Namco System N2 Explained

The Namco System N2 is an arcade platform developed by Namco and NVIDIA. It runs on an nForce2-based motherboard developed by NVIDIA. It was announced that the system would be based on a NVIDIA GeForce graphics card, using the OpenGL API.^{[1] [2]}

Both Namco System N2 and Namco System ES1 use the Linux operating system that is based on Debian.

The Namco System ES2 PLUS and Namco System ES3 run Windows Embedded 7 as their operating system. It runs in an arcade game cabinet designed by Bandai Namco Games.

The Namco System BNA1 is a relatively new arcade board that runs Windows 10 IoT. A less powerful version of System BNA1, known as System BNA1 LITE has also been created for less demanding games.

Development

Because the N2, ES1(A2), ES2 Plus and ES3 are based on PC architecture, development for it and porting from it is relatively easy and inexpensive.

Specifications

Namco System N2

• Motherboard: MSI K7N2GM-IL (NVIDIA nForce2 Chipset, Custom BIOS) (Japan/Asia) / ASUS M2N-MX (Export, Standard BIOS)
• CPU: AMD K7 Mobile Athlon XP 2800+ at 2.13 GHz (Socket A/462) ^[3] (Japan/Asia) / AMD Athlon 64 3500+ at 2.2 GHz (Socket 939) ^[4] (Export)
• RAM: 1×1GB / 2×1GB DDR 400 MHz 3200 MB/s
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 4 series / GeForce 7600 GS AGP with 256/512MB GDDR2 memory (GeForce 7800 GS AGP for some japan region maximum tune N2s)
• Output: 1 DVI port, 1 VGA port, 1 S-Video port
• Storage: Seagate 80GB (Japan/Asia) / WD 80GB PATA IDE HDD (Export)
• Operating System: Linux 32-bit (Debian based)
• Sound: stereo RCA output from front panel audio with external AMP PCB (Audio duplicated to rear speakers by amp)
• Protection: HASP HL Max/RTC USB dongle (v0.06)

^{[5] [6] [7]}

Namco System ES1

• Motherboard: Supermicro C2SBM-Q (Intel Q35 + ICH9DO Chipset)
• CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 at 3.00 GHz
• RAM: 2×512 MB DDR2 800 MHz 1.8V
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT PCIe 2.0 x16 with 512 MB GDDR3 memory
• Output: 2 DVI ports / 1 DVI-I port, 1 VGA port, 1 HDMI port
• Storage: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 160 GB (ST3160318AS) / Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C 160 GB (HDS721016CLA382) SATA HDD
• Operating System: arcadelinux 32-bit (Debian 4.0 based)
• Sound: 5.1 channel HD Audio
• Protection: TPM 1.2, HDD copy protection, HASP HL Max USB dongle

^[8]

Namco System ES1(A2) & ES2 PLUS

• Operating System: Windows Embedded 7

Namco System ES3

• Motherboard: Super Micro C7B75 with an LGA1155 socket.
• CPU: Intel Core i5-3550S at 3.00 GHz
• RAM: 8 GB DDR3 2400 MHz (Revision B) / 16 GB DDR3 2400 MHz (Revision X)
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti (Revision B) / GTX 680 (Revision X) PCIe 3.0 x16
• Output: 1 DVI-I port, 1 DVI-D port, 1 HDMI port
• Storage: HGST 250 GB 5400 RPM (HTS545025A7E680) SATA III HDD
• Operating System: Windows Embedded Standard 7
• Sound: Integrated HD Audio
• Protection: HASP HL Max USB dongle, Windows BitLocker

^[9]

Namco System ES4

• Operating System: Windows Embedded 7

Namco System BNA1

• CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 at 3.2Ghz
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050Ti PCIe 3.0 x16
• RAM: Innodisk 2×4 GB DDR4 2400 MHz
• Output: 1 Dual-Link DVI-I port, 1 DisplayPort 1.2 port, 1 HDMI 2.0b port
• Storage: innodisk 3ME4 SATA SSD 256 GB
• Operating System: Windows 10 IoT Enterprise 2016 LTSB
• Sound: Integrated HD Audio
• Protection: Thales Group Sentinel HL Max USB dongle, Windows BitLocker

List of System N2 games

• (2008)
• Counter-Strike Neo (2005)
• (2007)
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Bonds of the Battlefield Rev.2.00 (2008)
• MotoGP DX (2007)
• New Space Order (2007)
• Wangan Midnight: Maximum Tune 3 (2007)
• (2008)
• Wangan Midnight: Maximum Tune 3DX Plus (2010)

List of System ES1 games

• Dead Heat Riders (2013)
• Dead Heat Street Racing / Maximum Heat (2011)
• Nirin (2009)
• Sailor Zombie AKB48 Arcade Edition (2014)
• Tank! Tank! Tank! (2009)
• Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 4 (2011)
• Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 5 (North American version) (2017)

List of System ES1(A2) games

• Mobile Suit Gundam: Bonds of the Battlefield Rev.3.00 (2011)
• Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 4 (Asia(Others)/Indonesia version) (2012)
• Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 5 (Asia(Others)/Indonesia version) (2015)
• Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 5 DX (Asia(Others)/Indonesia version) (2016)
• Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 5 DX Plus (Asia(Others)/Indonesia version) (2017)

List of System ES2 Plus games

• Aikatsu! (2012)
• Hyakujuu Taisen Great Animal Kaiser (2012)

List of System ES3 games

• Lost Land Adventure (2014)
• Mach Storm (2013)
• Mario Kart Arcade GP DX (2013)
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Bonds of the Battlefield Rev.4.00 (2016)
• Mobile Suit Gundam U.C: Card Builder (2016)
• Pokken Tournament (2015)
• Star Wars Battle Pod (2015)
• Synchronica (2015)
• Tekken 7 (2015)
• Tekken 7 Fated Retribution (2016)
• Tekken 7 Fated Retribution ROUND 2 (2019)
• Time Crisis 5 (2015)
• Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 5 (2014)
• Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 5 DX (2015)
• Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 5 DX Plus (2016)
• Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 6 (2018)
• Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 6R (2020)
• Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 6RR (2021)

List of System ES4 games

• Point Blank X (2015)

List of System BNA1 games

• Mobile Suit Gundam: Bonds of the Battlefield II (2020)
• Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. 2 (2018)
• JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Last Survivor (2019)
• Poker Station (2020)
• Sword Art Online Arcade (2019)
• Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 6 (Export Version) (2019)

List of System BNA1 LITE games

• Dead Heat Unleashed^[10] (2023)
• Taiko no Tatsujin Nijiiro ver. (2020)
• Mario Kart Arcade GP DX (2013)

Similar Hardware

The Sega Lindbergh, Taito's Taito Type X and Taito Type X+ operate in a similar way to the N2 platform, except that they use other operating systems.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Nvidia partners with Namco . 2024-03-02 . GameSpot . en-US.
2. Web site: ナムコ次世代アーケード・プラットフォームにNVIDIA社の「SystemN2」採用 - 電撃オンライン . 2024-03-02 . web.archive.org.
3. Web site: AMD Mobile Athlon XP-M 2800+ - AXMA2800FKT4C . Cpu-world.com . 2022-08-22.
4. Web site: AMD Athlon 64 3500+ - ADA3500DAA4BP (ADA3500BPBOX) . Cpu-world.com . 2022-08-22.
5. Web site: System N2 Exposed. 5 August 2016.
6. Web site: The Namco N2 platform – Maximum Tune 3DX+ – 330mega . 2018-03-07 . 2018-03-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180308042937/https://330mega.wordpress.com/2015/11/23/the-namco-n2-platform-maximum-tune-3dx/ . dead .
7. Web site: (OFFLINE) Board Offline.
8. Web site: Researching protection and recovering Namco System ES1 arcades. 28 June 2018.
9. live . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/MFrTV8iwluw . 2021-12-11. TEKKEN 7 - Machine Booting . YouTube.
10. https://www.bandainamco-am.com/Ecommerce/Site/Content/PDFs/DHU_MANUAL_FINAL.pdf