It’s a fair statement to say that 2020 was a dumpster fire of a year. Pandemic issues aside, the next-gen console release has been a garbled mess of shortages and scalpers, and Cyberpunk 2077 has turned out to be about the same on last-gen consoles. We really need 2021 to be a banger year to make up for all the damage that 2020 has caused.
Enter SNK, the Japanese video game company that’s been coasting on their classic games from the ‘90s for the past 20 years. After recently getting backed by Saudi oil money and seeing the mess that Sony and Microsoft are making of their next-gen rollouts, SNK must have decided the time was right to once again enter the home console market with today’s announcement.
"A brand-new console is coming from SNK in 2021,” wrote SNK. “A system to bridge the needs between passionate fans and console gaming enthusiasts!"
Absolutely no additional information was provided, but we can make a few assumptions based on the image that SNK linked to the tweet. It'll likely still be called "Neo Geo" given the presence of the moniker, and there's a wifi symbol so we can safely assume there will be online functionality--possibly even a cloud-based platform like Google Stadia.
The WoW text seems to be a red herring unless we're mere days away from a partnership announcement between SNK and Blizzard. Which would be weird.
It's been a very long time since SNK was anywhere near the home console market. The last Neo Geo home console was the Neo Geo CD, which was discontinued in 1996. The Neo Geo Pocket was a bit more successful as a handheld console but still couldn't stand up to the wrath of Nintendo outside of Japan. It was discontinued back in 2001.
The Neo Geo Mini released last year signaled SNK’s entry into the retro console business, but anybody can release a cheap mini console. Taking on the likes of Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo will probably require a bit more than nostalgia and new Metal Slug.
Source: SNK/Twitter