DECO Cassette System

The DECO Cassette System is an arcade system that was introduced by Data East in October 1980.^[1] It was the first standardised arcade system that allowed arcade owners to change games. Developed in 1979, it was released in Japan in 1980 and then North America in 1981.

The arcade owner would buy a base cabinet, while the games were stored on standard audio cassette tapes. The arcade owner would insert the cassette and a key module^[a] into the cabinet. When the machine was powered on, the program from the tape would be copied into the cabinet's RAM chips; this process took about two to three minutes. Afterwards, the game could be played freely until the machine was powered off.

Game list

In bold characters are the video games that were also released in dedicated arcade cabinets.

01: Highway Chase (also known as Mad Alien)
02: Sengoku Ninja Tai (also known as Ninja)
03: Manhattan
04: Terranean
05: Missile Sprinter
06: Nebula
07: Astro Fantasia
08: The Tower
09: Super Astro Fighter
10: Ocean to Ocean
11: Lock 'n' Chase
12: The DECO Kid (also known as Flash Boy)
13: Tournament Pro Golf (also known as Pro Golf or 18 Hole Pro Golf)
14: DS Telejan
15: Lucky Poker
16: Treasure Island
17: Bobitto
18: Explorer
19: Disco No. 1 (also known as Sweet Heart)
20: Tornado
21: Mission-X
22: Pro Tennis
23: 18 Challenge Pro Golf
24: Tsumego Kaisyou
25: Angler Dangler (also known as Fishing)
26: BurgerTime (also known as Hamburger)
27: Bump 'n' Jump (also known as Burnin' Rubber)
28: Cluster Buster (also known as Graplop)
29: Rootin' Tootin' (also known as La-Pa-Pa)
30: Skater
31: Pro Bowling
32: Night Star
33: Pro Soccer
34: Super Doubles Tennis
35: Bumpoline (also known as Flying Ball)
36: Genesis (also known as Boomer Rang'r)
37: Zeroize
38: Scrum Try
39: Peter Pepper's Ice Cream Factory
40: Fighting Ice Hockey
41: Oozumou - The Grand Sumo
42: Hellow Gateball
43: Kamikaze Cabbie (also known as Yellow Cab)
44: Boulder Dash
UX-7: Tokyo MIE Shinryoujo (Tokyo MIE Clinic)
UX-8: Tokyo MIE Shinryoujo 2 (Tokyo MIE Clinic 2)
UX-9: Geinoujin Shikaku Shiken
??: Burmazon

Reception

In Japan, the Game Machine list of highest-grossing arcade video games of 1981 listed Pro Golf at number three and Tele-Jan at number thirteen.^[2] On the list of highest-grossing arcade video games of 1982, Burnin' Rubber (Bump 'n' Jump) was number nine, BurgerTime (Hamburger) was number eleven, and Pro Tennis was number fifteen.^[3] Game Machine later listed Pro Soccer as the top-grossing new table arcade cabinet in September 1983,^[4]^[5] and Scrum Try topped the table arcade game chart in April 1984.^[6]

Legacy

It was the first interchangeable arcade system board, developed in 1979 before it was released in 1980. It inspired Sega's Convert-a-Game system, which released in 1981.^[7] Later interchangeable arcade systems followed from other companies, such as the Nintendo VS. System in 1984.^[8]

The DECO Cassette System was revolutionary for its time; but Data East discontinued it in 1985 due to arcade owners' complaints about the potential unreliability of both the tapes (which could be demagnetized easily) and key modules (which EPROMs went bad after a time), as well as the poor quality of most of its games^[b] and the medium's long loading times. Despite its bad qualities, the DECO Cassette System was better received in Japan, where many more games were released for it.^[9]

John Szczepaniak of Hardcore Gaming 101 considers the DECO scrolling action game Flash Boy (1981), based on the manga and anime series Astro Boy (1952–1968), to be sophisticated for its time. It had an energy bar that gradually depletes over time, and some of which can be sacrificed for temporary invincibility. It had punch attacks rather than shooting, and a type of combo mechanic where, when an enemy explodes, debris can destroy other enemies. There is also a boss battle at the end of each level, as well as bi-directional side-scrolling similar to Defender. Data East released two versions of the game, a side-scrolling version and a vertical scrolling version.^[10]

Notes

^ This was an early form of copy protection, to ensure that the tapes would not be illegally copied by unscrupulous arcade owners. Some titles had to be digitally signed by Data East; others were encrypted.
^ And to make things worse, a few of its games which proved popular were also released in dedicated machines with conventional ROM-based boards; which in turn gave arcade owners even less of a reason to invest into the DECO Cassette System.

References

^ "Overseas Readers Column: Data East Celebrated Its 10th Anniversary" (PDF). Game Machine. No. 286. Amusement Press, Inc. 1 July 1986. p. 26.
^ ""Donkey Kong" No.1 Of '81 — Game Machine's Survey Of "The Year's Best Three AM Machines" —" (PDF). Game Machine. No. 182. Amusement Press, Inc. 15 February 1982. p. 30.
^ ""Pole Position" No. 1 Video Game: Game Machine's "The Year's Best Three AM Machines" Survey Results" (PDF). Game Machine. No. 207. Amusement Press, Inc. 1 March 1983. p. 30.
^ "Best Hit Games 25" (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 219. Amusement Press, Inc. 1 September 1983. p. 29.
^ "Best Hit Games 25" (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 220. Amusement Press, Inc. 15 September 1983. p. 29.
^ "Best Hit Games 25" (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 234. Amusement Press, Inc. 15 April 1984. p. 29.
^ Adlum, Eddie (November 1985). "The Replay Years: Reflections from Eddie Adlum". RePlay. Vol. 11, no. 2. pp. 134-175 (160-3).
^ "The Replay Years: Video Systems". RePlay. Vol. 11, no. 2. November 1985. pp. 128, 130.
^ "AtariProtos.com - DECO Cassette System". www.atariprotos.com. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
^ John Szczepaniak (2014). "Flash Boy". The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers (DVD) (in English and Japanese). Hardcore Gaming 101.

External links

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[2] This was an early form of copy protection, to ensure that the tapes would not be illegally copied by unscrupulous arcade owners. Some titles had to be digitally signed by Data East; others were encrypted.

[10] And to make things worse, a few of its games which proved popular were also released in dedicated machines with conventional ROM-based boards; which in turn gave arcade owners even less of a reason to invest into the DECO Cassette System.

[1] "Overseas Readers Column: Data East Celebrated Its 10th Anniversary" (PDF). Game Machine. No. 286. Amusement Press, Inc. 1 July 1986. p. 26.

[3] ""Donkey Kong" No.1 Of '81 — Game Machine's Survey Of "The Year's Best Three AM Machines" —" (PDF). Game Machine. No. 182. Amusement Press, Inc. 15 February 1982. p. 30.

[4] ""Pole Position" No. 1 Video Game: Game Machine's "The Year's Best Three AM Machines" Survey Results" (PDF). Game Machine. No. 207. Amusement Press, Inc. 1 March 1983. p. 30.

[5] "Best Hit Games 25" (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 219. Amusement Press, Inc. 1 September 1983. p. 29.

[6] "Best Hit Games 25" (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 220. Amusement Press, Inc. 15 September 1983. p. 29.

[7] "Best Hit Games 25" (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 234. Amusement Press, Inc. 15 April 1984. p. 29.

[8] Adlum, Eddie (November 1985). "The Replay Years: Reflections from Eddie Adlum". RePlay. Vol. 11, no. 2. pp. 134-175 (160-3).

[9] "The Replay Years: Video Systems". RePlay. Vol. 11, no. 2. November 1985. pp. 128, 130.

[11] "AtariProtos.com - DECO Cassette System". www.atariprotos.com. Retrieved 2020-12-12.

[12] John Szczepaniak (2014). "Flash Boy". The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers (DVD) (in English and Japanese). Hardcore Gaming 101.

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