The Namco System 23 is an arcade system board

Arcade system board

An arcade system board is a dedicated computer system created for the purpose of running video arcade games. Arcade system boards typically consist of a main system board with any number of supporting boards...

 produced and developed by Namco

Namco

is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of...

. Released in 1997, it was the last arcade system produced by the company that was based on their own custom design, as opposed to just a derivative of console hardware. Like the System 22

Namco System 22

The Namco System 22 is the successor to the Namco System 21 arcade system board co-designed with the assistance of graphics & simulation experts Evans & Sutherland. It was first released in 1993 with the game Ridge Racer...

, the System 23 also featured a more powerful variant called the Super System 23. One of the advertised features of the System 23 was the "Gashin Strong Bass System," which was simply a bass amplifier

Amplifier

Generally, an amplifier or simply amp, is a device for increasing the power of a signal.In popular use, the term usually describes an electronic amplifier, in which the input "signal" is usually a voltage or a current. In audio applications, amplifiers drive the loudspeakers used in PA systems to...

 hooked up to the sound system.

System 23 specifications

• Main CPU
  Central processing unit
  The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
  
  : 133 MHz IDT
  Integrated Device Technology
  Integrated Device Technology, Inc. is a publicly traded corporation headquartered in San Jose, California, that designs, manufactures, and markets low-power, high-performance mixed-signal semiconductor solutions for the advanced communications, computing, and consumer industries. The company...
  
   R4650 64-bit
  64-bit
  64-bit is a word size that defines certain classes of computer architecture, buses, memory and CPUs, and by extension the software that runs on them. 64-bit CPUs have existed in supercomputers since the 1970s and in RISC-based workstations and servers since the early 1990s...
  
  . Super System 23 used a 166 MHz chip and Super System 23 Evolution 2 used a 200 MHz chip
• Sound CPU: 16.9344 MHz Hitachi
  Hitachi, Ltd.
  is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered in Marunouchi 1-chome, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company is the parent of the Hitachi Group as part of the larger DKB Group companies...
  
   H8/3002
• Sound Chip: Namco
  Namco
  is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of...
  
   C352 Sample playback
• I/O CPU: Gorgon and System 23 used Hitachi
  Hitachi, Ltd.
  is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered in Marunouchi 1-chome, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company is the parent of the Hitachi Group as part of the larger DKB Group companies...
  
   H8/3334 Super System 23 and Super System 23 Evolution 2 used PIC16Cxx
• Extra I/O CPU: Hitachi
  Hitachi, Ltd.
  is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered in Marunouchi 1-chome, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company is the parent of the Hitachi Group as part of the larger DKB Group companies...
  
   SH-2
  SuperH
  SuperH is a 32-bit reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by Hitachi. It is implemented by microcontrollers and microprocessors for embedded systems....
  
   used only on Super System 23 GMEN
• Graphics: Namco
  Namco
  is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of...
  
  -proprietary hardware, capable of texture mapping
  Texture mapping
  Texture mapping is a method for adding detail, surface texture , or color to a computer-generated graphic or 3D model. Its application to 3D graphics was pioneered by Dr Edwin Catmull in his Ph.D. thesis of 1974.-Texture mapping:...
  
   and Gouraud shading
  Gouraud shading
  Gouraud shading, named after Henri Gouraud, is an interpolation method used in computer graphics to produce continuous shading of surfaces represented by polygon meshes...
  
  

List of System 22.5 / Gorgon games

• Final Furlong
  Final Furlong
  Final Furlong is a horse racing game for the Namco System 23. The original was developed by Namco....
  
   (1997)
• Rapid River (1997)

List of System 23 games

• Angler King (1998)
• Downhill Bikers (1997)
• Motocross Go! (1997)
• Panic Park
  Panic park
  - Gameplay :The game has 25 mini-games, 5 of which are solely the final stage in Solo Play, but can be any stage in VS Play. Rocket Panic is levels 1, 6, and 11, Electric Panic, levels 2, 7, and 12, Hammer Panic, 3, 8, and 13, Space Panic, 4, 9, and 14, and Jumping Panic, levels 5, 10, and 15. In...
  
   (1998)
• Time Crisis 2 (System 23 Version) (1997)

List of Super System 23 games

• 500GP (1998)
• Guitar Jam (1999)
• Time Crisis 2 (Super System 23 Version) (1997)

List of Super System 23 GMEN games

• Final Furlong 2 (1999)
• Gunmen Wars (1998)
• Race On! (1998)

External links

• System 23 at System16 - The Arcade Museum
• Super System 23 at System16 - The Arcade Museum