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Nintendo Entertainment System: The Complete Documentation

• This category contains 6 Papers
• The last paper was added on 2007-03-26 (YYYY-MM-DD)

21c - GAME MODS

Published on 2002, by Cory Arcangel, ©Cory Arcangel.

Recently I hacked a Mario Brothers Cartridge™ and erased everything but the clouds. This continues work being carried out by myself and your favorite BEIGE representatives Paul Davis, Joe Beuckman, and Joe Bonn. This page is a tutorial explaining how / why the work was made. I have chosen to present my motives behind the work by adding my thoughts about the project as comments in the source code. As a programmer [not a very good one, though a programmer none the less] my thoughts and motives are most easily exemplified by my code. Also: thanks for 21c for letting post this.

Beginner's Guide to NES ROM Hacking (A)

Published on 2002, by Sliver X, ©The Pit of Shite.

ROM Hacking, simply, is a process of altering existing computer code, although the application of it usually involves messing around with old console games stored on modern computer systems, called ROMs (Read Only Memory, a reference to the data chips inside the cartridges that console computers used for over 2 decades.).

What this means is that you can change the games themselves, such as the graphics, colors, sound, and level layouts. Even more complex things can be changed if you have the (Extremely advanced.) knowledge to do so, such as making Mario™ be 3 times taller than normal, shooting Koopa Troopa's out of his ass while making a jingly sound every time he takes a step.

However, such complex techniques are far beyond the scope of this document. It assumes that you're basically new to this whole ROM Hacking thing, so anyone that knows what they're doing will gain absolutely no insight from this whatsoever. However, if you've got an idea of how to change a game, and just don't know where to start, hopefully this document will help you get started on the path to realizing it.

We'll be sticking to the very basic concepts of ROM Hacking, in particular hacking games that are for the Nintendo Entertainment System™, a console that'll always hold a special place in my heart, or something.

We're going to start with the most essential, and also kind of complicated at first, concept in ROM Hacking: The Hexadecimal System.

Make a Nintendo controller into a PC Joystick

Published on 2004-09-07, by Phillip Torrone, ©Weblogs, Inc..

Normally we run these over at Engadget, but this week's HOW-TO is especially for Joystiq and is for all the PC/Mac™/*nix gamers out there that want to use an old school Nintendo™ controller with their current games, or enjoy using NES emulators and want to take the game play to the next level with an old school NES controller. In this HOW-TO we show you how to build your own PC NES controller, which emulator software we used for PC game play, and where to buy the kit or a finished controller if you'd rather not solder one up.

Modified NES (in progress)

Published on 2006, by pixelform, ©pixelform.

In early June I was contacted via email with a request to modify an NES game console for use as a visualizer for chiptunes based music performance. I accepted and have made some incredible progress over the past few days. I’ve already completed the manual bends and have pretty much solidified the circuitry that will be handling the audio reactivity. Below are links to images and video taken through the process.

Most of the bends are taken from the 9049A chip that is labelled "sram(vram)". The "schematic" image-003 shows an abstraction of how I sussed out bend points and features this chip. Filled in bubbles on the schematic indicate duplicate points found on the "sram(vram)" chip. The points left open do not effect the video or are unstable (case a crash). The points with dashed above or below them are used as bend points and each is unique. The way I’m using the rotary switches is similar to leaving the the device open and sweeping a wire along pins. 9 points each from the circuit board are wired up to each of the rotary switches outer lugs. The inner lugs are wired up to toggles that connect the two selected points on either rotary switch. By holding one rotary still and rotating the other you are essentially sweeping a contact from one pin across 9 others.

NES Controller TV Remote

Published on 2005-09-03, by leadingzero, ©leadingzero.

Ever wanted to control your TV with an old school Nintendo controller? No? Well, I have and now I do. A few weeks ago I picked up an old school Nintendo controller from eBay and began thinking of a project for it - then it hit me! Controlling the basic functions of my TV through a NES pad would not only be awesome, but it would make me one step closer to that darned Captain-N.

NES PC2C02 Video Card (The)

Published on 2004-10-14, by Brian Provinciano, ©Brian Provinciano.

My NES experiment of October 2004 is the bizarro of PC 3D Accelerators! The NES PC2C02 Video Card gives a PC NES video acceleration using the original 2C02 Picture Processing Unit (PPU) found in Nintendo Entertainment Systems. It operates just as in the NES, but is controlled by x86 code instead of the original NES 6502.

Imagine an NES game running natively on a Pentium CPU! Imagine the complex game play, collision detection, virtually unlimited program code and RAM, and everything else fast PCs can produce, fueling an NES game! The NES PC2C02 Video Card makes it possible! It gives the ability to create the most unbelievable NES games you could ever imagine. As well, with a 6502 emulator running on the PC, an NES game can be run/debugged very easily with 100% accurate video rendering.