The Namco System 21 "Polygonizer" is an

arcade system board An arcade video game takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. Most arcade video games are coin-operated, housed in an arc ...

unveiled by

Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Namco Taiwan in Kaohsiun ...

in 1988 with the game ''

Winning Run is a first-person arcade racing simulation game developed and published by Namco in late December 1988 in Japan, before releasing internationally the following year. The player pilots a Formula One racer, with the objective being to complete eac ...

''. It was the first arcade board specifically designed for 3D polygon processing. The hardware went through significant evolution throughout its lifespan until the last game, ''

Cyber Sled is a two-player 3D vehicle combat shooter game released by Namco for arcades in 1993. The game's perspective is third-person by default, but can be switched to a first-person perspective. The game was nominated for Most Innovative New Techno ...

'', was released in 1993. It was preceded by the Namco System 2 in 1987 and succeeded by the

Namco System 22 The Namco System 22 is the successor to the Namco System 21 arcade system board. It debuted in 1992 with '' Sim Drive'' in Japan, followed by a worldwide debut in 1993 with ''Ridge Racer''. The System 22 was designed by Namco with assistance fr ...

in 1993.

System 21 specifications

The System 21 consists of four

PCBs Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are highly carcinogenic chemical compounds, formerly used in industrial and consumer products, whose production was banned in the United States by the Toxic Substances Control Act in 1979 and internationally by t ...

housed in a metal crate. *Main

CPU A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, a ...

: 2x

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorola ...

68000 The Motorola 68000 (sometimes shortened to Motorola 68k or m68k and usually pronounced "sixty-eight-thousand") is a 16/32-bit complex instruction set computer (CISC) microprocessor, introduced in 1979 by Motorola Semiconductor Products Secto ...

@ 12.288 MHz * DSP (used for performing 3D math): 4x

Texas Instruments Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American technology company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, that designs and manufactures semiconductors and various integrated circuits, which it sells to electronics designers and manufacturers globa ...

TMS320C25 @ 24.576 MHz (''

Starblade is a 1991 3D rail shooter arcade game developed and published by Namco. Controlling the starfighter FX-01 "GeoSword" from a first-person perspective, the player is tasked with eliminating the Unknown Intelligent Mechanized Species (UIMS) before t ...

'' uses 5x TMS320C20 instead) *Sound CPU:

Motorola 6809 The Motorola 6809 ("''sixty-eight-oh-nine''") is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit microprocessor with some 16-bit computing, 16-bit features. It was designed by Motorola's Terry Ritter and Joel Boney and introduced in 1978. Although source compatible wi ...

@ 3.072 MHz *Sound Chip: Yamaha

YM2151 The Yamaha YM2151, also known as OPM (FM Operator Type-M) is an eight-channel, four-operator sound chip. It was Yamaha's first single-chip FM synthesis implementation, being created originally for some of the Yamaha DX series of keyboards (DX21, ...

@ 3.58 MHz * MCU

Hitachi () is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Nissan ''zaibatsu'' and later DKB Group and Fuyo G ...

HD63705 @ 2.048 MHz * +

custom chips

Development

It was in development for over three years before release, since around the mid-1980s. According to

Phil Harrison Phil Harrison is a vice president and general manager for Google, and the former corporate vice president of Microsoft. Previously, Phil was the British corporate executive and a representative director of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. (SC ...

(in the September 1989 issue of ''

Commodore User ''Commodore User'', known to the readers as the abbreviated ''CU'', was one of the oldest British Commodore magazines. With a publishing history spanning over 15 years, it mixed content with technical and video game features. Incorporating ''Vic ...

''), who visited Namco's

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

office, Atari's ''

Hard Drivin' ''Hard Drivin'' is a driving simulation video game developed by Atari Games in 1989. It invites players to test drive a sports car on courses that emphasize stunts and speed. The game features one of the first 3D polygon driving environments v ...

'' ran on an earlier, less powerful, version of this hardware, stating that Namco and

Atari Games Atari Games Corporation, known as Midway Games West Inc. after 1999, was an American producer of arcade games. It was formed in 1985 when the coin-operated arcade game division of Atari, Inc. was transfered by Warner Communications to a join ...

were sister companies at the time and that the System 21 was a shared development.

List of Namco System 21 arcade games

*''

'' (1988) *'' Winning Run Suzuka Grand Prix'' (1989) *''

Galaxian³ is a 3D rail shooter video game developed and published by Namco. It was originally a theme park attraction designed for the Expo '90, International Garden and Greenery Exposition (Expo '90) in Japan, and was later released as an arcade game in 1 ...

'' (1990) *''

Driver's Eyes is a 1991 3D computer graphics, 3D driving simulation arcade game developed and published in Japan by Namco. The game has a pseudo-panoramic view using three Cathode ray tube, CRT screens; the player would sit in a then-realistic Formula One car c ...

'' (1990) *'' Winning Run '91'' (1991) *''

'' (1991) *''

Solvalou is a 1991 first-person rail shooter arcade game developed and published in Japan by Namco. The sixth entry in the ''Xevious'' series, the player takes control of the Solvalou starship from a first-person perspective as it must destroy the Xeviou ...

'' (1991) - 3D sequel to ''

Xevious is a vertically scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Namco for arcades in 1982. It was released in Japan and Europe by Namco and in North America by Atari, Inc. Controlling the Solvalou starship, the player attacks Xevious f ...

'' *''

Air Combat ''Air Combat'' is a 1995 combat flight simulator developed and published for the PlayStation by Namco. Players control an aircraft and are tasked with completing a series of missions, with objectives ranging from destroying formations of enemie ...

'' (1993) *''

Attack of the Zolgear is an arcade game for one to six players released by Namco. It is a sequel to ''Galaxian 3''. This game used two LaserDisc players simultaneously for the outer space background, while computer generated graphics were overlaid on top. Synopsis '' ...

'' (1994)

References

{{Bandai Namco Hardware Namco arcade system boards