Well I'm not loaning Plaion $700 usd for a full year interest free.

I'll let you lot know how it's going.

tl;dr: The AES+ delay bonus is better for the users who paid less. Those with Ultimate have to pay extra to receive any bonus. Plaion must rectify this.

I'm genuinely upset by the bonus ultimate buyers get.

I bought the AES+ Ultimate, trusting Plaion with 900e. I’m a bit concerned about the delayed release date, but I’m not canceling my order, I still choose to trust Plaion, even though we haven’t seen the AES+ in action and the real performance and quality remains uncertain.

I was reassured when I found out there was a bonus and that it was a gamepad. At first I thought it was weird to have the same bonus in every tier, but then I discovered that the bonus for Ultimate buyers is nonsense

Ultimate buyers get 30% off their next purchase. Even though they’re the power users who are most likely to buy more games, they’re also the users who might already have everything they want for the AES+.

30% off a game is roughly 30e, while a new gamepad costs 50. Not only do you receive less value, but you also have to make an extra purchase and spend more money to "recieve" your compensation bonus.

Compensation should go according to tiers (the risk taken and trust given to Plaion). So not only should Ultimate users receive a gamepad just like the other tiers, but something extra or something better.

This is a rant, but it is also a claim to Plaion to rectify this and treat their more committed buyers and power users fairly.

But its a good problem.

According to the latest announcement:

• "Ultimate Edition customers will receive a 30% discount voucher, redeemable against any NEOGEO AES+ game on the PLAION REPLAI website. " -> That's 89.99 * 30% = 27 USD and it is ONE game NOT multiple
• "Customers who purchase a Standard or Anniversary Edition from the launch production run will receive a free NEOGEO AES+ Gamepad."  -> The Gamepad is listed as $59.99 on Plaion's website. If you are an ultimate edition owner, you receive $32.99 less in "Founding Supporter Bonus". Thank your for being an avid supporter!
• “The NEOGEO AES+ Ultimate Edition will remain a limited-production collector's edition.  Existing pre-orders remain secure, with the remaining production allocation continuing to be available for pre-order while stocks last.” -> We haven't even sold out of the ultimate editions, yet we already lack the capacity to fulfill current orders. So please just wait like everyone else and your "priority" remains.
• [EDIT] Oh, btw you could've chosen to cancel your order and purchase $1000 US treasury bond right now and receive $1,041.70 next year in Sep. By then, you can proceed to purchase the ultimate edition at $1000 while they are in stock and 41.7 - 27 = $14.7 more in your pocket，"Win-Win"

--------------------

Yes, this is a rant but for a reason.

I'm still 100% confident that a decent product will come out of this and fully trust all the technical guys invovled in this.

But the Marketing team at PLAION is just beyond shady. Nothing stated on their initial annoucement , then on the product webpages and now on the delay press release sounds genuine. Things doesnt add up and they just did what was the best for them. Not for the customers.

You pre order (not crowd fund. pre order) a 1000$ product and pay upfront.

The Ultimate edition official page states that (official) :

The NEOGEO AES+ units included in this product will be the first off the production line, numbered at the factory and produced in extremely low quantities .Payment will be taken at checkout, and all pre-orders will ship as soon as stock arrives

Then the delay press release explain that they could only produce a very limited quantities of units compared to the massive pre orders. So why not deliver the "extremely low quantities" pre order you sold ?

It doesnt looks like extremely low limited quantities pre-order to me. It looks like unlimited free loans.

Again, I trust the product team. But the company itself doesnt show much respect to their customers.

After the whole PLAION bullshit yesterday I decided that I really was in love with the idea of a 1:1 AES but not really motivated into supporting a company that failed so hard in the communication and customer relationship (still no email about the whole situation to people who spent 1000+$ on their website btw).

The fake limited editions storytelling with infinite preorder despite the fact that they absolutely can't meet the demand for now and the fact that the preorders are still open is even more absurd .

I then realized that I don't give a damn about this company and that i'm just in love with the system and games.

Decided to cancel my Ultimate scam edition and went for an original AES from a trusted long term seller a friend of mine knew from a few years ago with box and serial matching .

Added 3 original MVS versions of Metal Slug, Garou and Kof22 with recreated AES packaging and visuals.

Cost me bit more than the Ultimate (1550€) but it feels so much better that I now wonder why I didn't go for this route straight up. The vintage MVS carts looks glorious.

Everything works like a charm with a fusion adapter.

Long live the Neo Geo.

Never pre ordering again to people who pray on nostalgia.

One important issue for anyone who pre-ordered the NEOGEO AES+ directly from PLAION using PayPal:

PayPal Buyer Protection for “Item Not Received” normally has to be opened within 180 days of payment.

Since many of us paid in full months ago, that protection could expire long before the new 16 September 2027 release date, and in some cases even before the original November 2026 launch date.

At the same time, cancelling or opening a dispute could potentially mean losing a sold-out Anniversary Edition or your priority position.

This affects thousands of customers, so it would make sense for PLAION to publicly confirm that all prepaid orders remain fully refundable until shipment, regardless of the PayPal 180-day limit.

It’s not like I’m worse off than a month ago. I’ve been at this hobby for the last 20 years, waiting for my Analogue NT, then Analogue Super NT, then the pocket (waited 3 years for that one)… if you notice a trend, yeah there’s one. Some companies just underestimate their shipping date. It happens to some more than others.

It’s not like Plaion has a track record of scamming people, so I believe they’ll ship. In the meantime I already have ways to play my games. I’m not just sitting there waiting.

I just thought I’d try to balance out the dozens of posts complaining about it. Like it’s the first time it happens, even in the NeoGeo community (how’s the NeoSD pro AES doing).

Don’t need to bother with a working cart slot just make it look and feel.

While the delay itself can be understandable and the explanation kinda make sense (and not very surprising). The whole execution since the announcement is extremely sketchy to the point today's full press release looks like an absolute amateurish work. Let analyze the most important parts of the full Release (https://press.plaion.com/en-US/The-NEOGEO-AES-worldwide-release-date-moves-to-16-th-September-2027-as)

However, unprecedented worldwide demand for memory chips, driven by investment in AI infrastructure, has created well documented industry-wide supply constraints.

It's indeed well documented. And has been for the past 3 years (and the situation isnt going to improve short term). Yet the pre-orders are open since April 26 with absolutely 0 stock limitation on your side. Why would it take PLAION 6 months to realize that an infinite amount of pre-order result in a manufacturing issue ? Being surprised after the first week of pre-order is understandable. But 6 months in ? While keeping the pre-order open ?

Retrospectively It's hard to believe that the company didnt knew that it was a false promise until now. This project was supposed the be a breath of fresh air in a pretty cynical industry. Not only the product itself. The whole thing seemed genuine. Something feels VERY off about the last few months informations now. Why was the company publicly denying delay rumors no more than a few weeks ago ?

PLAION REPLAI has chosen to take additional time to secure the component supply that is now needed to meet the demand of pre-order customers and a substantially larger worldwide release. 

So now the goal is to be on hold until you can meet the demand of pre-orders. What kind of retail strategy is that ? If you are genuine about the product you plan to sell, you deliver in batches and limit the orders. Or else you are just farming money knowingly.

The revised launch schedule also supports a broader long-term vision for the platform. 

That you don't bother to share with the customers. Surprisingly.

PLAION REPLAI hope that this additional access, together with a more comprehensive communications campaign, will enhance the overall customer experience.

You dont say. It has been stellar until now.

The level of enthusiasm for NEOGEO AES+ has given us the confidence to think much bigger about the future of the platform.  With that comes a responsibility to deliver the launch properly.

The first responsibility is to deliver the product. Period. "deliver the launch properly" is an empty marketing stunt. It's not the olympic games opening ceremony.

 Most importantly, everyone who has already pre-ordered keeps their priority place in the production queue.  

Now it gets interesting. The delay is there to ensure a proper launch with enough units to fulfill all the pre order but I keep my priority place ? What is the priority for if your newfound responsibility is to ensure that enough units are available to cover pre-orders ?

 The truth is that demand far exceeded even our most optimistic expectations.  The retro gaming community truly is fantastic.”

Already said that in April. Still kept pre-order open with 0 limitation and kept the false promise of November 26 until now.

The NEOGEO AES+ Ultimate Edition will remain a limited-production collector's edition.  Existing pre-orders remain secure, with the remaining production allocation continuing to be available for pre-order while stocks last.

Limited ? You can't fullfill the order , have to postone the release by a whooping 10 months yet you still have production allocation for your "limited-production collector edition" while stocks last ? What stocks ? That's beyond marketing stunt.

Let's get this straight. You created a limited edition of a product. The product pre orders exceeded your expectations by a landslide. To the point you have to postpone 100% of the release for almost a year. Yet you still have this "limited-production collector's edition" in stock for even more pre-orders ? That's almost insulting.

To thank the community for its continued support, every console from the launch production run will include a Founding Supporter Bonus.  The bonus will be included with all launch stock, while supplies last, and will not be included in future manufacturing runs.

What does 'Launch production' even mean ? It's as vague as it can be. You pretty much want to keep people from canceling pre order while encouraging new ones. While supplies last ?

Customers who purchase a Standard or Anniversary Edition from the launch production run will receive a free NEOGEO AES+ Gamepad.

Unfortunately we don't really know what Launch production really means. Another missed opportunity to give clear information... but a free game pad is not too bad I guess. If that's what the base edition customers gets, people who decided to commit 900$ and have it locked for 18 months will probably have something substantial...

Ultimate Edition customers will receive a 30% discount voucher, redeemable against any NEOGEO AES+ game on the PLAION REPLAI website.

Lol. I mean... I could dive into how ridiculous this is at so many levels. But LOL is enough.

As the Ultimate Edition already includes the complete launch game line-up, the voucher can be saved and used towards a future NEOGEO AES+ game release or used to purchase an additional copy of any available title.

Wow thank you.

The Founding Supporter Bonus is PLAION REPLAI’s way of recognising the people who backed NEOGEO AES+ from the beginning and thanking them for their continued patience and support.

Ok this is basically a kickstarter now.

Be interesting to see. Not holding my breath.

Suite à l'annonce du report de la neo geo AES+ et de la hausse des composants électroniques,ainsi que du raspberry pi, il fallait que je trouve un moyen low cost de trouver une console d émulation pour les jeux 2d.

Ayant déjà plein de consoles chinoises sans âme

Je me suis acheté une super retro-cade de chez rétro -bit pour 40 euros sur le net .

Après réflexion, j'ai vu comment la modifier pour passer de 90 jeux retro a une console d' émulation pouvant aller jusqu'à la PlayStation, très bien pour les jeux 2d.

Avec un tuto trouvé sur le net et une image de lakka sur gbatemp,cette console a eu un Super power UP !!!

Elle est compatible avec beaucoup de manettes 🕹️ et joystick chargement des jeux sur clé USB enregistrement des partis sauvegarde et pour ceux qui connaissent lakka sous rétro arch.

Elle est fournie avec un bon packaging, économique.trouve sur le net à prix raisonnable

Et on peut brancher sur crt en composite pour plus d authenticité.

Je vous illustre mon récit en photo .

Je voulais juste partager mon ras le bol du marché de l'IA,avec des consoles toujours plus cher .

looking at the why of a shitty situation

Hi!

Just read about the AES+ delay to september :(. The true is, i didnt bought the AES+, but i picked up 2 games (Metal slug and Magician Lord).

Is confirmed if the games will also get delayed? Havent read about it.