WEBVTT - Hacking the SNES Classic

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<v Speaker 1>On September twenty nine, two thousand seventeen, Nintendo launched the

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<v Speaker 1>Super in NES Classic gaming console for fans of retro gaming.

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<v Speaker 1>It shipped with twenty one games. Some hackers felt that

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<v Speaker 1>just wasn't enough. I'm Jonathan Strickland and this is tech

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff Daily. The Super Nintendo Entertainment System was a beloved

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<v Speaker 1>piece of hardware that originally launched in the United States

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<v Speaker 1>in the early nineteen nineties. Gamers spent hours on titles

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<v Speaker 1>like The Legend of Zelda, A Link to the Past,

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<v Speaker 1>Super Metroid, and Donkey Kong Country, among countless others. When

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<v Speaker 1>Nintendo announced it would follow up the successful launch of

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<v Speaker 1>the NES Classic retro gaming system with an s NES version,

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<v Speaker 1>millions of nostalgic gamers got excited, but there was some

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<v Speaker 1>worry mixed in with that excitement. The NES Classic proved

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<v Speaker 1>to be incredibly popular, so much so that many fans

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<v Speaker 1>found it impossible to order a system from retailers. That

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<v Speaker 1>meant the only option left open to you was the aftermarket,

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<v Speaker 1>where sellers were marking up the price dramatically in the

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<v Speaker 1>hopes of making a killer profit. There were fears that

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<v Speaker 1>Nintendo would repeat this strategy with the S and E.

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<v Speaker 1>S Classic. Those fears proved well founded, as the console

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<v Speaker 1>is in scarce supply and high demand across the world.

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<v Speaker 1>If you were lucky enough to order one before they

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<v Speaker 1>sold out, you have in your possession a small device

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<v Speaker 1>that looks like a miniature version of the nineteen nineties

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<v Speaker 1>video game console. Rather than inserting game cartridges into this

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<v Speaker 1>mini console, you'll find all the games are programmed directly

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<v Speaker 1>into the hardware. Those games include twenty one titles, including

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<v Speaker 1>Super Mario World Final, Fantasy Three, Super Metroid, and the

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<v Speaker 1>previously unreleased sequel to star Fox. Many of the top

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<v Speaker 1>selling games for the system can be found on the

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<v Speaker 1>S and E S Classic, but some people seem to

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<v Speaker 1>feel that it's just not quite enough. One of those

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<v Speaker 1>people as a Russian hacker who goes by the handle

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<v Speaker 1>cluster M. This hacker found out that the S and

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<v Speaker 1>E S Classic is surprisingly easy to hack. He built

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<v Speaker 1>a Windows application that allows users to access the S

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<v Speaker 1>and E S Classics system and alter it. One alteration

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<v Speaker 1>you can make is to add more games onto the console.

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<v Speaker 1>Those games aren't just lying dormant inside the game system.

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<v Speaker 1>You have to put those new titles onto the S

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<v Speaker 1>and E. S Classic. You do this by taking the

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<v Speaker 1>game files called ROMs. ROM is an acronym, and it

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<v Speaker 1>stands for read only memory. That means it's a type

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<v Speaker 1>of memory you can access, but not change. The old

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<v Speaker 1>S and E S cartridges are an example of ROM games.

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<v Speaker 1>The games themselves were hard coded onto the cartridges. If

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<v Speaker 1>you want to take a cartridge apart, you'll see what

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<v Speaker 1>looks like a complicated circuit board, complete with microchips. This

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<v Speaker 1>represents the actual game you're playing. Over the years, hackers

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<v Speaker 1>have created digital files that represent those hard coded games.

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<v Speaker 1>We call these files ROMs. There are large databases of

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<v Speaker 1>ROMs online, not just for the S and E S,

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<v Speaker 1>but also for other console systems as well as arcade machines.

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<v Speaker 1>To play ROMs, you need an emulator. An emulator is

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<v Speaker 1>a piece of software that replicates the functionality of another technology.

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<v Speaker 1>It emulates or copies that technology. With an arcade emulator,

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<v Speaker 1>for example, the software attempts to replicate the circuitry found

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<v Speaker 1>in a particular arcade machine. This allows you to run

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<v Speaker 1>the software on another device, such as a computer, and

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<v Speaker 1>access those ROM files. The S and E S Classic

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<v Speaker 1>system is really an S and E S emulator running

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<v Speaker 1>game ROMs. By hacking the console cluster, m created the

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<v Speaker 1>opportunity to add other ROMs to the devices storage. Some

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<v Speaker 1>of those games work without a problem. Others have compatibility issues,

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<v Speaker 1>likely because those games had specific microchips that the S

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<v Speaker 1>and E s Classic Emulator wasn't designed to replicate. You

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<v Speaker 1>might wonder if this is at all legal. Technically it's not.

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<v Speaker 1>ROMs are a type of intellectual property. Someone somewhere likely

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<v Speaker 1>holds the rights to those ROMs. Downloading a ROM without

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<v Speaker 1>compensating the IP owner is a type of theft. That

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<v Speaker 1>being said, many of these games are unavailable today. They

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<v Speaker 1>weren't ported to any other systems, and the hardware that

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<v Speaker 1>can run them, as well as the cartridges themselves, grows

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<v Speaker 1>more delicate every year. Some hackers argue that by pulling

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<v Speaker 1>ROMs from cartridges, they're preserving the files that otherwise would

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<v Speaker 1>be lost to time. If you own a game, you

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<v Speaker 1>could probably rip a ROM or download one from another

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<v Speaker 1>source and you'd be just fine. It's similar to making

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<v Speaker 1>a backup copy of a music album. Copies for backup

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<v Speaker 1>or archival purposes tend to be viewed as harmless by

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<v Speaker 1>court systems, but if you are creating a file with

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<v Speaker 1>the intent to distribute it, and you don't own the

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<v Speaker 1>rights to the information on the file. That's another story.

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<v Speaker 1>There's a popular rumor in the ROM space that you

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<v Speaker 1>can download a RAM and use it for twenty four

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<v Speaker 1>hours and that's perfectly legal. Turns out that's a myth.

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<v Speaker 1>Are you likely to get into trouble if you download ROMs,

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<v Speaker 1>whether it's for the Nintendo or some other system. The

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<v Speaker 1>answer is probably not, but it's still murky legal territory

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<v Speaker 1>legality aside. ROMs do present people a chance to get

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<v Speaker 1>their hands on game titles that have otherwise been forgotten.

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<v Speaker 1>It's possible that Nintendo may release future s and e

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<v Speaker 1>s and nes classic editions with a different library of

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<v Speaker 1>games on them, fueling discussion and frustration among gamers who

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<v Speaker 1>object to such marketing approaches. In the meantime, hackers will

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<v Speaker 1>continue tweaking the hardware and expanding its capabilities. To learn

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<v Speaker 1>more about emulators, hackers, and video games, subscribe to The

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<v Speaker 1>Tech Stuff podcast, a show that publishes on Wednesdays and

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<v Speaker 1>Fridays and is a much longer in depth exploration of technology,

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<v Speaker 1>how it works, and what it all means. That's all

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<v Speaker 1>for today. I'll see you again soon. E