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KONAMI BUBBLE SYSTEM HARDWARE
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HARDWARE DESCRIPTION
Main CPU : MC 68000 @ 10Mhz / G400 BIOS
Sound CPU : Z80
Sound chip : 2 x AY-3-8910 psg
Interface Harness : Scramble
Notes : In 1985 Konami decided that it was going to experiment with a new state of the art program storage system to replaced ROMs. This was called "Bubble Software".
Other manufacturers had already operated magnetic media (disks and tapes) instead of roms with some success, so Konami decided to make a modified version of their own new G400 BIOS system.
Bubble memory is non volatile electromagnetic writing/readable memory and was thought to be, at its inception, as a direct a quick replacement for floppy disks.
Unfortunately Bubble Memory proved to be extremely susceptible to electromagnetic fields (not great for something in a arcade enviroment) and were also more expensive than standard ROM based boards. For this reason the project never got beyond its first couple of games.
Anyone who still has one of these systems in their possession and still has it working today is incredibly lucky...
You can tell bubble soft games by the startscreen "wait while system heating up", because the BM needs to be heated up to between 30-40 degrees to work properly.
Flyers : Bubble System Flyer
Emulators : MAME


KNOWN KONAMI BUBBLE SYSTEM GAME LIST
Galactic Warriors
Gradius
Hyper Crash / Hyper Crush / Attack Rush
Konami RF2 : Red Fighter
Twin Bee


Galactic Warriors
1985
Galactic Warriors Galactic Warriors
Flyers : Normal Flyer
 

Gradius
1985
Gradius Gradius
Gradius Gradius
Gradius Gradius
Pictures : Instructions 1 - Instructions 2
Magazine reviews : C+VG Oct '85
Other versions : Gradius / Nemesis (1985,Konami Nemesis) - Gradius (1986,Nintendo Playchoice 10)
Sequels : Gradius II : Gofer no Yabou / Vulcan Venture (1988) - Gradius III (1989) - Gradius 4 : Fukkatsu (1999) - Solar Assault (1997) - Solar Assault : Revised (1998)
 

Hyper Crash / Hyper Crush / Attack Rush
1987
Konami Game Number : GX401
Hyper Crash / Hyper Crush / Attack Rush
Hyper Crash / Hyper Crush / Attack Rush Hyper Crash / Hyper Crush / Attack Rush
 

Konami RF2 : Red Fighter
1985
Konami RF2 : Red Fighter Konami RF2 : Red Fighter
Flyers : Konami GT Flyer - Alt Flyer - Alt 2 Flyer - UK Flyer - Japan Flyer
 

Twin Bee
1985
Twin Bee Twin Bee
Other version : Twin Bee (1985,Konami Nemesis)
Sequels : Detana!! Twin Bee / Bells & Whistles / Here Comes Twinbee!! (1991) - Twin Bee Yahhoo! / Magical Twin Bee (1995)
 

 

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