Via well placed sources close to the developement team working on thenext generation of SNK cartridge machines, information and anartist's impression has been given for what the next machine to belaunched by the company could look like.The machine is being considered to be called the Neo-Star, and is amuch bigger system than the one we have all become familiar with forthese past three years. The main differences are obvious from theartist's impression, showing clearly the new dual CD-1/CD-ROM drive,able to play special Neo Geo games.The next major improvement of the machine is the wire-less, Infra-Redjoysticks, allowing the player to sit well away from the machine butstill able to control the action on screen. The other feature is thenew larger capacity memory card, which is a specially created card diskstorage device able to hold 20x more information, and rumoured to beused in the planned new Home-banking service that would be availablefor Japanese users.The last major external change to the machine is the inclusion of anExpansion Port that will allow the system to be plugged into a numberof new add-ons due to follow the release of the machine.The specifications of the unit are still shrouded in secrecy, and willundoubtedly change as SNK up-grade or down-grade certain features tokeep the machine at a certain price point, but the rough out-line hasbeen made exclusively to our reader.The Neo-Star is proposed to be a 32-bit system, against the original16-bit of the Neo Geo, and will use RISC central processing units, andis claimed to have a clock speed of around 14.5 MHz, that will make isseven faster than any of the competition.(five times faster than theNeo Geo).The machine is meant to be capable of a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels,and uses a new Super-Scart system to increase the resolution of thenormal displays it is connected to. No details on the number of coloursor the speed at which it will be able to move sprites around, but wewill have to wait for that information as other manufacturers will alsobe keen to know it.The big news is that the machine is aiming to be able to do polygongraphics and there is speculation that the Neo-Star could be the first3D games machine that will be able to create truly interactive virtualreality style games. The CD-1 Features allows for movie qualitysound/graphics to be played with video game interaction via thecartridges. The CD-Rom dual feature allows for bigger games to haveextra graphics or information stored on special CD's.The machine has Infra-Red joystick controllers, as well as sockets fornormal joysticks meaning that four players could take part in one game.The new joysticks are made to be lighter and more comfortable than theoriginal with a new "palm grip", and a head-phone socket built-in.Special surround sound sockets are also included on the machineallowing it to be plugged into a stereo Hi-Fi to offer mind blowingsound.The expansion Port must be the one feature that has the most potential,with suggestions of a new cable-TV/Modem connector that would allowmulti-player gaming, as well as home-banking features, buying goods offthe TV. Along with a 3D goggles system, and best of all a keyboardfacility, (possibly to be used in-conjunction with the home-bankingfeatures).For all you Neo Geo owners that do not want to give up their machines,there is a speculation that SNK are talking about creating a Neo-CDunit that will allow existing Neo Geo's to be plugged into a kind ofCD drive unit, offering some of the features of the Neo-Star. The unitis being considered to be launched before the replacement system."