Originally working under the System-X name, Sega helped developed a variation of their Dreamcast console system. Unlike the work carried out to create Segas own Dreamcast derived architecture (NAOMI), the new system is a piggy-back unit that directly connects to the cabinet by the JAMMA connector. The enlarged PCB configuration, seen as a much more flexible route for the universal platform, is being used most prominently by Sammy as part of their Atomiswave platform.
The universal swap-out cartridge system takes on products such as Capcoms CPS 2, SNK Neo-Geo MVS and Taito G-Net architecture and may well attract operators looking to acquire a platform that would be supported by a plethora of new game titles, so avoiding the need to swap-out the whole cabinet, but just make a simple cartridge / marquee change. For SNK in the past, the ability to offer a wide variety of game genres in the 2D category, inter-changeably, provided a great benefit to operators who saw over hundreds of MVSs installed. Even after the collapse of the SNK operation, Korean developers are still able to turn a profit supporting the remnants of machines still in the field with games like The King of Fighters 2002.
The ability to offer a wide and varied content stream is the key factor in establishing any new swap-out system. Using the Dreamcast / System-X as the backbone to the Atomiswave, Sammy will call upon software developers familiar with the console hardware. Promoting the system as a New Entertainment World, clearly illustrates Sammys aspirations as successors to the New World that was once offered by the SNK Neo-Geo MVS.