Neo Geo CD Hardware general question.

[matt]

Okay, I don't know if I'm on the right board to be asking this question, but I just have a general question about the Neo Geo CD console..

Since there isn't any region encoding on any of the consoles, I have a question about the languages..

I just recently bought a Japanese Neo Geo CD on ebay, since the North American consoles barely seem to exist anymore.. Where did all of them go?

Anyway, I have noticed that a lot of the games on ebay have their titles either in english or in japanese. Why is this? Why do both english and japanese titles exist in Japan? Are there language options on all of these games to switch to English and/or Japanese?

In other words, to simplify my question, since I bought a Japanese Neo Geo CD, am I able to buy Japanese games and play them in English on the console, meaning is there an option to change the language to English?

Or am I stuck trying to figure out what Japanese text says until the end of time?

[danthor]

Earlier games (Samurai Shodown 1, Fatal Fury for example) yes. No language option exists. But most games do have language options to change to english.

[matt]

Okay, but if I buy games where the title on the box is in english, I am guessing that is the North American version of the game and will automatically be in English even on a Japanese console?

[danthor]

I don't have any North American CDs to try, but if it works like my Neo AES, the game will boot whatever region the system is, regardless of game region. Example, I have a japanese AES. I put my NA version of The Super Spy in, and it boots in japanese, because that's the system region. Based on that, I'm gonna guess you could put an NA disc into your JP system, and it'll still boot JP, because that's the system region.

[crujones4life]

Region of the system determines default (and sometimes only) language available.

[matt]

So, it doesn't really matter if the game is the NA or JP version of the game, it depends on the region of the system you're playing it on? I could go onto ebay/amazon and buy both English and Japanese games and depending on the game they'll either have a language option to switch to english or they won't?

Also, why are most games that I'm seeing in both english and japanese? I've noticed that in some of the games I'm playing the menus and HUD will be in English but the dialogue and other messages are in Japanese? Is that just dependent on the game? Are there any games that are in ALL english text?

[crujones4life]

I have always wondered why most Japanese games have some English (usually names and options)...The vast majority of Neo-Geo games have a language option or can be enjoyed even with Japanese text. Seeing as how most of the games are very arcadey you can usually figure it out pretty quickly. There will be games where the story text will be Japanese only...doesn't really bother me but something to be aware of. It's a trade off either way. US systems means no blood and no boobie bounce, Jap systems means sometimes no English. Game region doesn't matter in this aspect.