Pre
CPS - 1984 to 1988 These boardsets usually consist of two PCBs joined by two ribbon
cables. The first boards manufactured in 1984 used a 56 way edge connector,
in 1985 the pin outs of the connector were changed and then during 1986
Jamma compatible connectors were introduced. (NB Board numbers taken
from the A board, i.e. the board with the edge connector).
* ROM Codes, the "x" should be replaced with the relevant
area letter, U for USA ROMs, J for Japanese ROMs, E for European
ROMs, e.g. the USA ROM version of The Punisher is PSU, the European
version, PSE, etc.
CPS1
- 1988 to 1995 In
1988 the Capcom Play System 1 (CPS1) was introduced. Most boardsets
consist of three inter-locking PCBs. The bottom board is generally interchangeable
with other CPS1 games. (NB board numbers taken from the top, smallest,
"C" board). Some of the later games have a
CPS1
Q Sound - 1992 to 1993 The
Q Sound CPS1 games have four inter-locking PCBs and are contained in
grey plastic boxes. They have two batteries on the boards that kill
the game when they die.
CPS2
- 1993 to 2000 CPS2
consists
of a main motherboard (the A board), the games are sold separately as
a B board which connects with a compatible A board. Both the A and B
boards are colour coded for a specific language/area. Blue ones in English
(US & Europe), Green in Japanese, Grey in English (Asia) and orange
in Spanish (Spain, ?S. America?). Certain A and B boards are interchangeable
with the different colours, e.g. a green B board will work with a blue
A motherboard but will play the Japanese version of the game. Orange
B board will work with a grey A board with the game in Spanish. The
games language is defined by the colour of the B game board. And of
course a blue B board will work with a blue A board in English. CPS2
games have Q sound and suffer from the battery of death problem - when
the internal battery dies it kills the board.
PSX
- 1995 to 1999 These
boards are based on Sony's Playstation hardware, the bottom PCB is built
by Sony, the top one contains the game's ROMs and has the extra buttons
kick harness connector. These are 3D games with Q Sound.
