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Probably the most interesting Neo Geo AES+ interview yet: over 2 hours of exceptionally detailed information from project lead Ben Jones by @Project_COE . He retraces the project from its earliest origins to the launch of preorders, discussing its development, scanlines, future releases, new Neo Geo games and his surprising dream of bringing Street Fighter II to the system with a 6-button controller. The interview opens with a look back at his career; the summary below focuses exclusively on the Neo Geo AES+. _ The first serious contact with SNK appears to have taken place around 2020-2021. Ben says negotiations, forecasts, product selection and business planning took approximately 2 years before the agreement was signed, probably in 2022 or 2023. _ The original commercial plan was straightforward: a console, one wired arcade stick and no bundled game, with 10 SNK titles sold separately. Ben initially targeted an entry price of roughly €200-250. The Anniversary Edition was added later. _ The AES+ was originally planned as an FPGA console. The project ultimately moved to 4 custom ASICs designed principally by Bruno Streu, using Sean Furrtek’s previous decapping and documentation work on the original Neo Geo chips. _ Unlike PLAION’s previous emulation-based systems, the AES+ ASICs cannot be updated after manufacturing. Ben therefore says the console must be correct from the beginning, as hardware errors cannot simply be repaired through firmware updates. _ Ben personally watched the preorders arrive in real time through PLAION’s direct-sales dashboard. He describes the initial reaction as exhilarating, followed rapidly by the realization that the scale of the orders had massively increased the responsibility of manufacturing and delivering the product. _ He says PLAION had prepared low, medium and high sales forecasts, and that preorders broke through even the high forecast. He cannot disclose exact figures because PLAION’s parent company is publicly listed. _ Ben would eventually like to announce a significant sales milestone, potentially when the AES+ surpasses the total production of the original AES. He does not claim that this has already happened. _ Serial numbers will be sequential. Every Ultimate Edition console will come from the beginning of the production run and will therefore receive one of the lowest numbers. _ Ben openly admits that the $999 Ultimate Edition was conceived primarily as a marketing device. He wanted headlines about SNK returning with a $1,000 console, knowing that readers would then discover the cheaper Standard and Anniversary Editions. _ He initially expected only a few hundred people to buy the Ultimate Edition. Demand was far higher than expected, and he says it became the version with the greatest impact in monetary value. A Japanese Ultimate Edition is also confirmed. _ The AES+ will remain primarily an online product. Ben describes it as a niche system whose expected sales rotation is unlikely to satisfy the weekly volume requirements imposed by major physical retail chains such as Walmart. _ A detailed software roadmap existed before the announcement. The initial plan was 10 SNK games at launch, potentially followed by another 10, alongside third-party releases obtained directly by PLAION. _ Ben separates future software into several categories: conventional reissues, enhanced editions such as Big Tournament Golf with its additional Scotland course, arcade conversions such as Zero Wing, independent games and, eventually, entirely new Neo Geo productions. _ Several additional third-party games have already been signed and are being prepared for announcement. Others are still being pursued. Ben presents the Data East games and Zero Wing as examples of the direction he wants to follow. _ His main priority remains SNK’s catalogue and Japanese arcade games from the 1990s, particularly titles with large sprites, strong colours and a visual style compatible with the Neo Geo identity. _ He says one-on-one fighting games must remain strongly represented. At TGS, KOF2002, Garou and Samurai Shodown V Special were among the most frequently played titles, alongside Metal Slug. _ Curiously, the man leading the return of the Neo Geo names Street Fighter II with a six-button controller as his personal dream project for the system. This is only a personal wish, not an announced licence or development. _ Ben believes a completely new game created specifically for the Neo Geo could eventually happen. However, he immediately states that no such game is currently in development. _ Ben says the system needs a regular supply of games to survive. His ultimate ambition would be to release the entire SNK catalogue, but he makes no commitment to a specific number of titles. _ He stresses that even a reissue requires considerable work: ROMs or original artwork may be missing, manuals have to be reconstructed and reformatted, and every game must pass the age-rating requirements of the different territories. _ The Zero Wing and Data East announcements at TGS were intentionally minimal, without complete videos, packaging images or full marketing campaigns. Ben says they were revealed mainly to give more substance to the AES+ presentation after the delay. _ Zero Wing was added as a playable TGS title relatively late. PLAION plans to announce games early with limited material, then launch the full trailer, packaging, pricing and preorder campaign closer to each game’s actual release. _ Regarding Samurai Shodown V Special, Ben believes the wrong ROM was installed on the TGS demonstration unit. The final cartridge will contain the uncensored MVS version with the maximum blood setting. _ The game was age-rated on that basis. An original MVS cartridge was sent from the archives to Furrtek, who dumped it himself, and Ben says that dump will be used for production. _ Ben describes the delay as a progressively worsening industrial problem rather than a single sudden decision. He travelled to Taiwan while trying to secure the required components, before the cartridge architecture was ultimately moved from parallel to serial flash. _ He says the machine is now finished, component orders have been placed and the manufacturing process is beginning. He nevertheless considers the project unfinished until the containers reach the warehouses in Europe, the UK, North America and Japan, and the consoles are finally delivered to customers. _ Hundreds of people played the AES+ at TGS. Ben also points to the later SNK event in Nice, where invited EVO competitors tested the system, and says the reception was overwhelmingly positive. He currently describes himself as “cautiously optimistic.” _ Scanlines will be included in the final console, despite Ben personally disliking them. The ASICs have no spare processing power for an advanced RetroTINK-style effect, so the implementation will simply place a black line after every 2 displayed lines. _ The method of activating scanlines has not been finalized because all 8 physical DIP switches are already assigned. PLAION may replace the little-used 16 MHz overclock option, remove another display option, or use an Easter egg programmed by Furrtek in which pressing Reset 3 times activates the effect. _ Ben has not personally tested the 3-reset method yet. He says the final decision can still be made through the BIOS because the ASIC design is already finished and in manufacturing. _ Ben usually uses the 24 MHz “Mega Clock” for games such as Metal Slug and Pulstar. He now describes the 16 MHz option as largely worthless. Even the 24 MHz mode does not eliminate every slowdown and can make games more difficult. _ PLAION plans to sell official analog cables separately, including a SCART solution. Existing Genesis/Mega Drive 2-compatible cables can also be used. _ The new console and arcade stick were completely redrawn because the original moulds were unavailable. Ben says the stick’s dimensions and weight match the original, while the console’s weight should be extremely close. _ The console shell is slightly thicker and more rigid, with a more matte finish that collects fewer fingerprints. The cartridges will be slightly lighter because Ben rejected the idea of adding artificial weights inside them. _ The buttons reproduce the original dimensions, apertures and activation force, while using slight transparency to imitate the appearance of the original AES buttons. The lever retains the same travel and activation point but may feel slightly tighter. _ A white wireless arcade stick is planned for the Anniversary Edition. Ben disliked the muted button colours on the first white prototype and has redesigned them for submission to SNK. _ The previously shown incorrect button layout resulted from Ben giving the graphic designer the wrong icons. It has been corrected to match the original layout, although he jokes about possibly producing a special version using the mistaken design if SNK ever allowed it. _ A dedicated mah-jong controller has been discussed, but Ben questions whether the potential market would justify production. Nothing is announced. _ Bruno Streu also developed a method that, according to Ben, sends the video from the ASICs to the HDMI output in the same amount of time as the analog output. _ The system does not build and store a complete image in a conventional frame buffer before transmitting it. Ben says Bruno has measured the result, although no figures are provided during the interview. _ Any additional latency introduced by the television remains separate, which is why Ben strongly recommends enabling Game Mode and disabling unnecessary image processing. _ PLAION has filed a patent application covering this video-delivery method. Ben describes the technical document as approximately 35 pages long and says the specialist agency reviewing it concluded that the invention was patentable. _ The patent has not yet been granted: Ben says that process could take several years. The AES+ will be the first product to use the technology, which could later be implemented elsewhere. _ Ben also says the wireless arcade stick feels indistinguishable from a wired connection to him, although the wired DB15 connection remains available for players who want a direct physical link. #NeoGeo #SNK #AESPlus #PLAION

PLAION Replay responded quickly my email and clarified the confusion: the delay was mistakenly attributed to the wrong product. The NEOGEO AES+ has not been delayed; the postponement only concerns The Spectrum. Finally, we can breathe a sigh of relief. The tension surrounding this whole situation is over. #NEOGEO #SNK #NEOGEOAESPlus #PLAION