Namco System 11

The Namco System 11[lower-alpha 1] is a 32-bit arcade system board developed jointly by Namco and Sony Computer Entertainment. Released in December 1994, it is a successor to the Namco System 22, the company's first 3D arcade system. The System 11 is directly based on the PlayStation, Sony's first home video game console, using a 512 KB operating system and several custom processors. An upgraded version of the System 11, the Namco System 12[lower-alpha 2], was released in 1996 and features a faster processing power. Tekken was the first game to use the System 11.

Namco System 11

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

History

Although the System 11 was technically inferior to Sega's Model 2 arcade board, its lower price made it an attractive prospect for smaller arcades.[1][2] 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.[1]

Technical specifications

• Main CPU: MIPS R3000A 32-bit RISC processor @ 33.8688 MHz, 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

List of Namco System 11 games

Year	Title	Genre	Ref.
1994	Tekken	Fighting	[3]
1995	Tekken 2	Fighting	[4]
	Tekken 2 Ver.β	Fighting
	Soul Edge	Fighting	[5]
1996	Dunk Mania	Sports	[6]
	Pocket Racer	Racing
	Xevious 3D/G	Vertical-scrolling shooter	[6]
	Dancing Eyes	Puzzle	[7]
	Soul Edge Ver. II	Fighting
	J-League Soccer: Prime Goal EX	Sports
1997	Star Sweep	Sports
1998	Point Blank 2	Lightgun shooter
	Family Bowl	Sports
	Kosodate Quiz My Angel 3: My Little Pet	Quiz

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. "Tekken". Edge. Imagine Media. 3 (21): 66–70. June 1995.
2. Tokyo Drifter (April 2002). "Virtua Fight Club". GamePro. 14 (163): 48–50.
3. "Tekken". GamePro (68). IDG. March 1995. p. 38.
4. "Tekken 2". Maximum: The Video Game Magazine. Emap International Limited (1): 21. October 1995.
5. "Soul Edge". Next Generation. Imagine Media (12): 123. December 1995.
6. "The 1996 AOU Coin-Op Show: 3D Arcade Gaming Enters the Next Level!". Maximum: The Video Game Magazine. Emap International Limited (5): 116–7. April 1996.
7. 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.