Buying a Neo Geo - Games Question

[Narj]

I'm thinking of taking the plunge and buying one of these for some retro fun (having owned one briefly back in my teens). Yes, I know I can use MAME, but it's all about having the hardware and hooking it up to the 42" TV

One thing I'm wondering about though -are the games tied to the console by region? IE: If I buy a Japanese console, will English and American games work on it?

EDIT: Or would I be better getting a DreamCast - I see people are playing NG games on them?

Cheers!

 

[Narj]

Aye I understand that these are pricey - but I'm thinking it'll be a nice treat for myself and good for when I have mates round. The alternative is to build a decent HTPC to keep under the TV which will run emulation but I just have a hankering for proper hardware, including the awesome joysticks. No faffing about - just plug in and go.

I wish I'd never sold the one I had now but I wanted other shiny gadgets and needed the cash... I really miss my US SNES too..

The idea is that my place will be renovated in a few months and I want a proper lad's pad sorted out (you can tell I watched "Big" too many times as a kid). I'm looking at getting a pinball machine, and one of the table arcade games (that has Frogger/Pacman etc etc) too.

 

[Narj]

If you end up going the HTPC route you could use something like Hyperspin to make it a lot more 'showy' and easy to play games on. Does take a little fettling to get it all set up though.

Can't beat playing on the original hardware though, I keep meaning to set up my A1200 somewhere and fire up some of my old favourites.

Cheers for that, I'll look into it, although at the moment I'm really warming to the idea of getting a Neo Geo, DC and SNES underneath the telly. The only problem is having loads of controllers tangling themselves up in the cabinet!

Agreed - there is definitely something amazing about having the hardware! I'd get a C64 if I could put up with the tape loading times.

@ PianoBasher:

You could always buy a convertor to play MVS carts or an MVS board that's been turned into a console; both may mean an initially larger investment but would save you money in the long run but it depends how many games you see yourself collecting and if the original case/artwork etc side of things matters to you.

I'm not so bothered about artwork, just want the games. Things could change though. I hadn't thought about a convertor - good point. One other thing I wondered - what about repairs if anything goes wrong? Are there any firms specialising in these, as it's not as if it's cheap to just go and buy a replacement, and these are getting on now (although I'm sure they are built to last).