Neo Geo Pocket

The Neo Geo Pocket (ネオジオポケット) (NGP) is a monochrome handheld game console released by SNK. It was the company's first handheld system and is part of the Neo Geo family. It debuted in Japan in late 1998 and was primarily sold in Japan and Hong Kong. The system and all five English games saw limited distribution in the West, where it could be ordered directly from SNK USA.

The Neo Geo Pocket received lower-than-expected sales and was discontinued in 1999, immediately being succeeded by the Neo Geo Pocket Color (NGPC), a full-color device allowing the system to compete more easily with the dominant Game Boy Color handheld, and which also saw an American release. Though the system enjoyed only a short life, there were some significant games released on the system such as Samurai Shodown!, and King of Fighters R-1.

History
It was the company's first handheld system and is part of the Neo Geo family. It debuted in Japan in late 1998 and was primarily sold in Japan and Hong Kong. Neo Geo Pocket was scheduled to release on October 22, 1998 with eight titles at launch. The system and all five English games saw limited distribution in the west, where it could be ordered directly from SNK USA.

The Neo Geo Pocket received the Good Design Award in 1998. It received lower-than-expected sales and it was discontinued in 1999.

Technical specifications



 * 16-bit Toshiba TLCS-900H high performance core CPU
 * 32-bit/16-bit register bank configuration at 6.144 MHz
 * Virtual screen 256×256, 16 palettes per plane, 64 sprites per frame
 * Z80 8-bit CPU to control the soundchip
 * SN76489 soundchip equivalent (three square-wave tone generators, one white-noise generator, and direct access to two digital-to-analog converters)
 * I/O serial SIO, one channel at 19200 bit/s
 * 4-bit internal memory

SNK released the Neo Geo Pocket in eight color variations: Platinum Blue, Platinum Silver, Platinum White, Carbon Black, Maple Blue, Camouflage Blue, Camouflage Brown, and Crystal White.

Neo Geo Pocket cartridges are smaller than Game Boy cartridges.

Games
Only nine monochrome games were released for the Neo Geo Pocket before it was discontinued. The Neo Geo Pocket is forward compatible with 39 Neo Geo Pocket Color titles, although games for the color system will play in monochrome on a Neo Geo Pocket. Likewise, the NGPC is backward compatible and the entire Neo Geo Pocket library can be played on the color system. After the release of the NGPC, six titles received re-releases, updated to include color.

One additional game, a remake of the 1979 SNK arcade game Yosaku, can be played by inserting the NGPC game The King of Fighters: Battle de Paradise into a Neo Geo Pocket.