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The CPS-3 or Capcom Play System 3 is an extremely powerful 2D system; many fighting game fans were amazed by the smooth, fluid animation featured in Street Fighter III and other games on this hardware. This was the last arcade system board manufactured by Capcom.
The CPS-3 features a very elaborate security mechanism. Games are supplied on a CD, which contains the encrypted game contents, and a security cartridge containing the game BIOS and the SH-2 CPU with integrated decryption logic, with the per-game key stored in battery-backed SRAM. When the CPS-3 board is first powered on, the contents of the CD are flashed onto a bank of SIMMs on the motherboard, from where it is executed. The program code is then decrypted at run time via the security cartridge. The security cartridge is extremely sensitive to any sort of tampering, which will result in the decryption key being erased and the cartridge being rendered useless. The CPS-3 was not a particularly successful system, and only six games in total were produced for it. Arcade operators were particularly displeased with the system board's fragility; the CPS-3 did not stand up well to mechanical or electrical shock. Also, the game became unplayable when the battery inside the security cartridge died, which had to be replaced at cost to the owner. Furthermore, the CPS-3 was only capable of 2D graphics at a time when most games were being developed with 3D hardware in mind. The cost of the system was greater than that of other arcade system boards, and it is rumored that programming for the CPS-3 was rather difficult as well. (Source: Wikipedia) |
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 CPS-3 Emulator v1.0a
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