The algorithm was thereafter implemented in this state for all known CPS-2 games in MAME. It has been determined that the encryption employs two four-round Feistel ciphers with a 64-bit key. In January 2007, the encryption method was fully reverse-engineered by Andreas Naive and Nicola Salmoria. However, in January 2001, the CPS-2 Shock group was able to obtain unencrypted program data by hacking into the hardware, which they distributed as XOR difference tables to produce the unencrypted data from the original ROM images, making emulation possible, as well as restoring cartridges that had been erased because of the suicide system. Consequently the board would die, even if used legally it would not play after a finite amount of time unless a fee was paid to Capcom to replace it.ĭue to the heavy encryption, it was believed for a long time that CP System II emulation was next to impossible. It is possible to bypass the original battery and swap it out with a new one in-circuit, but this must be done before the original falls below 2V or the keys will be lost. This is generally referred to as a 'suicide battery'. As time passes, these batteries lose their charge and the games stop functioning, because the CPU cannot execute any code without the decryption keys. The B boards hold battery-backed memory containing decryption keys needed for the games to run. The exception to this is that the blue and green boards can be used together. CP System II A and B boards are color-coded by region, and each board can only be used with its same-colored mate. The relationship between the A and B board is very similar to that between a home video game console and cartridge.

The CP System II consists of two separate parts the A board, which connects to the JAMMA harness and contains components common between all CP System II games, and the B board, which contains the game itself. They also originally had plans for the system to be capable of 3D graphics. They had planned to complete and release the CPS2 in 18 months. Ĭapcom announced the development of the CPS2 in 1990. Due to the encryption, the system was never bootlegged until unencrypted program data became available.

In order to rectify the situation, Capcom took the CP System hardware (with QSound) with minimal changes and employed encryption on the program ROMs to prevent software piracy. The earlier Capcom system board, the original CP System (or CPS-1), while successful, was very vulnerable to bootleggers making unauthorized copies of games.

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