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Three decades ago, SNK released a legendary upright that launched many long-running video game franchises and helped rejuvenate a dwindling arcade scene. We take a look at why the system and its home counterpart follow-up were so important to a gaming generation.
三十年前，SNK发布了一个传奇的立柱，推出了许多长期运行的视频游戏特许经营权，并帮助振兴了日益减少的街机场景。 我们来看一下为什么该系统及其对口游戏机对游戏一代如此重要。
The Neo Geo Multi Video System, also known as the Neo Geo MVS, had a low-key arcade profile, despite its blaring red-and-white color scheme. Most 1990s-era arcade machines continued the 1980s tradition of flamboyant cabinet art by featuring their in-game characters in larger-than-life fashion.
Neo Geo Multi Video System，也称为Neo Geo MVS，尽管其炫目的红白配色方案，却具有低调的拱廊轮廓。 大多数1990年代的街机都通过以超过生命的方式展示游戏角色来延续1980年代华丽的橱柜艺术传统。
The Neo Geo MVS didn’t do that, and it wasn’t due to SNK, the hardware’s manufacturer, possessing a subdued, artistic vision. Neo Geo uprights didn’t feature explosions, speed lines, or brawling figures as adornments because the hardware’s unique design let arcade owners swap new game cartridges into their existing MVS units, instead of buying expensive, standalone machines for each title. That imagery was reserved for the relatively small marquee above the CRT monitor. As a result, the Neo Geo’s exterior was nothing; its guts-a beautiful array of classic arcade titles-was everything.
Neo Geo MVS并没有这样做，这并不是由于硬件制造商SNK拥有柔和的艺术眼光。 Neo Geo立柱不以爆炸，速度线或炫耀的人物作为装饰，因为硬件的独特设计使游戏厅所有者可以将新的游戏卡带交换到其现有的MVS装置中，而不必为每个游戏购买昂贵的独立机器。 该图像是为CRT监视器上方相对较小的选取框保留的。 结果，Neo Geo的外观一无所有； 它的胆量-精美的经典街机游戏名称-包含了一切。
That, in a way, also sums up the Neo Geo as a whole, a niche platform that literally changed the game. Now 30 years old, the Neo Geo lies deep in video game history’s retro wing. This is a somewhat baffling revelation for people who were in the 1990s arcade scene, because the Neo Geo, at its peak, represented the future. Crafted as a powerhouse that could produce magnificent sprites and booming audio in a way that its contemporaries could not, the Neo Geo MVS-and its Advanced Entertainment System home console counterpart that came a year later-housed some of the finest video games and pixel art to ever appear in the medium.
从某种意义上说，这也总结了Neo Geo的整体情况，一个真正改变游戏规则的利基平台。 Neo Geo现已30岁，位于视频游戏历史的怀抱中。 对于1990年代街机界的人们来说，这是一个莫名其妙的启示，因为在其巅峰时期的Neo Geo代表着未来。 Neo Geo MVS及其先进娱乐系统家用游戏机同行，是一年后生产的，可以产生壮观的精灵和蓬勃发展的音频，而它是同时代人无法做到的，它容纳了一些最好的视频游戏和像素艺术出现在媒介中
未来是现在 (The Future Is Now)
The arcade system came out of the gate hot; many games featured big, and numerous, sprites bursting with color. Early Neo Geo games-such as Baseball Stars Professional, League Bowling, and Ninja Combat-look average by today’s graphical standards, but couldn’t be perfectly replicated on their era’s 16-bit home systems like the Sega Genesis and Super NES. The sprites were too big, the sound too rich. The Neo Geo lacked a killer app in its early days (anyone who says Magician Lord, a frustrating platformer, filled that role is dead wrong and not to be trusted), but its growing library managed to attract people who loved the platform’s high-end sights and sounds.
街机系统热得离不开大门。 许多游戏都带有大量的大量彩色精灵。 以今天的图形标准来看，早期的Neo Geo游戏(如Baseball Stars Professional，League Bowling和Ninja Combat)看起来平均，但无法完美地复制到其时代的16位家庭系统(如Sega Genesis和Super NES)上。 子画面太大，声音太丰富。 Neo Geo早期缺少一款杀手级应用程序(任何人说，令人沮丧的平台游戏魔术师罗德(Magician Lord)扮演的角色是绝对错误的，不值得信任)，但其不断发展的图书馆设法吸引了喜欢平台高端产品的人们景点和声音。
By the time the Neo Geo hit its mid-to-late-1990s stride, the MVS and AES saw museum-worthy graphical advances that still impress til this day. Art of Fighting 3, Garou: Mark of the Wolves, Last Blade 2, and Metal Slug 3 represent a fusion of meticulously drawn sprites, art direction, and technology that remains unmatched. In fact, it wasn’t until the PlayStation 2 era that we saw consoles-systems released after the Neo Geo’s prime years-capable of properly emulating the Big Red Machine. SNK’s company slogan, “The Future Is Now,” was less an aspirational goal than a statement of fact.
当Neo Geo达到1990年代中后期时，MVS和AES看到了博物馆级的图形化进展，直到今天仍然印象深刻。 《格斗艺术3》，《 狼人：狼的烙印》 ，《末日之剑2》和《合金弹头3》代表了精心绘制的精灵，艺术方向和技术的融合，这是无与伦比的。 实际上，直到PlayStation 2时代，我们才看到游戏机系统在Neo Geo盛行的盛年后才能够正确模拟Big Red Machine。 SNK的公司口号“现在就是未来”，不是事实目标，而是雄心勃勃的目标。
大票 (The Big Ticket)
This high-end power gave the Neo Geo legendary status and an accompanying infamous price. 1990s’ arcade kids simply had to pop a quarter into the MVS upright to enjoy The King of Fighters, but if they wanted to experience the game at home, in uncompromised fashion, they (or more specifically, their parents) had to spend heavy coin. The home AES system, essentially a consolized arcade board that was released a year after its MVS brother, had a $399 starting price, with game carts starting at $199. Adjusted for inflation, that’s more than $750 and $370, respectively. Ridiculous.
这种高端功能赋予了Neo Geo传奇的地位，并伴随着臭名昭著的价格。 1990年代的街机小朋友只需要在MVS立柱上弹入四分之一就可以享受《拳皇》，但是如果他们想以毫不妥协的方式在家中体验游戏，他们(或更具体地说，他们的父母)就不得不花大笔钱。 家用AES系统本质上是一个安慰性的街机游戏板，在其MVS兄弟发布一年后发布，起价为399美元，游戏车起价为199美元。 扣除通货膨胀因素，分别超过750美元和370美元。 荒谬。
Still, the AES was for people who refused to suffer the audio/visual downgrades that came with the Super NES and Sega Genesis’ Neo Geo game ports. In addition, both the AES and MVS housed memory card ports, so you could use a game’s save data at home or at the arcade. Neo Geo was all Cadillac, no Honda, baby.
尽管如此，AES还是适合那些拒绝遭受Super NES和Sega Genesis的Neo Geo游戏端口附带的音频/视频降级的人们的。 此外，AES和MVS都具有存储卡端口，因此您可以在家中或游戏厅中使用游戏的保存数据。 Neo Geo都是凯迪拉克，不是本田，宝贝。
新回忆 (Neo Memories)
Naturally, that monster price tag made the Neo Geo a system primarily played at arcades; very few people owned the home AES system. During my high school years, a friend of a friend claimed that he owned an AES system, and to prove it, he brought its massive stick to the arcade one day, wrapped in a hoodie. I begged and pleaded for the kid (whose name is now covered in the cobwebs that cling to old memories) to let me play it, and he promptly shot me down. The system was a diamond, and he couldn’t risk jewel thieves entering his home.
自然，那个怪物的价格标签使Neo Geo成为主要在街机上播放的系统。 很少有人拥有家用AES系统。 在我上高中的时候，一个朋友的朋友声称他拥有AES系统，为了证明这一点，他有一天用包裹在连帽衫中的巨大棒子将其带到了商场。 我恳求那个孩子(现在这个名字已经被牢牢记住的蜘蛛网盖住了)让我玩，然后他Swift击落了我。 该系统是一颗钻石，他不能冒险冒珠宝贼进入他的家。
As a result, I and millions of other kids, pumped a lot of money into the MVS machines. It was easy to do, because MVS machines were everywhere during the 1990s. Thanks to the MVS’ multi-game design, many public-facing businesses-from bodegas to laundromats to pizza shops-became four-game arcades in a single cabinet’s footprint. The “arcade” was no longer a specific place; it was everywhere.
结果，我和数百万其他孩子向MVS机器投入了大量资金。 这很容易做到，因为MVS机器在1990年代无处不在。 得益于MVS的多游戏设计，从酒桶到自助洗衣店再到披萨店的许多面向公众的企业，都在一个机柜中占据了四个游戏厅。 “拱廊”不再是一个特定的地方。 它无处不在。
搏击俱乐部 (Fight Club)
In retrospect, SNK released the Neo Geo at one of the most important moments in video game history. A year after the MVS hit arcades, and the same year that the AES hit the home market, Capcom’s Street Fighter II arrived on the scene to breathe new life into the shrinking arcade scene. Suddenly, legions of gamers flocked to the arcade for heated fighting game competition. Before that moment, SNK and its third-party partners released beat ’em ups, shmups, sports, and action games; after that moment, the company’s focus shifted to fighting games. Some argue that was a detrimental move that turned off people interested in other genres, but the shift was one that worked in SNK’s favor.
回顾过去，SNK在视频游戏历史上最重要的时刻之一发布了Neo Geo。 在MVS进入街机市场一年后，也就是AES进入本土市场的同一年，Capcom的Street Fighter II登陆市场，为不断缩小的街机市场注入了新的活力。 突然，成群的玩家涌向商场，进行激烈的格斗游戏比赛。 在此之前，SNK及其第三方合作伙伴发布了节拍游戏 ， 慢跑游戏， 运动游戏和动作游戏。 在那一刻之后，该公司的重点转移到了格斗游戏上。 有人认为这是有害的举动，使人们对其他类型的音乐失去兴趣，但这种转变对SNK有利。
While Capcom mainly produced Street Fighter and Marvel Comics-related fighters, SNK went buck wild with experimentation. Its fighting games came in numerous varieties, from the weapon-based Samurai Shodown to the team-based King of Fighters. Street Fighter, along with Mortal Kombat, dominated the 1990s arcade scene, but SNK was right there with them. In fact, many gameplay mechanics that are now considered fighting game staples, such as super attacks, began life in one of the Neo Geo’s many fighting game series.
Capcom主要生产与《 街头霸王》和《漫威漫画》相关的战斗机，而SNK则通过实验大肆宣传。 它的格斗游戏种类繁多，从基于武器的Samurai Shodown到基于团队的King of Fighters都有 。 街头霸王和真人快打一起主导了1990年代的街机场景，但SNK就在那里。 实际上，现在被视为格斗游戏必备品的许多游戏机制(例如超级攻击)都开始于Neo Geo众多格斗游戏系列之一的生命中。
新地理遗产 (The Neo Geo Legacy)
The Neo Geo’s sun set in 2004, as the arcade scene once again fell on hard times, and SNK encountered financial difficulties. The company would enter its dark ages during this period, producing third-party console clunkers like The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact and Samurai Shodown Sen, but eventually churned the beautiful King of Fighters XIII and the strategic Samurai Shodown reboot. Still, SNK’s bread and butter, its Neo Geo library, is what keeps the company’s arcade legacy alive in contemporary times.
Neo Geo的太阳落山于2004年，因为街机场景再次陷入困境，SNK遇到了财务困难。 该公司将在此期间进入黑暗时代，生产诸如“拳皇”：最大冲击力和“武士减震”之类的第三方控制台旧车，但最终搅动了美丽的《拳皇XIII》 ，重新启动了战略性《 武士减震》 。 尽管如此，SNK的面包和黄油(其Neo Geo库)仍是使该公司的街机遗产在当代得以延续的原因。
Unlike Konami and a few other companies that had their heydays in the 1980s and 1990s, SNK makes sure that its Neo Geo games, from the famous to the semi-obscure, are available for purchase. You can buy Real Bout Fatal Fury Special on Switch, Big Tournament Golf (AKA, Neo Turf Masters) on PS4, Riding Hero on Xbox One, and Shock Troopers on PC. SNK’s partnership with Digital Eclipse resulted in the marvelous Samurai Shodown Neo Geo Collection, a compilation that includes the six SamSho games released on the system, the previously unreleased Samurai Shodown V Perfect, hours of SNK developer interviews, design docs, and other things that video game preservationists love.
与Konami和其他几家在1980年代和1990年代鼎盛时期的公司不同，SNK确保可以购买从著名游戏到半晦涩的Neo Geo游戏。 您可以在Switch上购买《 Real Bout Fatal Fury Special》，在PS4上购买Big Tournament Golf(AKA，Neo Turf Masters)，在Xbox One上购买Riding Hero，在PC上购买Shock Troopers 。 SNK与Digital Eclipse的合作产生了出色的Samurai Shodown Neo Geo Collection ，该汇编包括系统上发布的六款SamSho游戏，先前未发行的Samurai Shodown V Perfect，SNK开发人员的采访时间，设计文档以及其他视频内容游戏保护主义者的爱。
They say time waits for no man, and remains undefeated. The best that anyone can do to approach immortality is to leave behind a strong legacy. That’s exactly what SNK accomplished with the Neo Geo, a platform renowned for its arcade games and made infamous by the cost of its home system. Its over-reliance on fighting games meant that it wasn’t a system for everyone, but people who didn’t mind that-people like me-find this arcade machine and home console to be indispensable parts of gaming.
他们说时间在等着没有人，并且保持不败。 任何人为了永生而要做的最好的事情就是留下强大的遗产。 SNK正是用Neo Geo来完成的，Neo Geo是一款以街机游戏而闻名的平台，并因其家用系统的成本而声名狼藉。 它过分依赖格斗游戏，这意味着它并不是每个人都可以使用的系统，但是却不介意那些像我这样的人将这种街机和家用游戏机视为游戏中必不可少的部分。
Originally published at https://www.pcmag.com.
最初发布在 https://www.pcmag.com 。
翻译自: https://medium.com/pcmag-access/neo-geo-at-30-the-big-red-machines-legacy-lives-on-22c881caa481
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