The NEOGEO AES and its historic catalog are being officially marketed again after nearly 30 years

[Another Iori]

'Retro Gamer' magazine (#285) interviews PLAION (May 7, 2026)

Retro radar
GIVE US TWO MINUTES AND WE'LL GIVE YOU THE RETRO WORLD

UPGRADING PERFECTION
Ben Jones on how PLAION is creating the ultimate Neo Geo
Words by Darran Jones

“Back then, every cartridge mattered, and we want to capture that feeling again”
BEN JONES

The Neo Geo is arguably one of the most iconic consoles of the Nineties. It delivered a home experience that was identical to what you’d find in the arcade and was the most technically advanced console of its time. Extravagantly expensive on release, the console and its most popular games are exorbitantly priced today, which hasn’t been lost on Ben Jones and Bruno Steux. The pair have teamed up to create the NEOGEO AES+ and it’s promising to be the ultimate take on the esteemed console.

So what makes it so special? Well, instead of using FPGA chips to recreate the classic console, Bruno has gone one step further. A professor of electronics, Bruno has helped design chips for both the automotive and defence industries. This knowledge has led to him recreating the chips that the original Neo Geo and its games used. This means PLAION’s new console will not only be identical to the original in scale, but fully compatible with it as well. “This is the re-engineering of those classic chips that includes two on the machine, basically a CPU and a video chip, and also the cartridges,” explains Ben. “The cartridge is quite a challenge. We’ve reworked all the chips in the cart and made two chips as the Neo Geo famously had two PCBs. There’s a chip on one and a chip on the other.”

SNK has been very good at making the Neo Geo and its games available to today’s gamers, so what makes the NEOGEO AES+ so different to the mini consoles and arcade machines that are already on the market? “The feeling of plugging a cartridge into a dedicated machine rather than [the various competitors on the market] really concentrates your mind on it,” offers Ben. “You get that authentic experience, especially with the controller, the clunk click. Back then, every cartridge mattered, and we want to capture that feeling again. It's as simple as that.”

If you need further proof of the authenticity that Ben and Bruno are striving for, it's worth talking about how the new system will connect to TVs. "We're going to include an RGB connector, so anybody that wants to play on a CRT can have that authentic experience,” Ben proudly tells us. “Next to the RGB of course is the HDMI connector, which will obviously be used by the majority of people and will give that crisp 1080p 60Hz display that people expect nowadays.” Bruno adds that it can also output 59.6Hz like an original AES if your TV can cater for it.

The NEOGEO AES+ may be using original chip sets, but that doesn't mean it won't be offering a few extra enhancements. While it won't feature modern save states or rewind functions, the size of the original memory cards is being improved. They're increasing in size from 2KB memory to 16KB memory. Ben has also confirmed that the AES will be able to save high scores, just like the original MVS could. “We are redirecting the high scores to the memory card, so when you boot it up, power down, boot it up, bam, it's there. So that is actually a quality-of-life option that wasn't available on the original machine."

As exciting as the NEOGEO AES+ is, we're equally looking forward to the planned full-size cartridges. They'll cost £69.99 and ten titles are available at launch, with more hopefully on the way. We were personally expecting an Evercade-style cart with multiple games on it, similar to the Neo Geo X Gold, so this is an unexpected move.

“We want to replicate what happened back in the day and just bring out a game,” clarifies Ben. “I always feel that once you start having these 200-games-in-one cart, ten-games-in-one cart, the games don't feel special anymore. You're just going through a list for maybe two minutes and that's it. You go on to the next one, because you've invested in the cartridge.”

We can certainly see the reasoning behind the decision for single carts, and as Ben points out, there’s often a lot of depth to the included games which includes everything from Shock Troopers and Metal Slug to Twinkle Star Sprites and Garou: Mark Of The Wolves.

“Some could say on the face of it, that these are simplistic games,” adds Ben, “they're not. They're deep. The score mechanics, the power-ups, how everything works often is just as complex as some modern-day games.”

The new cartridges will look extremely similar to the original releases due to their key art and shockbox packing, but Ben feels that the release of the new console and carts won't upset existing Neo Geo collectors. “Whenever I've done something like this before, the value of the original carts went up,” he explains. “Even though we're bringing out reissued versions of them, they've got slight differences, and the key art logos and logo placements on them are much more consistent for our ten games. Think of it like the Harry Potter books. It may be just £20 in Waterstones, but if you have a first edition Harry Potter, it's worth a lot more.”

And if there are any existing owners concerned that the release of these new carts will create a flood of opportunistic sellers trying to pass these new releases off as originals, Ben is confident that won't happen. “You won't be able to pass this off as original. It'll be totally obvious,” confirms Ben.

While its November launch is quite a way away and it's a little more expensive than similar items on the market, we're very much looking forward to PLAION's new console. The Neo Geo has been out of reach of many fans due to its high cost and if this allows it to reach a new audience that can only be a good thing.

• [NEOGEO AES+] Games like Pulstar cost an absolute fortune on the second-hand market, so the ability to buy an official version for £69.99 is very welcome.
• PLAION's NEOGEO AES+ will retail for £179.99 with a wired arcade stick. The white anniversary edition with a wireless white stick is £269.99.
• As you'd expect, the included arcade stick will be as authentic as possible as well, although wireless options will be available.
• Shock Troopers never had an AES release (just MVS) so this is a real treat. Big Tournament Golf also adds the CD version's Scotland course.
• If you don't fancy a bulky arcade stick, the NEOGEO AES+ Gamepad will also be available at £44.99.

Original Source:

https://www.reddit.com/r/neogeo/comments/1tbhkvy/interview_with_ben_jones_from_plaion_on_neogeo_aes/

 

[Vardalis]

I mean, I'm definitely not interested in buying this particular product. I have no real history with Neo Geo and this seems like more of a pick up for fans and collectors. I've also already picked up some of the Neo Geo carts for Evercade which suits me just fine for dabbling in trying out some of the library.

However, the overall idea? I absolutely love it. It's a fantastic concept and hope it really succeeds where previous iterations of similar Neo Geo modern hardware failed.

They never would, but I'd pick up a Dreamcast Revival console day one if Sega did something like this. Same for a PS1, PS2 or PSP. Well, maybe not day one with Sony given the rug pull of the PS Classic, but I'd be in the queue behind the day one buyers so they could hold the bag if it wasn't what they hyped or promised.

 

[Z77]

It's a novel idea but I have a MiSTer so this is pretty much not my thing. Costs far less than a real AES and games would at least.

 

[Another Iori]

Here is a comparison between the covers of the NEOGEO+ version (it would be ideal if they were reversible and included a manual in all languages).

 

[Another Iori]

Below is the English translation of part 1 of the interview, which was split into two due to a limit of 10000 characters.

If you want the next part right away, leave a comment below; otherwise, I will have to wait 24 hours to prevent the platform from automatically merging the posts.

Speaker 1 • 0:00

Well, um, we move on to the second talk of the day. Uh, we present the company Jotego, who are in charge of developing open-source hardware. Open parenthesis, FPGA core for MiSTer for classic games, okay? Classic games from the machines of the eighties and nineties, so that they can be played again today with the same original experience, okay? Um, the company Jotego has more than four thousand members on its sponsorship page, okay? The Patreon page. And right now, well, we have José Tejada here, who is going to talk to us about arcades without borders: history, technology, and culture between Japan and Spain. Good morning, José.

Speaker 2 • 0:41

Thank you, Jorge. Good morning. I am José Tejada, the founder of Jotego. We've already been working on this for a little over six years. We are... Now. We are a, a sm-sm-small little company that wasn't born with the intention of being a company, but there was so much sponsorship on, on the internet through Patreon, well, that in the end we became a small company and we dedicate ourselves to making conversions to, to FPGA cores of, mostly, arcade machines. The beauty of these conversions is that if you have enough information about the original system and you do the job well, you can have a truly one-to-one replica of everything that happens, uh, inside the system. It gives you the best experience possible, because it's basically like connecting the original equipment, except that you are using modern electronics that don't break on you right away and, in short, give you more, more conveniences. Today's presentation is not going to be so focused on, in itself, on, on the, on the development of, of the cores, the technical part, but rather we have put together some slightly more varied topics this time. We are going to start with a bit of culture about how this was experienced in Japan at the time and in comparison with how it was experienced here. That talk will be, will be given by Miki Saito. The second part is going to be about the reverse engineering work we do, especially with, with the boards. We always take the original boards and extract the schematics from the boards to be able to make an accurate conversion. And those schematics are then published openly so that everyone can use them for repairs, maintenance. That part will be given by Francisco Rodríguez. Then we will talk a little bit about video systems, a, uh, historical review of how they evolved. And that part maybe, well, for those who are more into game programming, might find it, find it simpler because they will know it, but even so, you're sure to find new things there. That part will be given by Rafael Saiva. And finally, we have had a collaboration for two years now with a secondary education institute that sends us students, and, and there I will present the work of this year's students, who have, have improved the graphics of some arcade games. And without further ado, I leave you with Miki [...].

Speaker 7 • 53:41

Thank you very much to everyone for the presentations. Questions that you would like to ask any of the speakers we have had.

Speaker 8 • 53:57

Hello. Well, I am Pablo, from Actualitas. I already know José from him coming around a couple of times or more than a couple of times to, to work. Here in Esperanza too. And well, since you are around giving some talks, and the truth is that, first of all, I want to thank you, because it is amazing each-- the work of yours that you do, the entire Jotego team, and that we can all enjoy it at home with this, with, with that intensity that we saw today, right? Because having a, a core of Street Fighter Two, for example, a Champion Edition at home, I mean, it's a dream come true for most of us. But anyway, uh, questions. Uh, well, in connection with the latest console that has come out, the NEOGEO AES Plus and such from Plaion and such, and the remake of, of the classic NEOGEO from the nineties, uh, last week, well, all the news came out and then we could read that the Jotego team was, was involved in the development of the chips, uh, ASIC [chips], right? Of, of the, of said console. Uh, nothing, well, simplySimply, well, to know a little bit. I imagine you have some kind of confidentiality so not much information can be given, but doubts arise in the community, like for example if the console, if it's going to be FPGA, if it's... They have already confirmed that no, that it's going to be, that they are going to be ASIC chips. And, but to what extent did you go in the design? Have you been involved? And how do you think the result of, of the console will be? Thank you.

Speaker 2 • 55:28

Thank you, Pablo. Well, it gives me great joy, because this new console is giving, uh, a lot to talk about. It is, it is a very beautiful project. Uh, the company making it is Plaion, I think it's a company from Austria. We usually work with a team they have in England, and, and the idea that already—they have made replicas of consoles before, but they were always in, in emulation. When they do it in emulation, they always have something that doesn't work, because the emulator is never perfect. Although sometimes, since they are dedicated chips, the experience is a bit better than a PC emulator, but in the end there are always compatibility issues and they are sick of that and say: let's do it for real. They considered doing it in FPGA, but once they saw the prices, it's actually cheaper when you have a large enough run, it's cheaper to make the chip directly. An FPGA is a chip that you can change and they are more expensive than the chips you make for a single thing. But what the center does in the end is the same, it is a digital function. So, of course, when it comes to doing it, they, well, they get all the licenses that are needed, starting with the SNK license. SNK reviews the project for them, gives them the okay, and, and then, well, they have to execute it. And as happened back in the day, if you look, all these companies like Sega, Nintendo, and all that, they didn't really have, or, or even now they don't have such powerful hardware development teams. They always, well, well yes, they [get] a, a little bit of what is outside too. And, and, and they contacted us, us because the NEOGEO core guide on, for MiSTer, well, it uses IP, our IP, right? Which, even though the, the IP is published as open source and has restrictive conditions that make it so that if you want to use it commercially you have to publish your code, it is inconvenient and well, they prefer to work, uh, well, well with, with the original developers. So it's a... Really, about the NEOGEO, well, I mean, basically everything is known. I mean, you can make a, an exact replica. It was better. It has been done with two chips instead of, uh, doing it with, with a single one or doing it with, I don't know if it was six or eight that the original had. It was decided to condense it into two chips because it's cheaper, because you have enough, uh, pins to be able to connect all the cartridges, because they are, those cartridges have, they don't have good pins, they are very thick. So it has been restructured like that. But come on, you can have the peace of mind that what is inside is, is what needs to be there. I mean, it doesn't matter if the original had eight chips, or if this one has two chips. It's like from the Mega Drive 1 to the Mega Drive 2. It does a little reorganization, but in the end it's, it's the same. It's going to have some features to, to enjoy it more on a mod-modern system. I mean, you expect to be able to have an HDMI connection. Mind you, for compatibility reasons, the good output will be provided by the RGB mode. You will connect the RGB mode to a CRT monitor and it will be the same as, as the original. The HDMI mode, for reasons of HDMI compatibility, well, I don't remember the exact detail, but there was, well, well you had to, ah, change a frequency a little bit. There was, there was, there was a little trick you had to do there to, to be able to have the HDMI video signal. But if you are a purist, well, you connect via RGB. And if not, in HDMI mode, I think the trick was only necessary to apply to a golf game, because in the others it wasn't necessary. Anyway, the HDMI signal is going to be very good. But of course, if you want to respect the original games, in the end you have to make a small adjustment so that the frequency is matched on the monitor [doesn't get out of sync]. And besides that, what else can I tell? The... Well of course, you have the advantage that all the peripherals are modern. You get to have a modern controller with buttons that work again. Of course, they are not, not, not from forty years ago. The memory cards are going to work, they are compatible with, with the original ones. You can use your old card in the modern system and, and vice versa. And, in short, it is a product that is, is very, very good. And, and they, well, they have, have been careful both to, to respect what SNK wants and to not violate any open-source license, and to really contact, to all the people from, from whom something has been used. And what has been used is because it is, is what is appropriate. No, there are no things that from a standpoint of fidelity shouldn't be there. [laughs] That's more or less it.

Speaker 8 • 60:13

I have more questions, but let the others ask. But I have more, huh, José?

Speaker 2 • 60:19

Ask, ask.

Speaker 7 • 60:20

What else can there be?

 

[Another Iori]

It has been 24 hours, so, I can also post the second and final part of this presentation.

Speaker 9 • 60:29

Hello, how's it going? Uh, I wanted to ask you also if you could say something about the cartridges of this new console.

Speaker 2 • 60:35

Well, the cartridges, I know that is the part with which they make the least money. Curiously. They are very expensive, but it's just that they are, they are very, very expensive to, to produce. So, um, I mean, that, that type of memory chip and such you have to carry... You have to respect the size of the original, etc. So, I remember it was discussed that even though for the user it is somewhat the most attractive and, and, and, and most beautiful part because of the whole packaging aspect and such. For them, it is, is a little bit the, the, the part where there is, where there is the least profit. And they, they have started with ten cartridges and, and yes, I mean, they indeed, indeed plan for there to be more. The old cartridges are compatible as well. One of the reasons why it was also made with an ASIC and not with an FPGA is because you can make the ASIC five volts, whereas on the FPGA normally the input/output tends to be two point five volts or one point eight. So, the, to work with the cartridge that needs five volts, that was problematic. Another curiosity is that it is manufactured in Germany. A factory in Germany, which is the one that has-- is going to make the chips. No, they are not made in China, nor in Taiwan.

Speaker 9 • 61:52

But it must be some new way they found, right? Because until now they were much more expensive to manufacture, and the price that came out is like much cheaper than what was known until now.

Speaker 2 • 62:03

Yes, I suppose that, that it's a matter of, of, of volume [production run], but, but that they are expensive for them too. Otherwise, no... But the problem is that they are so big, you can't make chips for that because you aren't going to have such a large run. So, you have to end up using flash memory.

Speaker 9 • 62:19

Maybe they went more for quantity to improve what is the price, right? Rather than, than something revolutionary new that lowers the price a lot.

Speaker 2 • 62:26

Yes, I think it's nothing revolutionary. No, no, I think it's a matter of economies of scale.

Speaker 9 • 62:31

Yes, yes, yes. And another question, your business model. Does it only come from Patreon?

Speaker 2 • 62:36

Yes.

Speaker 9 • 62:36

Only from Patreon.

Speaker 2 • 62:37

Yes, only from Patreon, although sometimes in collaborations like this, well, well they, well they have, have paid a little bit for, for the license of the IP. But there are very few of these, there aren't that many collaborations. And when it is a small producer who wants to use an IP, usually we tell them to sign up for Patreon for a year and, and, and that's it. We don't, we don't ask them... Of course, since this is a, a bigger business, we did write them a separate invoice, but usually no. And in fact, on Patreon, the money that comes in actually goes, goes to pay salaries. I, I don't, don't get paid from, from Patreon. And since what we do is later published as open source, it is not legally a foundation, but it is, is something similar to a foundation, because in the end, it is work that serves everyone, and the company has no profit per se, but rather, we pay salaries.

Speaker 9 • 63:23

Funded by the customers, like...

Speaker 2 • 63:26

Yes.

Speaker 9 • 63:26

Thank you very much.

Speaker 7 • 63:31

I think the last one, by the way, right? Since the concert is shortly, as we already said.

Speaker 10 • 63:36

It's just that for me, this... Well, on top of that, you said something here about NEOGEO, and since it is a topic that also has me hooked. Well, well since we're at it... But it's just that I'm kind of blowing my mind. I mean, in two chips they are going to fit all the NEOGEO hardware, the sound chip, I mean, the 68000 and the Z80 of the original NEOGEO are also going to be tucked in there in those two chips.

Speaker 2 • 63:53

Yes, yes, they go inside, yes. Obviously.

Speaker 10 • 63:55

And everything, a whole unified hardware schematic on ASIC.

Speaker 2 • 63:59

Yes. Uh, there is a very cool part that... One of the, the things I participated in, besides giving them IP, I reviewed the, the project for them two, two times over several days. And one of the parts they—insisted had to be done was the, the color DAC, meaning the digital-to-analog conversion of color, which they couldn't do, uh, with, with, let's say, with a modern DAC. They had to make the original DAC. So, you have to bring out a lot of resistors, a lot of compatible chips, meaning they are from the era, even if they are modernly manufactured, they are from the era, so that it has the same color, because otherwise, the same color wasn't going to come out and the same brightness wasn't going to come out. So, that was one of the things I asked them to change in, in the design. And, and that is not inside the ASICs. That, that has to go outside, because that has to be this.

Speaker 10 • 64:46

And it's cheaper to do that than an FPGA. I mean...

Speaker 2 • 64:50

Yes, the... I—

Speaker 10 • 64:52

I see a lot of work there.

Speaker 2 • 64:54

I was surprised that it turned out cheaper for them and on—on top of that being two chips, which no, which isn't even one, which is that they are two chips. Whatever it was... But yes, they have—they did their math and, and it's not like there is a European Union subsidy or anything like that, even though the company is based—

Speaker 10 • 65:10

It's fine from Europe, I'm telling you. I mean, it's not this console, I mean...

Speaker 2 • 65:16

They are risking it a bit because, let's see, surely the—

Speaker 10 • 65:19

Of course, if something fails.

Speaker 2 • 65:20

Of course, if something fails, I think—

Speaker 10 • 65:21

You can't correct it.

Speaker 2 • 65:22

I think, that they have budgeted for there to be a failure and they have to repeat the manufacturing once. So, let's hope there aren't two. The, the, the project is about reviewing many—

Speaker 10 • 65:31

It's very easy, there is a bug, you re-edit the code [note: likely transcribed for core] and that's it. But if you make ASIC chips and there is a bug, you have to throw everything away and do it again.

Speaker 2 • 65:38

That's it. You have to throw everything away. Yes, yes. The... Let's see, let's see about this.

Speaker 10 • 65:45

But very interesting [...].

Speaker 7 • 67:16

Well, I've been hearing around there that that's it. But you have to change it, maybe better... Thank you very much to all the speakers. [applause]

 

[Another Iori]

Speaker 1 • 0:00

The launch of SNK's new NeoGeo AES Plus is being a real boom. People are talking about it a lot. Rumors have come out, all kinds of opinions, and above all, many doubts. Is it going to be faithful to the original? Will it bring changes? Will it be worth it? So, to clear up any doubts, I've come all the way to Valencia, to the Retropolis event, to talk face-to-face with someone who knows very well what we are talking about. Today I am with Jotego, one of the best-known engineers in the retro scene, who has also participated in the development of this new machine and is going to tell us everything we want to know. Mr. Jotego, how are you?

Speaker 2 • 0:34

How are you doing, David?

Speaker 1 • 0:35

Very well. To be honest, I'm very excited and very happy to meet you, because of course, within the scene you are a very important person. And naturally, when your name appeared alongside Furtek, suddenly regarding this NeoGeo AES topic, people got, got really hyped up, right?

Speaker 2 • 0:48

[laughs] Yes, we didn't know if we could talk about the subject or not, but well, we asked Plaion here and they told us that, yes, there is no need to keep it a secret.

Speaker 1 • 0:58

Man, they must be happy, huh? With how things are going, they have to be happy.

Speaker 2 • 1:01

Yes, yes, absolutely, and I'm glad, you know? I'm glad because it is a very beautiful project.

Speaker 1 • 1:04

Very quickly, in case there is anyone who doesn't know who you are, tell me a little bit about your background.

Speaker 2 • 1:08

Look, I studied Telecommunications Engineering at the Polytechnic University, right? Today we are, we are speaking here at the Polytechnic University of Valencia. And then, I went to work as a microelectronics engineer at Analog Devices in Ireland. Later, I was at Texas Instruments in Japan, working for four years as well. Then Analog Devices opened an office here in Valencia, and I continued working in microelectronics. And I had already done some emulation projects before, when I was at the university. And when the FPGA scene of the MiSTer started to appear, I saw it as a very beautiful thing because it really allowed you to make the, the original. And so I got into it a little bit by pure chance, because a YouTuber made a video of a project I did, I saw that people were interested, and I started making things, and, and it became very popular. And well, thanks to, to that, we now have more than seventy published cores that support more than a thousand games, and we have published dozens of schematics of arcade boards whose development we have funded thanks to Patreon. And, and well, we are contributing however we can to, to the scene.

Speaker 1 • 2:07

The people who are enjoying games on MiSTer, well, if it weren't for you, surely, well, maybe it would have arrived later, right? But it wouldn't have existed, right?

Speaker 2 • 2:15

Yes, there in the arcade part of MiSTer, we do have a very, very important contribution, yes.

Speaker 1 • 2:21

And one day comes, does Plaion contact you or who contacts you?

Speaker 2 • 2:24

Well, what happens is that by publishing al-all the source code of what we do, and since it is under the GPLv3 license, which they can only use if they also publish theirs, from time to time we get requests from honest people who want to use your code without publishing their project. If they are very small projects, usually, well, I give them permission, sometimes even just by having them send me a copy of what they have done. Other times I ask them to use Patreon. If they are larger projects, well, yes, we do have a, a contractual relationship. And with, with Plaion, we had already been on the verge of doing a project in the past, which, which in the end did not pan out, but when this opportunity came up, of course, I had developed the audio part of the Neogeo core on the MiSTer, and therefore I had knowledge of both the core and the system, as well as an IP, well, well, that, that worked, and that interested them.

Speaker 1 • 3:13

What do they tell you? What do they ask of you?

Speaker 2 • 3:15

They are a company that is, that is very, very honest with the use of intellectual property. Of course, they have a license from SNK. SNK reviews all the work they do so that it has the ap-appropriate quality. It doesn't leave them, uh, free in that sense. And at the same time, any developer out there, uh, whose knowledge they can leverage or whose, well, intellectual property, right? IP, they can leverage, they try to stay in contact with them, and in my case, well, well, they wanted to reuse part of, of my IP and they also wanted ad-advice.

Speaker 1 • 3:48

When the launch was announced, people went completely crazy, a bunch of people talking everywhere, pre-orders left and right. I wasn't as interested because I already had my machine, I had my, my Astro City, I had a cartridge with the entire catalog, and hey, I was happy for the people who couldn't enjoy, enjoy the AES, but well, I was set and I was going to wait until November when the console came out to see if they had really achieved a NeoGeo AES 1.1, a quality replica, right? I called for a bit of caution. Let's see what they do. But of course, talking to you, I think we can state that, that we are in good hands, right?

Speaker 2 • 4:22

Yes, indeed. This is a system that, in short, is already highly documented, very well known, to a large extent because of, of Furtek, who is the French guy who has, who has collaborated on the project as well. He reverse-engineered all the chips. He knows all the versions of the machine from A to Z. Maybe there are people who wonder: "Well, but being SNK, aren't they going to help you, aren't they going to give you some things?" And yes, they help you, but, but they no longer have the engineers who were involved in all of this. The brand has been changing its name, and in the end, the great experts on the machine now, well, well, we are, we are people from the scene. And this is a machine that indeed is disassembled at the chip level, from A to Z, and if you want to make it perfect, you can make it perfect. Compared to, to the original machine, well, I think it is better than the original machine, because it isn't electronics that are going to break tomorrow without you knowing why. It's all, it's a new re-implementation with chips fresh out of the factory, and, and yet they are co-completely compatible, because it is, it is the original hardware, it is distributed differently, but it is the original hardware running with the original devices or with new manufacturing, but it's still the same joystick, it's still the, the same box, and above all, it is the same electronics.

Speaker 1 • 5:31

You just said something that is going to make people very happy. You just said, and I'll put this in capital letters: the AES Plus is better than the original AES. Those are big words. This statement, how do you think it, it could affect, well, the most classic collector, right? Who regards the AES as a, a great machine. Explain it to me a bit, because you've left me somewhat surprised. In a good way, of course!

Speaker 2 • 5:51

Yes, look, they are First, it's like you said, it has just been manufactured. So you are going to have reliability, it's not going to break right away, it won't have loose buttons, they won't—uh, it won't make bad contact. There you have an advantage, uh, which is very important to me, because since I'm always working with old equipment, you never know when you plug it in if it's going to work, even if it worked yesterday. But on top of that, of course, they are, uh, modern chips that therefore consume less. Maybe people don't care much if their machine consumes more or less, but they are going to, to heat up less, and, and therefore they will, they will last longer too. Then you have, uh, nice little advantages like if you want the original video output, you have the original video output, which is just like the original. But if you want HDMI, you have an HDMI output as well, so you can connect it to a, a monitor. So you have these small advantages of, of being a modern system too.

Speaker 1 • 6:39

Another question was the RGB issue. In the end, is the machine going to have RGB?

Speaker 2 • 6:43

Yes, not only does it have RGB, but that is one of the things that, that you can only do here. Because there are people who say, "Well, this is a rehash of the MiSTer core and so on." You see, the MiSTer core has its limitations. First, you can't plug in a cartridge because it doesn't have pins. Even if you wanted to, you don't have enough pins to plug in a cartridge. But you also can't make the, the DAC, the original analog-to-digital video converter, because the MiSTer already has a digital-to-analog converter. And well, you can do, well, like I often do in my cores, I try to make an intermediate stage so that the color comes out closer to what should come out through the MiSTer's DAC. But in this case, well, they didn't opt for that; they opted to put the exact same original digital-to-analog conversion circuit, meaning it is going to output the colors it is supposed to output. So, all those small details make the difference between, well, an emulation solution or an FPGA solution that has to be generic for many cores, versus something you can make specific, where you can afford this part, uh, even though it has an analog circuit to do it, well, it's going to be the original circuit so that it looks like, like the original in terms of color nuances.

 

[Evaccaneer Doom]

To distinguish it from the original '90s version, this time it will be called 'NEOGEO AES+' and it has been announced that it will be able to read original games. It natively features an AV output for CRT TVs and a 1080 pixel HDMI output.

The official prices in € declared by GameLife are as follows.

NEOGEO AES+:
€199.99

Neo Geo AES+ (Anniversary Edition White):
€299.99

Neo Geo AES+ Arcade Stick Wireless Black:
€99.99

Neo Geo AES+ Arcade Stick Wireless White:
€99.99

Neo Geo AES+ Game Pad Black:
€49.99

Neo Geo AES+ Memory Card Black:
€29.99

Neo Geo AES+ Memory Card White:
€29.99

The catalog announced so far consists of these 10 initial titles.

'Metal Slug' [1]:
€79.99

'Twinkle Star Sprites':
€79.99

You can get both of these on Steam for way cheaper at the same time lmfao

(I even have Twinkle Star Sprites)

Cool though.

 

[Dyne]

Back in the 90s, the crazy price tag made a bit of sense. It was basically having arcade graphics at home during a time when arcades looked much better than home consoles. It was the console for rich kids.

Today, I find it harder to justify the price tag. I get that its for enthusiasts/collectors and not really for mass market, but still.

Not for me, anyway. I sail the high seas baby.

 

[Leon]

You can get both of these on Steam for way cheaper at the same time lmfao

(I even have Twinkle Star Sprites)

Cool though.

Your not doing it for the game as much as your doing it for the original experience, just saying.

Too expensive for my blood though.

 

[Another Iori]

Speaker 1 • 7:51

For me, there is one topic—and I know very little about technology or electronics—but there is one topic that has always raised doubts for me, which is the sound. Because I haven't seen an old machine with a sound, that thing of putting your headphones on the machine and enjoying the powerful sound of the AES, I have never seen anything like it. Can that be replicated today?

Speaker 2 • 8:08

Yes, it is, it's just that it sounds spectacular. I came from having worked on Yamaha FM music synthesizers, just, well, like—they are like Sound Blaster sound, right? Which we will all remember. That is FM sound; the sound of Sonic on the Mega Drive is FM sound. And this chip has an FM part, and then it has a PCM part, which is already digitized sound. It's like, well, wavetables—having a piano note recorded and playing it at different frequencies, and it sounds as if you had the whole piano. So, it sounds very good, but it has, it has a couple of, of little tricks, because it has two different PCMs; it has one that is of higher quality and another with higher data compression, and that gives them more flexibility, and it mixes many audio channels, because it mixes, it mixes the PCM ones plus the FM ones, and in total it could provide a lot, a lot of quality. There is a di—difference here, uh, between the MiSTer version and the version here, which is that in the MiSTer version, I chose to put an interpolator that is supposed to smooth out the sound a little bit, remove some aliasing, and I, I like it better that way. But the original, the original system does not have the interpolator. So, for the NeoGeo version, for this version, where the important thing here was for it to be like the original, there is no interpolator. So there, the sound is going to sound more like the original and less like the MiSTer version in that sense, because it is, it is, it is a very small technical difference. So, here the original had a little bit of aliasing—an original machine. This, this machine is also going to have a little bit of aliasing in the audio, whereas the MiSTer one has less aliasing because, well, because I designed it to, to remove it. In fact, you could remove even more, but well, I also—I took a little bit off to smooth it out.

Speaker 1 • 9:43

Another issue that worries people, which I read about online, is input lag. In theory, there shouldn't be any problem, but tell me if there is any doubt regarding that.

Speaker 2 • 9:51

Of course, again, although the digital logic—what the NeoGeo itself is—well, is the same on MiSTer as it is here, because the NeoGeo is the NeoGeo, on the MiSTer you have to go through a connection stage to the USB, which, well, honestly, let's see, I don't think it has any lag, because it is polling the USB, well, a thousand times per second, which is a massive amount. So, there shouldn't be any lag issue there. But in the case of, of the console, you don't even have the polling of looking at the USB a thousand times per second, because the cable is directly connected to the chip, and when the processor looks at it, it is going to look at the signal you have, what you are doing with your hand. So, there, there it is exactly the same as the original, there is zero lag. In practice, I don't think this part will be noticeable at all between the FPGA and the MiSTer—sorry, between the FPGA and the machine, because polling a thousand times per second is a massive amount. It will indeed be noticeable between those two systems and an emulator. There it certainly will be noticed, because the, the emulator doesn't poll as much. Plus, it usually looks at things once per frame. So, there you do notice it. Between the MiSTer and this machine, there shouldn't be any noticeable difference in input lag, and with the original either.

Speaker 1 • 11:01

Maybe you aren't the best person to answer this question for me, because you are more in charge of the chip and hardware side of things, but on the game level, people also wonder what is inside those cartridges, because in the end, they are eighty-euro games, which by NeoGeo standards are very cheap, but by today's standards are very expensive. What justifies the price? What is it going to have inside? What is going to be the same? What is going to be different? Do you have any information on that topic?

Speaker 2 • 11:23

Yes, I have seen that part, I haven't been so involved, but yes, I also asked, I was also curious, and, and well, if I remember correctly, well, uh, they were, they were flash chips. Flash chips which, which are very expensive, because while you can manufacture just like they have manufactured the, the chips of the machine itself, uh, in, in Europe, but they are, they are chips made for this because they expect to have—they expect to have a large production run. That's why FPGA is not used, because they expect to have such a large run there that this is cheaper than an FPGA. But for the cartridges, of course, they don't expect to have as many sales per cartridge, so they have to use these memory chips, and, and they are very expensive. Honestly, it is hard, uh, for the cartridge to be any cheaper. There is, there is no cheaper way to, to, to do that. If they could guarantee that they were going to sell fifty thousand copies of a cartridge or a hundred thousand, well, they could go and manufacture a ROM and it wo-would be cheaper, but surely there won't, won't be such a large run.

Speaker 1 • 12:17

I was going to say that to you, let's see, because the machine for now is selling like crazy. If the games follow the same path, could it be that future re-releases of games will incorporate different technology then?

Speaker 2 • 12:26

Technically it is possible, but I don't know. I don't know, because since it's a matter of up to this level it's cheaper to do it one way, at the next level... Well, it's not that it's cheaper, it's that you can't enter, because when you manufacture the chip you have a minimum number of units and so you have a very high entry cost. I don't know, I don't know. Hopefully, hopefully this will be very successful and, and people would want to go for it, and, and, and there would be a game that sold a lot.

Speaker 1 • 12:52

And one last question, almost as, well, as a curious person, as someone from—from the retro world, do you think this initiative is going to push, is going to help Sega, Nintendo, other companies to step up and do the same?

Speaker 2 • 13:04

Well, I think Nintendo won't. [laughs]

Speaker 1 • 13:06

For whatever reason.

Speaker 2 • 13:08

Nintendo, no. But in the future, maybe Sega or even Plaion will talk to Sega and Sega will let them do this, because it could be done with the Mega Drive as well. The Mega Drive is a system about which we have all the information and we could make a, a, a replica that, again, compared to the FPGA version, well, would let you connect a cartridge and, in short, that you could, well, put the Mega Drive's video DAC, you could do those small things that, that give you the whole machine already. So with the Mega Drive, it could indeed happen, ho-hopefully we will get to see it. I know there is some other machine on, on the way.

Speaker 1 • 13:39

Oh.

Speaker 2 • 13:39

Okay? But, [laughs] but I can't say any more. I'm no longer involved in that one, it's not a machine for which I have IP, but I think the guys at Plaion are going to bring us more joy.

Speaker 1 • 13:47

Yes, that's great. Since you mentioned the word replica, I've been getting a lot of flak because in my videos or my live streams I say that this is a replica of the original AES, because Plaion also says so on its website. And they've told me no, that it's not a replica, that it's a re-release, that what gymnastics you perform to justify the unjustifiable. And I say: let's see, I think, that it is—a replica is something that imitates the original model as reliably as possible. Am I wrong?

Speaker 2 • 14:09

If it were like from Mega Drive 1 to Mega Drive 2, where there was a redesign of the shell and so on, well, well yes, we could say that it is the NeoGeo 2. Here at the board level, i-indeed it is a—indeed it is the NeoGeo 2, because the original board had, I don't know if it was six or eight chips, and here, well, those chips are condensed into two. So there indeed is a, a, a board redesign, just like there was from Mega Drive 1 to Mega Drive 2, or on PlayStation 2 there were, there were two or three revisions, or PlayStation 3. In that sense, indeed there is th-this revision where you maintain compatibility, you maintain the design, but, but you restructure things because technology changes. But oh well, since they have kept the original shell, well of course, I don't know. I suppose... The—Yes, I have called it a replica too, but well, we could call it the NeoGeo 2 in the sense of Mega Drive 1 to Mega Drive 2 or the different versions of PlayStation. It is still the same console, but well, there is, there is some minor, uh, technical change that doesn't affect the, the user.

Speaker 1 • 15:06

So, it's neither wrong to say it's a replica, nor is it wrong to say it's a model two, right? Because in the end—

Speaker 2 • 15:11

Yes.

Speaker 1 • 15:12

It speaks a little bit of both, right?

Speaker 2 • 15:13

Yes, I believe that's how it is.

Speaker 1 • 15:15

Well, Jotego, thank you so much. [laughs] I've learned a lot, I am ignorant on these topics, and I think people who were already excited, well, after this information, well, they still have room to get even more excited and expect a very high-quality product.

Speaker 2 • 15:28

Yes, there are reasons, yes.

Post automatically merged: Jun 7, 2026

 

[ThunderBoy]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2063907154705482197

 

[Another Iori]

Speaker 1 • 15:29

Well, if you liked the video, well, you know, leave your comments, subscribe, it's free. And if you want more content with this gentleman, who I think has enough here to pull off some cool interviews, well, let me know here in the comments. I won't ramble any longer, a hug and see you in the next video.

Speaker 2 • 15:42

Goodbye [...].

Speaker 1 • 0:00

Last weekend I was recording a super interesting report at Jotego's office, where he shows us his work and his incredible contribution to the scene. And taking advantage of the opportunity and the occasion, we are going to try to clear up some doubts. Well, Jotego, the previous video went around the world, huh? [laughs] A lot of people watched it—people from the United States, from Australia, from, from all over Europe. The truth is, we got the exclusive there, huh? [laughs]

Speaker 2 • 0:26

Well.

Speaker 1 • 0:26

I don't know if they drove you too crazy.

Speaker 2 • 0:27

Yes, well, yes, they asked me quite a few questions afterward and, and, [laughs] and I didn't have answers for everything, you know? But...

Speaker 1 • 0:34

Well, today we are going to take a step back.

Speaker 2 • 0:36

Sure.

Speaker 1 • 0:36

And since people have asked a lot, left many comments, doubts, queries, we are going to try to condense the most reasonable doubts, the ones that people have commented on the most. And well, whatever can be answered will be settled. And what can't, well, hey, your professional point of view and that's it, your opinion, which then might be or might not be, but at least you have a better-positioned stance than us, who are mere spectators in all of this, right?

Speaker 2 • 0:59

Within what I can remember and what I can answer, let's see, let's see how it goes.

Speaker 1 • 1:03

Let's do this.

Speaker 1 • 1:06

[...] I have my cheat sheet here with some questions. Let's see what you can answer.

Speaker 2 • 1:51

Okay.

Speaker 1 • 1:51

First, some people have wondered about the cost of the console, whether it's cheaper to manufacture a console or to manufacture the games. What can you tell us about that?

Speaker 2 • 1:59

I think the console s-- must be cheaper, although, well, it's just that maybe even the plastic you have-- with the cartridges being so big that they are, they're practically the size of the console. And as for the chips inside, I think the ones in the console are cheaper to manufacture. There are fewer and they are cheaper, yes.

Speaker 1 • 2:14

There have been people commenting that with the FPGA, if a problem arises, it's no big deal, you reprogram it and that's it. But of course, when we start from ASICs, which are not reprogrammable, there can be bugs. Because I understand that maybe the people from Plaion or SNK might not have tested the games from the beginning to the very last level. Or maybe, maybe they did test them. I don't know what they might have done, but well, is there really a risk?

Speaker 2 • 2:39

Indeed, when you make an ASIC, an ASIC is a chip that is already finished and you cannot modify it. And you have to test it very well. As far as I know, they have tested them from start to finish.

Speaker 1 • 2:49

Oh, they did.

Speaker 2 • 2:50

Yes, yes, [laughs] they've had, they've had a, a team to do testing on, on all the games. Because as you rightly said, if you make a mistake, you can't, you can't correct it. It's a risk, it's a big risk, but really, it's the, it's the risk that most electronic products have. In your phone, there are no FPGAs in your phone; in your phone, there are ASICs. And, and you have to test them very well, because you have to manufacture millions of units. And yes, you have to b-- be more diligent when doing it. But that risk they take, they take it to make the product cheaper, because if they make you an FPGA and there's a problem, they can modify it, which is what we are used to—always having updates for everything the next day. Not here; there are no updates. Here, the one you buy, you buy the console and it is that console, and nothing can be changed. It's like when you buy a phone, and it is that phone. But of course, what is the difference? That maybe the retail price has dropped by perhaps seventy-five euros by not using FPGAs, but by using ASICs instead. So I think, I think it's worth it.

Speaker 1 • 3:54

Speaking with people in the industry, they have passed on some doubts to me regarding consoles, because you release a PS4, a PS5, a Switch, a Switch 2, it goes wrong, you release a patch or you put out a second run, and you fix it. Or well, you can contract with Nintendo, whatever. In the case of the NeoGeo Aes+, if for whatever reason the first units came out with some problem, that is no longer modifiable. They would have to do returns or... How do you see that? Do you think they are really going to leave everything so finalized that this scenario is impossible?

Speaker 2 • 4:22

I think so. They have tested—the games are indeed tested from start to finish, because, because they have, they have a team to do those tests. It is a level of quality that maybe we are not so used to i-in this retro scene, where, well, in the end there are, there are also many hobbyists making things, the community, etc. They are not Apple, but they don't manufacture hundreds of, of millions of units either. Apple—we are talking about Apple having a failure in twenty-five million units, and, and they set up a large-scale investigation to find out what happened. Here, unfortunately, [laughs] we are not going to sell twenty-five million units. It's going to be a few thousand and, and well, I trust in, in the team that has made this and, and tested it.

Speaker 1 • 5:02

Another question that I've been asked several times is about whether there will be a user interface. That is to say, will there be some kind of filters where scanlines can be added, if there will be a menu, the typical menu we have on these modern machines.

Speaker 2 • 5:13

No, no, I don't remember there being any menu. Th-think that, that it's not an emulator, so no, there is no processor that can do other things besides doing this. It could modify the BIOS. The, the BIOS, I s-suppose is a l-- I don't know. I don't know if the BIOS is slightly modified, but that would indeed be a way to put in a menu through the BIOS without there being any overlay. It's directly the Neogeo. "Hey, well, well, we'll put this menu for you." Apart from the menu, which I already tell you that I, I think no, there is no menu. Apart from the menu, there are other ways to, to modify, uh, the console's options. For example, on the boards I showed you earlier, there were always dip switches, which are these dips, these switches that you flip up, flip down. That is a way to configure things and anyway, there are, there are more ways to do it. I don't remember the details, but I do think there is something like scanlines, etc., for the HDMI video output. Not for the analog video output, of course, that is the original output.

Speaker 1 • 6:12

That is excellent news because many people are going to play it on current TVs—

Speaker 2 • 6:16

Yes.

Speaker 1 • 6:16

And they will have the option to recreate that older, more classic option, right?

Speaker 2 • 6:19

Yes. I don't think the options will get to, to be as sophisticated as what a, a RetroTINK gives you, for example. Whoever wants that level of, of polish, well, they really should have a RetroTINK and connect the analog output to the RetroTINK, and that way have exactly the type of, of filtering they want.

Speaker 1 • 6:37

An ad just slipped in here for—

Speaker 2 • 6:40

Oh, wow.

Speaker 2 • 6:40

But oh well. [laughs]

Speaker 2 • 6:41

Cha, cha, cha. Anyway. [chime]

Speaker 1 • 6:43

Imagine if, if, if it logged in. Then they'll tell you "so much FPGA," but here we are seeing Street Fighter stretched out, huh?

Speaker 2 • 6:51

[laughs] Okay, true.

Speaker 1 • 6:53

There is a very curious thing in content creation: thanks to this boom for the NeoGeo AES+, many of my old videos about NeoGeo AES, or accessories, or cartridges, well, they have received thousands of views during this month. A very curious thing. And one of the videos that has been watched the most and commented on the most, which has gone on to double or triple in size, is the video of the, the NeoGeo AES full set cartridge, which Japan Game Online did. And through that video, they have left me a ton of comments: "Hey, will the Chinese 161-in-1 cartridges work? The flashcards? The, the, the full set cartridge?" People want to know, on one hand, if these cartridges are going to work and, on the other, if they can harm, if they can damage the console.

 

[_Lorenzo_]

Has anyone here had any firsthand experience with the Vortex multicart?

https://www.arcade-projects.com/threads/neo-geo-mvs-all-in-1-vortex-multicart-2025.33218/

 

[Another Iori]

Speaker 2 • 7:34

I think damage, no. No, I don't know these cartridges in detail, but it's hard to think of a way in which they are going to, to damage them, because the cartridge's power comes from the console. The cartridge is not going to generate a voltage higher than what the console can handle. What can happen, which I think also happened with some models, some versions of the original NeoGeo, is that the cartridge draws a current that your adapter, uh, doesn't, doesn't supply. So, if, if an original cartridge draws, let's suppose it draws one amp, and it turns out those draw an amp and a half, well, maybe the voltage drops, as we saw earlier in—when we had the boards connected and we had to raise the voltage. Through that effect, it can happen that the cartridge doesn't work for you. If that, if that were to happen with one of those cartridges and you really want to use it, well, you can do, you can put an adapter on it that gives more current and, and it would work for you. Anyway, I, I think they are going to work, but, but of course, no, I know there are m-many Chinese cartridges, no, I haven't seen them on the inside, so I can't guarantee it.

Speaker 1 • 8:34

Maybe the ones of worse quality won't, but others that are well made might, right?

Speaker 2 • 8:37

Indeed, yes.

Speaker 1 • 8:38

Mmm.

Speaker 2 • 8:39

Yes, because many times they take shortcuts there that, that are holding on by a thread.

Speaker 1 • 8:44

Right. Along those same lines, people who have MVS games at home wonder if, with the MVS adapter on the NeoGeo AES+, they will be able to keep enjoying their games or not, or if they will have to rely on the original machine. Can you tell us anything about that?

Speaker 2 • 8:58

I don't recall conversations about that when we were reviewing this, but it should work. In the end, it's a redesign of the original. If the original AES worked, it should work here. I would be very surprised if it didn't work.

Speaker 1 • 9:12

I read here too, uh: "Will there be support for UniBIOS?", people are also asking me.

Speaker 2 • 9:18

Yes, I think so. If I remember correctly, it was set up so that you could change the BIOS and put in whichever one you wanted. If I remember correctly.

Speaker 1 • 9:26

Mmm. I repeat again, Jotego's opinions in this video are, well in some cases, drawing from memory, in others his own assumptions. It is not an official confirmation from, from Plaion or SNK. People should keep this in mind, because otherwise they will later say: "But Jotego said it." Well, we are here somewhat [laughs] assuming things, you know? I don't know if it was clear in the interview, but the original NeoGeo AES was in-- set up for stereo output. You could enjoy it with headphones, but on the TV it was s-- it always sounded in mono. This has been corrected with the NeoGeo AES+, right? Now, we are going to enjoy it directly in stereo.

Speaker 2 • 9:59

Yes, I think so. If, if I remember correctly, it was in stereo all the time. Yes. I would have to look at the schematics, but it seems to me that yes.

Speaker 1 • 10:06

It would be strange if they did it any other way.

Speaker 2 • 10:08

It would be strange, unless the video connector, well, well, had that limitation, but, mmm, if I'm thinking about the video connectors out there, even the Mega Drive one, for example—the Mega Drive is stereo, right? And but the video connector it had was stereo. Mmm. I don't know, certainly the machine does have stereo, so I all the time, so I suppose that, that it will output stereo through the video connector. Over HDMI it will be stereo, yes.

Speaker 1 • 10:38

I don't know if you'll be able to answer this question for me, but well, I'll pass it on to you, what, what they have left me. There are people who also have doubts about the arcade stick, whether it will be of the same quality, whether it will be different, whether there will be an attempt to respect the, mmm, [clicks tongue] the sensitivity that the original arcade had, or if they are going to do something else.

Speaker 2 • 10:54

I think it's going to be identical to the original—the way it was the day you bought it, not how it looks now after twenty years.

Speaker 1 • 11:01

Of course, that's, that's the point.

Speaker 2 • 11:02

Yes, this, I mean, I think it's going to be a real treat. I think the machine comes with one and then you buy another one separately if you want. And, oof, come on, for sure people are going to buy them, not just for the NeoGeo, they are going to buy them in general. I think that, I think that joystick is going to be very good.

Speaker 1 • 11:18

I know you're not going to answer me, but I have to ask. In the previous video, the exclusive came out that Plaion was working on a new machine, and people out there are doing the math, they are making guesses to find out which one it is. You're not going to tell me which one it is, obviously, but some little clue, something to make people dream, can you tell us?

Speaker 2 • 11:37

Actually, there is a clue in the video, in this video.

Speaker 1 • 11:39

In this one right here?

Speaker 2 • 11:40

In this video there is a clue, yes.

Speaker 1 • 11:42

[laughs]

Speaker 2 • 11:43

If that machine eventually appears, people are going to say: "It's true, there was a clue." But I can't say anything else.

Speaker 1 • 11:49

How fun, let people search in the video, huh? Leave it in the comments, let's see. [laughs] Analyze the video.

Speaker 2 • 11:57

And no, and it's not that. [they laugh]

Speaker 1 • 12:01

Now we close the video with good old Jotego, but first, as always, let me thank all of those who make this content possible. To the members, those of Super Thanks, commenters, subscribers, those who follow and support me on the livestreaming platform. Contego2012, you are great. To all of you, thank you very much. Well, that's it for today's video. I hope that we have, well, that Jotego has cleared up some of your doubts. I know that some things have been left out, obviously, but well, I have tried to condense the most, uh, requested questions from the community. Uh, if you have more, leave them in the comments, and who knows, maybe later on we can try to resolve them. Jotego, thank you so much. And to let people know that they will have another video on the channel—I don't know if it will come out before or after—where your work is shown, how Jotego works, the things that are done, and the educational and outreach work you do, which is fantastic. So from here, well, keep up the great work. Thank you so much for all this work.

Speaker 2 • 12:59

Thank you very much.

Speaker 1 • 13:00

See you in the next video.

Speaker 2 • 13:03

When you play an old video game, whether on a modern PlayStation or on a PC or on your, your Android phone, you are playing with an emulator, which is a program that runs another program. With an FPGA you digitally reconstruct the old environment; you create a circuit that electronically is that environment, is that machine where it used to run. If we think in euros, making one, one of these cores must cost between five and, and seven thousand euros.

Speaker 1 • 13:37

Are there more Jotegos in the world to do the craziness that you guys do?

Speaker 2 • 13:41

This is a CPS-1 board. So, here we would have a, a Ghouls N' Ghosts by Capcom.

Speaker 1 • 13:47

Do the boards have to be original for what you guys do?

Speaker 2 • 13:49

Yes. When they are very old, it doesn't matter if they are bootlegs. Normally, the original and the bootleg have the same chips in the same places; they give us the same information. The advantage of the FPGA is that they give you zero input latency, zero video and audio output latency, with the video and audio well synchronized, because the, the emulator cannot synchronize the video and audio well. The emulator calculates video for you and then calculates audio, but when you play it on the FPGA or on the board, the video and the audio are occurring at the same time; they are being synthesized at the same time. It says six point eight there, but then let's see how much, how much is actually reaching the board. Here we take the measurement, and now in the other place we have a little less than five. There are some schematic diagrams which are the blueprints of the board. Oof. This sheet, for example, is the sound one.

Speaker 1 • 14:37

Just this is sound?

Speaker 2 • 14:39

Yes.

Speaker 1 • 14:39

Okay. So I'm not crazy. I mean, when I play an emulated game and I play it from the original board, I notice that it sounds different. That, that is for some reason, right?

Speaker 2 • 14:46

That's it, exactly. When you play it on the original board, all these filters are there, whether it's because they want anti-aliasing or because they want to give it an effect. There are many games that have variable filters. There are many games, especially from Konami, where the, the same sound processor changes the filter it applies based on what is happening on the screen. And of course, that adds a depth to the sound, which if you haven't implemented the filter, well, is lost. They are amplifiers, they are, they are filters and you see there are many of them.

Speaker 1 • 15:13

That doesn't make it to emulation.

Speaker 2 • 15:15

It doesn't, no.