The NeoGeo AES+ Classic Console Will Be Out Later Than Intended; Here’s Why

During Tokyo Game Show 2026, we had a chance to check out the upcoming NeoGeo AES+ classic console courtesy of SNK (the creators) and Plaion. In a nutshell, it’s a reproduction of the NeoGeo console back in the 90s, big beefy package, cartridges and all.

One glance at it, and about half an hour of playing the console, and it’s clear as day it’s a current-gen reiteration of a classic console that is expensive as heck. But not this version: the NeoGeo AES+ console itself will be about US$200 or so, with the total package with select games and controllers costing close to US$1,000. The fact that the consoles have a good number of quality-of-life improvements (like controls and user interface in-system) means that it has its fans and preorders ready.

Of course, that means all that’s left is shipping, and that’s the tough part to break: the NeoGeo AES+ will be out in September 2027, which is way off from its intended 2026 release window. The chief reason, according to Plaion hardware/software director Ben Jones said it was due to the chip shortage that’s happening worldwide. Thanks to AI data centers being in high demand, a lot of the chips needed to make the original version of the NeoGeo AES+ work are in limited supply, and can not keep up with the current pre-order demand.

The solution? ASIC chips in the game cartridges according to the Plaion team. In layman’s term, the two ASIC chips in the NeoGeo AES+ cartridges that deal with the memory chips, that then send a message to the machine. This works as an alternative to the original setup that requires the Parallel NOR flash memory. The extra work needed more than ten months to hit the September 2027 timeline instead. The project would have been dead without this solution, so it’s better than nothing.

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Apart from the new release date, Plaion and SNK have announced new titles that are coming to the NeoGeo AES+. Here’s the full list:

-Metal Slug
-The King of Fighters 2002
-Garou: Mark of the Wolves
-Big Tournament Golf
-Shock Troopers
-Samurai Shodown V Special
-Pulstar
-Twinkle Star Sprites
-Magician Lord
-Over Top
-Zero Wing (New)
-Karnov’s Revenge/Fighter’s History Dynamite (New)
-Magical Drop II & III (New)
-Street Hoop/Dunk Dream (New)
-Spinmaster (New)

The team is set on doing more enhanced games and accurate arcade ports that would fit well with the catalogue. In any case, this is already an awesome list of games for the classic console. Now comes the waiting game.