You can't go back in time, but sometimes you can get a second chance. The Neo Geo Pocket was a portable console that I was really interested in during it's time. I've always been into portable consoles... long time readers have probably figured that out. Still am, though these days they rarely leave my house. Normally they're played in bed or in the living room while listening to the TV. Though back then, one with me at all times. On break at work, visiting my parents, eating lunch by myself... anytime I had a moment, there I'd be. You can see why I'd be interested in a cool new system. The Neo Geo Pcoket was definitely cool.
Initially the system was a black and white unit like the Gameboy, though a color version was soon introduced and that was released here in the states. I wanted one pretty bad, but never pulled the trigger. Why you might ask? Well, let's talk about financial responsibility and trying to make good decisions. At the time I was in college and living on my own. Money was tight... honestly money was near mythological. We're not talking living check to check or some weeks being better than others, we're talking non-existent. My crappy job didn't pay enough to make ends meet as is, so when it came to fun stuff... I had to make some hard decisions.
When you see me talking about a toy, I bought it or my wife did usually. Maybe a random gift from a friend. It wasn't provided to me like those bigger sites who are constantly asking for your money (how does that work?). If I'm buying a game machine, no matter how much I want it... I'm making sure it's a good idea (hard learned lesson from the Virtual Boy). At the time I had some extra money (somehow) and Walmart had Neo Geo Pocket Color systems right there within grasp... and that's when I noticed it was always the same games and few systems in that display cabinet every time. Another store and ... the same thing.
It wasn't selling. So I decided to hold off and see if some more games come. I read gaming magazines and sites. They tend to side with sponsors and if you see something being covered... it's probably paid content. That's a marketing tactic used to keep certain names heard over others. These day's it's usually done viral on social networking... like when a game suddenly gets hate from nowhere. I hardly heard a peep about this cool new system, and it clearly wasn't getting any new games. Before I knew it... those Neo Geo Pocket Colors weren't on the shelves anymore. It was so fast, I've had to actually convince people that it existed.
Thankfully with emulation and compilation releases the games can be played now. I would have loved owning a Neo Geo Pocket Color at the time. Admittedly that probably would have made the burn of it getting canceled so quickly sting more... but it would have been my jam. It's a shame such a cool system didn't work out. Of course there was no stopping the Gameboy at the time. Pokemon was relatively new and printing money... I had it too. I also had a few pair of boots like the guy in the commercial is wearing... do they still make those? In an alternate reality where it was successful... which color do you think I would have went with? Been leaning towards the aqua blue or anthracite ones since 1999. Really like the stone blue one.
