A showtape (or showdisc) is the containment of information for the animatronic shows at Chuck E. Cheese's and predecessor restaurants Pizza Time Theatre and ShowBiz Pizza Place. It contains all of the programming for the characters, lighting effects, video footage, show audio, and sometimes stage curtains.
Media formats[]
There have been several different media formats of showtapes:
- Reel-to-Reel - 1977-1990
- Laserdisc - 1983, 1996-1999 (Awesome Adventure Machine and Studio C only, cancelled for Rock-afire)
- Cyberstar VHS - 1988-2007. The computer running the animatronic figures was upgraded to include a special VCR that would play video footage on television monitors mounted to the ceiling of the showroom, C&R showtapes were produced from 1988-1998 (with live shows up to 2001).
- DVD - 1999–2023
- CEC Showtape Networking Module (Navori System) - 2022 (Test), 2023-Present