Нео Гео Покет Коло́р: История и Особенности Консоли

Handheld video game console

The Neo Geo Pocket Color (ネオジオポケットカラー, Neo Jio Poketto Karā) (NGPC) is a 16 bit color handheld game console developed and manufactured by SNK. It is a successor to SNK's monochrome Neo Geo Pocket handheld which was released in 1998 in Japan, with the Color being fully backward compatible. The Neo Geo Pocket Color was released on March 19, 1999 in Japan, August 6, 1999 in North America, and October 1, 1999 in Europe, entering markets all dominated by Nintendo, competing with Nintendo's Game Boy Color. After a good sales start in both the U. S. and Japan with 14 launch titles (a record at the time), lack of communication with third party developers by SNK's American management, the popularity of Nintendo's Pokémon franchise and anticipation of the 32 bit Game Boy Advance, and strong competition from Bandai's WonderSwan in Japan, led to a sales decline in both regions. Meanwhile, SNK had been in financial trouble for at least a year; the company soon collapsed, and was purchased by American pachinko manufacturer Aruze in January 2000. Eventually on June 13, 2000, Aruze decided to quit the North American and European markets, marking the end of SNK's worldwide operations and the discontinuation of Neo Geo hardware and software there. Despite its financial failure, the Neo Geo Pocket Color has been regarded as an influential system. Many highly acclaimed games were released for the system, such as SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium, King of Fighters R 2, and other quality arcade titles derived from SNK's MVS and AES. It is 13% smaller than the original Neo Geo Pocket Color, with dimensions 125 x 73 x 27 mm, and also features improved sound output.

In June 2000, Aruze (parent of SNK) decided to discontinue all SNK operations outside Japan. As a result, remaining stock was bought back by SNK for repackaging in Asia. SNK were recalling most of the back stock of systems and games to be flashed and re sold in Asia where the system would continue to be sold and supported. Some of the back stock of American NGPC hardware and software began to resurface on the American and Asian markets in 2003. These units frequently appeared bundled with six games stripped of their cases and manuals. Two games often included, Faselei! and Last Blade were never previously released in United States, meaning that they have no U. S. localized box or manual; however, these titles did receive a European release, incorporating an English translation. After the bankruptcy of SNK on October 30, 2001, the intellectual property rights were collectively transferred to the successor company SNK Playmore (later the second generation SNK), but the development of Neo Geo Pocket Color was discontinued after bankruptcy.

Closely modeled after its predecessor, the Neo Geo Pocket Color design sports two face buttons on the right hand side of the system, and an eight direction microswitched digital D pad on the left. It is horizontally designed like the Game Gear, as opposed to the Game Boy's vertical setup and the WonderSwan's hybrid of both. Upgraded from the Neo Geo Pocket, it has a color screen in the middle. Similar to the Game Boy and its successors, the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance, the Neo Geo Pocket Color does not have a back lit screen, and games can only be played in a well lit area. Like the Game. com before it, the Neo Geo Pocket Color uses a CR2032 battery to retain backup memory and keep the clock active, as well as the usual AA batteries to power the system during usage. The Neo Geo Pocket Color has no regional lockout. The system has an on board language setting, and games display text in the language selected (provided the cartridge supports that language). Other settings include time and date, and the system can provide customized horoscopes when one's birth date is entered. Cables for linking multiple systems were available, as well as a cable to connect the NGPC and the Dreamcast, as part of a partnership between SNK and Sega. Games that featured this option include King of Fighters R 2 (links with King of Fighters '99 Dream Match and King of Fighters Evolution); SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium (links with Capcom vs. SNK); SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash (links with King of Fighters Evolution); SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters 2 Clash Expand Edition (links with Capcom vs SNK) and Cool Cool Jam (links with Cool Cool Toon).

CPUs Toshiba TLCS 900/H core (16/32 bit CISC based on Z80), up to 6.144 MHz, Z80 at 3.072 MHz dedicated to soundRAM 12 KB for 900/H, 4 KB for Z80 (shared with the 900/H), 4 KB of tilemap RAM, 8 KB of character RAMROM 64 KB BIOSInterfaces SIO 1 channel 19200 bit/s, 5 pin serial portResolution 160x152 (256x256 virtual screen)DMA 4 channels, integrated in TLCS 900/H coreColors 146 (or 20 in monochrome mode) on screen out of 4096Palettes 16 for sprites, 16 per scrolling plane, additional 8 sets of 8 colors each assigned to the 6 monochrome mode palettes (2 for sprites, 2 per scrolling plane), backdrop, and windowCharacters 512 8x8 characters, transparency + 3 colors per characterSprites 64 8x8 sprites, each can be placed behind, in between, or above the scrolling planes, no arbitrary scanline limitationScrolling 2 scrolling planes, 32x32 tilemaps with 8x8 character tilesSpecial effects Character flipping, sprite chaining, sprite coordinate offsetting, windowing, color inversionSound T6W28 (enhanced SN76489 with 3 square wave tone generators + 1 noise generator, stereo capability), dual 8 bit digital to analog convertersCartridges Maximum 4 MB (32 Mbit) with 4 to 16 Mbit flash memoryBatteries 40 hours on two AA batteries, Lithium CR2032 battery for memory and clock

A total of 73 games were released for the Neo Geo Pocket Color. Most of the system's games were produced by SNK themselves, featuring well received titles from franchises such as Fatal Fury, Metal Slug and The King of Fighters. Capcom worked in conjunction with SNK on several crossover games featuring their characters, including SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium and the SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash series of games. Namco published a conversion of Pac Man, which came with a plastic cross ring that restricted the system's clicky stick to four directions; this version is often seen as one of the best home ports of the game to be released. Compile, Data East and ADK also produced ports of Puyo Pop, Magical Drop and Crush Roller respectively. Success published Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams, a successful port of the arcade game of the same name. Similar to the Neo Geo AES console, Neo Geo Pocket Color games were packaged in large clamshell like black cases, fitted with bright, colorful cover art on them. As a way to reduce costs, in North America the games were instead shipped in cardboard boxes, a move that has been negatively received due to their general poor quality. Japanese games were later released in the same cardboard boxes, while all European releases used the clamshell cases. These re releases were later compiled into Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection Vol. 1 (2021) and Vol. 2 (2022), which were also released for Windows.

SNK sold over 25,000 Neo Geo Pocket Color systems in Japan and over 100,000 in Europe by the end of 1999. He praised the game's small library for its quality and wide selection of genres, specifically titles such as SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash, Sonic Pocket Adventure, Magical Drop and Pac Man, and for the system's build quality being robust and well built. NintendoLifes Damien McFerran said that both it and the WonderSwan served as some of the most "interesting challengers" towards Nintendo.