SNK’s Swan Song

SNK’s Asian operations have ceased and their Hong Kong distribution partner is now helping in the recall of USA and European software cartridges for resale and/or retrofit for the Japanese market. The Asian versions of Faselei, Evolution, and Last Blade are now cancelled.

The development business for SNK’s MVS and Hyper Neo Geo coin-op systems and cartridges appears to have also ceased entirely. SNK will withdraw from the arcade business after King of Fighters 2000 is finished and distributed. This turn of events essentially renders King of Fighters 2000 the last Neo Geo game for the MVS and home cartridge. It remains to be seen if the franchise will be sold off but mass appeal for SNK’s fighting games remain solidly restricted to Japan and Asia. King of Fighters, Samurai Showdown, and Fatal Fury have never sold well in the USA or Europe and the masses have not taken to the SNK flavor of fighting. We respectfully exclude hardcore Neo Geo Freaks from the term “masses.” Those diehards who would never shirk from a $300 cartridge price tag and those who revel in “the Mother of All Fighting Games.” Earlier this year, SNK became a subsidiary of Japanese pachinko manufacturer Aruze. The parent company has hacked and slashed and the only remnant regarded as viable at the present time is the Japanese market for the Neo Geo Pocket. Market forces rule any enterprise and it would be nonsense to place blame on any one company. The people, also known as buyers, choose the sellers and determine viability in any marketplace. For the Neo Geo markets, cult and niche weren’t good enough. So it ends.

Source: NCS