Examples of Damage Control in Gaming: SNK vs. Tommo: Gold Edition 2013

The beginning of a good relationship was established between Tommo and SNK Playmore USA with the manufacturing of the Neo-Geo X Gold console, and accompanying handheld system Neo-Geo Portable X. It was geared towards anyone who remembered and missed the good old days of SNK’s prominence, when they were selling an expensive system with expensive cartridges. The new system doesn’t invoke that much nostalgia, but this was the closest they could get while keeping manufacturing costs low. The system and handheld come together in the package, with a classic-style arcade stick and 20 preinstalled games. The limited edition, which was for pre-orders only but is still available, came with a game card containing Ninja Master’s. The title was left untouched to show everyone how grammatically-challenged SNK’s English translations were in the mid-90s.

Oh, by the way, that cartridge slot is mainly a docking station for the Neo-Geo Portable X. Don’t get your old AES cartridges out of storage, though I’m sure some tried already.

Looks like a good deal.

Separate packs of games were available to let owners further complete the collection of old SNK games. It was a good, but not cheap, deal, sadly at the expense of the actual build quality of the system. But for some old SNK fans, it was worth it for the novelty of owning a Neo-Geo-like console in 2012/2013.

The relationship between the two companies seemed like it would continue for a while on the surface. But in this case, “a while” wasn’t long, as SNK announced the sudden termination of the contract with Tommo. This would bring manufacturing, marketing, and distribution of the system package and all software packs to a halt. Yes, this also means if you want one of those classic-style Neo-Geo X Arcade Sticks for use on PC or PS3, you’d better pick one up now. And it’s a fitting time to grab one, too, as SNK recently released The King of Fighters XIII: Steam Edition on PC, with online play that’s actually functional. They’ve been releasing online-enabled fighters since 2004, with a few King of Fighters titles on the original Xbox, and it took them until 2013 to get it right.

Contracts between companies are cancelled all the time, but the immediacy of this one was suspect. Something went awry behind the scenes, but it wasn’t like SNK was going to tell anyone. Hopefully no one expected a company that already keeps a tenuous relationship with fans to elaborate on a crumbling corporate deal.

(Admittedly, SNK has been keeping better contact with fans recently. They worked with them to get the online right during the KoFXIII: Steam Edition beta. Even though this shouldn’t have been hard for them to figure out on their own, they were interested in catering to the whim of their fanbase for a good month. The online play still left a little to be desired, but it’s on-par with most fighters released on PC in the past half-decade. And they hinted it may not be the last Steam release they provide.)

Sorry, there’s no oversized cartridge inside.

Tommo had little choice but to speak up due to SNK’s press release implying they weren’t on the same page, and issued a statement of their own. This only exacerbated an already dramatic situation. They denied any kind of wrongdoing, and plan on honoring the original contract between them and SNK that extends into 2016. They’re ignoring the request to cease operations concerning the accessories, and demanded that SNK retract their statement. Oh boy.

SNK has yet to provide a statement addressing Tommo’s statement, but fasten your seatbelts, because this isn’t going to be pretty. Meanwhile, it’s you who will suffer, lest the worst happens. Anyone who hasn’t picked up the system and accessories but intends to may want to consider getting one soon, if Tommo’s forced to pull them off shelves. Even if the quality isn’t the best, it will be a collector’s item for anyone who remembers SNK’s classic library fondly. It’s possible they may not release further game packages, though. And really, that’s typical for SNK. They’ll start distributing their classic games with older titles, but will never get to the games people want. For anyone wondering, situations like this are why emulation needs to stick around.