawaks/Final Burn/NeoRageX. It just scales really, really nicely.

One issue I did have, though, is that this is the AES version of the game, and it seems to limit you to 4 credits. I didn't see an option to switch to MVS mode, or an option to get more credits. And if that's the case... that's fucking stupid. Now, I'm a real man and I play my arcade games on one credit, but it's downright retarded if they don't at least give you a freeplay option of some sort. Maybe I just missed it in the menus or maybe it's unlockable or something, but if it's not there, that is a problem.

So overall, is it worth replacing your Neo cart with? Well... maybe. There's some issues, but they're mostly minor, and I really don't think the game has ever looked as good as it does here. It's truly remarkable how sharp it is. I'm still on the fence with this issue myself, but despite the minor emulation issues, this does seem like a very strong effort.

If you're not particularly anal about the emulation, then yeah, you should buy it. This is the best port of the game by a fucking mile (the only competent one, honestly), and it's probably better than whatever you're playing right now.

I might pick up Samurai Shodown later to see how that measures up.

 

[Sew]

Thankfully, you can turn all the stupid smoothing filters off and keep the proper aspect ratio so that it looks absolutely mint. Hell, I think this may actually be sharper than any way you can actually play the original cart, or even better than MAME. It just scales really, really nicely.

The first question I had when I saw the thread was, I wonder how the scaling is (and god forbid, the filtering). And yours was the second post I read.

I love them for getting this right and I love you for making a point of it. SOLD!

 

[luka]

red blood fucking where??

edit: region. right. forgot this was straight up emulation.

edit2: no freeplay is stupid. (not that I need it >_>)

 

[DasRaven]

red blood fucking where??

what the hell, snk.

If you're playing Samurai Shodown, switch your region to JPN.

I also noted the 4 credit max while playing during a netplay search, which never matched anyone BTW, no 5-bar pings found in 35 minutes of constant searching.
That would be a serious miss if there's no free play option.

My day 1 conclusion is that these are absolutely great representations of the games, all things considered. However, I'll definitely be limiting my purchases to only my absolute favorites.

 

[tribal24]

hmm so far im playing kof94 and the online is playing smoothly

 

[isamu]

OK guys, I just played around 3 hours of SS1 with my bro who lives only about 5 miles away from me, and here are my impressions.....

I'm being nice when I say the netcode is fucking APPALLING!!!!! Seriously, the first few matches were pretty smooth, but for some reason the last hour or so we started having nasty pauses every minute or so, where we'd see some "accessing game" type message. Utterly fucking inexcusable and quite annoying.

The game itself is a perfect port thankfully. No differences between it and the real thing as far as I can tell, which is nice.

However, why in the world can we NOT send and share our replays? That is retarded. Sharing replays should been allowed since that is one of the big features SNK was heavily touting before release.

Also, get this....I don't know if this was a bug or not, but on a couple occasions, my friend ran out of credits and COULDN'T ADD MORE! Tried pressing start, select, all other buttons, etc, no luck! I was the one hosting and I had to literally back out to the main menu and send him another invite. W........T.........F?????

 

[luka]

So wait, the 4 credit limit actually applies to 2 player fighting games as well? wtf??? :lol :lol :lol

 

[Yes Boss!]

Cause I was curious I tried Metal Slug on the PSP. This was a quadruple-dip for me (AES, VC, XBLA, PSP). Seeing the M2 logo up front was refreashing (whew). Lots of great options. A bit of minor loading on the menus and options but nothing terrible. Emulation is perfect. Plays great on the PSP. Nice touches: the titles are numbered like Criterions and the Ages discs...just for that I'll probably buy them all...silly but a nice touch. When you go into sleep mode you get a little credit jingle...makes me immensly happy just as the this does when I put my DS in sleep on Mario Kart. Four credits on PSP as well. No biggie as I'm a no-continue player. Price is a little iffy as an extra for the PS3 versions but for certain games I'll double dip on both the console and portable. So yeah, this one beats the VC version. For Go owners: the blutooth dualshock option is excellent. Metal Slug plays great like that...and a nice touch was having a card with the Go in the manual along with the 1000/2000/3000.

Oh yeah, you can turn off the wallpaper. Thank God! That was a big issue for me.

Anybody played the PS3 versions with a stick?

Also, on the PS3 do these titles get their own special Neo Geo Station folder like the PC-Engine games do or are they just thrown on with the Classics folder?

 

[Noisepurge]

EU Blog spilled the beans on: "Magician Lord will be coming free to Plus in February 2011"

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

So wait, the 4 credit limit actually applies to 2 player fighting games as well? wtf??? :lol :lol :lol

Well aren't these the AES versions? Isn't that the same as the original?

So, M2 are doing the emulation and the emulation is almost as good as the VC so far. Excellent! (that would explain why the price is the same as the VC versions as well)

So the only real problems are the crappy net code (which was expected) and the fact that the AES versions are being used (which is pretty stupid).

 

[Noisepurge]

and the fact that the AES versions are being used (which is pretty stupid).

AES versions are the home versions so that is all good. They could have thrown it in the options with the region if you want to play the MVS arcade version. But i guess this was a design decision. Atleast it makes playing through Metal Slug a bit more difficult ;D

 

[DasRaven]

Anybody played the PS3 versions with a stick?

Also, on the PS3 do these titles get their own special Neo Geo Station folder like the PC-Engine games do or are they just thrown on with the Classics folder?

I played most of the night with the SA and it worked great. Switched over to the HRAP3 for the last set and it was just as good. "Arcade perfect" is the way to describe these emus.

They get their own icon marker, like "PS3" or "PSOne" these are "NeoGeo."

LOL @ the 4 credit maximum for online multiplayer. That is the single worst design decision (or miss) ever.
Thank goodness these are the beta test games, if we scream loud enough, there'll be a free play option when the better games get released.

 

[Augemitbutter]

i think metal slug is more interesting without credit feeding, like others in the same genre. if they don't set some limits, newcomers will never learn to play these games properly. it worked for contra and other home releases too.

 

[vazel]

I'm happy for the 4 credit limit. What always annoyed me when me and my friend played the PS2 Metal Slug Anthology is we just kept on feeding credits. I felt that was really cheap and didn't encourage us to properly learn the game. Looks like I'm about to experience the game in a way I never have.

 

[sixteen-bit]

LOL @ the 4 credit maximum for online multiplayer. That is the single worst design decision (or miss) ever.

Wow :lol
I hope they change that by the time Mark of the Wolves drops.

Might pick up Metal Slug tonight, we'll see.

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

AES versions are the home versions so that is all good. They could have thrown it in the options with the region if you want to play the MVS arcade version. But i guess this was a design decision. Atleast it makes playing through Metal Slug a bit more difficult ;D

Not if you want to do freeplay, at least with the MVS version you could choose how many credits you have (plus it screws up the online play as it's limited to 4 credits)

 

[LordAlu]

I'd love to see Doble dragon and Breakers revenge too .
there are some good games besides 2dfighters too: top hunter, spinmaster, and my beloved Flying Power Disc /Windjammers. Also Viewpoint is a must-buy
I hope they release 2-3 games everyweek and doesn't get stuck after 21/12

You sir, have stupendous taste! Windjammers is quite possibly my favourite NeoGeo game. Yes, even more so than Metal Slug or KoF.

 

[Fersis]

Im one of those who the first thing they do with a new game is : Read the staff credits.

• NGStation developer is M2. (They have done ports for Sega)
• They made their own NG Emulator.
• They use their own Netcode. (KOFXII used a 'third party' library called GSS)
• Netcode is fine... if you live in Japan. T__T

 

[buffi]

For the people complaining about the netcode, how are you connected to the internet?

I'm interested in knowing if it works fine for decent connections or not. Usually there's a ton of people on shitty DSL connections complaining, which doesn't really mean much.

 

[Fersis]

For the people complaining about the netcode, how are you connected to the internet?

I'm interested in knowing if it works fine for decent connections or not. Usually there's a ton of people on shitty DSL connections complaining, which doesn't really mean much.

I played with a guy from Brazil and the game run at 5 FPS or something like that.
Theres no prediction or smoothing, just good old fashioned : "Lets wait for the packages! lol"

At times it seems almost synchronous code. >8(

 

[buffi]

I played with a guy from Brazil and the game run at 5 FPS or something like that.
Theres no prediction or smoothing, just good old fashioned : "Lets wait for the packages! lol"

At times it seems almost synchronous code. >8(

What connection are you on? What connection is he on?
It's quite obvious that playing against people on different continents wont work very well due to latency anyways so that's not really that interesting.

Prediction/smoothing shouldn't really make much sense in this context afaik, but I'd love to be proven wrong.

What matters is having a good stable connection with low latency (<16ms) to the other peer.

 

[Rice-Eater]

How is the netcode if you're playing someone in the same region. Not somebody in the same city, but someone say 4-6 hours away from where you live?

 

[Tain]

I'm happy for the 4 credit limit. What always annoyed me when me and my friend played the PS2 Metal Slug Anthology is we just kept on feeding credits. I felt that was really cheap and didn't encourage us to properly learn the game. Looks like I'm about to experience the game in a way I never have.

Ramp up the tension and play with a single credit, as intended!

 

[ShinobiFist]

What connection are you on? What connection is he on?
It's quite obvious that playing against people on different continents wont work very well due to latency anyways so that's not really that interesting.

Prediction/smoothing shouldn't really make much sense in this context afaik, but I'd love to be proven wrong.

What matters is having a good stable connection with low latency (<16ms) to the other peer.

Senior Fersis lives in Argentina. The netcode is bad, end of story.

 

[tzare]

Bad netcode news makes me really sad
I hope it allows me to play with friends within Spain at least :/
We can try to play KOF at 3fps if you wish Fersis

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

Cause I was curious I tried Metal Slug on the PSP. This was a quadruple-dip for me (AES, VC, XBLA, PSP). Seeing the M2 logo up front was refreashing (whew). Lots of great options. A bit of minor loading on the menus and options but nothing terrible. Emulation is perfect. Plays great on the PSP. Nice touches: the titles are numbered like Criterions and the Ages discs...just for that I'll probably buy them all...silly but a nice touch. When you go into sleep mode you get a little credit jingle...makes me immensly happy just as the this does when I put my DS in sleep on Mario Kart. Four credits on PSP as well. No biggie as I'm a no-continue player. Price is a little iffy as an extra for the PS3 versions but for certain games I'll double dip on both the console and portable. So yeah, this one beats the VC version. For Go owners: the blutooth dualshock option is excellent. Metal Slug plays great like that...and a nice touch was having a card with the Go in the manual along with the 1000/2000/3000.

Oh yeah, you can turn off the wallpaper. Thank God! That was a big issue for me.

Anybody played the PS3 versions with a stick?

Also, on the PS3 do these titles get their own special Neo Geo Station folder like the PC-Engine games do or are they just thrown on with the Classics folder?

I played the PS3 version with a stick. I was totally gonna throw in my new LS-40, but I was lazy and just played with the lame JLF. But Metal Slug was still neato.

And the PS3 games just show up on the games menu like PS3 demos do. I would've liked to see a front-end of sorts, but whatever.

I really need to try the game again to see if my eyes are playing tricks on me. I swear, the game has never looked this good before, even on an emulator.

 

[Yes Boss!]

Yeah,

I'm in love with the single Metal Slug title I'm playing on my PSP. Quality is so, so nice. If anything it is a little too crisp :lol Don't have my PS3 with me now but I'm gonna go for most of them when I get back to my system. I'm totally happy with this initiative. Netcode is not really an issue for me since I'm more into the platformers and do them single player.

I encourage anybody to throw a few bucks down and try one of the PSP versions. Totally sweet. I've been playing for the last two hours and I've never had as much fun with a Neo Geo title as I've been having. Shame they did not release the other titles. Dying to play Magician Lord on the portable with headphones.

 

[vazel]

Ramp up the tension and play with a single credit, as intended!

Ha, I think arcade games were meant to use up a few credits. Just not a billion of them with no worry of running out.

 

[dkeane]

So I can understand net-code sucking for fighters but how does feel when playing Metal Slug?

 

[Mailenstein]

Oh c'mon SNK, NGStation isn't even on the EU stores yet and I already feel like I won't dip... FUCK this shit, really. So pissed right now........

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

So I can understand net-code sucking for fighters but how does feel when playing Metal Slug?

It's awful. Expect to teleport often.

 

[dkeane]

It's awful. Expect to teleport often.

Well that sucks.

 

[duckroll]

Im one of those who the first thing they do with a new game is : Read the staff credits.

• NGStation developer is M2. (They have done ports for Sega)
• They made their own NG Emulator.
• They use their own Netcode. (KOFXII used a 'third party' library called GSS)
• Netcode is fine... if you live in Japan. T__T

M2? Awesome that they're getting more work from different publishers now. Too bad about the netcode, but I think by now most people familiar with M2 know that they're awesome when it comes to emulating or porting stuff, and they really care about retaining the original experience as much as possible, but they suck donkey balls at doing more than that. The graphics in their Rebirth games are horrendous, and the now the netcode in NEOGEO Station sucks. Boo!

 

[duckroll]

Well, looks like they put out a press release but no one picked it up. :lol

http://www.mtwo.co.jp/news_en/20101207.html

M2 Co. Ltd Collaborates with SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION on "NEOGEO Station"

M2 Co. Ltd., in technical cooperation with SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION, has created integrated download games by porting the game environment of the NEOGEO game system. This digital distribution game content will be known as "NEOGEO Station" titles for Sony Computer Entertainment's PlayStation3® and PSP® (Playstation®Portable) systems.

NEOGEO was a game platform developed by SNK Corporation that went on sale in the year 1990. It was based on a revolutionary concept for its time: a console that's just the same as playing an arcade game in your own home, which was achieved by having the very same specs as an actual arcade cabinet. With high capacity ROM cartridges and advanced custom processors, it gave birth to a rich and immersive gaming experience. It also had a decidedly steep price tag for a home console, so it was widely coveted by hardcore gamers. The NEOGEO platform brought forth many masterpiece titles, especially in the fighting game genre where developers turned out many classic titles that are still being played to this day. Lasting exceedingly long for a single game platform, many still fondly remember the NEOGEO and its glorious history.

Following our company's foremost motto, "Resurrect game properties that excelled in the past while staying authentic to their original release", we've developed an integrated system for streamlined porting of various games from different platforms.

However, this time we've advanced another step. Keeping in mind that re-releasing classic titles with as much authenticity as possible is our main goal, we decided that even more brilliance is needed to resurrect them in the modern age. So we strived towards the idea that "Game properties that excelled in the past can now be reborn with even more brilliance than when they were first released."

On December 22nd, 2010, "NEOGEO Station" titles will be available for download, and offer the following features:
New functions such as replays and save states.(*1)
Authentic old-school gameplay on the latest game systems(*2)
A "Sound Player" feature for immersing yourself in the fond memories of past games' music and sound(*3)

To be worthy of the hardcore gamers raised in an arcade environment that were drawn to the NEOGEO, developers created games with an unprecedented and now-legendary level of extreme difficulty. Back in the day, many players trying to master these games were stopped in their tracks by the high degree of difficulty, and often shed bitter tears of defeat.

Instead of attempting to rearrange the game itself, we aimed to take the game unchanged from those days and put it in a new time and place, where it can be expanded upon to be played with a new level of freedom. In this day and age, you can play whenever you want, whatever you want... whether you're at home or out on a trip. Now you can take advantage of this modern play-style to fully master the memorable titles you could never play so freely before.

This launch is just the beginning. Our company will keep striving to resurrect game properties that excelled in the past while staying authentic to their original release with as much meticulous accuracy as possible, and we will continue to diligently refine our skills even further.

(*1) New features allow you to save your in-game progress at any point you like and resume from there, as well as record an entire completed game and watch it over again later.
(*2) On the PlayStation3® version, you can interact in online matches with an abundance of matching modes including, "Quick Match" where you are matched automatically, "Match Search" where you can refine your online matches via setting various specific requirements, and "Invite Friend" where you can send out challenges (friend invites) to your online buddies. Voice Chat (VOIP) support is also available.
(*3) You can make a playlist using all purchased titles, not just the title you're playing at the moment. Mix multiple titles to make a custom album just for you.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

You know, it's nice that they say they want accuracy over and over and over... but getting hitflashes wrong in Metal Slug is kinda ghetto, yo. Wish they'd fix it :-/

I know I'm nitpicking over nothing, though.

 

[krakov]

Metal Slug is quite an easy game so finishing it with 4 credits shouldn't be a problem. Magician Lord on the other hand, I'm guessing the save system works as it does on an AES with memory card?

 

[bernardobri]

So, M2 is a TOSE-a-like company that focuses on emulation of older games for current platforms?