CP System III
| Manufacturer | Capcom |
|---|---|
| Type | Arcade system board |
| Release date | November 21, 1996 |
| Discontinued | September 13, 1999 |
| CPU | Hitachi SH-2 (@ 25 MHz) |
| Display | Raster (horizontal), 384×224/496×224 resolution, 32768 colors on screen, 16,777,216-color palette |
| Input | 8-way joystick, from 3 to 6 buttons |
| Predecessor | CP System II |
The CP System III (CPシステムIII, CP shisutemu 3) or CPS-3 is an arcade system board that was first used by Capcom in 1996 with the arcade game Red Earth. It was the second successor to the CP System arcade hardware, following the CP System II. The arcade system saw new releases up until mid 1999. Technical support for the CPS-3 ended on February 28, 2019. It would be the last proprietary system board Capcom would produce before moving on to the Dreamcast-based Naomi platform.
Like its forerunners, games can be exchanged without altering the core hardware. The CP System III uses CDs instead of separate daughterboards to store the games on, which are then loaded onto the system's CD drive to be stored into memory to allow for it to be played. Like its predecessor, games are encrypted, and must be decrypted via game-specific security cartridges, which will decrypt the contents stored within the system memory in run time.