Hackers unlock NES Classic, upload new games via USB cable

Enlarge / Battletoads on the NES Classic Edition? If you’re willing to take a risk via modding, you too could add this and other games to your own little system. (credit: ARCADERU)

If you managed to get your hands on an NES Classic Edition this holiday season, you may already be tired of the 30 classic games pre-installed on the system by now. Nintendo has made clear that the tiny replica NES will not officially receive new games, especially with no WiFi protocol to download them. But that hasn’t stopped budding hackers from scoffing at Nintendo’s claims and adding games their own way.

This week saw separate hackers in Japan and Russia figure out soft-mod solutions to adding new games to the NES Classic. This means you don’t need to grab a screwdriver or a soldering iron to mod yours.

According to the whiz kids at Reddit’s NESClassicMods community, the solution won’t work until you’ve created a save file in Super Mario Bros‘ first slot. (Chances are, you’ve already done this just by playing the game, since creating game saves is so easy with this system.) Once you’ve done that, connect your NES Classic Edition to a computer via a micro-USB cable, then boot the NES in “FEL” mode. This is done by holding down the system’s reset button while pushing down the power button from a powered-off state. While you’re booting, you should also run a “sunxi-FEL” interface on your computer. (An open-source version of compatible “USBBoot” software can be found here.)

Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments



Source: Ars Technica – Hackers unlock NES Classic, upload new games via USB cable