Sega's xbox arcade hardware "Chihiro"

Dbeau · 09-09-2004

May be old news to some, but the first time I came across a pic of the xbox hardware sega is using in there new arcade machines

System : X-Box based configuration.
CPU : Intel Pentium III 733MHz (133MHz FSB)
Graphics : nVidia XChip 200MHz (based on the nVidia GeForce 3)
Sound Hardware :
1. Cirrus Logic CS4630 Stream Processor (20-bit DAC, programmable to handle 3D sound streams, 2D sound (including DLS-compatible MIDI), MP3 acceleration, Sensaura environmental effects, and other functions)
2. Other sounds may be generated by the CPU via software engines.
3. nVidia nForce (Real time Dolby Digital 5.1 encoding)
RAM : Upgradable Module, from 64MB upwards (Outrun 2 has 512MB)
Media : Sega GD-Rom
Polygons : 125M Polys/sec (Theoretical Maximum)
Rendering Speed : 4.0 G pixel/sec
Features : Programmable vertex and pixel shading, hardware Transform & Lighting engine, Quincunx FSAA, Anisotropic filtering, bump mapping, hardware lighting, particle effects, other standard 3D features).

THE KNOWN CHIHIRO GAME LIST
Crazy Taxi High Roller, Ollie King, Outrun 2, The House of the Dead III, Virtua Cop 3

check this link bellow for more info and screens of games that use the hardware.
http://www.system16.com/sega/hrdw_chihiro.html

turbocozmo · 09-09-2004

I still wanna play Ollie King :smt022

**Baseley09** · 09-09-2004

The Chihiro roms are dumped and playable, they have the same extension (.xbe??)

Only problem are those games using the 512mb Chihiro configuration, the eksbawkz dont have enuff ram........which prolly means no VF4 Tuned.........here's hoping for a port.

Not that i care i dont even have a box.

**GaijinPunch** · 09-09-2004

Originally Posted by turbocozmo

I still wanna play Ollie King :smt022

It's pretty damn wicked. If my back wasn't out of whack, I'd play it. :)

Greatsaintlouis · 09-10-2004

What, is Ollie King like some updated version of Top Skater??

Personally, I'm a little leery of both consoles and arcade machines that start getting based around PC hardware and OSes - things start acting too much like a computer and a lot less like a gaming machine, and lose some of the excellent simplicity of days of yore.

Wouldn't you find it annoying to have to bug your arcade operator to come reset a game because it crashed?

**dj898** · 09-10-2004

mayeb as should be simple as unplug the cord?

in my days we used to intentionally crashed arcade machine to rack up free coins... :D

**haljordan** · 09-10-2004

MIght be cool. an X-Box with GD-ROM :-p

SuperFunkNinjaYoshiiKun · 09-10-2004

According to a news article on Xbox-scene, after ripping the Chihiro version of CrazyTaxi you're left with a .xbe that'll run fine on an Xbox....

**Paulo** · 09-10-2004

erm have hey actually got it running tho?

Also havent some people added more ram to their xbox?

SuperFunkNinjaYoshiiKun · 09-10-2004

Yup, Crazy Taxi boots and runs fine.

Seems that the RAM in a Chihiro is an upgradeable module, from 64 to 512Mb.

So any games using only the basic 64mb, like CT, run fine. And I therefore assume that an Xbox with 128Mb upgrade (or a Dev kit) will run any of the 128Mb ram games ok. And before you ask, no Outrun2, it uses 512mb.

But surely this the first time that the games from an arcade board based on a homemachine have been able to run on the home console. Crazy....

**Paulo** · 09-10-2004

Thats bloody mad....

**devilredeemed** · 09-10-2004

Originally Posted by SuperFunkNinjaYoshiiKun

Yup, Crazy Taxi boots and runs fine.

Seems that the RAM in a Chihiro is an upgradeable module, from 64 to 512Mb.

So any games using only the basic 64mb, like CT, run fine. And I therefore assume that an Xbox with 128Mb upgrade (or a Dev kit) will run any of the 128Mb ram games ok. And before you ask, no Outrun2, it uses 512mb.

But surely this the first time that the games from an arcade board based on a homemachine have been able to run on the home console. Crazy....

amazing, completly amazing. how about the interface though? can you play crazy taxi with a controller?

by the way - people are more and more putting in bigger HDs - there was this guy selling his xbox and it had a 250gb HD - wasn't too expensive either.

**GaijinPunch** · 09-11-2004

Originally Posted by Greatsaintlouis

What, is Ollie King like some updated version of Top Skater?

Not sure, never played Top Skater. Ollie King is a cell-shaded Skate Board racing game. Pretty damn cool too. There's videos about the net.

SuperFunkNinjaYoshiiKun · 09-11-2004

Yup, controller works fine. The 'back' button is the coin button, and 'start' is the service switch. On CT, anyways.

And yeah, it's well worth putting a bigger hdd in your Xbox, especially if you're using Media Centre. I have a 250Gb in mine....

**supersonic87** · 09-11-2004

can you confirm its playable from first hand experience or are you just stating whats been written on xbox-scene???

Rich

SuperFunkNinjaYoshiiKun · 09-11-2004

Originally Posted by supersonic87

can you confirm its playable from first hand experience or are you just stating whats been written on xbox-scene???

Rich

With me not owning the original GD-R of CT3, I can't test it out...... ;-)

However, I have been pondering if it is possible to make a 'homebrew' Chihiro. Surely, this all proves that Chihiro is a normal Xbox mobo, with upgradable RAM, and a GD-R interface. If we could examine the RAM module, a 512Mb one, we could see what chips and how many are used. Then replace the ram in the Xbox with, say 8 64mb ram chips (or 4 128mb, depending on what the ram module contains). It should then run all Chihiro games. Very much easier said than done, but is it technically possible? Building a GD-R interface would be incredibly hard, maybe impossible. But if you have the .xbe file, do you think this could be done?

**GaijinPunch** · 09-11-2004

So the next question... what are the other Chihiro games that only use 64MB of Ram, or even 128MB, as a 128MB RAM Xbox only costs like $600.

Would be nice if you could upgrade it to 512MB Ram -- then you could play any MAME games. :)

Greatsaintlouis · 09-11-2004

Originally Posted by GaijinPunch

Not sure, never played Top Skater.

Top Skater was a Sega arcade game which ran on Model 3 hardware. The player stood on a skateboard-like controller and navigated a course, doing tricks for points and to extend time. A pic of the cabinet as well as some game info is here:

http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?...&game_id=10160

Apparently the game was almost destined for a Saturn conversion, but it was too close to the end of the Saturn's life for Sega to attempt it. A psuedo-sequel featuring the same controller was released by Sega in 2001 and called AirTrix, it featured more half-pipe action than the decidedly linear racing style of Top Skater.

**GaijinPunch** · 09-12-2004

Top Skater was a Sega arcade game which ran on Model 3 hardware. The player stood on a skateboard-like controller and navigated a course, doing tricks for points and to extend time.

Then yeah, it's like that. Although you do tricks to gain speed (similar to grinding in Jet Set Radio), and you race against other people (computer players, not real people).