TheCP System (CPシステム,CP shisutemu), also known asCapcom Play System^[1] orCPS for short (and retroactively asCPS-1), is anarcade system board developed byCapcom that ran game software stored on removabledaughterboards. More than two dozen arcade titles were released for CPS-1, before Capcom shifted game development over to its successor, theCP System II. Technical support for the CPS-1 ended on March 31, 2015.^[2]

The CP System is best known for its many beat 'em up titles such asDynasty Wars,Final Fight,The King of Dragons,Captain Commando,Knights of the Round,Warriors of Fate,Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, andThe Punisher, as well as fighting games such asStreet Fighter II andMuscle Bomber.

After a number of arcade game boards designed to run only one game, Capcom embarked upon a project to produce asystem board that could be used to run multiple games, in order to reduce hardware costs and make the system more appealing to arcade operators.

Capcom began developing the CPS hardware around 1986, when Capcom presidentKenzo Tsujimoto came up with the concept inspired by the success of theNintendo Entertainment System (NES). He saw the rise of home video games as competition for the arcades, so said the "only way we can make money is to give people twice what they can get at home".^[3]

Capcom developed the CPS hardware for about two-and-a-half years, during which time they developed two custommicrochips that they called the CPS Super Chips, equivalent to the power of ten normal arcadeprinted circuit boards (PCBs) at the time.^[4][5] The two chips cost £5,500,000 or$9,800,000 (equivalent to $26,000,000 in 2024) to develop.^[4]

The system was plagued by manybootleg versions of its games. In particular, there were so many bootleg versions ofStreet Fighter II that they were more common in some countries than the official version. This problem was virtually eliminated by Capcom in the laterCP System II.^{[citation needed]}

The CP System hardware was also utilized in Capcom's unsuccessful attempt at home console market penetration, the Capcom Power System Changer (or CPS Changer), a domestic version of the CP System similar to theNeo Geo AES.

Capcom ceased production of the CP System hardware on May 11, 1995; however, new software continued to be released for the hardware as late as 2000. Capcom ended technical support for the CP System hardware and its games on March 31, 2015.^[2]

• CPU:
  • Primary:Motorola 68000 @ 10 MHz (some later boards 12 MHz)
  • Secondary:Zilog Z80 @ 3.579 MHz
• Co-processors: 2x CPS Super Chip^[4][5][6]
• Sound chips:
  • YamahaYM2151 @ 3.579 MHz
  • Oki OKI6295 @ 1 MHz (7.576 kHzsamples)
• Display
  • Resolution:Raster, 384×224 @ 59.6294 Hz
  • Color depth:16-bit (12-bitRGB with 4-bit brightness value)
  • Colors available: 65,536^[7]
  • Onscreen colors: 4096^[7] (192 global palettes with 16 colors each)
• Sprites:
  • Simultaneously displayable: 256 (perscanlines)
  • Sizes: 16×16, max. 16 colors (15 unique + 1 transparent)
  • Vertical and horizontal flipping capability
• Tiles: Sizes 8×8, 16×16, 32×32 with 16 colors (15 unique + 1 transparent)
• Tile maps: 3 maps, 512×512, 1024×1024, 2048×2048 pixel
• 68000RAM: 64 KB WORK RAM + 192 KBVRAM (Shadow)
• PPU: 192 KB VRAM + 16 KBCACHE RAM
• Z80 RAM: 2 KB WORK RAM

CP System Dash

A CPS-1.5 board
Manufacturer	Capcom
Type	Arcade system board
Release date	February 1, 1992 (1992-02-01)
Discontinued	December 6, 1993 (1993-12-06)
CPU	Motorola 68000 (@ 10 MHz)
Display	Raster, 384 × 224 pixels (horizontal), 3072 colors
Sound	Sound CPU: "Kabuki"Z80 (@ 8 MHz) Q-Sound (@ 4 MHz)
Input	8-wayjoystick, from 3 to 6buttons

A year before releasing theCP System II, Capcom released an enhanced version of the original CP System dubbed the CP System Dash, which had some features that would later be used in the CP System II, such as theQSound chips. The CP System Dash boards have four interlocking PCBs contained in gray plastic boxes; this concept of enclosing arcade PCBs in a special plastic enclosure would later be reused for the CP System II hardware.

To combat piracy, "suicide batteries" were implemented, which power the volatile RAM which contained the manual configuration of the displayhardware registers, as well as the priorities registers. If the batteries' voltage drops below +2V, the registers manually defined in factory by Capcom in RAM would be lost, and the PPU would no longer have access to the hardware specific register set on the game used. This renders the game inoperable, necessitating the operator sending the board to Capcom to be fixed at their own expense. Unlike the CP System II, the CP System Dash soundROMs wereencrypted using "Kabuki" Z80s. The CP System Dash 68000 code is not encrypted at all.

All five games are developed and published by Capcom.

Ahome video game console version of the CP System, the Capcom Power System Changer (or CPS Changer), was released in late 1994 in Japan to compete withSNK'sNeo Geo AES.^[9] It was Capcom's attempt at selling their arcade games in a home-friendly format.

The CPS Changer was sold as a package deal containing the console itself, one CPS Fighter joystick controller, andStreet Fighter II (Dash) Turbo for 39,800 yen. Additional games were sold for about 20,000 yen. Upon its release in November 1994, Capcom initially manufactured only 1,000 units in Japan.^[10]

The CPS Changer's adapter was basically an encasedSuperGun (i.e. TelevisionJAMMA adapter), and was compatible with most JAMMA standard PCBs. Capcom's "protection" against people using the CPS Changer on other arcade boards was the physical shape of the device. On a normal JAMMA PCB, it would not attach firmly and would lean at odd angles, but it would work. The CPS Changer has outputs forcomposite video,S-video and line-level mono audio. The CPS Changer also featuredSuper Famicom/Super NES controller ports, allowing the use of all Super Famicom/Super NES controllers, including their own six-button joystick, the "CPS Fighter".

All of the CPS Changer games used the CP System arcade hardware. The CPS Changer games were simply arcade PCBs in a special plastic shell suitable for home use. This concept had already been done with the CP System II hardware a year prior. The plastic shells are identical to that of CP System Dash games. Some CPS-1 games were changed slightly for home release, sometimes includingdebugging features or othereaster eggs.^{[citation needed]}

The final game for the CPS Changer was aback-ported version ofStreet Fighter Zero (also known asStreet Fighter Alpha) in 1995, originally released for the CP System II hardware. This port, released at a premium 35,000 yen in 1996, was downgraded slightly for the system's less capable hardware: it ran at a slower frame rate, had fewer onscreen colors^{[citation needed]}, a different soundtrack generated by the system's sound chips, fewer sound effects, and the music and sound effects beingsampled at a lower rate. This release was also available in limited quantities overseas in the arcades for publicity testing purposes, including those that couldn't afford the upgrade to the CP System II hardware.

That same year, a back-ported version ofRockman: The Power Battle/Mega Man: The Power Battle (originally released for the CP System II hardware that same year) also appeared. This was not made for the CPS Changer, however (especially sinceStreet Fighter Zero was the last title released for it), but rather was made as a standard CP System release. This version was also downgraded slightly to accommodate the system's less capable hardware, including the aforementioned changes and differences made to the CPS Changer version ofStreet Fighter Zero. It was also released in limited quantities overseas for publicity testing purposes, especially for those who couldn't afford to upgrade to the CP System II hardware.

All 11 games were developed and published by Capcom.

• CP System II
• CP System III

• CPS-1 at System 16 - The Arcade Museum
• GameSX Power Stick Analysis — looking at the features and functions of the A10CA stick
• CPS-1, CPS-2 and CPS-3 releases comparison at UVL
• Full list of CP System ROMs

• Capcom arcade system boards
• Fourth-generation video game consoles
• Computer-related introductions in 1988
• 68k-based arcade system boards

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