Given the ease of hacking the NES Mini to add additional games, due to the efforts of Russian hacker Alexey ‘Cluster’ Avdyukhin with his hakchi2 software, it was only going to be a matter of time until the SNES Classic Mini got the same treatment given that it uses basically the same hardware under the hood.
Of course Cluster got to work right away uncovering the secrets of the SNES Mini, and the hacker has already managed to get Chrono Trigger running on the micro console:
However it’s not been such a simple process, as he’s needed time to understand the format for the SNES ROMs that the system uses. It seems some conversion needs to be done on each file; it is not just a case of drag and drop and then they will work.
Cluster remains confident that it is only a matter of time until he can add SNES games to his heart’s content. In response to someone who asked if the updated hakchi2 software would be available right away, he replied:
No, there is too many work. I need a week, I think.
While we don’t advocate the use of unofficial ROMs for the system, it is nonetheless an interesting development that raises the question over whether Nintendo should have released the NES and SNES Mini with integrated storage and official ‘eShop’ add-on options. That said, hackers always look for ways into new systems, and these nostalgia-fuelled consoles evidently aren’t particularly tough to crack.
Are you happy with the 21 games which come with the SNES Mini or would you like the option to add more to the collection?