UNGR started back in 1999 as 'The Ultimate NeoGeo Resource' (see the shots below), back then it was a relatively simple neogeo fan site, hosted on my internet account webspace and listing my favourite neogeo games. It recieved around 7000 hits in its first couple of months, which wasnt bad, so I expanded the site with more game info, artwork and players guides. Around that time I recieved an email from 'The Fox' of Emulators Unlimited who invited me to add UNGR to their family of websites, and so at Xmas 1999 this site took up a new home at emuunlim.com.

Since then the site has grown to feature ratings, screenshots and comments for every available neogeo game, artwork such as game marqees & flyers plus players guides and neogeo emulators.
And now four years later, in its latest incarnation of 'Ultimate Neo Gaming Resource' I have rebuilt the site from scratch bringing it up to date, with an improved look and layout and all the latest neo information.

enjoy...

Towards the end of the 1980's home videogame consoles were introduced to the world, Nintendo's 'NES' and Sega's 'Master System' proved extremely popular and many people chose to stay at home and play 'Mario Bro's' rather than go to video arcades. As such the popularity of arcades dropped, and when the 16-bit systems such as the 'SNES' and 'Genesis / Megadrive' appeared their superior graphics and sound capabilities made the arcades seem far less cutting edge. In 1989 Shin Nihon Kikaku, 'SNK' (or New Japanese Project) decided to introduce themselves to the arcade market with a brand new system, after producing other successful games such as 'Ikari Warriors'. This decision was questionable as SNK were not a major contributor to the industry and the number of arcade-goers had fallen considerably. SNK's new system was called the 'NeoGeo MVS' (Multi Video System) it was composed of two common main processors, a 16-Bit 68000 and a 8-Bit Z80, but alongside a custom graphics chipset which allowed visuals which were considerably better than it's nearest rival. This combined with the ability to store multiple games in a single system, which could be swiched between at will and a huge ROM Storage capacity of 330 Megabits (over 41 Megabytes) were the key to it's success.

Shortly after the arcade system appeared, the hardware was converted into a home system called the AES (Advanced Entertainment System), which boasted games identical to the arcade, but it's cost prevented it from becoming a mainstream system, a console which cost over $500 US, and games costing over $200 US each was not practical for the average gamesplayer. AES cartriges used a different configuration to MVS, so MVS carts could not simply be plugged into a home system. It is possible to transfer the rom chips into a home cart with some significant rewiring, or MVS-AES Converters such as the 'Phantom-1' can be used. In 1992 a new generation of Games and arcade goers had appeared, Capcom's 'Street Fighter 2' had become very popular and the NeoGeo was pefectly suited to power similar games. SNK introduced 'Fatal Fury' and 'Art of Fighting' two games which would spawn many sequels and clones and make the NeoGeo a sure success.

A few years later SNK decided to re-design the home version of the NeoGeo and chose CD as the replacement for the expensive ROM chips, this would cut the cost of games and allow high quality CD music. Unfortunately this second attempt at the home market fared little better than the first, the system itself was still over $300 US and Its CD-ROM drive was only single speed resulting in long loading pauses. A improved version with faster loading times (NeoGeo CDZ) was released in japan shortly after but it's distribution was rather limited. In the Arcades however the NeoGeo MVS remained king, the superbly detailed arcade games such as 'Metal Slug' and 'The King of Fighters' with their super-smooth animation and great gameplay kept people coming back for more. Even now when the system is well over ten years old, games developers are still pushing the limits of the NeoGeo. The ROM Capacity of the cartriges has been increased with the 'Giga-Power' feature, allowing better graphics and more animation, and the systems popularity is as high as ever.

For further details on the NeoGeo please read Chris Mullins' NeoGeo FAQ