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The coin operated amusement machine industry, as we currently know it, has been around
for several decades. And the NEOGEO itself was first revealed to the public in January of
1990. And from that time period going forward, most announcements and advertisements were
done at the yearly industry trade shows and through the multitude of distributed periodicals
marketed to the industry. Attendance at most of these trade shows was limited to members of
the coin op industry, consisting primarily of manufacturer's, distributor's, and operators.
And many of these periodicals were exclusively distributed among these coin op veterens.
While the size and scope of these yearly shows has shrinked considerably over the years,
the video game industry as a whole has actually expanded during that same timespan. This is
because by the turn of the century, the video game market completely shifted from having a
coin op leading edge with a secondary home market, to a modest coin op business model
overtaken by a juggernault home console user base. With trade shows open to the public,
magazine coverage of those shows for home consumers, shortened lead times for news stories,
easy access internet sites, and an abundance of digital photography and video.
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