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Namco System 11

Manufacturer	Namco Sony Computer Entertainment
Type	Arcade system board
Release date	September 1994 (1994-09)
Discontinued	February 1999 (1999-02)
Operating system	512 KB
CPU	MIPS R3000A 32-bit
Predecessor	Namco System 22
Successor	Namco System 12 (System 11 Upgrade)

The Namco System 11 is a 32-bit arcade system board developed jointly by Namco and Sony Computer Entertainment. Released in 1994, the System 11 is based on a prototype of the PlayStation, Sony's first home video game console, using a 512 KB operating system and several custom processors. The Namco System 12 is an upgraded version of the System 11 that was released in 1996, featuring faster processing power.

History

Namco's research managing director Shegeichi Nakamura met with Sony Computer Entertainment head Ken Kutaragi in 1993 to discuss the preliminary PlayStation specifications, with Namco subsequently developing the System 11 arcade board based on PlayStation hardware and Tekken as their answer to Sega's popular Virtua Fighter. Tekken was initially planned for the Namco System 22, after Namco heard Sega was developing Virtua Fighter 2 for their new Sega Model 2 board, before the development of Tekken was later moved to the System 11 after the meeting with Kutaragi. Tekken was the first game to use the System 11, and was initially released for arcades in September 1994, several months before the PlayStation's Japanese release in December 1994.

Although the System 11 was technically inferior to the Sega Model 2 arcade board, its lower price made it an attractive prospect for smaller arcades. According to the June 1995 issue of Edge:

Namco took a significant risk in basing its Tekken coin-op on raw PlayStation hardware, considering that it would be competing directly with Sega's Model 2-powered Virtua Fighter 2 ... For once, a home system can boast an identical conversion of a cutting-edge coin-op ... Namco's research section managing director, Shegeichi Nakamura ... explains: "When Sony came along we decided to go for a low-cost system—in short, we've left the big arcade stores to Sega and VF2 and Tekken has been sold to smaller arcade centres" ... Namco has a further four titles planned for System 11, all of which are likely to make the jump to the PlayStation.

Namco System 12 was developed using the same basic configuration as System 11 but with the CPU operating frequency increased 1.5 times and higher memory capacity. This board was first publicly used for Tekken 3 released in March 1997.

Technical specifications

• Main CPU: MIPS R3000A 32-bit RISC processor @ 33.8688 MHz (System 11) or @ 48 MHz (System 12), Operating performance - 30 MIPS, Instruction Cache - 4KB
• BUS: 132 MB/s.
• OS ROM: 512 KB
• Sound CPU: Namco C76 (Mitsubishi M37702)
• Sound chip: Namco C352
• Main RAM: 2 MB
• Video VRAM: 2 MB
• Sound RAM: 512 kB
• Graphical Processor: 360,000 polygons/s, sprite/BG drawing, adjustable framebuffer, No line restriction, 4,000 8x8 pixel sprites with individual scaling and rotation, simultaneous backgrounds (parallax scrolling)
• Sprite Effects: Rotation, Scaling up/down, Warping, Transparency, Fading, Priority, Vertical and Horizontal Line Scroll
• Resolution: 256x224 - 640x480
• Colors: 16.7 million colors, Unlimited CLUTs (Color Look-Up Tables)
• Other Features: custom geometry engine, custom polygon engine, MJPEG decoder

Games

See also

• Namco System 23
• Namco System 10

Notes

1. Japanese: システムイレブン, Hepburn: Shisutemu Irebun
2. Japanese: システムトゥエルブ, Hepburn: Shisutemu To~uerubu

References

1. Pettus, Sam; Munoz, David; Williams, Kevin; Barroso, Ivan (20 December 2013). Service Games: The Rise and Fall of SEGA: Enhanced Edition. Smashwords. p. 198. ISBN 978-1-311-08082-0.
2. "System 11: Namco's PlayStation coin-op". Edge. Vol. 3, no. 21. June 1995. p. 68.
3. "Tekken (Registration Number PA0000704272)". United States Copyright Office. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
4. ^ "Tekken". Edge. Vol. 3, no. 21. Imagine Media. June 1995. pp. 66–70.
5. Tokyo Drifter (April 2002). "Virtua Fight Club". GamePro. Vol. 14, no. 163. pp. 48–50.
6. "Tekken is 1.5 times faster". Next Generation. No. 28. 1997. p. 28.
7. "Tekken". GamePro. No. 68. IDG. March 1995. p. 38.
8. "Tekken 2". Maximum: The Video Game Magazine (1). Emap International Limited: 21. October 1995.
9. "Soul Edge". Next Generation (12). Imagine Media: 123. December 1995.
10. ^ "The 1996 AOU Coin-Op Show: 3D Arcade Gaming Enters the Next Level!". Maximum: The Video Game Magazine (5). Emap International Limited: 116–7. April 1996.
11. Ylärakkola, Arttu (2 February 2007). "'Arcade Obscurities' - Namco's Dancing Eyes". GameSetWatch. Game Network. Archived from the original on 11 January 2019. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
12. https://www.highwaygames.com/arcade-machines/point-blank-6185/

• MIPS architecture
• Namco arcade system boards