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ManekiNeko FURRY
Joined: 10 Jan 2004 Posts: 25
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Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2004 9:51 pm Post subject: SNK: Viva Mexico! |
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I have a couple theories as to why SNK has such a strong following in Mexico. The first is that, while Neo-Geos are a prohibitively expensive home system, they're dirt cheap in comparison to other dedicated arcade games. You buy just one Neo-Geo MVS unit, and when your customers get tired of one game you can just swap it out for a different one, at a reasonable price and with relatively little effort. This made the Neo-Geo a smart purchase for any arcade operator, but it would hold special appeal in a country with a less robust economy than America or Japan.
The second theory is that Mexico appreciates SNK because the company acknowledges the country's existence. There have been multiple Mexican levels in the King of Fighters series, and there was even an Art of Fighting release that took place entirely in Mexico. It's my opinion that Mexico continues to support SNK because the company supports them, more than any other Japanese game designer. That's also why SNK is so popular in Korea, a country which (due to the unfortunate events of World War II) normally rejects Japanese products.
JR
P.S. OK, so I'm not Kitsune. I felt compelled to answer this question anyway. |
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Kitsune FURRY
Joined: 20 Nov 2003 Posts: 318 Location: Mexico
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Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2004 11:33 pm Post subject: |
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First theory: Correct. And don't forget bootlegs! Tons and tons of bootlegs!
*growls at those bastards that refuse to buy good carts
*Remembers playing as Green Blob Kusanagi against Pink Blob Asamiya
Second theory: Well, kinda. Mexico is without a doubt the one country where the Neo-Geo is strongest, right behind Japan. Back in the day, if you asked most average US arcade players what a Neo-Geo is, they wouldn't have a clue, and just look at you strangely and go play their Crapcom, er, Capcom fighters. Unlike SNK, Capcom had a very strong presence in the home console market since the 80's, whereas SNK only lasted a few years before the Neo-Geo appeared.
While it is true that The Path of the Warrior: Art of Fighting 3 was set in Mexico, the game wasn't very popular at all, especially due to its lack of an in-game storyline in arcade mode. (Home mode has it, strangely.) Ramon, from the King of Fighters series, portrayed Mexican Lucha Libre very well, up until the guy spoke. "Viva Mecksikou!" "Arsta la beesta! Haha!" Oy, everyone cringes when we hear that stupid voice...
Korea... Kim Kaphwan and his sons Jae Hoon and Dong Hwan, Chang Koehan, Choi Bounge, Jhun Hoon and May Lee are the reason that Korea loves SNK. Hell, when that Korean company took over the design in 2001, Kim got a complete makeover - and everyone else got screwed over. :P |
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Johnny Undaunted
Joined: 08 Sep 2003 Posts: 306
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Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2004 3:06 am Post subject: |
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Heh! I once saw a Mexican soap opera where two guys were at a local diner and the few Arcade games there were Neo-Geo machines (Hyper Neo-Geo included). |
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Kitsune FURRY
Joined: 20 Nov 2003 Posts: 318 Location: Mexico
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Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2004 12:10 pm Post subject: |
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The HNG64 wasn't as popular as the Neo-Geo.
Probably because most of the games were awful. |
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Ancient Oldie
Joined: 28 Nov 2003 Posts: 60
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Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2004 9:42 pm Post subject: |
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Quote: | Ramon, from the King of Fighters series, portrayed Mexican Lucha Libre very well, up until the guy spoke. "Viva Mecksikou!" "Arsta la beesta! Haha!" |
Ha, I love stereotypes, especially when they fuck 'em up really good. |
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treeman
Joined: 19 Sep 2003 Posts: 98
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Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2004 11:01 pm Post subject: |
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I always wondered about Mexico's fascination with SNK (Neo Geo in particular), here in the USA I can't even find anyone that likes the KOF series enough to ever want to play it. None of the arcades nearby even have a neo geo anymore and the only one that does has Puzzle Bobble and it rotates old games, the newest being KOF2000. Hopefully when I move to San Diego I'll find myself some Mexican fans so I can finally play newer SNK games in the Arcade. I have an MVS machine but playing it alone isn't that g-r-e-a-t. |
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Pullmyfinger
Joined: 29 Apr 2004 Posts: 94 Location: Union City
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Posted: Wed May 05, 2004 6:06 am Post subject: |
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Hello, I'm from Mexico, and I think that one of the reasons the NEO-GEO is popular here is that besides being cheap (a game here costs about a dime),it can be found almost anywhere, over here there is at least one small stor in almost every neighborhood, most of them coming with a NEO-GEO,so you dont have to go to a dedicated arcade to find one, until now that they are slowly being replaced by some stupid capcom machines wich are really small.
And about Ramon, yeah, everyone still laughs at his "Meksicou" |
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DarkTetsuya
Joined: 05 Sep 2003 Posts: 80
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Posted: Sun May 30, 2004 1:32 am Post subject: |
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Kitsune wrote: | First theory: Correct. And don't forget bootlegs! Tons and tons of bootlegs!
*growls at those bastards that refuse to buy good carts
*Remembers playing as Green Blob Kusanagi against Pink Blob Asamiya
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That reminds me of this one arcade that had Fatal Fury Special, but the colors were all fuxored... playing as geese he was more of a greenish-weird color (you probably know what I mean) of course at the time I never understood wth was wrong with it, but it didn't bug me...
DT |
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Kitsune FURRY
Joined: 20 Nov 2003 Posts: 318 Location: Mexico
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Posted: Sun May 30, 2004 5:22 am Post subject: |
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Well, either the cart was a bootleg [which I doubt...] or the cart was simply loose. The same thing that happens to console carts can happen to NeoGeo carts. Shake'em and the game screws up. :) |
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