The fact of the matter is that these systems are plagued by EXTREMELY Low Quality components, QUIRKY Game Compatibility, and tend to "Die" all of the sudden
Heh, he could have been talking about the original NES - if those things weren't manufactured so poorly, no one would care about clones. I have an NES - like most of them it barely works any more, yet working 2600s and Master Systems are the norm.
Anyway, I got my Neo-Fami today and put it through the paces - with a bunch of known good games it worked well:
Super Mario Bros 3
Life Force
Batman
Dragon Warrior 2
Alien Syndrome (Tengen - unlicensed I believe)
Bee 52 - this never worked on my NES
Mega Man 2
Rad Racer
Oddly, it didn't work with Final Fantasy. I might have just not pushed it in all the way or something, but I really didn't want to lose the game saved on it, so I didn't try it more than once.
Just for fun, I also checked it with a couple of unopened used games I bought from EB recently. I think the fact that so many games didn't work is a reflection of EB, not the Yobo unit:
Worked: Dragon Warrior 4, Dragon Warrior 3, Dragon Spirit
Didn't work: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Pinbot, Batman: Revenge of the Joker, Wizards and Warriors 3, Castlevania III.
The non-working games probably just need to be cleaned, but so much for the "guarenteed to work" claim.
In the end, quicky analysis of the Neo:
Pluses:
+ Good compatability with games
+ Compatible with original NES controllers (at least the pads, haven't checked anything else)
+ AV out
+ Tiny - maybe 5x5 inches, and about 1.5 in tall
+ Blue LEDs! (there are LEDs behind the power and reset buttons that light up when the power is on)
Minuses:
- Sound is a little off. The Music in Mega Man 2 and SMB 3 was slightly off in a way I can't describe. It's probably off in the other games too, but those (along with FF and Zelda) are the ones whose tunes are permanently burned in my brain.
- Feels cheap. The system and controllers are made of cheap plastic and lack any sort of heft to them
- Reset button didn't work at all for me. This might have ramifications for RPGs and other games with save features, which usually want you to hold down Reset when you turn the power off.
Meh:
o The cartridge slot has a freaking death-grip on the game - it can be a pain to get it out, especially since it seems like if you pull too hard, the system could break. On the plus side, the 72 pin contacts should last a while.
o Looks kind of silly, with these huge Nintendo carts sticking out of this tiny system.
Overall, its probably worth what I paid for it. This was not a bad deal, and you can probably find them on ebay for about the same price. If you've never owned an NES, you'll probably find them to be more reliable than an NES you'd get off of eBay.