Hacker gets Super NES games running on unmodified NES

At this point, we’re used to modern computers being able to perform near-perfect emulation of older gaming hardware via software trickery. The latest project from Tom “Tom7” Murphy, though, seems poised to coin its own definition for “reverse emulation” by running a playable Super NES game on actual unmodified NES hardware.

Murphy breaks down this wizardry in a pair of detailed videos laying out his tinkering process. Though the NES hardware itself is untouched, the cartridge running this reverse emulation is a heavily customized circuit board (ordered from China for about $10), with a compact, multi-core Raspberry Pi 3 attached to handle the actual Super NES emulation.

The Pi essentially replaces the PPU portion of the cartridge, connecting to the NES via a custom-coded EEPROM chip that tells the system how to process and display what would normally be an overwhelming stream of graphical data coming from the miniature computer. Only the CIC “copyright” chip from the original cartridge remains unmodified to get around the hardware’s lockout chip.