Furrtek NeoGeo CD optical drive replacement - SD card game loader

[Greg2600]

NeoGeo CD SD Loader

• Loading times reduced x4 on average (compared to 1x CD drive)
• No more scratched CDs and dead lasers
• Non-destructive installation
• DIP-switch and region settings
• Backup and restore saves to the SD card
• Customisable menu
• Easy firmware updates
• Can co-exist with the original optical drive
• Debug your game without having to burn 100 CDs

It could be called an ODE (Optical Drive Emulator) because the benefits are similar, but technically speaking it isn't really one. It doesn't simulate an optical drive, it provides the console with a direct interface to an SD card and patches the BIOS to load games from it instead. From an user standpoint though, it doesn't change much.

The first kits will be ready between december 2019 and january 2020.
Price: 75.00€
Paypal fee included.
See xe.com to convert in another currency.
No pre-orders. Payment will be requested only when kits are ready to ship.
Max 2 orders per address, except if you provide installation services (and can prove it).

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EK-RhGlWwAAOZHh?format=png&name=900x900

 

[ItsMeMario]

Lol, time to purchase a NeoGeo I guess

If that works like intended, thanks in advance !

 

[Rawit]

Too bad I sold my Neo Geo CD Z years ago otherwise I would get this in an instant. Is 4x the speed the limit of the Neo Geo CD controller?

 

[speedyink]

My CD works just fine but this is still tempting..

 

[Greg2600]

My CD works just fine but this is still tempting..

You can still use it with some type of pass-through. I don't know the details on that though.

 

[Nully]

I really didn't think the loading times were that bad on the NGCD when I finally bought one years ago. So much so that I passed on the NeoSD, but I don't have ADHD like most people I suppose. Still cool though, definitely keeping an eye on this!

 

[speedyink]

I really didn't think the loading times were that bad on the NGCD when I finally bought one years ago. So much so that I passed on the NeoSD, but I don't have ADHD like most people I suppose. Still cool though, definitely keeping an eye on this!

Agreed, except for the Last Samurai games. They're just a bit much.
I kinda like the idea of not burning CD's, but not good timing for me. I like seeing some NGCD love though! Good work!

 

[HI_RICKY]

nice stuff ,
hope some some day release PC-E cd.....

 

[Flash]

Sounds great. Even if my NGCD drive works perfectly fash loading speed sounds nice and also having every game you want to play in one box. That's why i like hacked Wii, DS and PSP. Especially considering that emulation of those consoles didn't reach 100% compatibility just yet and not very accurate. I keep all my original Wii/GC games in my storage room at work. Saves a lot of space and doesn't wear the drive out.

 

[MottZilla]

Too bad I sold my Neo Geo CD Z years ago otherwise I would get this in an instant. Is 4x the speed the limit of the Neo Geo CD controller?

From what I understand this device isn't really an optical drive emulator. It's patching the BIOS to instead read data from this device and it's SD card. The speed is likely limited by how fast the rest of the Neo-Geo system can read data into memory. I'm not sure if it's just copied by the 68000 CPU or if some sort of DMA is used. But the main point is that it's not connected to the CD-ROM controller that would be getting data from a real disc. I could be wrong but that's what I remember reading on the website.