Sega NAOMI

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The Sega NAOMI ( N ew A rcade O peration M achine I dea ) is an arcade system board based on the technology of the Sega Dreamcast . The first Naomi hardware was presented by JAMMA in 1998 as the successor to the Sega Model 3 hardware. By using standard components, the production costs could be enormously minimized compared to other systems.

Although the first Naomi hardware has been on the market for many years and therefore seems rather dated from a technical point of view, games are still being developed for the system. This makes the system the longest-running arcade system of all time, after Neo-Geo .

hardware

Arcade system board from SEGA Naomi
ARM7 Yamaha AICA

Naomi and Dreamcast are based on the same system architecture. Both systems use the same processor with the same clock speed. However, several Naomi boards can be connected to one processing unit in order to achieve more system performance or to expand the display to multiple monitors. The Naomi's system and graphics memory are also twice the size and the sound memory four times the size of the Dreamcast. In addition, Naomi can use not only the optical GD-ROM data carriers of the Dreamcast for data storage , but also ROM modules. These are more robust and have very short loading times.

Naomi motherboards can be used in special housings, the so-called Naomi Universal Cabinet , which can accommodate a maximum of 16 boards.

Technical specifications

  • CPU: Hitachi SH-4 64 Bit RISC CPU (200 MHz 360 MIPS / 1.4 GFLOPS)
  • Graphics processor: NEC CLX2 ( PowerVR Series 2 ) with 100 MHz (3 million polygons / second)
  • Sound Engine: ARM7 Yamaha AICA 45 MHz (with internal 32 bit RISC CPU, 64 channels ADPCM)
  • RAM: 32 MB
  • Main memory: 16 MB
  • Graphics memory: 16 MB
  • Sound memory: 8 MB
  • Media: Masked ROM module with a maximum of 172 MB, GD-ROM with a max. 1.2 GB
  • Polygons: 5 million polygons / second real world (including textures and effects)
  • Rendering speed: 500 MPixel / second

Games

Since Sega's hardware is also licensed for other companies, there are relatively many games for Naomi - including games from other manufacturers such as Mazan or Guilty Gear XX . Some of the most famous games:

  • Crazy Taxi
  • Dead or Alive 2
  • Ferrari 355 Challenge
  • Guilty Gear XX
  • House of the Dead 2
  • Sports Jam
  • Virtua tennis
  • Zombie Revenge
  • The Typing of the Dead
  • spawn
  • Capcom vs SNK Pro
  • Virtua Tennis 2
  • Marvel vs Capcom 2
  • Virtual Striker

Naomi 2

In 2000 Sega presented the successor model Naomi 2 . It offered an improved graphics unit, but the basic architecture of the system remained the same, so that modules from the original Naomi could also be used on the new hardware without modifications.

With the introduction of the Naomi 2, GD-ROM drives for the arcade platforms were also introduced. A GD-ROM drive was optionally available as an extension for both the Naomi 2 and its predecessor. The GD-ROM drive was shipped with an expansion module known as a DIMM board. It contained additional memory so that an entire game could be loaded into RAM. This should compensate for the slower loading times of the disc-based GD-ROMS compared to conventional modules. In addition, the GD-ROM could be switched off after the loading process was completed, which should reduce wear.

Technical specifications

Only the main differences to the predecessor are listed here:

  • Graphics processor: 2 × NEC CLX2 ( PowerVR Series 2 )
  • Main memory: 32 MB 100 MHz SDRAM
  • Graphics memory: 32 MB
  • Memory for 3D models: 32MB
  • Polygons: 10 million polygons / second with 6 light sources
  • Render speed: 2000 MPixel / second (theoretical maximum)

Games

Some of the most significant games for the Naomi 2:

Web links