Editing CP System III

{{short description|Arcade system board developed by Capcom}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2013}}
{{Redirect|CPS III|the enzyme|carbamoyl phosphate synthetase III }}
{{Infobox information appliance
| name = CP System III
| logo = CP System III.png
| image = 
| caption = 
| manufacturer = [[Capcom]]
| type = [[Arcade system board]]
| releasedate = {{Start date|1996|11|21}}
| discontinued = {{End date|1999|09|13}}
| input = 8-way [[joystick]], from 3 to 6 [[Button (control)|buttons]]
| cpu = [[SuperH#SH-2|Hitachi SH-2]] (@ 25 MHz)<ref name=system16>{{cite web|url=http://www.system16.com/hardware.php?id=799|title=System 16 - CP System III (CPS3) Hardware (Capcom)|publisher=}}</ref>
| display = [[Raster graphics|Raster]] (horizontal),<br />384×224/496×224 [[Display resolution|resolution]],<br />[[List of monochrome and RGB color formats#15-bit RGB|32768 colors]] on screen,<br />[[24-bit color|16,777,216-color]] [[List of color palettes|palette]]
| predecessor = [[CP System II]]
}}

The {{Nihongo|'''CP System III'''|CPシステムIII|CP shisutemu 3}} or '''CPS-3''' is an [[arcade system board]] that was first used by [[Capcom]] in 1996 with the arcade game ''[[Red Earth (video game)|Red Earth]]''. It was the second successor to the [[CP System]] arcade hardware, following the [[CP System II]]. The arcade system saw new releases up until mid 1999. Technical support for the CPS-3 ended on February 28, 2019.<ref name="csend2" /> It would be the last proprietary system board Capcom would produce before moving on to the [[Dreamcast]]-based [[Sega Naomi|Naomi]] platform.

Like its forerunners, games can be exchanged without altering the core hardware. The CP System III uses [[Compact disc|CD]]s instead of separate [[daughterboard]]s to store the games on, which are then loaded onto the system's CD drive to be stored into memory to allow for it to be played. Like its predecessor, games are [[Encryption|encrypted]], and must be decrypted via game-specific [[ROM cartridge|security cartridge]]s, which will decrypt the contents stored within the system memory in run time.

==History==
The CP System III became the final arcade system board to be designed by Capcom. It features a security mechanism; games are supplied on a CD, which contains the encrypted game contents, and a security cartridge containing the game [[BIOS]] and the [[SuperH|SH-2]] CPU<ref name="mamedriver">{{Cite web|url=https://github.com/mamedev/mame|title=mamedev/mame|website=[[GitHub]]|access-date=2020-03-01}}</ref> with integrated decryption logic, with the per-game key stored in battery-backed [[Static random-access memory|SRAM]]. Capcom chose the CD medium in order to keep down the price of the system.<ref>{{cite magazine|date=February 1997|title=Introducing... Red Earth|url=https://archive.org/details/Official_Sega_Saturn_Magazine_016/page/n97/mode/2up|magazine=[[Sega Saturn Magazine]]|publisher=[[Emap International Limited]]|issue=16|page=98}}</ref>

In a change from its predecessors, the CP System III consists of a single board instead of two separate boards. The board contains components common to all CP System III games, and includes a slot for the security cartridge. The games themselves are stored on a CD instead of on a separate board, which is then readable by the provided [[SCSI]] CD-ROM drive that is connected to the main board. The CP System III has extensive sprite scaling capabilities that all games for the system used. It does not contain the [[QSound]] sound chip used on its predecessor, the CP System II, and in its place is a custom 16-channel stereo sound chip. One of the unique features of the CP System III is [[widescreen]] support for certain games; only one game has officially made use of this feature, which is ''[[Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact]]''.

When the CP System III board is first powered on, the contents of the CD are loaded into a bank of [[Flash ROM]] [[SIMM]]s on the motherboard, where it is executed. The program code is then decrypted at run time via the security cartridge. The security cartridge is sensitive to any sort of tampering, which will result in the decryption key being erased and the cartridge being rendered useless. Games become unplayable when the security cartridge has been tampered with or when the battery inside the security cartridge dies. The lone exception is ''Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact'', which uses a default set of decryption keys that are written to dead cartridges on boot,<ref name=mamedriver/> making it the few, if not the only CPS-3 games prevalent after support was dropped, due to its immunity to cartridge tampering or suicide.

In June 2007, the encryption method was [[Reverse engineering|reverse-engineered]] by Andreas Naive,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://andreasnaive.blogspot.com/2007/06/cps-3-7.html?m=1|title=CPS-3 (7)|date=June 11, 2007|website=andreasnaive.blogspot.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070717063214/http://andreasnaive.blogspot.com/|archive-date=July 17, 2007}}</ref> making [[Video game console emulator|emulation]] possible.<ref name=mamedriver/> Later developments led to the eventual bypassing of the suicide and security routines of the games as well as a development of a so-called "super cartridge" capable of running all CPS-3 games.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://64darksoft.blogspot.com/2013/08/one-bios-to-rule-them-all-and-one-cdto.html|title=Breaking CPS3: One BIOS to rule them all .....and One CD......to play them on and on. (UPDATE 7)|date=August 11, 2013|website=64darksoft.blogspot.com}}</ref>

Capcom ceased manufacturing the CP System III hardware after 1999. Capcom ended most of the technical support for the 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> Battery replacements ended on February 28, 2019,<ref name="csend2">{{cite web|url=https://www.capcom.co.jp/arcade/news/operator/201811.html|title=弊社製品のサービス対応終了に関するご案内|publisher=Capcom|date=2018-11-12|accessdate=2024-04-25}}</ref> ending all official support of the CP System III hardware and software.

==Specifications==
* Main [[CPU]]: [[Hitachi, Ltd.|Hitachi]] HD6417099 ([[SuperH|SH-2]]) at 25&nbsp;MHz
* [[RAM]]:
** 512 [[kilobyte|KB]] Work RAM
** 512 KB Sprite RAM
** 8 [[megabyte|MB]] Character RAM
** 256 KB Color RAM
** 32 KB SS RAM
* Storage:
** [[SCSI]] [[CD-ROM drive]]
** [[Flash ROM]]: Variable amount, up to 8 × 16 MB
* Sound chip: 16-channel 8-bit sample player, stereo
* Maximum color palette: 16 million shades<ref>''[[Computer and Video Games]]'', October 1996, [http://www.solvalou.com/subpage/arcade_reviews/260/634/red_earth_/_warzard_review.html page 10] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119135930/http://www.solvalou.com/subpage/arcade_reviews/260/634/red_earth_/_warzard_review.html |date=November 19, 2016 }}</ref>
* Maximum number of colors on screen: 32,768<ref name="EGM88">{{cite magazine| title=Arcade Board Comparison |magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]|issue=88 |publisher=[[Ziff Davis]]|date=November 1996 |page=168}}</ref> (15-bit colour, 555 RGB)
** Palette size: 131,072 pens
** Colors per tile (backgrounds / sprites): 64 (6 bits per pixel) or 256 (8 bits per pixel), selectable
** Colors per tile (text overlay): 16 (4 bits per pixel)
* Maximum number of objects: 1024, with hardware scaling<ref name="EGM88"/>
* Scroll faces: 4 regular + 1 text overlay 'score screen' layer
* Scroll features: Horizontal & vertical scrolling, {{proper name|LineScroll}}, {{proper name|LineZoom}}<ref name="EGM88"/>
* Framebuffer zooming
* Color blending effects
* Hardware RLE decompression of 6 bpp and 8 bpp graphics through DMA
* Resolution, pixels: 384×224 (standard mode) / 496×224 (widescreen mode)

==List of games (6 games)==
All six games are developed by Capcom and are all [[fighting game|head-to-head fighting games]].
<!-- To edit the text of this article, skip past the table. --><!-- Dates given are the earliest possible dates shown in the game's bootup screen, any region. -->
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! English title
! Release date
! Japanese title
|-
| ''[[Red Earth (video game)|Red Earth]]''
| 1996-11-21
| ''War-Zard''<br>(ウォーザード)
|-
| ''[[Street Fighter III|Street Fighter III: New Generation]]''
| 1997-02-04
| ''Street Fighter III''<br>(ストリートファイターIII)
|-
| ''[[Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact|Street Fighter III 2nd Impact: Giant Attack]]''
| 1997-09-30
| ''Street Fighter III 2nd Impact''<br>(ストリートファイターIII 2nd Impact)
|-
| ''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (video game)|JoJo's Bizarre Adventure / JOJO's Venture]]''
| 1998-12-02
| ''JoJo no Kimyō na Bōken''<br>(ジョジョの奇妙な冒険)
|-
| ''[[Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike|Street Fighter III 3rd Strike: Fight for the Future]]''
| 1999-05-12
| ''Street Fighter III 3rd Strike''<br>(ストリートファイターIII 3rd Strike)
|-
| ''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (video game)|JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future]]''
| 1999-09-13
| ''JoJo no Kimyō na Bōken Mirai e no Isan''<br>(ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 未来への遺産)
|}
<!-- END OF TABLE -->

==See also==
* [[CP System]]
* [[CP System II]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.system16.com/hardware.php?id=799 CPS-3 at System16: The Arcade Museum]
* [http://junkerhq.net/xrgb/index.php?title=CPS-III CPS-3 memory, suicide and SCSI information]
* [http://www.uvlist.net/groups/compare/cps1-hw,cps2-hw,cps3-hw CPS-1, CPS-2 and CPS-3 releases comparison at UVL]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cp System Iii}}
[[Category:Capcom arcade system boards]]
[[Category:SuperH architecture]]