Sega Soft Desk 5 MkIII
| Sega Soft Desk 5 Mark III | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Katakana | ソフトデスク5 |
| Rōmaji | SOFUTO DESUKU 5 |
| AKA | Soft Desk 5; Soft Desk 5 MkIII; SEGA Mark III Soft Desk 5 |
| Type | Upright |
| Monitor | 18 in |
The Sega Soft Desk 5 (ソフトデスク5), also identified in Sega documentation as SOFTDESK 5 MKIII, is a compact multi-game commercial arcade cabinet based around Sega's Sega Mark III generation of software.
The cabinet is a smaller five-game counterpart to the Soft Desk 10 concept.
Factory service documentation identifies the machine as:
SEGA MARK III SOFT DESK 5
and documents a cartridge-based system in which the installed games could be replaced individually.
Overview
The Soft Desk 5 combines five selectable Sega Mark III games in a single compact upright cabinet.
Unlike a conventional arcade cabinet using a single game PCB, the machine was designed around interchangeable game cartridges and a dedicated selection/control system.
The player selects from the installed games using buttons on the front control panel.
The machine also supports operator-adjustable timed play.
Factory documentation
A surviving Sega instruction manual is titled:
MARK III SOFT DESK 5
The manual number is:
420-5345
The table of contents identifies the machine as:
SOFTDESK 5 MKIII
and includes sections covering:
- Installation
- Machine specifications
- Component identification
- Cartridge removal
- Cartridge replacement
- Cartridge stopper replacement
- Power cartridge removal
- Play-time setting
- Operation
- Control-panel access
- Coin chute servicing
- Wiring colour codes
- General wiring diagram
Monitor
The factory manual identifies the display as an:
18-inch colour monitor
The internal cabinet diagram shows the monitor mounted in the upper section of the cabinet, with the game and power electronics located beneath it.
Game system
The Soft Desk 5 is explicitly associated with Sega's:
Mark III
software generation.
The machine uses removable cartridges, and Sega's service manual includes dedicated instructions for:
- Removing cartridges
- Replacing cartridges
- Replacing the cartridge stopper
- Removing the power cartridge
This confirms that the software system was designed to be routinely serviced and changed by the operator.
Game selection
The Soft Desk 5 provides:
five selectable games
The front panel incorporates five selection buttons corresponding to the installed software.
This is the principal difference from the larger Soft Desk 10, which offered ten selectable titles.
Time-based play
Like the other Soft Desk machines, the Soft Desk 5 supports adjustable timed play.
The factory manual includes a dedicated section titled:
プレイ時間の設定
or:
Play-time setting
This indicates that the operator could configure the amount of play time rather than relying solely on conventional per-credit arcade operation.
Controls
The front control area includes:
- Joystick
- Action buttons
- Five game-selection buttons
- Coin input
- Internal service controls
The manual also documents:
- Service switch
- Volume control
- Coin meter
Internal components
Factory diagrams identify components including:
- 18-inch colour monitor
- Control board
- Game cartridges
- AC adaptor
- Power transformer
- RGB amplifier
- Speaker
- Service switch
- Coin meter
- Fuse
- Service outlet
- Power cord
- Earth terminal
The exact model numbers of all boards should be confirmed from a higher-resolution manual scan before being added to the specifications.
Relationship to Soft Desk 10
The Soft Desk 5 follows the same basic commercial philosophy as the:
but reduces the number of simultaneously available games from ten to five.
Both systems use selectable Sega software in a commercial cabinet and were designed to allow operators to replace the installed software.
The Soft Desk 5 is physically much more compact and uses a simpler cabinet design.
Relationship to Soft Desk 10 Mark III
The later / related:
Coreland Soft Desk 10 Mark III
uses the same Sega Mark III software generation but accommodates ten games instead of five.
The two machines should therefore be treated as distinct models rather than size variants of the same cabinet.
Gallery
-
Sega Mark III Soft Desk 5 instruction manual -
Manual Page 1 -
Manual page 2 -
Manual Page 3 -
Cover photo (washed out)
