Modder found a way to add more games to Nintendo’s mini SNES

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

If you have your hands on a Nintendo mini SNES and kind of bummed by the selection of games baked into it, a Russian modder figured out a way to add more games as well as the ability to play classic NES games.

We can thank Cluster for this. He’s the Russian coder who originally hacked the NES Classic Edition back in January. Now he’s back at it again with the release of Hakchi v2.20, a tool that allows users to side-load over 100 extra games onto the Nintendo mini SNES.

The process isn’t all that easy. You’ll need some technical know-how to get started. Instructions can be found via Hackchi’s release notes, but a simple YouTube search will get you on your way too. The FAQ on Reddit will also save you some headaches.

Read More: SNES Classic Edition: Where and how to find it in 2018

SNES Mini contains hidden message from Nintendo/NERD 🙂 pic.twitter.com/ajqYL21zjh

— Лёша Кластер (@Cluster_M) September 27, 2017

Now, keep in mind, installing this tool isn’t illegal, but having a downloaded unofficial ROM is. So, just be mindful about that. According to Engadget, “Nintendo is known to be aggressive when it comes to anything that whiffs of copyright infringement, but perhaps the company is turning a blind eye to side-loading because it hasn’t given buyers any way to add new titles legitimately.”

Either way, this is a huge win for anyone who purchased a Mini SNES. I know a lot of folks who aren’t happy with the stock game selection. Thankfully, this mod changes all of that.

Kevin Raposo

Kevin is KnowTechie's founder and executive editor. With over 15 years of blogging experience in the tech industry, Kevin has transformed what was once a passion project into a full-blown tech news publication. Shoot him an email at kevin@knowtechie.com or find him on Mastodon or Post.