Neo Geo CD Front Loader?

[valthonis]

First off I'm very aware of the CD loading times, but I don't want to pay the MVS/AES prices so I'm looking at the CD consoles.

A great local shop has a Neo Geo CD front loader in very good shape, can't find any scratches or dings on the console and it seems to play games just fine.

He's wanting $180 for the front loader, obviously AV cables, power, and 1 controller are included. Given the number of ebay listings at huge prices I'm not sure what these are realistically going for. Is $180 a decent price for it?

Secondary question, is the front loader worth getting in general? I've heard fantastic things about the top loader, in regards to quality and reliability, but I've heard next to nothing about the front loader.

Thaks!

[dmike]

I don't know much about the front loader vs top loader, but I will say if you're buying it to obtain titles, you need to check to see if it ever made it to the CD.

There are a LOT of titles that never went to the CD. So if you were looking for say, Magical Drop III, it won't be there. Even the launch title Nam 75 isn't there.

Have a look here;
http://www.neo-geo.com/snk/masterlist.htm

Consider the titles you want because buying a CD system to save money won't pan out if the titles you're looking to get aren't there to begin with.

Bear in mind that front loading systems were only released in Japan so all games will be in Japanese.

[valthonis]

Thanks! Looking at the list it doesn't seem too bad, for my interests.

If anyone knows if this is a good price or how reliable the front loader is, please let me know. Thanks!

[Hobie-wan]

Top loaders will be more reliable in the long run since you're just snapping a lid closed as opposed to having a tray that has to open, close, and crank the spindle up and down. As for the rest I don't know, but just something to think about for the actual loading of discs.

[jay_red]

That price isnt bad, its about the going rate for a NGCD. I sold a top loader with one controller and cables, and Samurai Shodown for $150 on ebay a while ago to give you an idea. You might have heard this before, and might not want to go this way, but you could make a CMVS for around $200 if you are handy with electronics, and MVS games are seriously not that expensive for most titles.

[valthonis]

I guess I'm not familiar of making my own CMVS. I've only seen them for $400+.
If it's truely that price range I would be more interested in a CMVS.

[Ghegs]

Yeah, don't get fooled by those eBay prices for CMVS's. I had a friend of mine make a CMVS for me couple of years ago, he did great work and it cost somewhere around $200, might've been even less. If you're located in Europe I'd recommend his work, that way the shipping costs aren't that bad either.

[theclaw]

Yeah, don't get fooled by those eBay prices for CMVS's. I had a friend of mine make a CMVS for me couple of years ago, he did great work and it cost somewhere around $200, might've been even less. If you're located in Europe I'd recommend his work, that way the shipping costs aren't that bad either.

True. Few people in the US openly advertise custom CMVS services.
By nature much rarer than pre-made ones or DIY parts anyway.

[jay_red]

I guess I'm not familiar of making my own CMVS. I've only seen them for $400+.
If it's truely that price range I would be more interested in a CMVS.

If you are going for just functional, then you could easily make one for that price. You can get a 1 slot board for easily under $100, I got one for my MVS cab for $75 shipped from ebay. If you really want to make the process easy, get a 2 slot board, they practically have everything already done (controller ports, headphone jack for audio) all you have to do is add power and video.

[dmike]

I've made about 8 CMVS systems.

I can tell you that the price on 2 slots has gone through the roof. Since the Neo X came out a bunch of newbs went over to neo-geo.com, found out about cmvs, and have been building them.

I've stopped building mine because I can't find a 2 slot for less than $180. Cheapest encoder is $30, so there's no room to make money there.