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TheDECO Cassette System is anarcade system that was introduced byData East in October 1980.[1] It was the first standardised arcade system that allowed arcade owners to change games. Developed in 1979, it was released in Japan in 1980 and then North America in 1981.
The arcade owner would buy a base cabinet, while the games were stored on standard audiocassette tapes. The arcade owner would insert the cassette and akey module[a] into the cabinet. When the machine was powered on, the program from the tape would be copied into the cabinet'sRAM chips; this process took about two to three minutes. Afterwards, the game could be played freely until the machine was powered off.
The machine contained three processors. The maincentral processing unit (CPU) was the DECO 222, a modified version of theMOS 6502 running at 750 kHz. This was largely identical to the normal 6502 but included hardwareencryption that worked with the cassettes. A second unmodified 6502 running at 500 kHz was used to program the sound, which was produced by twoGeneral Instrument AY-3-8910sound chips running at 1.5 MHz. Finally, anIntel 8041 running at 6 MHz, sometimes known as a I8X41, was used to control the cassette subsystem.
Inbold characters are the video games that were also released in dedicated arcade cabinets. †=unreleased
In Japan, theGame Machine list of highest-grossingarcade video games of 1981 listedPro Golf at number three andTele-Jan at number thirteen.[2] On the list of highest-grossingarcade video games of 1982,Burnin' Rubber (Bump 'n' Jump) was number nine,BurgerTime (Hamburger) was number eleven, andPro Tennis was number fifteen.[3]Game Machine later listedPro Soccer as the top-grossing newtable arcade cabinet inSeptember 1983,[4][5] andScrum Try topped the table arcade game chart inApril 1984.[6]
It was the first interchangeablearcade system board, developed in 1979 before it was released in 1980. It inspiredSega'sConvert-a-Game system, which released in 1981.[7] Later interchangeable arcade systems followed from other companies, such as theNintendo VS. System in 1984.[8]
The DECO Cassette System was revolutionary for its time; but Data East discontinued it in 1985 due to arcade owners' complaints about the potential unreliability of both the tapes (which could be demagnetized easily) and key modules (which EPROMs went bad after a time), as well as the poor quality of most of its games[b] and the medium's long loading times. Despite its bad qualities, the DECO Cassette System was better received in Japan, where many more games were released for it.[9]
John Szczepaniak ofHardcore Gaming 101 considers the DECOscrollingaction gameFlash Boy (1981), based on themanga andanime seriesAstro Boy (1952–1968), to be sophisticated for its time. It had anenergy bar that gradually depletes over time, and some of which can be sacrificed for temporary invincibility. It had punch attacks rather thanshooting, and a type ofcombo mechanic where, when an enemy explodes, debris can destroy other enemies. There is also aboss battle at the end of eachlevel, as well as bi-directionalside-scrolling similar toDefender. Data East released two versions of the game, a side-scrolling version and avertical scrolling version.[10]
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