Looks Like The SNES Classic Mini Is Just As Hackable As The NES Classic Mini

I know we probably shouldn't admit to this, but this is the kind of news that makes me want to pick up these mini consoles!

Has there been a teardown of snes mini? I want to know if the hardware is the same as the nes mini

That's great news. I'd like to see Terranigma, Secret of Evermore and Chrono Trigger on the SNES Classic Mini. I didn't hack my NES Classic Mini but it's nice to know the option is there.

Why wold you do that.... just get a PI if you want to hack/emulate something... people are so weird...

@Rika_Yoshitake I have to agree with you. So many ways to emulate older consoles. Why damage a collectible with a hack?

Then in begs the question to why not just buy a Pi with a SNES chassis and USB SNES controllers?

I have a Pi with the games I would have liked to see on SNES mini, so I'm going to use my better judgement and leave my SNES mini alone.

I've no objections to it but I'm not technically minded enough to actually do it myself.

I struggle tying to install different repos on Kodi even when following a step by step video on youtube lol

I will (I mean, if I'm able to) very happily buy a SNES Classic so that I can legitimately play many of the games on there. But I will also very happily consider hacking it if it means I will finally get to play the SNES version of Lemmings and Uniracers on my TV after many, many years of not being able (or willing, through slightly shadier means) to do that.

Assuming this isn't clickbait like it appears to be with the misleading headline, this article is a complete waste of effort if the USB port just provides power to the unit.

Yep, I'll be keeping track of this.

The complexities of video game licensing mean that many games are never going to get a re-release it seems. Why emulate them on a PC when you can use as-good-as original hardware?

Nice!!! My hacked NES classic is the best "console" I've ever owned.

Great news

Although I doubt I'll play all 20.

Haven't even played all 30 nes games

I'll be hacking mine, if only to enable the down select button combo to get back to the menu.

I'm gonna wait till the hack is safe and powerful, then I'll maybe buy one of these

I do plan to hack mine, there's loads of games like Axelay, Actraiser, Turtles in Time, Buster Busts Loose, etc missing. Plus I've got some preferred ROM hacks that add small features, fix minor irks or just plain make some games easier that I'd want to play.

Just to be clear, I own at least 3 copies of the original cartridges for all the games I'd be adding (and that doesn't even cover all the times I've bought some of them digitally).

I'll definitely be doing this, it was so quick and easy on the NES Mini and really opened it up. The whole process can be fully reversed to stock as well, so there's very little risk to it. Great news indeed.

Hurray for Nintendo using a Micro USB Cable that can send data!

@eltomo Well Raspberry Pies (my favourite) requires you to build the thing and is more useful for people into programming. Plus that would be using a 3rd party emulator. It's an option, sure, but not for those who just want to play games.

I personally use my Wii to play NES, SNES, Mega Drive, etc. games using the Homebrew, which is another option.

The SNES Classic is using a Nintendo SNES Emulator, and if it's anything like the NES Classic, it's a really good emulator for running these SNES games in HDMI. If only people can get hold of the darn things.

@RadioShadow I also use Homebrew. If I can get my hands on a SNES / NES Classic Mini I'll have the perfect controllers to use with Homebrew too. Although if these mini consoles are hackable I might take advantage of that too...

This site loves to promote hacking and illegal use of intellectual properties.

I'll hack it if I can get one.

What might be possible with what might be available. That's a mighty big load of might. And for the person who used the reasoning that 'hacking' the SNES Classic would be "a lot less fuss than getting a Pi working...", I hope you break a fingernail while opening your SNES:C. If getting a Pi up and running is fuss for you, try slip-on shoes. 1st year students learn to fuss with the Pi. smh.

@Damo Sorry for the hasty response earlier. The headline implies that it's confirmed or darn close to it, but the article then makes it sound as if that belief is based off an educated glance at the specifications and such rather than a real world look at the system in-person.

I'm assuming you're Damien, and if so, you left off an interesting fact in your article that lends a lot of weight to the story. The big question mark surrounding the potential to expand this device was rather or not Nintendo had closed the door by only having the power lead connected on the USB port. You've confirmed that they haven't.

That there's not a physical barrier here is a major part of this story in my opinion. It takes it past what initially appeared to be a fluff piece to something with real weight behind it.

@AlbertXi It will be exactly the same hardware and layout.

This is literally the ONLY reason i have one on preorder. Was heavily disappointed to hear Allstars is not included.

I'll be doing mine. Did the NES mini,took all of 5 minutes.

Surprising no one.

I'll be hacking mine

If the system you have is for review purposes and you have a good working relationship with Nintendo, why would you post a story like this? Either you're flippin' the bird to Nintendo or you were given a hint, hint, wink, wink, nudge, nudge that this sort of this is possible and the big N doesn't care.

I have two mini NES's. I got the second one for the sole purpose to hack it, and it's been so much fun! I would've gotten a PI, but there's something about playing Nintendo games on an actual Nintendo with the actual Nintendo controllers, not a third party reproduction. I'm planning on getting 2 SNES as well. Leaving one as is, and hacking the second.

Hacking this console is the best reason to pick it up. I fully intend to do this if I can find one.

So many great SNES games to put on here to make it the perfect SNES classic. Turtles in Time anyone? 😁

@RadioShadow Good points, I dont think theres much hardship in building and using a Pi. Knowing me I'll probably fold and be hacking it in three weeks.

I've just successfully put homebrew on the Wii U to play off-screen for Tokyo Mirage, but SNES games will be on there soon so I can SNES anywhere!!! (In the house)

I'm not hacking mine because it's risky and I really do not want to brick it (assuming I find a SNES Mini)

I have no idea of how the Mini NES hack works. Would all SNES games run on SNES Classic emulator? I mean, would other Super FX/Super FX 2 games run fine? That would be interesting to see!

I'm wondering if the SNES mini's kernel can be used to modify the NES mini's to include the new features on offer...

I'm going to leave mine intact. It's definitely missing some essential games, but i have my retropie for that.

Why hack these mini consoles when you can mod your Wii and play anything you want from the SNES and now, you can use a real SNES controller on your Wii.

People ruining these systems just because they can are being foolish.

Though I love to hack the NES and Super NES Classic that much, I'll just leave all the hacking and modding of software to the Retro Pi. Though I love to own free games, it's just not fun or exciting when all of them are available to you on a silver platter.

As long as I can restore to factory defaults at any time like I can with my NES Classic, I'll do what I please with my SNES Classic.

Maybe I'll do it just for the sake of putting European boxarts on my European SNES Mini.

nice

Honestly, I want Tetris Attack, Dr. Mario and Tetris, Chrono Trigger, and Super Mario All-Stars on mine. My original copies are nice and still play, but I want that sweet, sweet near-flawless emulation that this system looks like it'll provide.

Oh! If you can do that then it makes the system worthwhile! The incredibly short game list was why I originally had no interest in either of these. Hmmm

@Rhaoulos adding double if not hundreds of games 'damages' said Classics? Weird.

@Crono1973
Agreed.

The Wii is my go-to for the games not included with the SNES Classic, and like you said, they can now be played with an official SNES controller.

Good. If I'm going to spend $80 on a Super Nintendo in 2017, then I expect that amount of money to give me access to every SNES game ever made. Personally, I think that's perfectly fair.

We prefer to call this "adding value."

@Rhaoulos because you don't damage it, as the article says it's completely safe and reversible. I have a Pi, but just out of curiosity I tried it on my NES Mini and it works like a charm. It really is very slick and easy, and when I was done I restored it to 100% stock no muss no fuss.

It's actually a little shocking. Usually these things are more locked down.

@MooX The hack is already absurdly safe and powerful (on NES Mini). Like 2 clicks to get back to 100% stock. I'd still really recommend a Raspberry Pi, but it's impressive how nice ClusterM made the whole experience!

@BezBot On the NES Mini at least, there's very little risk. However, I'd still recommend getting a Raspberry Pi. It's fun and much cheaper. I just do hope people own the games they play

@Rika_Yoshitake Because they require a lot of tinkering and adjusting to get it just right. These you don't have to configure, fine tune, or any of that crap. With the Pi, you have to buy a controller, a shell, a CPU heatsink, power cable, it's not worth it.
@Rhaoulos Extracting NAND with a USB port and cable and injecting it back into the system NAND doesn't "damage" anything. I don't know where you get those crazy assumptions. Voiding the warranty is the worst that would happen.

Still not interested in this, but ok that's one way to make it worth the asking price.

Also, regarding people saying "just buy a Pi!" — have you ever watched someone with no tech knowledge try to set one of those up? lol

@World man I thought the same thing, it was a bit of work when I first set mine up, but my housemate bought one very recently and the Retropie team has really put a lot of effort into making it SHOCKINGLY stupid proof in the past few months. It took him like 15 minutes to get it up and running. The image flashing program they link to even auto-detects your MicroSD card now, so you barely need to understand your PC, let alone the Raspberry Pi! And if you're just doing SNES, you don't need to overclock or heatsink. Anything more and you're right though

Don't get me wrong, you absolutely have a point, it's still a bit of effort, but having both made a Retropie and played around with Hakchi2, the barrier to entry for both is surprisingly similar, and surprisingly low.

The future is crazy

@FrankJaeger Oh yeah, they've really improved the system tremendously and the barrier of entry is a lot lower than it used to be, but a lot of people aren't going to know stuff like that they'll probably need a heatsink, which will cause problems down the road that a hacked SNES Mini likely won't (I hope anyway, lol).

But you're right; they're both very cool. The Pi is just so versatile, and the SNES Mini is, well, a mini SNES!

Never understood why someone would take the risk to hack a collectable when there are umpteen number of other emulator options out there. Can't wait for my SNES Classic to sit right next to my NES Classic!

@marnelljm I understand your concern, and you're absolutely right-- there are trillion emulation options out there, many cheaper than a SNES Classic. But people's curiosity cannot be stopped, and in the case of NES Mini, it's absurdly safe-- Hakchi2 can restore the beast to true 100% stock at any minute. Cause on the inside, it's basically just another brand of Raspberry Pi. Just a cheap Linux computer.

Still, I think people should use a PC or a Raspberry Pi or something. Save the money, and enjoy the illusion of a tiny SNES. But I will always respect curiosity if people go that way. And I'd certainly wait until people triple check that the SNES Mini is in fact the same as the NES Mini. Can never be too careful, even if you are curious.

I would have liked a few more games on there from the get-go (maybe 30-50 would have been ideal), and there are definitely a few notable titles missing that really should have been included imo (Chrono Trigger, Actraiser, Sim City, Tetris Attack, Super Bomberman, Super Tennis, U.N. Squadron and Super Aleste for example), but I won't be hacking my system just to play them. I'll play the titles that the SNES Mini comes with and just use my PC to play the others.

Ill use my retropie instead...

Obviously there are a few more games I'd like to see on it, but the 21 it comes with is more than enough and honestly when I see a long list of games I get frozen and instead of playing everything I play nothing. The included games will be more than enough to keep me busy and it's a pared amount to focus on actually completing some of these. I think the only included games I've beaten are Earthbound, Super Mario World and Donkey Kong Country

I know I'm going to add Super Mario All-stars to mine, and I'll likely add GBA games as well...

@Rika_Yoshitake I doubt SNES emulators can run certain special chip games well on a PI. Mainly the Super FX games. (And I mean accurately, not overclocked)

@Spacey My RasPi3 can run Star Fox pretty well... As well as Star Fox runs by itself at least, lol

Those who want to hack your Nes Classic, I urge you to add Castlevania III. You won't be disappointed 😀

@Petraplexity
That's good to know, thanks. I watched a YouTube video explaining how it's done for the NES Mini and I'm a bit more confident now.

@DerangedSpaniard that's a licensing issue. As good as the game is, it's not worth it to Nintendo to deal with the property owner of the turtles, the license holder(Not sure which game company currently), and Konami(who own the game, but not the license).

This is one of those occasions where "because you can" is a good reason to hack this box. And it doesn't "ruin" anything.

I figure Nintendo planned on it. In a way, it works in their favor. A certain subset of buyers would not be willing to buy Nintendo hardware or digital games, but would buy this to hack. With these litlle boxes, Nintendo gets some of their money anyway.

Good to hear.

I hope the emulator supports the awesome super mario world mods.

Also, if this the case, I'll be testing my Super Mario Kart mod here too, as I'm sort of tired playing on a keyboard.

Yes.

If i actually get one, i might be tempted to add Chrono Trigger, Turtles in Time and Gooftroop.

@FrankJaeger Yes I know about the NES mini, but I'm hoping the SNES mini to be as good to hack, and maybe even more, the SNES gamepad would be the best to play all retro games, including other platforms that could be potentially emulated with retroarch.
I was considering having a raspberry as well, but I have a steamlink already, used with emulationstation. The snes mini would be the easy version, plug and play, with a great gamepad.

I will continue to use my flash carts

@MooX yeah I'm pretty excited about the gamepad(s). I always wanted one of the Club Nintendo SNES classic controllers... And now I'm gonna have two! I'm honestly most excited to plug them into a Wiimote and use them with Bluetooth on my PC. I've tried a couple cheap USB SNES replicas, but they've always felt really off

@FrankJaeger Yeah, I've got the 8bitdo SFC30, it's really decent, but still far from the originals.

If and IF this is possible the limitations of what SNES games should work will be a pretty small list of games. The system itself at the least has the code to handle the SA1, FX1/2, DSP1-4(?) which leaves a very tiny list of potentially dead meat, most of which wasn't even US based anyway. Perhaps TopGear 3000 won't run and Street Fighter Alpha 2 being SDD1 is questionable.

I think it will come down to if they took an existing emulator on the 3DS/WiiU or not as its base. That base does support SFA2 so it could be a pretty total package outside of some screwball quirks with a higher compatibility than the NES CE dreamed to have.

If Nintendo didn't want me to emulate their old games, they would ensure enough of these little beauties were available in shops.

I'm against those mini consoles, Virtual console is much better both for players and for Nintendo as well in my opinion, but I have to say one of the worst thing in this SNES classic mini is the fact that many games I like are missing, so being able to upload new ones would be interesting. I'm not buying one anyway, but I could buy it someday if I find it for a very low price. It is extremely unlikely I know. If I had to stick only to the 21 default games I won't buy it even for a very cheap price. Some of the games are great but the missing ones makes it feel uncomplete for me.

@LuckyLand I do want a SNES mini but agree with you (not sure if I'll actually but one as the price is high). They give you Donkey Kong Country 1, but not 2 and 3. Mega Man X but none of the sequels, it does feel like a lot is missing for what you're paying.

I have many of the games on Wii U virtual console but I did see a Youtube video which shown Wii U VC SNES games were dimmer in colour than the originals

SSH SSH SSHHHHHH don't make an article about it! Nintendo might see this and just remake their SNES Classics so it's unhackable!!!!!

Why would anyone be surprised by this? It's just a small computer, so yeah, it's hackable.

Its a grey area. Nintendo will not lose much money from 26 y.o pirated games so morally you don't have much to worry about.

So much yes!!

I will hack its brains out.
As with the NES mini, I'd be adding classics that I own in cart form that somehow didn't make the cut, and not for a lack of storage space.

SimCity
ActRaiser
Pilotwings
Chrono Trigger

among others. Chrono's exclusion was criminal.

@Peach64 I wouldn't worry about it. Nintendo have no way of monetising the SNES mini further than your initial purchase, which means it doesn't matter in the slightest what you do with it afterwards. I generally don't like denying them their revenue, which getting a Raspberry Pi and stuffing it with ROMs would imply, but buying their old games on systems where you can actually do that shows interest and appreciation, which I like doing. The SNES mini doesn't offer that possibility and comes with the added upside of feeling wonderfully authentic, lack of cartridges aside, so I'd just go for it. As a matter of fact, if this is true and hakchi works, I'll definitely add some more action and roleplaying adventure games onto it, since stuff like Chrono Trigger, Terranigma and Illusion of Time/Gaia is sorely missing.