Capcom cabinets (Mini Cute, Impress, Status)¶
Capcom made its own candy cabs in Japan — from the tiny Mini Cute (a cult ~1.30 m tall) to the big 29″ Impress, plus the Status series. All JAMMA (CPS-1/CPS-2 era), CRT monitor — standard candy cab repair (recap, Nanao/Sanwa chassis per unit).
Overview¶
| Cabinet | Year | Screen | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Status (Status 18 / 25) | late 80s | CRT 18″ / 25″ | Capcom's entry candy cab |
| Mini Cute | 1991 | CRT 18″ | very compact (~1300 mm), "coffin" lid, Japan only, rare |
| Impress | 1990s | CRT 29″ | Capcom's big candy cab |
| OOB-50 / CAV System 60 | — | big format (50″+) | projector / giant-screen cabs |
The Mini Cute (the cult one)¶
- Released 1991, at the same time as Street Fighter II: Champion Edition. One of the smallest cabs ever made (~1.30 m), aimed at kids and Japanese coffee shops.
- Lid that opens "like a coffin" → easy PCB access and maintenance.
- JAMMA standard → runs most 80s/90s games.
- 18″ monitor; per unit, a Nanao (dual-frequency) chassis — identify it on the board.
⚡ Connectors & power¶
- JAMMA (CRT) → JAMMA wiring, buttons Control panels.
- Candy brick (~100 V AC in Japan) → candy cab PSU.
- ⚠️ A 100 V Japanese cab → step-down transformer on 230 V (see power).
Common faults¶
| Symptom | Likely cause | Lead |
|---|---|---|
| Unstable / washed-out image | CRT chassis / recap | Recap + adjustments |
| No picture | power / harness / chassis | Diagnose power → monitor |
| Dead controls | JAMMA harness / microswitches | Diagnose I/O, clean contacts |
| Nothing powers on | mains / 100 V transformer | Check the mains input |
Repair & maintenance
Modernise (video, PSU, JVS, upscaler, PC/FPGA) → Modernising a cabinet. CRT monitor (discharge HV!) → CRT safety (Nanao MS8/MS9 or equivalent chassis) · recap → Recap · power → candy PSU · diagnosis → PCB fault-finding.
See also¶
- Other Japanese candy cabs (Taito Canary, Irem Madonna, Pony…) · Capcom CPS-1 PCB / CPS-2.
Sources & attribution¶
- Arcade-Museum — Mini Cute (cabinet), Capcom 1991 — https://www.arcade-museum.com/Videogame/mini-cute-cabinet
- The Arcade Blogger — Capcom Mini Cute Restoration (1300 mm, coffin lid, 18″, SF2 CE launch) — https://arcadeblogger.com/2022/01/30/capcom-mini-cute-restoration-1/
- Wikipedia — List of Japanese arcade cabinets (Capcom: Status 18/25, Cute, Impress 29″, OOB-50, CAV System 60) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Japanese_arcade_cabinets
Review & corrections
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