1993.

The Neo Geo AES was originally released solely as a rental console for video game stores in Japan called the Neo Geo Rental System, with its high manufacturing costs causing SNK not to release it for retail sale. This was later reversed due to high demand and it was released at retail as a luxury console. Adjusted for inflation, it was the most expensive home video game console ever released at the time, costing . The AES had identical hardware to the MVS, allowing home users to play the games exactly