Editing CP System (section)

==History==
[[File:CPS1 CPU.JPG|thumb|CP System's 10 MHz 68000 CPU and graphics IC]]

After a number of arcade game boards designed to run only one game, Capcom embarked upon a project to produce a [[Arcade system board|system 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 president [[Kenzo Tsujimoto]] came up with the concept inspired by the success of the [[Nintendo 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".<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Cover Story: "This Is the Good Time" – Capcom's CPS system brings success to the firm... and offers direction for a troubled video market |magazine=RePlay |date=April 1990 |volume=15 |issue=7 |publisher=RePlay Publishing |pages=183-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/re-play-volume-14-issue-no.-7-april-1990-600dpi/RePlay%20-%20Volume%2014%2C%20Issue%20No.%207%20-%20April%201990/page/183}}</ref>

Capcom developed the CPS hardware for about two-and-a-half years, during which time they developed two custom [[microchips]] that they called the CPS Super Chips, equivalent to the power of ten normal arcade [[printed circuit boards]] (PCBs) at the time.<ref name="TGM">{{cite magazine |title=Capcom: A Captive Audience |magazine=[[The Games Machine]] |date=18 May 1989 |issue=19 (June 1989) |pages=24-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/the-games-machine-19/page/n23/mode/2up}}</ref><ref name="RePlay">{{cite magazine |title=A Real Winner: operators are the real winners with Capcom's  Buster Bros and Final Fight |magazine=RePlay |date=January 1990 |volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=32, 34 |url=https://archive.org/details/re-play-volume-14-issue-no.-4-january-1990-600DPI/RePlay%20-%20Volume%2014%2C%20Issue%20No.%204%20-%20January%201990/page/32}}</ref> The two chips cost £5,500,000 or {{US$|{{#expr:{{To USD|55|GBR|year=1988|round=yes}}*100000}}|1988|round=-6|long=no}} to develop.<ref name="TGM"/>

The system was plagued by many [[Counterfeit|bootleg]] versions of its games. In particular, there were so many bootleg versions of ''Street Fighter II'' that they were more common in some countries than the official version. This problem was virtually eliminated by Capcom in the later [[CP System II]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}

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 the Neo 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.<ref name="csend">{{cite web|url=https://www.capcom.co.jp/arcade/news/operator/20140930.html|title=弊社基板製品保守サービス業務終了のご案内|publisher=Capcom|date=2014-09-30|accessdate=2024-04-25}}</ref>