It appears that details of an upcoming hardware release may have been accidentally leaked. A quickly removed ESRB listing (the American equivalent of PEGI) suggests that SNK might have a new Neo Geo console in the works... and it's just as exciting as it sounds.
The other day, an X-user noticed an ESRB listing for Samurai Shodown V Special, which in itself isn't that exciting. But the listed format is all the more interesting: "Neo Geo AES+." And it gets even better, because the company that filed the application is Plaion, the same publisher that released the Atari 2600+ console. Yet, there is no such thing as a Neo Geo AES+, and the listing disappeared shortly thereafter. This raises the question of what actually happened, a premature leak or some other kind of human error?
SNK has previously released the Neo Geo Mini arcade cabinet, but fans have long been clamouring for a modern mini version of the classic AES with built-in games. Such a device would be a real treat for collectors.
So far, this is just unconfirmed information based on a missing ESRB listing, but that's a pretty reliable source in itself, so it's by no means impossible that this turns out to be true. We'll be back with more when we find out.
<social>https://x.com/yoshinokentarou/status/2042787158159978724</social>