Released in the United States on August 22nd, 1990, the Neo Geo Arcade Entertainment System (AES) brought the arcade home like no other gaming system had before. The AES was designed to provide 1:1 arcade-accurate experiences home, with a price tag to match. While it was planned to launch at an already eye-popping $599, the Neo Geo AES launched at $649.99. Truly a boutique system owned by few, who couldn't deign to rub elbows with arcade-dwellers, it seems.

The Neo Geo AES also brought an innovation to gaming: the memory card. A portable storage device allowing players to save their scores and progress, instead of relying on battery backup or solid state storage in the game cartridges or game systems themselves. The MVS arcade machines also featured this functionality, and with AES games being perfect copies of their arcade versions, players could maintain their progress while playing at home and on the road. Well, at the arcades on the road.

One major advantage the Neo Geo held over consoles was the fact that its games could be many times larger in terms of ROM size, allowing for smooth animation, large, detailed backgrounds, and high quality music and sound effects. With later innovations in bank switching, the maximum game size soon elevated well beyond the initially shocking 330 Megabits.

American Neo Geo systems often trigger games to run censored versions, with content changed to prevent upsetting of the perpetually-offended outrage mob, which only seems to grow as communication technology increases in popularity. Thank goodness the Internet is largely limited to people who can operate a personal computer. Japanese systems don't have such issues, leaving blood and other fun things intact.