Namco System 12 arcade emulator for PlayStation Vita
pcsx_rearmed based · R3000A dynarec for ARMv7 · NEON GPU rasterizer · C352 sound
Support on Patreon or Ko-Fi
- Introduction
- Highlights
- Supported Games
- Download
- Installation
- Usage
- Building from Source
- Project Layout
- Accuracy and Testing
- License and Credits
- Support
ReSys12 is an emulator for the Namco System 12 arcade board, the PlayStation-based hardware behind Tekken Tag Tournament, Tekken 3, Soul Calibur, Ehrgeiz, Point Blank 2 and others. The CPU, GTE and GPU come from pcsx_rearmed; the board itself (ROM banking, protection, H8/3002 sub CPU, C352 sound, EEPROM, JVS I/O) is ported from MAME.
System 12 is a PlayStation with twice the CPU clock (R3000A at 48 MHz), up to 4 MB of RAM, banked ROM instead of a CD drive, and a separate H8/3002 with a 32-voice C352 for sound. The first target is Tekken Tag Tournament at a locked 60 fps on a PS Vita at 444 MHz, without frame skipping. Every frame is emulated and drawn.
Board accuracy is kept where the player can see or hear it. Timing details that do not change what is on screen are simplified when that buys speed.
Core
- ari64 R3000A dynamic recompiler for ARMv7 from pcsx_rearmed, with code cache warm-up across runs and smaller VM domain syncs.
- NEON GTE and the gpu_neon software rasterizer running on its own core, fed by an asynchronous command queue.
- Idle loop skipping for the main CPU and the H8/3002 (polling, timeout and wait loops), so waiting CPUs do not burn host time.
- H8/3002 recompiler: runs of its program ROM are translated to ARM code once (registers, flags and cycle counts kept exact; checked against the interpreter). C352 on its own core with a lock-free ring buffer to the audio output.
- KC0xx protection and ROM DMA ported from MAME, with the DMA source fixes needed by Tekken Tag Tournament.
Rendering (vitaGL)
- The emulated GPU writes into GPU-visible texture memory; only changed VRAM rows are converted (15, 8 and 4 bpp).
- The rasterizer splits each frame into three bands drawn on three cores.
- Interlaced 480-line games are drawn one field at a time.
- Vertical games (Tenkomori Shooting) are rotated on the GPU.
Frontend
- Game list with Buttons / Gun / Wheel-Lever tabs and a Playable / All / Favorites filter.
- Save states (10 slots plus quick save / load), button mapping with turbo and combo keys, duplicate key warnings.
- Two players and external controllers: a 1P and a 2P controller, each with its own device. Button setups belong to the device (Vita, DualShock 4, Switch Pro Controller, ...). Bluetooth pads the Vita does not accept by itself work through the bundled RePad plugin.
- Gun games: aim with an analog stick or the touch screen, adjustable sensitivity and crosshair. Driving games: wheel on a stick, gas and brake on the shoulder buttons.
- Touch buttons: place any number of on-screen buttons, resize them by their edges and corners.
- Display options: aspect ratio, filter, border color or user artwork, frame rate counter, display latency (Normal, or Low: about one frame sooner, with an occasional repeated frame).
- Per-game settings: save the current display and control settings, touch button layout included, for one game only.
- Updates: the app checks GitHub for a new version when it starts and can install it.
Set names are the MAME set names. ROMs must match the MAME romset (see ROM sets); clone sets read missing files from the parent zip. System 12 has no BIOS.
Status: Playable, Partial or Not working on a PS Vita at 444 MHz. Partial sets run, but a known problem remains (listed in the notes). Full speed is 60 fps (59.94 Hz).
FPS: emulated frames per second measured on a PS Vita at 444 MHz in a gameplay scene (30 seconds with the buttons pressed, latest measurement). Some games draw fewer new pictures than that on purpose (noted).
Fourth CPU core: the table was measured with the Vita's fourth CPU core open to apps. A Vita normally leaves apps three cores, and the fourth stays closed unless a plugin opens it.
- v0.1.282 and older need that core. Without a plugin they run slower: Tekken Tag Tournament fell to 41-55 fps in our test, and overclocking does not help. The in-app update check does not run either, so install v0.1.286 or newer by hand with the VPK.
- v0.1.286 and newer need no plugin. The app checks the core at start and, when it is closed, uses two render threads instead of three. Measured that way, Tekken Tag Tournament, Tekken 3, Soul Calibur and Toukon Retsuden 3 run at 60 fps, and Ehrgeiz at about 57 fps. Other games were not measured without a plugin.
- A plugin is optional. CapUnlocker opens the core (install it under
*KERNELinur0:tai/config.txt) and the app then uses the third render thread, which brings Ehrgeiz to 60 fps. We measured this with its older version, CoreUnlocker80000H, on firmware 3.72, and did not test CapUnlocker itself. CapUnlocker also unlocks other system features.
The app sets 444 MHz by itself, so PSVshell or another overclock plugin is not needed.
| Game | Sets (parent first) | Year | Status | FPS | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tekken Tag Tournament | tektagt, tektagtc1a, tektagtub, tektagtuc1, tektagtjc1 |
1999 | Playable | 59.94 | |
| Tekken 3 | tekken3, tekken3a, tekken3b, tekken3c, tekken3d, tekken3ua, tekken3ud, tekken3ja, tekken3jd, tekken3je1 |
1997 | Playable | 59.94 | |
| Soul Calibur | soulclbr, soulclbrab, soulclbrac, soulclbrub, soulclbruc, soulclbrja2, soulclbrjb, soulclbrjc |
1998 | Playable | 59.93 | |
| Ehrgeiz | ehrgeiz, ehrgeizua, ehrgeizja |
1998 | Playable | 59.94 | |
| Fighting Layer | fgtlayer, fgtlayerja |
1998 | Playable | 59.89 | |
| Shin Nihon Pro Wrestling Toukon Retsuden 3 Arcade Edition | toukon3 |
1997 | Playable | 59.94 | |
| Libero Grande | lbgrande |
1997 | Playable | 59.94 | the game draws 30 pictures a second |
| Super World Stadium '98 | sws98 |
1998 | Playable | 59.90 | |
| Super World Stadium '99 | sws99 |
1999 | Playable | 59.94 | |
| Mr. Driller | mrdrillr, mrdrillrja2 |
1999 | Playable | 59.94 | |
| Aqua Rush | aquarush |
1999 | Playable | 59.94 | |
| Tenkomori Shooting | tenkomor, tenkomorja1 |
1998 | Playable | 59.83 | vertical screen |
| Paca Paca Passion | pacapp |
1998 | Partial | 59.85 | falling notes may be drawn twice |
| Paca Paca Passion 2 | pacapp2 |
1999 | Partial | 59.86 | as above |
| Paca Paca Passion Special | pacappsp |
1999 | Partial | 59.94 | as above |
| Derby Quiz My Dream Horse | mdhorse |
1998 | Playable | 59.94 | the game draws about 40 pictures a second |
| Kaiun Quiz | kaiunqz |
1999 | Playable | 59.94 | the game draws about 35 pictures a second |
| Point Blank 2 / Gunbarl | ptblank2, gunbarl |
1999 | Partial | 59.94 | gun on an analog stick or touch; may stop during play |
| Ghoul Panic / Oh! Bakyuuun | ghlpanic, ohbakyuun |
1999 | Playable | 59.94 | gun on an analog stick or touch |
| Golgo 13 | golgo13 |
1999 | Partial | 59.94 | the board tests its ROMs for a while after power-on |
| Golgo 13 Kiseki no Dandou | g13knd |
2000 | Partial | 59.94 | as above |
| Techno Drive | technodr |
1998 | Playable | 59.94 | wheel on an analog stick |
| Attack Pla Rail | aplarail |
1998 | Playable | 59.94 | lever on an analog stick; the game draws 40 pictures a second |
| Kart Duel | kartduel, kartduelja |
2000 | Partial | no link play | |
| Tekken Tag Tournament (Japan) | tektagtja3, tektagtjb |
1999 | Not working | bad dumps, also not working in MAME | |
| Super World Stadium 2000 / 2001 | sws2000, sws2001 |
2000 | Not working | also not working in MAME | |
| Um Jammer Lammy NOW!, Quest for Fame, Truck Kyosokyoku | ujlnow, questff, truckk |
1999 | Not working | CD-XA board, not emulated |
Prebuilt binaries are published on the Releases page:
| File | Platform | Contents |
|---|---|---|
ReSys12_vX.Y.Z_vita.zip |
PS Vita / PS TV | ReSys12_vX.Y.Z_vita.vpk and an empty data/resys12/roms/ folder |
The releases contain the emulator only. No ROMs or game artwork are included or provided. You must supply ROM images of games you own.
Requirements:
- A PS Vita or PS TV that can install homebrew VPK files with VitaShell.
- The runtime shader compiler
ur0:data/external/libshacccg.suprx. ReSys12 compiles its GPU shaders on the device, and games cannot be drawn without it. If it is missing, extract it with ShaRKBR33D or copy it from another homebrew setup guide.
Install the VPK
- Extract
ReSys12_vX.Y.Z_vita.zipon your PC. - Start VitaShell on the Vita and connect it to the PC:
- USB: press SELECT in VitaShell, connect the cable, and the memory card appears as a drive; or
- FTP: press SELECT in VitaShell and connect an FTP client to the address shown on screen.
- Copy
ReSys12_vX.Y.Z_vita.vpktoux0:(any folder, for exampleux0:downloads/). - Disconnect, open the folder in VitaShell, select the
.vpkand press X to install. Accept the extended permissions prompt. A ReSys12 bubble appears on the home screen (title IDRSYS00012). - The
.vpkfile can be deleted after installation.
Add ROMs
- Copy the
datafolder from the zip to the root ofux0:so that the empty folder isux0:data/resys12/roms/(ReSys12 also creates it on first launch). - Put your ROM zips in that folder, unchanged and not extracted, for example
ux0:data/resys12/roms/tektagt.zip. - Start ReSys12. The game list shows every known set, grouped by controller type.
The first start of a game unpacks its ROMs into ux0:data/resys12/cache/, which takes a few seconds. Later
starts load the cache directly.
- Required MAME version: romsets from MAME 0.260 or newer. 0.260 is the version we test with. The supported set list comes from a current MAME source (September 2026), and the few sets whose files or names changed after 0.260 are recognized in both forms. Romsets older than 0.260 are not tested and may not load.
- Keep each set as one zip named after the set, for example
tektagt.zip. Do not rename or extract them. Files inside the zip are matched by CRC32, so their names do not matter. - Clone sets (for example
tektagtub) read missing files from the parent zip (tektagt.zip), so keep the parent in the same folder, or use non-merged sets. - No BIOS zip is needed. CHD images are not used.
- The Playable list shows only sets whose ROM zip was found; press SELECT in the list to show all supported sets.
| What | Path |
|---|---|
| Border artwork | ux0:data/resys12/artwork/<set>.png (the parent set name is tried next) |
Files written by the emulator:
| What | Path |
|---|---|
| Settings and favorites | ux0:data/resys12/settings.cfg, ux0:data/resys12/favorites.cfg |
| Per-game settings | ux0:data/resys12/cfg/<set>.cfg (touch layout: <set>.touch) |
| Touch button layout | ux0:data/resys12/touch.cfg |
| EEPROM (test mode settings, records) | ux0:data/resys12/nvram/<set>.eep |
| Save states | ux0:data/resys12/state/<set>_<slot>.st |
| ROM cache | ux0:data/resys12/cache/ (safe to delete) |
Game list
| Action | Buttons |
|---|---|
| Start the selected game | Cross (or Circle, see Controls) |
| Change tab (Buttons / Gun / Wheel-Lever) | L / R |
| Page up / down | Left / Right |
| Add / remove favorite | Square |
| Filter: Playable / All / Favorites | SELECT |
| Options (Display, Controls) | START |
| About | Triangle |
Options opened from the game list edit the global settings.
In game
| Action | Buttons |
|---|---|
| Lever | D-pad (or left stick, see Controls) |
| Buttons 1-4 | Square, Triangle, Cross, Circle (Tekken: left punch, right punch, left kick, right kick) |
| Buttons 5-6 | R, L (Tekken Tag Tournament: R = tag) |
| Coin / Start | SELECT / START |
| Open the in-game menu | SELECT + START |
| Quick save / quick load | SELECT + L / SELECT + R |
| Exit | L + R + SELECT + START |
The in-game menu provides: Resume, Reset, Test mode (service DIP switch), Save states (10 slots), Display (frame rate counter, aspect ratio, filter, border, latency), Controls (button mapping, turbo, combo keys, analog stick, gun / wheel / lever settings for the games that use them), per-game settings and game selection.
Controllers and two players. Controls has a 1P Controller and a 2P Controller page. Each page sets the player's Device (Auto, Vita, Controller 1-4 or None) and the buttons, analog stick, turbo and combo keys of that device. Left / Right on the 1P Controller or 2P Controller row also changes the device. Auto gives 1P the Vita's own controls and 2P the first controller; on a PS TV, 1P and 2P take the controllers in order. The 2P page is shown while a second device is connected.
Button setups belong to the device, not to the player. The Vita, a DualShock 4 and a Switch Pro Controller each keep their own, so a controller brings its setup when it moves from 2P to 1P. A second controller of the same kind has its own setup too. Per-game settings store them the same way.
To set a key, select its row, press Cross (or Circle), then press the button to use. Only the player's own device is read, so a button on another controller does not end up in the Vita's setup. Square sets the row to None where None is allowed. Controllers have L2, R2, L3 and R3 as keys of their own (L1 and R1 are L and R); in the menus L2 and R2 also work as L and R.
Input engine (Controls > Input engine):
| Engine | When to use it |
|---|---|
| Native (default) | The Vita's own controls, and controllers the system supports by itself (DualShock 3 / 4 on a PS TV). |
| RePad | Bluetooth controllers the Vita does not accept, such as the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller (and pads in Switch Pro mode), or a DualShock 4 / DualSense on a handheld Vita. The plugin comes with the app, nothing to install. Pair the controller in Settings > Devices > Bluetooth Devices. A controller that was already connected when the app started has to connect again. |
| VitaControl | Listed when the VitaControl plugin is in a plugin list. Enough when only 1P uses a controller. Switching to or from it restarts the Vita (the app asks first). |
Turbo. Pick one Turbo key and the game button it fires (Turbo button), plus the speed. While the turbo key is held, that game button fires repeatedly.
Combo keys. A key can press two keys at once (for example the Tekken tag throw). Square, Triangle, Cross, Circle, L, R and a controller's L2, R2, L3 and R3 can be combo keys. Confirm on a row, then pick the first key and the second key.
Gun games. The aim follows the analog stick (stick position or stick moves the aim), R is the trigger. Golgo 13 uses L as the scope sensor. With Touch gun on, touching the screen aims and fires; touch buttons keep working.
Touch buttons. Controls > Touch controls > Edit touch layout: drag on an empty spot to add a button, drag it to move it, and drag an edge or corner to resize it (6-pixel steps). Tap a button to pick its key, a Combo (two keys at once), Duplicate (a copy of the same size and key, whose key is picked next) or Delete. Done or START leaves the editor.
Driving games. The wheel or lever follows an analog stick (the d-pad also works), R is gas and L is brake.
The last played game is remembered and selected on the next launch. EEPROM data is written shortly after the game changes it and again on exit.
Builds are done on Linux or WSL (Ubuntu 24.04 is used for development).
sudo apt install -y build-essential cmake ninja-build git python3 zlib1g-dev- PS Vita: VitaSDK with
vitashark,libpngandzlib(vdpminstall-all),VITASDKset. - vitaGL built and installed into VitaSDK.
cmake -S vita -B build-vita -G Ninja -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE="$VITASDK/share/vita.toolchain.cmake" \
-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DRS12_LOG=OFF -DRS12_DEBUG_TOOLS=OFF
cmake --build build-vita # build-vita/eboot.bin
cmake --build build-vita --target vpk # build-vita/resys12.vpksrc/psx/ pcsx_rearmed subset: R3000A, ari64 recompiler, GTE, gpulib, gpu_neon, plus the System 12 shim
src/s12/ System 12 board: memory map, KC0xx protection, ROM DMA, EEPROM, RTC, JVS I/O, save states
src/h8/ H8/3002 sound / I/O CPU
src/sound/ C352
src/romload/ MAME set tables, zip reader, ROM cache
src/sys/ Vita heap and JIT memory
vita/ PS Vita port: frontend, video output (vitaGL), platform code, LiveArea assets
- Every performance change is checked against a desktop test harness (kept in the development tree): frame and audio hashes are compared before and after over thousands of frames on a set of reference games.
- Changes that alter the hashes on purpose (idle-loop skipping, relaxed synchronization) are checked with save states and recorded input against reference screenshots, so that the game reaches the same scenes with the same picture and sound.
- The R3000A and H8/3002 recompilers are compared against their interpreters in an ARM build of the harness.
- Sound output is recorded on the device and compared with MAME.
License. ReSys12 is distributed under the GNU General Public License, version 3.
- The pcsx_rearmed code and the ReSys12 code are GPL-2.0-or-later (pcsx_rearmed's license text is in
src/psx/COPYING). - The MAME parts (System 12 board, H8/3002, C352) are BSD-3-Clause.
- vitaGL and vitaShaRK, linked into the Vita build, are LGPL-3.0, so the combined program and the release packages are distributed under GPL-3.0.
The original copyright headers are kept in all imported sources.
Credits
- pcsx_rearmed (notaz, Ari64 and contributors): R3000A, ari64 recompiler, GTE, gpulib and gpu_neon.
- MAME developers: System 12 board, H8/3002, C352, AT28C16, ROM definitions and hardware research.
- VitaSDK, vitaGL and vitaShaRK (Rinnegatamante).
- JUnzip, zlib, libpng.
Trademarks. Namco, System 12 and all game titles are trademarks of their respective owners. This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by Bandai Namco or any rights holder. No ROM images, game graphics or logos are included in this repository or in the release packages.
ReSys12 is free software. If you want to support its development, you can do so on Patreon or Ko-Fi. Support is for the emulator work only.
ROMs are never provided, to anyone, including supporters. Do not ask for them.