AI Boom and Chip Shortage Threaten NEOGEO AES+ Console Release

Plaion Hardware and Software Director Ben Jones has shared details on why the team had to delay the release of the NEOGEO Advanced Entertainment System+ gaming arcade system to 2027, how the console avoided full cancellation, and the difficult decisions the developers had to make.

Thanks to Video Games Chronicle, gamers learned why the release of the NEOGEO Advanced Entertainment System+, which features full compatibility with original NEOGEO cartridges and a series of quality-of-life improvements, was postponed to September 16, 2027.

Speaking with VGC at Tokyo Game Show 2026, Plaion Hardware and Software Director Ben Jones explained that the delay happened after the company failed to purchase the memory chips required to manufacture the NEOGEO AES+. This forced a fundamental rethink of how the console operates.

“After we announced the AES+, we had an overwhelming response and a really high level of pre-orders,” Jones said. “So I immediately went to procurement and told our partners in the Far East what our requirements were. And it’s the first time in my career—having worked with Plaion in this industry for nearly 20 years—that I’ve been told ‘no’ on chips. I was like, ‘What do you mean you can’t get these chips?’ Ah, AI.”

Jones was referring to the ongoing global chip shortage driven by demand from AI data centers. This has significantly increased prices for many types of consumer electronics as memory supplies become increasingly constrained. The specific type of memory Plaion needed for the AES+, Parallel NOR flash, was described by Jones as “practically unobtainable.”

“I literally flew to Taiwan to meet with these companies, just to see if there was any way we could source them. But there was a six-month queue just to get us looked at as a buyer,” he stated.

The director told VGC that there was a genuine risk of the console being completely canceled, but fortunately, engineers found a solution inside the game cartridges that the AES+ was built to work with.

“We had already manufactured two ASIC chips inside the cartridges that handle the memory chips and then send the signal to the device itself. We had thousands of those cartridge chips ready,” Jones explained. “With that in mind, we set ourselves the task of trying to find a workaround using what is called Serial NOR flash memory. Essentially, it’s the same thing as parallel memory, but because NeoGeo only uses parallel flash memory, you have to do a conversion that allows you to use serial memory. Demand for that is lower, and you can practically always get it.”

Ultimately, Plaion decided it needed to redesign the chips inside the cartridges by adding technology that converts the serial signal into a parallel one. According to Jones, this work, combined with additional testing, is what led to the 10-month delay in the launch of the NeoGeo AES+.

Chief Technology Officer Bruno Stöckle noted that the decision to redesign and postpone the AES+ was difficult, but “we had no choice.” He added: “Otherwise, we would have had to wait too long and probably spend too much money.”

Jones added: “If we hadn’t had the flash memory solution, I think the project would have come to an end. But that’s this journey. And remember, we’ve been working on this for years, so it was a ‘nothing is going to stop this train’ moment. I had to go to Taiwan, I had to talk to everyone, we just had to exhaust every option and be 100% focused. We had to release the product.”