In 1978, a man in Japan named Eikichi Kawasaki created SNK, Shin Nihon Kikaku; which translates to New Japan Project. (G4 News TV, 2007) Kawasaki saw an opportunity in the arcade business in Japan. In 1979, SNK released Ozma Wars, in 1980 they released Safari Rally and in 1981 the company released Vangaurd. (G4 News TV, 2007) By 1986, SNK had released over 20 arcade games.
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In 1985, another company in Japan, Nintendo, released their first home entertainment system, called the Nintendo Entertainment System or NES. (Kent, 2001) Once SNK heard of the NES they decided to license their games to Nintendo. (G4 News TV, 2007) In 1991, SNK released their own home entertainment system, called the Neo Geo Advance Entertainment System, or AES. (IGN, 2009) The Neo Geo AES was priced a $599, while other systems released at that time were $199. The Neo Geo wasn’t the only expensive product from SNK, the game cartridges for the Neo Geo cost $200 to $250 each. (G4 News TV, 2007) The cost being much higher than the other competing companies led Neo Geo to its downfall.
SNK tried to boost their marketing. Neo Geo had the best engine in the market and SNK tried to use that in there marketing campaign. Ultimately SNK’s Neo Geo AES lacked in sales and failed. Later on, SNK tried to revamp the Neo Geo with the Neo Geo CD, which failed as well. (G4 News TV, 2007) I believe that the extremely high price of the system and its games is what led SNK to their downfall.
Reference:
G4 News TV. (Producer). (2007). Neo geo - the rise and fall of the snk neogeo part 1. [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=yRPgQkVXvGM
Kent, S. L. (2001). The ultimate history of video games. New York, NY: Three River Press.
IGN. (2009). Neogeo is number 19. Retrieved from http://www.ign.com/top-25-consoles/19.html
G4 News TV. (Producer). (2007). Neo geo - the rise and fall of the snk neogeo part 2. [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj_VzRxtBt0&feature=related
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