Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Encyclopedia
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (also known as the Super NES, SNES or Super Nintendo) is a 16-bit
video game console
that was released by Nintendo
in North America, Europe, Australasia
(Oceania), and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short. In South Korea, it is known as the Super Comboy (슈퍼 컴보이) and was distributed by Hyundai Electronics
. Although each version is essentially the same, several forms of regional lockout
prevent the different versions from being compatible with one another.
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System was Nintendo's second home console, following the Nintendo Entertainment System
(NES). The console introduced advanced graphics and sound capabilities compared with other consoles at the time. Additionally, development of a variety of enhancement chips (which were integrated on game circuit boards) helped to keep it competitive in the marketplace.
The SNES was a global success, becoming the best-selling console of the 16-bit era
despite its relatively late start and the fierce competition it faced in North America and Europe from Sega
's Genesis
console. The SNES remained popular well into the 32-bit era
, and although Nintendo no longer offers factory repairs/replacement or accessories for the console, it continues to be popular among fans, collectors, retro gamers, and emulation enthusiasts, some of whom are still making homebrew
ROM image
s.
, NEC launched the TurboGrafx-16
in 1987, and Sega
followed suit with the Genesis/Mega Drive
in 1988. Both systems were built on 16-bit architectures and offered improved graphics and sound over the 8-bit
NES. However, the NES would continue to dominate the gaming market for several years before Sega's system finally became successful. Nintendo executives were initially reluctant to design a new system, but they reconsidered when the NES hardware began to show its age. Seeing its dominance in the market slipping, Nintendo was compelled to create a new console to compete with its 16-bit rivals.
, the designer of the original Famicom, the Super Famicom was released in Japan on Wednesday, November 21, 1990 for ¥
25,000 (US$
210). It was an instant success: Nintendo's initial shipment of 300,000 units sold out within hours, and the resulting social disturbance led the Japanese government to ask video game manufacturers to schedule future console releases on weekends. The system's release also gained the attention of the Yakuza
, leading to a decision to ship the devices at night to avoid robbery.
With the Super Famicom quickly outselling its chief rivals, Nintendo reasserted itself as the leader of the Japanese console market. Nintendo's success was partially due to its retention of most of its key third-party developers from its earlier system, including Capcom
, Konami
, Tecmo, Square
, Koei, and Enix
.
On August 23, 1991, Nintendo released the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, a redesigned version of the Super Famicom, in North America for US$199. The SNES was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland in April 1992 for GB£
150, with a German release following a few weeks later. The PAL region
versions of the console use the Japanese Super Famicom design, except for labeling and the length of the joypad leads. Both the NES and Super NES were released in Brazil in 1993 by Playtronic, a joint venture
between the toy company Estrela
and Gradiente
.
The Super NES and Super Famicom launched with only a few games, but these games were well-received in the marketplace. In Japan, only two games were initially available: Super Mario World
and F-Zero. In North America, Super Mario World shipped with the console, and other initial titles included F-Zero, Pilotwings
(both of which demonstrated the console's "Mode 7
" pseudo-3D rendering capability), SimCity
, and Gradius III
.
for Super NES, which took over a year to make the transition to Genesis. Despite the Genesis' head start, much larger library of games, and lower price point, the Genesis only controlled an estimated 60% of the American 16-bit console market in April 1992, and neither console could maintain a definitive lead for several years. The Super NES would remain popular well into the 32-bit generation. According to Stephen Kent in 2001, the Super NES had eventually prevailed over the Sega Genesis in the American 16-bit console market. However, a 2004 study of NPD sales data presents new information that disputes this claim.
began releasing games for both platforms, with most of Nintendo's other licensees following suit over the next several years; Capcom
(which licensed some games to Sega instead of producing them directly) and Square
were the most notable holdouts.
Nintendo of America also maintained a strict censorship policy that, among other things, limited the amount of violence in the games on its systems. One game, Mortal Kombat
, would challenge this policy. A surprise hit in arcades in 1992, Mortal Kombat features splashes of blood and finishing moves
that often depict one character dismembering the other. Because the Sega Genesis version retained the gore while the SNES version did not, it outsold the SNES version by a ratio of three- or four-to-one.
Game players were not the only ones to notice the violence in this game; US Senators Herb Kohl
and Joe Lieberman
convened a Congressional hearing on December 9, 1993 to investigate the marketing of violent video games to children. While Nintendo took the high ground with moderate success, the hearings led to the creation of the Interactive Digital Software Association
and the Entertainment Software Rating Board
, and the inclusion of ratings on all video games. With these ratings in place, Nintendo decided its censorship policies were no longer needed. Consequently, the uncensored SNES port of Mortal Kombat II
became the preferred version among reviewers.
, Rare and Nintendo proved that the Super NES was still a strong contender in the market. In November 1994, Rare released Donkey Kong Country
, a platform game featuring 3D models and textures pre-rendered on SGI
workstations. With its detailed graphics and high-quality music, Donkey Kong Country rivaled the aesthetic quality of games that were being released on newer 32-bit CD-based consoles. In the last 45 days of 1994, the game sold 6.1 million units, making it the fastest-selling video game in history to that date. This game sent a message that early 32-bit systems had little to offer over the Super NES, and helped make way for the more advanced consoles on the horizon. The SNES continued to sell steadily throughout the 32-bit era.
In October 1997, Nintendo released a redesigned model of the SNES (the SNS-101 model) in North America for US$99, which included the pack-in game Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
. Like the earlier redesign of the NES (the NES-101 model), the new model was slimmer and lighter than its predecessor, but it lacked S-Video and RGB output, and it was among the last major SNES-related releases in the region. A similarly redesigned Super Famicom Jr. was released in Japan at around the same time.
Nintendo of America ceased production of the SNES in 1999, about two years after releasing Kirby's Dream Land 3
(its last first-party game for the system) on November 27, 1997, a year after releasing Frogger
(its last third-party game for the system). In Japan, Nintendo continued production of the Super Famicom until September 2003, and new games were produced until the year 2000, ending with the release of Metal Slader Glory Director's Cut on December 1, 2000.
Many popular SNES titles have since been ported to the Game Boy Advance
, which has similar video capabilities. In 2005, Nintendo announced that SNES titles would be made available for download via the Wii
's Virtual Console
service. In 2007, Nintendo of Japan announced that it would no longer repair Family Computer or Super Famicom systems due to an increasing shortage of the necessary parts.
Emulation projects began with the initial release of VSMC in 1994, and Super Pasofami became the first working SNES emulator in 1996. During that time, two competing emulation projects—Snes96 and Snes97—merged to form a new initiative entitled Snes9x
. In 1997, SNES enthusiasts began programming an emulator named ZSNES
. These two have remained among the best-known SNES emulators, although development continues on others as well. In 2003, members of both the Snes9x and ZSNES teams and others began a push for exact emulation;As opposed to emulation "good enough" for most purposes, exact emulation facilitates the use of the emulator for homebrew game development and documents the operation of the hardware against such time as all existing consoles cease functioning. this movement is now led by the development of bsnes
.
Nintendo of America took the same stance against the distribution of SNES ROM
image files and the use of emulators as it did with the NES, insisting that they represented flagrant software piracy
. Proponents of SNES emulation cite discontinued production of the SNES, the right of the owner of the respective game to make a personal backup, space shifting
for private use, the desire to develop homebrew games
for the system, the frailty of SNES cartridges and consoles, and the lack of certain foreign imports. Despite Nintendo's attempts to stop the proliferation of such projects, emulators and ROM files continue to be widely available on the Internet.
The SNES was one of the first systems to attract the attention of amateur fan translators: Final Fantasy V
was the first major work of fan translation, and was completed in 1997.
Emulation of the SNES is now available on handheld units, such as Android devices, Apple's iPhone
and iPad
, Sony's PlayStation Portable
(PSP), the Nintendo DS
and Game Boy Advance
, the Gizmondo
,, the Dingoo
and the GP2X
by GamePark Holdings, as well as PDAs. While individual games have been included with emulators on some GameCube discs, Nintendo's Virtual Console
service for the Wii
marks the introduction of officially sanctioned general SNES emulation.
effects, many times more colors, and audio quality that represented a massive leap over the competition. Individual game cartridges can supply further custom chips as needed.
The CPU
is a Nintendo-custom 5A22
processor, based on a 16-bit 65c816 core. The CPU employs a variable bus speed depending on the memory region being accessed for each instruction cycle: the input clock is divided by 6, 8, or 12 to obtain the bus clock rate. Non-access cycles, most register
accesses, and some general accesses use the divisor of 6. WRAM accesses and other general accesses use the divisor of 8. Only the controller port serial-access registers use the divisor of 12.
The chip has an 8-bit data bus, controlled by two address buses. The 24-bit "Bus A" is used for general accesses, while the 8-bit "Bus B" is used for support chip registers (mainly the video and audio processors). Normally only one bus is used at a time, however the built in direct memory access (DMA)
unit places a read signal on one bus and a write signal on the other to achieve block transfer speeds of up to 2.68 MB/s.This quantity uses the standard decimal meaning of megabyte
: 1,000,000 bytes.
The DMA unit has 8 independent channels, each of which can be used in two modes. General DMA transfers up to 64 kBUnless otherwise specified, kilobyte
(kB), megabyte
(MB), and megabit
(Mbit) are used in the binary sense
in this article, referring to quantities of 1024 or 1,048,576. in one shot, while H-blank DMA (HDMA) transfers 1–4 bytes at the end of each video scanline. HDMA is typically used to change video parameters to achieve effects such as perspective, split-screen, and non-rectangular windowing without tying up the main CPU.
The 5A22 also contains an 8-bit parallel I/O port (which was mostly unused in the SNES); controller port interface circuits, including both serial
and parallel
access to controller data; a 16-bit multiplication and division unit; and circuitry for generating non-maskable interrupt
s on V-blank
and IRQ
interrupts on calculated screen positions.
The picture processing unit (PPU) consists of two separate but closely tied IC packages, which may be considered as a single entity. It also contains 64 kB of SRAM
for storing video data (VRAM), 544 bytes of object attribute memory (OAM) for storing sprite
data, and 256 × 15 bits of color generator RAM (CGRAM) for storing palette
data. The PPU is clocked by the same signal as the CPU, and generates a pixel every two or four cycles. Both NTSC and PAL systems use the same PPU chips, with one pin per chip selecting NTSC or PAL operation.
Images may be output at 256 or 512 pixels horizontal resolution and 224, 239, 448, or 478 pixels vertically. Vertical resolutions of 224 or 239 are usually output in progressive scan
, while 448 and 478 resolutions are interlaced. Colors are chosen from the 15-bit RGB color space, for a total of 32,768 possible colors. Graphics consist of up to 128 sprites and up to 4 background layers, all made up of combinations of 8×8 pixel tiles. Most graphics use palettes stored in CGRAM, with color 0 of any palette representing transparency.
Sprites can be 8 × 8, 16 × 16, 32 × 32, or 64 × 64 pixels, each using one of eight 16-color palettes and tiles from one of two blocks of 256 in VRAM. Sprites may be flipped horizontally and vertically as a whole. Up to 32 sprites and 34 8 × 8 sprite tiles may appear on any one line; exceeding these limits causes excess sprites or tiles to be dropped. Each sprite lies on one of 4 planes, however a lower-numbered sprite will always cover a higher-numbered sprite even if the latter is on a higher priority plane. This quirk is often used for complex clipping effects.
Background layers in most modes range from 32 × 32 to 128 × 128 tiles, with each tile on one of two planes ("foreground" and "background") and using one of 8 palettes. Tiles are taken from a per-layer set of up to 1024 (as VRAM permits) and can be flipped horizontally and vertically. Each layer may be scrolled both horizontally and vertically. The number of background layers and the size of the palettes depends on the mode:
Background layers may be individually pixelized
, and layers and sprites can be individually clipped
and combined by color addition or subtraction to generate more complex effects and greater color depths than can be specified directly.
The PPU may be instructed to latch the current pixel position at any time during image output, both by game software and by the device attached to controller port 2. The game software may then read back this latched position. The PPU may also be used for fast 16-bit by 8-bit signed multiplication.
The audio subsystem consists of an 8-bit Sony
SPC700
, a 16-bit DSP
, 64 kB of SRAM
shared by the two chips, and a 64 byte boot ROM. The audio subsystem is almost completely independent from the rest of the system: it is clocked at a nominal 24.576 MHz in both NTSC and PAL systems, and can only communicate with the CPU via 4 registers on Bus B.
RAM is accessed at 3.072 MHz, with accesses multiplexed
between the SPC700 and the DSP . This RAM is used to store the SPC700 program and stack
, the audio sample data and pointer table, and the DSP's echo buffer.
The SPC700 runs programs (uploaded using the boot ROM program) to accept instructions and data from the CPU and to manipulate the DSP registers to generate the appropriate music and sound effects. The DSP generates a 16-bit waveform at 32 kHz by mixing input from 8 independent voices and an 8-tap FIR filter
typically used for reverberation
. Each voice can play its PCM sample at a variable rate
, with Gaussian interpolation, stereo panning
, and ADSR, linear, non-linear, or direct volume envelope adjustment. The voice and FIR filter outputs are mixed both for direct output and for future input into the FIR filter. All audio samples are compressed using ADPCM and a linear predictive coding
, a method dubbed BRR
.
Hardware on the cartridge, expansion port, or both can provide stereo audio data for mixing into the DSP's analog audio output before it leaves the console.
Since the audio subsystem is mostly self-contained, the state of the audio subsystem can be saved as an .SPC
file, and the subsystem can be emulated in a stand-alone manner to play back all game music (except for a few games that constantly stream their samples from ROM). Custom cartridges or PC interfaces can be used to load .SPC files onto a real SNES SPC700 and DSP.
The console contains 128 kB of DRAM
. This is mapped to various segments of Bus A, and can also be accessed in a serial fashion via registers on Bus B. The video and audio subsystems contain additional RAM reserved for use by those processors.
, including both physical and hardware incompatibilities.
On a physical level, the cartridges are shaped differently for different regions. North American cartridges have a rectangular bottom with inset grooves matching protruding tabs in the console, while other regions' cartridges are narrower with a smooth curve on the front and no grooves. The physical incompatibility can be overcome with use of various adapters, or through modification
of the console.
Internally, a regional lockout chip (CIC) within the console and in each cartridge prevents PAL region games from being played on Japanese or North American consoles and vice versa. The Japanese and North American machines have the same region chip. The console CIC releases the reset signal to the rest of the system only after completing a handshake with the chip in the cartridge. This can be overcome through the use of adapters, typically by inserting the imported cartridge in one slot and a cartridge with the correct region chip in a second slot. Alternatively, disconnecting one pin of the console's lockout chip will prevent it from locking the console; hardware in later games can detect this situation, so it later became common to install a switch to reconnect the lockout chip as needed.
PAL consoles face another incompatibility when playing out-of-region cartridges: the NTSC video standard
specifies video at 60 Hz while PAL
operates at 50 Hz, resulting in approximately 16.7% slower gameplay. Additionally, PAL's higher resolution results in letterbox
ing of the output image. Some commercial PAL region releases exhibit this same problem and therefore can be played in NTSC systems without issue, while others will face a 20% speedup if played in an NTSC console. To mostly correct this issue, a switch can be added to place the SNES PPU into a 60 Hz mode supported by most newer PAL televisions. Later games will detect this setting and refuse to run, requiring the switch to be thrown only after the check completes.
All versions of the SNES are predominantly gray, although the exact shade may differ. The original North American version has a boxy design with purple sliding switches and a dark gray eject lever. The loading bay surface is curved, both to invite interaction
and to prevent food or drinks from being placed on the console and spilled as had happened with the flat surfaced NES
. The Japanese and European versions are more rounded, with darker gray accents and buttons. The North American SNS-101 model and the Japanese Super Famicom Jr. (the SHVC-101 model) are both smaller with a rounded contour, however the SNS-101 buttons are purple where the Super Famicom Jr. buttons are gray.
All versions incorporate a top-loading slot for game cartridges, although the shape of the slot differs between regions to match the different shapes of the cartridges. The card-edge connector has 62 pads, however many cartridges only connect to the middle 46. All versions also incorporate two 7-pin controller ports on the front of the unit, and a plug for a power supply and a Nintendo-proprietary "MULTI OUT" A/V connector on the back. The MULTI OUT connector (later used on the Nintendo 64
and GameCube
) can output composite video
, S-Video
and RGB signals, as well as RF
with an external RF modulator
. Original versions additionally include a 28-pin expansion port under a small cover on the bottom of the unit and a standard RF output with channel selection switch on the back; the redesigned models output composite video only, requiring an external modulator for RF.
The ABS plastic
used in the casing of some older SNES consoles is particularly susceptible to oxidization on exposure to air, likely due to an incorrect mixture of the stabilizing or flame retarding additives. This, along with the particularly light color of the original plastic, causes affected consoles to quickly become yellow; if the sections of the casing came from different batches of plastic, a "two-tone" effect results.
media of the console is officially referred to as Game Pak in Western regions, and as in Japan. While the SNES can address 128 Mbit, only 117.75 Mbit are actually available for cartridge use. A fairly normal mapping could easily address up to 95 Mbit of ROM data (48 Mbit at FastROM speed) with 8 Mbit of battery-backed RAM. However, most available memory access controllers only support mappings of up to 32 Mbit. The largest games released (Tales of Phantasia
and Star Ocean
) contain 48 Mbit of ROM data, while the smallest games contain only 2 Mbit.
Cartridges may also contain battery-backed SRAM to save the game state, extra working RAM, custom coprocessors, or any other hardware that will not exceed the maximum current rating of the console.
arcade series in mind. It also features an ergonomic design later used for the NES-102 model controllers. The Japanese and PAL region versions incorporate the system's logo in the colors of the four action buttons, while the North American version colors them lavender and purple to match the redesigned console and gives the lighter two a concave rather than convex top. Several later consoles derive elements of their controller design from the SNES, including the PlayStation
, Dreamcast, Xbox
, and Wii Classic Controller
.
Throughout the course of its life, a number of peripherals were released which added to the functionality of the SNES. Many of these devices were modeled after earlier add-ons for the NES: the Super Scope
is a light gun
functionally similar to the NES Zapper
(though the Super Scope features wireless capabilities) and the Super Advantage
is an arcade
-style joystick
with adjustable turbo settings akin to the NES Advantage
. Nintendo also released the SNES Mouse
in conjunction with its Mario Paint
title. Hudson Soft
, under license from Nintendo, released the Super Multitap, a multiplayer adapter for use with its popular series of Bomberman
games. Some of the more unusual controllers include the one-handed ASCII Stick L5, the BatterUP
baseball bat, and the TeeV Golf golf club.
While Nintendo never released an adapter for playing NES games on the SNES, the Super Game Boy
adapter cartridge allows games designed for Nintendo's portable Game Boy
system to be played on the SNES. The Super Game Boy touted several feature enhancements over the Game Boy, including palette substitution, custom screen borders, and (for specially enhanced games) access to the SNES console. Japan also saw the release of the Super Game Boy 2, which added a communication port to enable a second Game Boy to connect for multiplayer games.
Like the NES before it, the SNES saw its fair share of unlicensed third-party peripherals, including a new version of the Game Genie
cheat cartridge
designed for use with SNES games. In general, Nintendo proved to be somewhat more tolerant of unlicensed SNES peripherals than they had been with NES peripherals.
Soon after the release of the SNES, companies began marketing backup devices
such as the Super Wildcard, Super Pro Fighter Q, and Game Doctor. These devices were sold to create a backup of a cartridge, in the event that it would break. However, they could also be used to play copied ROM image
s that could be downloaded from BBSes
and the Internet, or to create copies of rented video games, often violating copyright
laws in many jurisdictions.
Japan saw the release of the Satellaview
, a modem
which attached to the Super Famicom's expansion port and connected to the St.GIGA
satellite radio
station. Users of the Satellaview could download gaming news and specially designed games, which were frequently either remakes of or sequels to older Famicom titles, released in installments. Satellaview signals were broadcast from April 23, 1995 through June 30, 2000. In the United States, the similar but relatively short-lived XBAND
allowed users to connect to a network via a dial-up modem to compete against other players around the country.
During the SNES's life, Nintendo contracted with two different companies to develop a CD-ROM
-based peripheral for the console to compete with Sega's
CD-ROM based addon, Mega-CD. Ultimately, negotiations with both Sony
and Philips
fell through, and Sony went on to develop its own console based on its initial dealings with Nintendo (the PlayStation
), with Philips gaining the right to release a series of titles based on Nintendo franchises for its CD-i
multimedia
player.
The Super FX is a RISC
CPU designed to perform functions that the main CPU could not feasibly do. The chip was primarily used to create 3D game worlds made with polygons, texture mapping and light source shading. The chip could also be used to enhance 2D games.
The Nintendo fixed-point digital signal processor
(DSP) chip allowed for fast vector-based calculations, bitmap conversions, both 2D and 3D coordinate transformations, and other functions. Four revisions of the chip exist, each physically identical but with different microcode
. The DSP-1 version, including the later 1A and 1B bug fix revisions, was used most often; the DSP-2, DSP-3, and DSP-4 were used in only one title each.
Similar to the 5A22 CPU in the console, the SA-1 chip contains a 65c816 processor core clocked at 10 MHz, a memory mapper, DMA, decompression and bitplane conversion circuitry, several programmable timers, and CIC region lockout functionality.
In Japan, games could be downloaded for a fee from Nintendo Power kiosks
onto special cartridges containing flash memory
and a MegaChips MX15001TFC chip. The chip managed communication with the kiosks to download ROM images, and provided an initial menu to select which of the downloaded games would be played. Some titles were available both in cartridge and download form, while others were download only. The service was closed on February 8, 2007.
Many cartridges contain other enhancement chips, most of which were created for use by a single company in a few titles; the only limitations are the speed of the Super NES itself to transfer data from the chip and the current
limit of the console.
, which sold 61.91 million units worldwide, the Super NES was the best-selling console of its era.
The SNES has often been considered among the best video game consoles ever. In 2007, GameTrailers named the Super NES as the second-best console of all time in their list of top ten consoles that "left their mark on the history of gaming", citing its graphic, sound, and library of top-quality games. Technology columnist Don Reisinger proclaimed "The SNES is the greatest console of all time" in January 2008, citing the quality of the games and the console's drastic improvement over its predecessor; fellow technology columnist Will Greenwald replied with a more nuanced view, giving the SNES top marks with his heart, the NES with his head, and the PlayStation (for its controller) with his hands. GamingExcellence also gave the SNES first place in 2008, declaring it "simply the most timeless system ever created" with many games that stand the test of time and citing its innovation in controller design, graphics capabilities, and game storytelling. At the same time, GameDaily rated it fifth of ten for its graphics, audio, controllers, and games. In 2009, IGN
named the Super Nintendo Entertainment System the fourth best video game console, complimenting its audio and "concentration of AAA titles".
Yobo Gameware Co. created an unlicensed portable re-make of the Super NES named FC-16 Go. It uses a 3.5" TFT
-LCD screen. In addition to the normal SNES components, it comes with two wireless
controllers (instead of wired) and earphones, and a Lithium-ion battery. The original uses mono
with later versions using stereo sound.
History of video game consoles (fourth generation)
In the history of computer and video games, the fourth generation began on October 30, 1987 with the Japanese release of Nippon Electric Company's PC Engine...
video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
that was released by Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
in North America, Europe, Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
(Oceania), and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short. In South Korea, it is known as the Super Comboy (슈퍼 컴보이) and was distributed by Hyundai Electronics
Hynix
Hynix Semiconductor Inc. chips and flash memory chips. Founded in 1983, Hynix is the world's second-largest memory chipmaker, the largest being Samsung Electronics. Formerly known as Hyundai Electronics, the company has manufacturing sites in Korea, the U.S., China and Taiwan...
. Although each version is essentially the same, several forms of regional lockout
Regional lockout
Regional lockout is the programming practice, code, chip, or physical barrier used to prevent the playing of media designed for a device from the country where it is marketed on the version of the same device marketed in another country.-Video games:...
prevent the different versions from being compatible with one another.
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System was Nintendo's second home console, following the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
(NES). The console introduced advanced graphics and sound capabilities compared with other consoles at the time. Additionally, development of a variety of enhancement chips (which were integrated on game circuit boards) helped to keep it competitive in the marketplace.
The SNES was a global success, becoming the best-selling console of the 16-bit era
History of video game consoles (fourth generation)
In the history of computer and video games, the fourth generation began on October 30, 1987 with the Japanese release of Nippon Electric Company's PC Engine...
despite its relatively late start and the fierce competition it faced in North America and Europe from Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
's Genesis
Sega Mega Drive
The Sega Genesis is a fourth-generation video game console developed and produced by Sega. It was originally released in Japan in 1988 as , then in North America in 1989 as Sega Genesis, and in Europe, Australia and other PAL regions in 1990 as Mega Drive. The reason for the two names is that...
console. The SNES remained popular well into the 32-bit era
History of video game consoles (fifth generation)
The fifth-generation era refers to the computer and video games, video game consoles, and video game handhelds available at stores...
, and although Nintendo no longer offers factory repairs/replacement or accessories for the console, it continues to be popular among fans, collectors, retro gamers, and emulation enthusiasts, some of whom are still making homebrew
Homebrew (video games)
Homebrew is a term frequently applied to video games or other software produced by consumers to target proprietary hardware platforms not typically user-programmable or that use proprietary storage methods...
ROM image
ROM image
A ROM image, or ROM file, is a computer file which contains a copy of the data from a read-only memory chip, often from a video game cartridge, a computer's firmware, or from an arcade game's main board...
s.
History
To compete with the popular NES/FamicomNintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
, NEC launched the TurboGrafx-16
TurboGrafx-16
TurboGrafx-16, fully titled as TurboGrafx-16 Entertainment SuperSystem and known in Japan as the , is a video game console developed by Hudson Soft and NEC, released in Japan on October 30, 1987, and in North America on August 29, 1989....
in 1987, and Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
followed suit with the Genesis/Mega Drive
Sega Mega Drive
The Sega Genesis is a fourth-generation video game console developed and produced by Sega. It was originally released in Japan in 1988 as , then in North America in 1989 as Sega Genesis, and in Europe, Australia and other PAL regions in 1990 as Mega Drive. The reason for the two names is that...
in 1988. Both systems were built on 16-bit architectures and offered improved graphics and sound over the 8-bit
History of video game consoles (third generation)
In the history of computer and video games, the third generation began on July 15, 1983, with the Japanese release of both the Nintendo Family Computer and Sega SG-1000...
NES. However, the NES would continue to dominate the gaming market for several years before Sega's system finally became successful. Nintendo executives were initially reluctant to design a new system, but they reconsidered when the NES hardware began to show its age. Seeing its dominance in the market slipping, Nintendo was compelled to create a new console to compete with its 16-bit rivals.
Launch
Designed by Masayuki UemuraMasayuki Uemura
is a Japanese game hardware designer. Due to the bombing of Japan during World War II, his family was forced to move to Kyoto. Having little money, he was forced to make his own toys. His toys became more and more complex and he wanted to learn more, so he went to industrial college...
, the designer of the original Famicom, the Super Famicom was released in Japan on Wednesday, November 21, 1990 for ¥
Japanese yen
The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third most traded currency in the foreign exchange market after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a reserve currency after the U.S. dollar, the euro and the pound sterling...
25,000 (US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
210). It was an instant success: Nintendo's initial shipment of 300,000 units sold out within hours, and the resulting social disturbance led the Japanese government to ask video game manufacturers to schedule future console releases on weekends. The system's release also gained the attention of the Yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...
, leading to a decision to ship the devices at night to avoid robbery.
With the Super Famicom quickly outselling its chief rivals, Nintendo reasserted itself as the leader of the Japanese console market. Nintendo's success was partially due to its retention of most of its key third-party developers from its earlier system, including Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
, Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
, Tecmo, Square
Square (company)
was a Japanese video game company founded in September 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto. It merged with Enix in 2003 and became part of Square Enix...
, Koei, and Enix
Enix
The was a Japanese company that produced video games, anime and manga. The company was founded by Yasuhiro Fukushima on September 22, 1975 as and renamed Enix in 1982...
.
On August 23, 1991, Nintendo released the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, a redesigned version of the Super Famicom, in North America for US$199. The SNES was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland in April 1992 for GB£
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
150, with a German release following a few weeks later. The PAL region
PAL region
The PAL region is a television publication territory which covers most of Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and most of Western Europe...
versions of the console use the Japanese Super Famicom design, except for labeling and the length of the joypad leads. Both the NES and Super NES were released in Brazil in 1993 by Playtronic, a joint venture
Joint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...
between the toy company Estrela
Estrela (company)
Estrela is a toy manufacturer in Brazil. The company was founded in São Paulo in 1937, when it started producing dolls and wooden toy cars. In 1944 it became a publicly traded corporation...
and Gradiente
Gradiente
Gradiente is a Brazilian consumer electronics company based in São Paulo. The company designs and markets many product lines, including video , audio, home theater, high end acoustics, office and mobile stereo, and wireless. The company was founded in 1964...
.
The Super NES and Super Famicom launched with only a few games, but these games were well-received in the marketplace. In Japan, only two games were initially available: Super Mario World
Super Mario World
, subtitled Super Mario Bros. 4 for its original Japanese release, is a platform video game developed and published by Nintendo as a pack-in launch title for the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo Entertainment System , and is the fourth game in the Super Mario series...
and F-Zero. In North America, Super Mario World shipped with the console, and other initial titles included F-Zero, Pilotwings
Pilotwings
is a video game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System . It was developed by Nintendo's Entertainment Analysis and Development division, led by producer Shigeru Miyamoto. The game was originally released in Japan on December 21, 1990, shortly after the launch of the SNES...
(both of which demonstrated the console's "Mode 7
Mode 7
Mode 7 is a graphics mode on the Super NES video game console that allows a background layer to be rotated and scaled on a scanline-by-scanline basis to create many different effects. The most famous of these effects this can create is the application of a perspective effect on a background layer...
" pseudo-3D rendering capability), SimCity
SimCity
SimCity is a critically acclaimed city-building simulation video game, first released in 1989, and designed by Will Wright. SimCity was Maxis' first product, which has since been ported into various personal computers and game consoles, and spawned several sequels including SimCity 2000 in 1994,...
, and Gradius III
Gradius III
Gradius III, known in Japan as , is a side-scrolling shooting game originally released for the arcades in Japan and Asia in . It is the second sequel to the original Gradius for the arcades following Gradius II, and was followed by Gradius IV. Gradius III was rereleased for the Super Nintendo...
.
Console wars
The rivalry between Nintendo and Sega resulted in one of the fiercest console wars in video game history, in which Sega positioned the Genesis as the "cool" console, with more mature titles aimed at older gamers, and edgy advertisements that occasionally attacked the competition. Nintendo however, scored an early PR coup by securing the first console conversion of Capcom's arcade classic Street Fighter IIStreet Fighter II
is a competitive fighting game originally released for the arcades in . It is the arcade sequel to the original Street Fighter released in and was Capcom's fourteenth title that ran on the CP System arcade hardware...
for Super NES, which took over a year to make the transition to Genesis. Despite the Genesis' head start, much larger library of games, and lower price point, the Genesis only controlled an estimated 60% of the American 16-bit console market in April 1992, and neither console could maintain a definitive lead for several years. The Super NES would remain popular well into the 32-bit generation. According to Stephen Kent in 2001, the Super NES had eventually prevailed over the Sega Genesis in the American 16-bit console market. However, a 2004 study of NPD sales data presents new information that disputes this claim.
Changes in policy
During the NES era, Nintendo maintained exclusive control over titles released for the system—the company had to approve every game, each third-party developer could only release up to five games per year (but some third-parties got around this by using different names, for example Konami's "Ultra" brand), those games could not be released on another console within two years, and Nintendo was the exclusive manufacturer and supplier of NES cartridges. However, competition from Sega's console brought an end to this practice; in 1991, AcclaimAcclaim Entertainment
Acclaim Entertainment was an American video game developer and publisher. It developed, published, marketed and distributed interactive entertainment software for a variety of hardware platforms, including Sega's Mega Drive/Genesis, Saturn, Dreamcast, and Game Gear, Nintendo's NES, SNES, Nintendo...
began releasing games for both platforms, with most of Nintendo's other licensees following suit over the next several years; Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
(which licensed some games to Sega instead of producing them directly) and Square
Square Enix
is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...
were the most notable holdouts.
Nintendo of America also maintained a strict censorship policy that, among other things, limited the amount of violence in the games on its systems. One game, Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat (video game)
Mortal Kombat is a 1992 fighting-game developed and published by Midway for arcades. In 1993, home versions were released by Acclaim Entertainment. Released in the Fall of 1994, the Microsoft Windows 3.1x version was released by Activision Interactive. It is the first title in the Mortal Kombat...
, would challenge this policy. A surprise hit in arcades in 1992, Mortal Kombat features splashes of blood and finishing moves
Fatality (Mortal Kombat)
In the Mortal Kombat series of fighting games, a Fatality is a finishing move that can be used against one's defeated opponent at the end of the final match, after the boss character says "Finish Him/Her." The Fatalities are usually lethal, featuring a brutal and morbid execution of the defenseless...
that often depict one character dismembering the other. Because the Sega Genesis version retained the gore while the SNES version did not, it outsold the SNES version by a ratio of three- or four-to-one.
Game players were not the only ones to notice the violence in this game; US Senators Herb Kohl
Herb Kohl
Herbert H. "Herb" Kohl is the senior U.S. Senator from Wisconsin and a member of the Democratic Party. He is also a philanthropist and the owner of the Milwaukee Bucks National Basketball Association team...
and Joe Lieberman
Joe Lieberman
Joseph Isadore "Joe" Lieberman is the senior United States Senator from Connecticut. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was the party's nominee for Vice President in the 2000 election. Currently an independent, he remains closely affiliated with the party.Born in Stamford, Connecticut,...
convened a Congressional hearing on December 9, 1993 to investigate the marketing of violent video games to children. While Nintendo took the high ground with moderate success, the hearings led to the creation of the Interactive Digital Software Association
Entertainment Software Association
The Entertainment Software Association is the trade association of the video game industry in the United States. It was formed in April 1994 as the Interactive Digital Software Association and renamed on July 16, 2003...
and the Entertainment Software Rating Board
Entertainment Software Rating Board
The Entertainment Software Rating Board is a self-regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings, enforces industry-adopted advertising guidelines, and ensures responsible online privacy principles for computer and video games as well as entertainment software in Canada, Mexico and...
, and the inclusion of ratings on all video games. With these ratings in place, Nintendo decided its censorship policies were no longer needed. Consequently, the uncensored SNES port of Mortal Kombat II
Mortal Kombat II
Mortal Kombat II is a competitive fighting game originally produced by Midway Games for the arcades in . It is the second game in the Mortal Kombat series. Like its predecessor, various home versions were produced...
became the preferred version among reviewers.
32-bit era and beyond
While other companies were moving on to 32-bit systemsHistory of video game consoles (fifth generation)
The fifth-generation era refers to the computer and video games, video game consoles, and video game handhelds available at stores...
, Rare and Nintendo proved that the Super NES was still a strong contender in the market. In November 1994, Rare released Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country is a side-scrolling platformer video game developed by Rare, featuring the character Donkey Kong. It was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1994. Following an intense marketing campaign, the original SNES version sold over 8 million copies worldwide, making...
, a platform game featuring 3D models and textures pre-rendered on SGI
Silicon Graphics
Silicon Graphics, Inc. was a manufacturer of high-performance computing solutions, including computer hardware and software, founded in 1981 by Jim Clark...
workstations. With its detailed graphics and high-quality music, Donkey Kong Country rivaled the aesthetic quality of games that were being released on newer 32-bit CD-based consoles. In the last 45 days of 1994, the game sold 6.1 million units, making it the fastest-selling video game in history to that date. This game sent a message that early 32-bit systems had little to offer over the Super NES, and helped make way for the more advanced consoles on the horizon. The SNES continued to sell steadily throughout the 32-bit era.
In October 1997, Nintendo released a redesigned model of the SNES (the SNS-101 model) in North America for US$99, which included the pack-in game Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, originally released as in Japan, is a platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the SNES console. Despite its title, this game serves as a prequel to all other games within the established Mario Bros timeline...
. Like the earlier redesign of the NES (the NES-101 model), the new model was slimmer and lighter than its predecessor, but it lacked S-Video and RGB output, and it was among the last major SNES-related releases in the region. A similarly redesigned Super Famicom Jr. was released in Japan at around the same time.
Nintendo of America ceased production of the SNES in 1999, about two years after releasing Kirby's Dream Land 3
Kirby's Dream Land 3
Kirby's Dream Land 3, known as in Japan, is the fifth platformer video game starring Kirby. Specifically, it is the third game under the Kirby's Dream Land name. Although the first two games were largely unrelated, Dream Land 3 features many similar characters to Dream Land 2...
(its last first-party game for the system) on November 27, 1997, a year after releasing Frogger
Frogger
Frogger is an arcade game introduced in 1981. It was developed by Konami, and licensed for worldwide distribution by Sega/Gremlin. The object of the game is to direct frogs to their homes one by one. To do this, each frog must avoid cars while crossing a busy road and navigate a river full of...
(its last third-party game for the system). In Japan, Nintendo continued production of the Super Famicom until September 2003, and new games were produced until the year 2000, ending with the release of Metal Slader Glory Director's Cut on December 1, 2000.
Many popular SNES titles have since been ported to the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
, which has similar video capabilities. In 2005, Nintendo announced that SNES titles would be made available for download via the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
's Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
service. In 2007, Nintendo of Japan announced that it would no longer repair Family Computer or Super Famicom systems due to an increasing shortage of the necessary parts.
Emulation
Like the NES before it, the SNES has retained interest among its fans even following its decline in the marketplace. It has continued to thrive on the second-hand market and through console emulation. The SNES has taken much the same revival path as the NES (see History of the Nintendo Entertainment System).Emulation projects began with the initial release of VSMC in 1994, and Super Pasofami became the first working SNES emulator in 1996. During that time, two competing emulation projects—Snes96 and Snes97—merged to form a new initiative entitled Snes9x
Snes9x
Snes9x is an SNES emulator written in C++ with official ports for Linux, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, the PSP and Android.-Background:Development of Snes9x began in July 1997 when Snes96's Gary Henderson and Snes97's Jerremy Koot merged their respective emulators to create Snes9x. Since then,...
. In 1997, SNES enthusiasts began programming an emulator named ZSNES
ZSNES
ZSNES is a free software SNES emulator written mostly in x86 assembly with official ports for Linux, MS-DOS, Mac OS X, Windows and an unofficial port for Xbox.-Background:...
. These two have remained among the best-known SNES emulators, although development continues on others as well. In 2003, members of both the Snes9x and ZSNES teams and others began a push for exact emulation;As opposed to emulation "good enough" for most purposes, exact emulation facilitates the use of the emulator for homebrew game development and documents the operation of the hardware against such time as all existing consoles cease functioning. this movement is now led by the development of bsnes
Bsnes
bsnes is a free SNES emulator for Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows which aims to emulate the original SNES hardware as accurately as possible. As such, bsnes is a low-level emulator.-Background:...
.
Nintendo of America took the same stance against the distribution of SNES ROM
Read-only memory
Read-only memory is a class of storage medium used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, or can be modified only slowly or with difficulty, so it is mainly used to distribute firmware .In its strictest sense, ROM refers only...
image files and the use of emulators as it did with the NES, insisting that they represented flagrant software piracy
Copyright infringement of software
Copyright infringement of software=The copyright infringement of software refers to several practices which involve the unauthorized copying of computer software. Copyright infringement of this kind varies globally...
. Proponents of SNES emulation cite discontinued production of the SNES, the right of the owner of the respective game to make a personal backup, space shifting
Space shifting
Space shifting , also known as place shifting , allows media, such as music or films, which is stored on one device to be accessed from another place through another device. Space shifting is frequently done through computer networks, for example by viewing a television broadcast from a WiFi...
for private use, the desire to develop homebrew games
Homebrew (video games)
Homebrew is a term frequently applied to video games or other software produced by consumers to target proprietary hardware platforms not typically user-programmable or that use proprietary storage methods...
for the system, the frailty of SNES cartridges and consoles, and the lack of certain foreign imports. Despite Nintendo's attempts to stop the proliferation of such projects, emulators and ROM files continue to be widely available on the Internet.
The SNES was one of the first systems to attract the attention of amateur fan translators: Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy V
is a medieval-fantasy role-playing video game developed and published by Square in 1992 as a part of the Final Fantasy series. The game first appeared only in Japan on Nintendo's Super Famicom . It has been ported with minor differences to Sony's PlayStation and Nintendo's Game Boy Advance...
was the first major work of fan translation, and was completed in 1997.
Emulation of the SNES is now available on handheld units, such as Android devices, Apple's iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
and iPad
IPad
The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...
, Sony's PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
(PSP), the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
and Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
, the Gizmondo
Gizmondo
The Gizmondo is a handheld gaming console which was released by Tiger Telematics in March 2005. The electronics design was undertaken by Plextek Limited and the industrial design by Rick Dickinson....
,, the Dingoo
Dingoo
The Dingoo A320 is a gaming handheld that supports music and video playback and open game development. The system features an on-board radio and recording program. It is available in two colors—white and black—with a third color, pink, announced for future release. It was released in February 2009...
and the GP2X
GP2X
The GP2X is an open-source, Linux-based handheld video game console and portable media player developed by South Korean company GamePark Holdings. It was released on November 10, 2005, in South Korea only....
by GamePark Holdings, as well as PDAs. While individual games have been included with emulators on some GameCube discs, Nintendo's Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
service for the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
marks the introduction of officially sanctioned general SNES emulation.
Technical specifications
The design of the Super NES incorporates powerful graphics and sound co-processors that allowed impressive tiling and Mode 7Mode 7
Mode 7 is a graphics mode on the Super NES video game console that allows a background layer to be rotated and scaled on a scanline-by-scanline basis to create many different effects. The most famous of these effects this can create is the application of a perspective effect on a background layer...
effects, many times more colors, and audio quality that represented a massive leap over the competition. Individual game cartridges can supply further custom chips as needed.
Central processing unit
CPU reference | |
---|---|
Processor | Ricoh 5A22, based on a 16-bit 65c816 core |
Clock rates (NTSC) | Input: 21.47727 MHz Bus: 3.58 MHz, 2.68 MHz, or 1.79 MHz |
Clock rates (PAL) | Input: 21.28137 MHz Bus: 3.55 MHz, 2.66 MHz, or 1.77 MHz |
Buses | 24-bit and 8-bit address buses, 8-bit data bus |
Additional features |
|
The CPU
Central processing unit
The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
is a Nintendo-custom 5A22
Ricoh 5A22
The Ricoh 5A22 is a microprocessor produced by Ricoh for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game console. The 5A22 is based around the 16-bit CMD/GTE 65c816, itself a version of the WDC 65C816 ....
processor, based on a 16-bit 65c816 core. The CPU employs a variable bus speed depending on the memory region being accessed for each instruction cycle: the input clock is divided by 6, 8, or 12 to obtain the bus clock rate. Non-access cycles, most register
Memory-mapped I/O
Memory-mapped I/O and port I/O are two complementary methods of performing input/output between the CPU and peripheral devices in a computer...
accesses, and some general accesses use the divisor of 6. WRAM accesses and other general accesses use the divisor of 8. Only the controller port serial-access registers use the divisor of 12.
The chip has an 8-bit data bus, controlled by two address buses. The 24-bit "Bus A" is used for general accesses, while the 8-bit "Bus B" is used for support chip registers (mainly the video and audio processors). Normally only one bus is used at a time, however the built in direct memory access (DMA)
Direct memory access
Direct memory access is a feature of modern computers that allows certain hardware subsystems within the computer to access system memory independently of the central processing unit ....
unit places a read signal on one bus and a write signal on the other to achieve block transfer speeds of up to 2.68 MB/s.This quantity uses the standard decimal meaning of megabyte
Megabyte
The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000...
: 1,000,000 bytes.
The DMA unit has 8 independent channels, each of which can be used in two modes. General DMA transfers up to 64 kBUnless otherwise specified, kilobyte
Kilobyte
The kilobyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. Although the prefix kilo- means 1000, the term kilobyte and symbol KB have historically been used to refer to either 1024 bytes or 1000 bytes, dependent upon context, in the fields of computer science and information...
(kB), megabyte
Megabyte
The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000...
(MB), and megabit
Megabit
The megabit is a multiple of the unit bit for digital information or computer storage. The prefix mega is defined in the International System of Units as a multiplier of 106 , and therefore...
(Mbit) are used in the binary sense
Binary prefix
In computing, a binary prefix is a specifier or mnemonic that is prepended to the units of digital information, the bit and the byte, to indicate multiplication by a power of 2...
in this article, referring to quantities of 1024 or 1,048,576. in one shot, while H-blank DMA (HDMA) transfers 1–4 bytes at the end of each video scanline. HDMA is typically used to change video parameters to achieve effects such as perspective, split-screen, and non-rectangular windowing without tying up the main CPU.
The 5A22 also contains an 8-bit parallel I/O port (which was mostly unused in the SNES); controller port interface circuits, including both serial
Serial communications
In telecommunication and computer science, serial communication is the process of sending data one bit at a time, sequentially, over a communication channel or computer bus. This is in contrast to parallel communication, where several bits are sent as a whole, on a link with several parallel channels...
and parallel
Parallel communications
In telecommunication and computer science, parallel communication is a method of sending several data signals simultaneously over several parallel channels...
access to controller data; a 16-bit multiplication and division unit; and circuitry for generating non-maskable interrupt
Non-Maskable interrupt
A non-maskable interrupt is a computer processor interrupt that cannot be ignored by standard interrupt masking techniques in the system. It is typically used to signal attention for non-recoverable hardware errors...
s on V-blank
Vertical blanking interval
The vertical blanking interval , also known as the vertical interval or VBLANK, is the time difference between the last line of one frame or field of a raster display, and the beginning of the first line of the next frame. It is present in analog television, VGA, DVI and other signals. During the...
and IRQ
Interrupt request
The computing phrase "interrupt request" is used to refer to either the act of interrupting the bus lines used to signal an interrupt, or the interrupt input lines on a Programmable Interrupt Controller...
interrupts on calculated screen positions.
Video
Video reference | |
---|---|
Resolutions | Progressive: 256 × 224, 512 × 224, 256 × 239, 512 × 239 Interlaced: 512 × 448, 512 × 478 |
Pixel depth | 2, 4, 7, or 8 bpp Color depth In computer graphics, color depth or bit depth is the number of bits used to represent the color of a single pixel in a bitmapped image or video frame buffer. This concept is also known as bits per pixel , particularly when specified along with the number of bits used... indexed; 8 or 11 bpp direct |
Total colors | 32768 (15-bit) |
Sprites | 128, 32 max per line; up to 64 × 64 pixels |
Backgrounds | Up to 4 planes; each up to 1024 × 1024 pixels |
Effects |
|
The picture processing unit (PPU) consists of two separate but closely tied IC packages, which may be considered as a single entity. It also contains 64 kB of SRAM
Static random access memory
Static random-access memory is a type of semiconductor memory where the word static indicates that, unlike dynamic RAM , it does not need to be periodically refreshed, as SRAM uses bistable latching circuitry to store each bit...
for storing video data (VRAM), 544 bytes of object attribute memory (OAM) for storing sprite
Sprite (computer graphics)
In computer graphics, a sprite is a two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene...
data, and 256 × 15 bits of color generator RAM (CGRAM) for storing palette
Palette (computing)
In computer graphics, a palette is either a given, finite set of colors for the management of digital images , or a small on-screen graphical element for choosing from a limited set of choices, not necessarily colors .Depending on the context In computer graphics, a palette is either a given,...
data. The PPU is clocked by the same signal as the CPU, and generates a pixel every two or four cycles. Both NTSC and PAL systems use the same PPU chips, with one pin per chip selecting NTSC or PAL operation.
Images may be output at 256 or 512 pixels horizontal resolution and 224, 239, 448, or 478 pixels vertically. Vertical resolutions of 224 or 239 are usually output in progressive scan
Progressive scan
Progressive scanning is a way of displaying, storing, or transmitting moving images in which all the lines of each frame are drawn in sequence...
, while 448 and 478 resolutions are interlaced. Colors are chosen from the 15-bit RGB color space, for a total of 32,768 possible colors. Graphics consist of up to 128 sprites and up to 4 background layers, all made up of combinations of 8×8 pixel tiles. Most graphics use palettes stored in CGRAM, with color 0 of any palette representing transparency.
Sprites can be 8 × 8, 16 × 16, 32 × 32, or 64 × 64 pixels, each using one of eight 16-color palettes and tiles from one of two blocks of 256 in VRAM. Sprites may be flipped horizontally and vertically as a whole. Up to 32 sprites and 34 8 × 8 sprite tiles may appear on any one line; exceeding these limits causes excess sprites or tiles to be dropped. Each sprite lies on one of 4 planes, however a lower-numbered sprite will always cover a higher-numbered sprite even if the latter is on a higher priority plane. This quirk is often used for complex clipping effects.
Background layers in most modes range from 32 × 32 to 128 × 128 tiles, with each tile on one of two planes ("foreground" and "background") and using one of 8 palettes. Tiles are taken from a per-layer set of up to 1024 (as VRAM permits) and can be flipped horizontally and vertically. Each layer may be scrolled both horizontally and vertically. The number of background layers and the size of the palettes depends on the mode:
- Mode 0: 4 layers, all using 4-color palettes. Each BG uses its own section of the SNES palette.
- Mode 1: 3 layers, two using 16-color palettes and one using 4-color palettes.
- Mode 2: 2 layers, both using 16-color palettes. Each tile can be individually scrolled.
- Mode 3: 2 layers, one using the full 256-color palette and one using 16-color palettes. The 256-color layer can also directly specify colors from an 11-bit (RGB443) colorspace.
- Mode 4: 2 layers, one using the full 256-color palette and one using 4-color palettes. The 256-color layer can directly specify colors, and each tile can be individually scrolled.
- Mode 5: 2 layers, one using 16-color palettes and one using 4-color palettes. Tile decoding is altered to facilitate use of the 512-width and interlaced resolutions.
- Mode 6: 1 layer, using 16-color palettes. Tile decoding is as in Mode 5, and each tile can be individually scrolled.
- Mode 7Mode 7Mode 7 is a graphics mode on the Super NES video game console that allows a background layer to be rotated and scaled on a scanline-by-scanline basis to create many different effects. The most famous of these effects this can create is the application of a perspective effect on a background layer...
: 1 layer of 128×128 tiles from a set of 256, which may be interpreted as a 256-color one-plane layer or a 128-color two-plane layer. The layer may be rotated and scaled using matrix transformations. HDMA is often used to change the matrix parameters for each scanline to generate perspective effects.
Background layers may be individually pixelized
Pixelization
Pixelization is a video- and image-editing technique in which an image is blurred by displaying part or all of it at a markedly lower resolution. It is primarily used for censorship...
, and layers and sprites can be individually clipped
Clipping (computer graphics)
Any procedure which identifies that portion of a picture which is either inside or outside a picture is referred to as a clipping algorithm or clipping.The region against which an object is to be clipped is called clipping window.-Examples:...
and combined by color addition or subtraction to generate more complex effects and greater color depths than can be specified directly.
The PPU may be instructed to latch the current pixel position at any time during image output, both by game software and by the device attached to controller port 2. The game software may then read back this latched position. The PPU may also be used for fast 16-bit by 8-bit signed multiplication.
Audio
Audio reference | |
---|---|
Processors | Sony SPC700, Sony DSP |
Clock rates | Input: 24.576 MHz SPC700: 1.024 MHz |
Format | 16-bit ADPCM, 8 channels |
Output | 32 kHz 16-bit stereo |
Effects |
|
The audio subsystem consists of an 8-bit Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
SPC700
SPC700
The Nintendo S-SMP is the audio CPU of the SNES video game console.The SNES contains a sound module called APU which is almost completely separate from the rest of the system: it is clocked at a nominal 24.576 MHz in both NTSC and PAL systems, and can only communicate with the main board via 4...
, a 16-bit DSP
Digital signal processor
A digital signal processor is a specialized microprocessor with an architecture optimized for the fast operational needs of digital signal processing.-Typical characteristics:...
, 64 kB of SRAM
Static random access memory
Static random-access memory is a type of semiconductor memory where the word static indicates that, unlike dynamic RAM , it does not need to be periodically refreshed, as SRAM uses bistable latching circuitry to store each bit...
shared by the two chips, and a 64 byte boot ROM. The audio subsystem is almost completely independent from the rest of the system: it is clocked at a nominal 24.576 MHz in both NTSC and PAL systems, and can only communicate with the CPU via 4 registers on Bus B.
RAM is accessed at 3.072 MHz, with accesses multiplexed
Time-division multiplexing
Time-division multiplexing is a type of digital multiplexing in which two or more bit streams or signals are transferred apparently simultaneously as sub-channels in one communication channel, but are physically taking turns on the channel. The time domain is divided into several recurrent...
between the SPC700 and the DSP . This RAM is used to store the SPC700 program and stack
Call stack
In computer science, a call stack is a stack data structure that stores information about the active subroutines of a computer program. This kind of stack is also known as an execution stack, control stack, run-time stack, or machine stack, and is often shortened to just "the stack"...
, the audio sample data and pointer table, and the DSP's echo buffer.
The SPC700 runs programs (uploaded using the boot ROM program) to accept instructions and data from the CPU and to manipulate the DSP registers to generate the appropriate music and sound effects. The DSP generates a 16-bit waveform at 32 kHz by mixing input from 8 independent voices and an 8-tap FIR filter
Finite impulse response
A finite impulse response filter is a type of a signal processing filter whose impulse response is of finite duration, because it settles to zero in finite time. This is in contrast to infinite impulse response filters, which have internal feedback and may continue to respond indefinitely...
typically used for reverberation
Reverberation
Reverberation is the persistence of sound in a particular space after the original sound is removed. A reverberation, or reverb, is created when a sound is produced in an enclosed space causing a large number of echoes to build up and then slowly decay as the sound is absorbed by the walls and air...
. Each voice can play its PCM sample at a variable rate
Frequency modulation synthesis
A 220 Hz carrier tone modulated by a 440 Hz modulating tone with various choices of modulation index, β. The time domain signals are illustrated above, and the corresponding spectra are shown below ....
, with Gaussian interpolation, stereo panning
Panning (audio)
Panning is the spread of a sound signal into a new stereo or multi-channel sound field. A typical physical recording console pan control is a knob with a pointer which can be placed from the 8 o'clock dial position fully left to the 4 o'clock position fully right...
, and ADSR, linear, non-linear, or direct volume envelope adjustment. The voice and FIR filter outputs are mixed both for direct output and for future input into the FIR filter. All audio samples are compressed using ADPCM and a linear predictive coding
Linear prediction
Linear prediction is a mathematical operation where future values of a discrete-time signal are estimated as a linear function of previous samples....
, a method dubbed BRR
Bit Rate Reduction
Bit Rate Reduction, or BRR, also called Bit Rate Reduced, is a name given toan audio compression method used on the SPC700 sound coprocessor used in the SNES. The method is a form of ADPCM....
.
Hardware on the cartridge, expansion port, or both can provide stereo audio data for mixing into the DSP's analog audio output before it leaves the console.
Since the audio subsystem is mostly self-contained, the state of the audio subsystem can be saved as an .SPC
SPC700 sound format
An SPC700 sound file is a video game music file consisting of scores and music data from RAM used by the SPC700 sound chip on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System or Super Famicom...
file, and the subsystem can be emulated in a stand-alone manner to play back all game music (except for a few games that constantly stream their samples from ROM). Custom cartridges or PC interfaces can be used to load .SPC files onto a real SNES SPC700 and DSP.
Onboard RAM
Memory reference | |
---|---|
Main RAM | 128 kB |
Video RAM | 64 kB main RAM 512 + 32 bytes sprite RAM 256 × 15 bits palette RAM |
Audio RAM | 64 kB |
The console contains 128 kB of DRAM
Dynamic random access memory
Dynamic random-access memory is a type of random-access memory that stores each bit of data in a separate capacitor within an integrated circuit. The capacitor can be either charged or discharged; these two states are taken to represent the two values of a bit, conventionally called 0 and 1...
. This is mapped to various segments of Bus A, and can also be accessed in a serial fashion via registers on Bus B. The video and audio subsystems contain additional RAM reserved for use by those processors.
Regional lockout
Nintendo employed several types of regional lockoutRegional lockout
Regional lockout is the programming practice, code, chip, or physical barrier used to prevent the playing of media designed for a device from the country where it is marketed on the version of the same device marketed in another country.-Video games:...
, including both physical and hardware incompatibilities.
On a physical level, the cartridges are shaped differently for different regions. North American cartridges have a rectangular bottom with inset grooves matching protruding tabs in the console, while other regions' cartridges are narrower with a smooth curve on the front and no grooves. The physical incompatibility can be overcome with use of various adapters, or through modification
Modding
Modding is a slang expression that is derived from the verb "modify". Modding refers to the act of modifying a piece of hardware or software or anything else for that matter, to perform a function not originally conceived or intended by the designer...
of the console.
Internally, a regional lockout chip (CIC) within the console and in each cartridge prevents PAL region games from being played on Japanese or North American consoles and vice versa. The Japanese and North American machines have the same region chip. The console CIC releases the reset signal to the rest of the system only after completing a handshake with the chip in the cartridge. This can be overcome through the use of adapters, typically by inserting the imported cartridge in one slot and a cartridge with the correct region chip in a second slot. Alternatively, disconnecting one pin of the console's lockout chip will prevent it from locking the console; hardware in later games can detect this situation, so it later became common to install a switch to reconnect the lockout chip as needed.
PAL consoles face another incompatibility when playing out-of-region cartridges: the NTSC video standard
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
specifies video at 60 Hz while PAL
PAL
PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...
operates at 50 Hz, resulting in approximately 16.7% slower gameplay. Additionally, PAL's higher resolution results in letterbox
Letterbox
Letterboxing is the practice of transferring film shot in a widescreen aspect ratio to standard-width video formats while preserving the film's original aspect ratio. The resulting videographic image has mattes above and below it; these mattes are part of the image...
ing of the output image. Some commercial PAL region releases exhibit this same problem and therefore can be played in NTSC systems without issue, while others will face a 20% speedup if played in an NTSC console. To mostly correct this issue, a switch can be added to place the SNES PPU into a 60 Hz mode supported by most newer PAL televisions. Later games will detect this setting and refuse to run, requiring the switch to be thrown only after the check completes.
Casing
Original Japanese version (1990 – 1998) |
Original North American version (1991 – 1997) |
Original PAL version (1992 – 1998) |
Super Famicom Jr. (1998 – 2003) |
North American redesign (1997 – 1999) |
All versions of the SNES are predominantly gray, although the exact shade may differ. The original North American version has a boxy design with purple sliding switches and a dark gray eject lever. The loading bay surface is curved, both to invite interaction
Affordance
An affordance is a quality of an object, or an environment, which allows an individual to perform an action. For example, a knob affords twisting, and perhaps pushing, while a cord affords pulling...
and to prevent food or drinks from being placed on the console and spilled as had happened with the flat surfaced NES
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
. The Japanese and European versions are more rounded, with darker gray accents and buttons. The North American SNS-101 model and the Japanese Super Famicom Jr. (the SHVC-101 model) are both smaller with a rounded contour, however the SNS-101 buttons are purple where the Super Famicom Jr. buttons are gray.
All versions incorporate a top-loading slot for game cartridges, although the shape of the slot differs between regions to match the different shapes of the cartridges. The card-edge connector has 62 pads, however many cartridges only connect to the middle 46. All versions also incorporate two 7-pin controller ports on the front of the unit, and a plug for a power supply and a Nintendo-proprietary "MULTI OUT" A/V connector on the back. The MULTI OUT connector (later used on the Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
and GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
) can output composite video
Composite video
Composite video is the format of an analog television signal before it is combined with a sound signal and modulated onto an RF carrier. In contrast to component video it contains all required video information, including colors in a single line-level signal...
, S-Video
S-Video
Separate Video, more commonly known as S-Video and Y/C, is often referred to by JVC as both an S-VHS connector and as Super Video. It is an analog video transmission scheme, in which video information is encoded on two channels: luma and chroma...
and RGB signals, as well as RF
RF connector
A coaxial RF connector is an electrical connector designed to work at radio frequencies in the multi-megahertz range.RF connectors are typically used with coaxial cables and are designed to maintain the shielding that the coaxial design offers. Better models also minimize the change in transmission...
with an external RF modulator
RF modulator
An RF modulator is a device that takes a baseband input signal and outputs a radio frequency-modulated signal....
. Original versions additionally include a 28-pin expansion port under a small cover on the bottom of the unit and a standard RF output with channel selection switch on the back; the redesigned models output composite video only, requiring an external modulator for RF.
The ABS plastic
Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene
Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene is a common thermoplastic. Its melting point is approximately 105 °C ....
used in the casing of some older SNES consoles is particularly susceptible to oxidization on exposure to air, likely due to an incorrect mixture of the stabilizing or flame retarding additives. This, along with the particularly light color of the original plastic, causes affected consoles to quickly become yellow; if the sections of the casing came from different batches of plastic, a "two-tone" effect results.
Game cartridge
The cartridgeROM cartridge
A ROM cartridge, sometimes referred to as a cart, is a removable enclosure containing read-only memory devices designed to be connected to a computer or games console....
media of the console is officially referred to as Game Pak in Western regions, and as in Japan. While the SNES can address 128 Mbit, only 117.75 Mbit are actually available for cartridge use. A fairly normal mapping could easily address up to 95 Mbit of ROM data (48 Mbit at FastROM speed) with 8 Mbit of battery-backed RAM. However, most available memory access controllers only support mappings of up to 32 Mbit. The largest games released (Tales of Phantasia
Tales of Phantasia
is a Super Nintendo game in the RPG genre published by Namco and released in Japan in 1995, selling 212,000 copies. It is the first mothership title in the Tales RPG series and was later remade/re-released on the PlayStation, Game Boy Advance and PlayStation Portable...
and Star Ocean
Star Ocean (video game)
is the first game in the Star Ocean series developed by tri-Ace and published by Enix, made for the Super Famicom and released in 1996. It is also the first game that was developed by tri-Ace. It was never released outside of Japan due to the closing of Enix's American division, Enix America...
) contain 48 Mbit of ROM data, while the smallest games contain only 2 Mbit.
Cartridges may also contain battery-backed SRAM to save the game state, extra working RAM, custom coprocessors, or any other hardware that will not exceed the maximum current rating of the console.
Peripherals
The standard SNES controller adds two additional face buttons to the design of the NES iteration, arranging the four in a diamond shape, and introduces two shoulder buttons. The inclusion of six active buttons was made with the popularity of the Street FighterStreet Fighter
, commonly abbreviated as SF, is a series of Fighting Games developed in Japan in which the players pit the video games' competitive fighters from around the world, each with his or her own unique fighting style, against one another...
arcade series in mind. It also features an ergonomic design later used for the NES-102 model controllers. The Japanese and PAL region versions incorporate the system's logo in the colors of the four action buttons, while the North American version colors them lavender and purple to match the redesigned console and gives the lighter two a concave rather than convex top. Several later consoles derive elements of their controller design from the SNES, including the PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
, Dreamcast, Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
, and Wii Classic Controller
Classic Controller
The is a video game controller produced by Nintendo. It is used to play games on the Nintendo Wii video game console.-Classic Controller:The Classic Controller is plugged into the Wii Remote in order to be used. It features two analog sticks, a D-pad, face buttons labeled "a", "b", "x" and "y",...
.
Throughout the course of its life, a number of peripherals were released which added to the functionality of the SNES. Many of these devices were modeled after earlier add-ons for the NES: the Super Scope
Super Scope
The Super Scope, or Nintendo Scope in Europe and Australia, is the official Super Nintendo light gun. It was released in the European and North American markets, with a limited release in Japan due to a lack of consumer demand...
is a light gun
Light gun
A light gun is a pointing device for computers and a control device for arcade and video games.Modern screen-based light guns work by building a sensor into the gun itself, and the on-screen target emit light rather than the gun...
functionally similar to the NES Zapper
NES Zapper
The NES Zapper, also known as the Beam Gun in Japan, is an electronic light gun accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Japanese Famicom. It was released in Japan for the Famicom on and alongside the launch of the NES in North America in October 1985...
(though the Super Scope features wireless capabilities) and the Super Advantage
Super Advantage
The SNES Advantage is a large joystick produced by Asciiware, sold for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The device is meant to rest at a comfortable level on a flat surface—such as a tabletop or the floor—while the player sits behind it, but it can also used while resting on a players lap...
is an arcade
Video arcade
An amusement arcade or video arcade is a venue where people play arcade games such as video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, merchandisers , or coin-operated billiards or air hockey tables...
-style joystick
Joystick
A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks, also known as 'control columns', are the principal control in the cockpit of many civilian and military aircraft, either as a center stick or...
with adjustable turbo settings akin to the NES Advantage
NES Advantage
The NES Advantage is an arcade style controller released by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987. The device is meant to rest on a flat surface at a comfortable level, such as a tabletop or the floor, with the player seated behind it...
. Nintendo also released the SNES Mouse
SNES Mouse
The Super NES Mouse is a peripheral released by Nintendo in 1992 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System . Originally designed for use with the game Mario Paint, the SNES Mouse was sold in a bundle with the game and included a plastic mouse pad...
in conjunction with its Mario Paint
Mario Paint
Mario Paint is a video game created by Nintendo for use with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and was released along with the SNES Mouse peripheral device...
title. Hudson Soft
Hudson Soft
, formally known as , is a majority-owned subsidiary of Konami Corporation is a Japanese electronic entertainment publisher headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with an additional office in the Hudson Building in Sapporo. It was founded on May 18, 1973...
, under license from Nintendo, released the Super Multitap, a multiplayer adapter for use with its popular series of Bomberman
Bomberman
Bomberman is a strategic, maze-based computer and video game franchise originally developed by Hudson Soft. The original game was published in 1983 and new games in the series are still being published to this day. Today, the commercially successful Bomberman is featured in over 70 different games...
games. Some of the more unusual controllers include the one-handed ASCII Stick L5, the BatterUP
BatterUP
BatterUP is a "24-inch foam-covered plastic" baseball bat-shaped controller manufactured for the personal computer, SEGA Genesis, and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System by Sports Sciences Inc....
baseball bat, and the TeeV Golf golf club.
While Nintendo never released an adapter for playing NES games on the SNES, the Super Game Boy
Super Game Boy
The is a 16-bit adapter cartridge for Nintendo's Super Nintendo Entertainment System, as well as the Super Famicom in Japan. The Super Game Boy allows game cartridges designed for use on the Game Boy to be played on a TV display using the SNES/Super Famicom controllers. When it was released in...
adapter cartridge allows games designed for Nintendo's portable Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
system to be played on the SNES. The Super Game Boy touted several feature enhancements over the Game Boy, including palette substitution, custom screen borders, and (for specially enhanced games) access to the SNES console. Japan also saw the release of the Super Game Boy 2, which added a communication port to enable a second Game Boy to connect for multiplayer games.
Like the NES before it, the SNES saw its fair share of unlicensed third-party peripherals, including a new version of the Game Genie
Game Genie
The Game Genie is a series of cheat systems designed by Codemasters and sold by Camerica and Galoob for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Mega Drive/Genesis, and Sega Game Gear that modifies game data, allowing the player to cheat, manipulate various...
cheat cartridge
Cheat cartridge
A cheat cartridge is a device that connects to any sort of cartridge-based video game system. It allows a user to input special cheat codes to manipulate a game in a way not permitted by its original programming. Usually the effect is to gain infinite lives, ammunition, unlock secrets, or do things...
designed for use with SNES games. In general, Nintendo proved to be somewhat more tolerant of unlicensed SNES peripherals than they had been with NES peripherals.
Soon after the release of the SNES, companies began marketing backup devices
Game backup device
A game backup device, formerly usually called a copier and more recently a flash cartridge, is a device for backing up ROM information from a video game cartridge to a computer file called a ROM image and playing them back on the real hardware...
such as the Super Wildcard, Super Pro Fighter Q, and Game Doctor. These devices were sold to create a backup of a cartridge, in the event that it would break. However, they could also be used to play copied ROM image
ROM image
A ROM image, or ROM file, is a computer file which contains a copy of the data from a read-only memory chip, often from a video game cartridge, a computer's firmware, or from an arcade game's main board...
s that could be downloaded from BBSes
Bulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
and the Internet, or to create copies of rented video games, often violating copyright
Copyright infringement of software
Copyright infringement of software=The copyright infringement of software refers to several practices which involve the unauthorized copying of computer software. Copyright infringement of this kind varies globally...
laws in many jurisdictions.
Japan saw the release of the Satellaview
Satellaview
The is a satellite modem add-on for Nintendo's Super Famicom system that was released in Japan in 1995. Available for pre-release orders as early as February 13, 1995, the Satellaview retailed for between ¥14,000 and 18,000 and came bundled with the BS-X Game Pak and an 8M Memory Pak.The...
, a modem
Modem
A modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...
which attached to the Super Famicom's expansion port and connected to the St.GIGA
St.GIGA
is the name of a defunct satellite radio company that was formed as a subsidiary of satellite television company WOWOW and later became semi-independent, forming a keiretsu with its parent. Using the BS network to broadcast digital radio via direct broadcast satellite as a test on November 30,...
satellite radio
Satellite radio
Satellite radio is an analogue or digital radio signal that is relayed through one or more satellites and thus can be received in a much wider geographical area than terrestrial FM radio stations...
station. Users of the Satellaview could download gaming news and specially designed games, which were frequently either remakes of or sequels to older Famicom titles, released in installments. Satellaview signals were broadcast from April 23, 1995 through June 30, 2000. In the United States, the similar but relatively short-lived XBAND
XBAND
XBAND was an early online console gaming network for SNES and Sega Genesis systems. It was produced by Catapult Entertainment, a Cupertino, California based software company, and made its debut in various areas of the United States in late 1994 and 1995...
allowed users to connect to a network via a dial-up modem to compete against other players around the country.
During the SNES's life, Nintendo contracted with two different companies to develop a CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
-based peripheral for the console to compete with Sega's
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
CD-ROM based addon, Mega-CD. Ultimately, negotiations with both Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
and Philips
Philips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
fell through, and Sony went on to develop its own console based on its initial dealings with Nintendo (the PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
), with Philips gaining the right to release a series of titles based on Nintendo franchises for its CD-i
CD-i
CD-i, or Compact Disc Interactive, is the name of an interactive multimedia CD player developed and marketed by Royal Philips Electronics N.V. CD-i also refers to the multimedia Compact Disc standard used by the CD-i console, also known as Green Book, which was developed by Philips and Sony...
multimedia
Multimedia
Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which use only rudimentary computer display such as text-only, or...
player.
Enhancement chips
As part of the overall plan for the SNES, rather than include an expensive CPU that would still become obsolete in a few years, the hardware designers made it easy to interface special coprocessor chips to the console. This is most often characterized by 16 additional pins on the cartridge card edge.The Super FX is a RISC
Reduced instruction set computer
Reduced instruction set computing, or RISC , is a CPU design strategy based on the insight that simplified instructions can provide higher performance if this simplicity enables much faster execution of each instruction. A computer based on this strategy is a reduced instruction set computer...
CPU designed to perform functions that the main CPU could not feasibly do. The chip was primarily used to create 3D game worlds made with polygons, texture mapping and light source shading. The chip could also be used to enhance 2D games.
The Nintendo fixed-point digital signal processor
Digital signal processor
A digital signal processor is a specialized microprocessor with an architecture optimized for the fast operational needs of digital signal processing.-Typical characteristics:...
(DSP) chip allowed for fast vector-based calculations, bitmap conversions, both 2D and 3D coordinate transformations, and other functions. Four revisions of the chip exist, each physically identical but with different microcode
Microcode
Microcode is a layer of hardware-level instructions and/or data structures involved in the implementation of higher level machine code instructions in many computers and other processors; it resides in special high-speed memory and translates machine instructions into sequences of detailed...
. The DSP-1 version, including the later 1A and 1B bug fix revisions, was used most often; the DSP-2, DSP-3, and DSP-4 were used in only one title each.
Similar to the 5A22 CPU in the console, the SA-1 chip contains a 65c816 processor core clocked at 10 MHz, a memory mapper, DMA, decompression and bitplane conversion circuitry, several programmable timers, and CIC region lockout functionality.
In Japan, games could be downloaded for a fee from Nintendo Power kiosks
Nintendo Power (cartridge)
The flash RAM cartridge was a Japan-only peripheral produced by Nintendo for the Super Famicom and the Game Boy, which allowed owners to download Super Famicom/Game Boy games onto a special flash memory cartridge for less than what the full cartridge would have cost.During the days of the Family...
onto special cartridges containing flash memory
Flash memory
Flash memory is a non-volatile computer storage chip that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. It was developed from EEPROM and must be erased in fairly large blocks before these can be rewritten with new data...
and a MegaChips MX15001TFC chip. The chip managed communication with the kiosks to download ROM images, and provided an initial menu to select which of the downloaded games would be played. Some titles were available both in cartridge and download form, while others were download only. The service was closed on February 8, 2007.
Many cartridges contain other enhancement chips, most of which were created for use by a single company in a few titles; the only limitations are the speed of the Super NES itself to transfer data from the chip and the current
Electric current
Electric current is a flow of electric charge through a medium.This charge is typically carried by moving electrons in a conductor such as wire...
limit of the console.
Legacy
49.10 million Super NES units were sold worldwide, with 23.35 million of those units sold in the Americas and 17.17 million in Japan. Although it could not quite repeat the success of the NESNintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
, which sold 61.91 million units worldwide, the Super NES was the best-selling console of its era.
The SNES has often been considered among the best video game consoles ever. In 2007, GameTrailers named the Super NES as the second-best console of all time in their list of top ten consoles that "left their mark on the history of gaming", citing its graphic, sound, and library of top-quality games. Technology columnist Don Reisinger proclaimed "The SNES is the greatest console of all time" in January 2008, citing the quality of the games and the console's drastic improvement over its predecessor; fellow technology columnist Will Greenwald replied with a more nuanced view, giving the SNES top marks with his heart, the NES with his head, and the PlayStation (for its controller) with his hands. GamingExcellence also gave the SNES first place in 2008, declaring it "simply the most timeless system ever created" with many games that stand the test of time and citing its innovation in controller design, graphics capabilities, and game storytelling. At the same time, GameDaily rated it fifth of ten for its graphics, audio, controllers, and games. In 2009, IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
named the Super Nintendo Entertainment System the fourth best video game console, complimenting its audio and "concentration of AAA titles".
Yobo Gameware Co. created an unlicensed portable re-make of the Super NES named FC-16 Go. It uses a 3.5" TFT
Thin-film transistor
A thin-film transistor is a special kind of field-effect transistor made by depositing thin films of a semiconductor active layer as well as the dielectric layer and metallic contacts over a supporting substrate. A common substrate is glass, since the primary application of TFTs is in liquid...
-LCD screen. In addition to the normal SNES components, it comes with two wireless
Wireless
Wireless telecommunications is the transfer of information between two or more points that are not physically connected. Distances can be short, such as a few meters for television remote control, or as far as thousands or even millions of kilometers for deep-space radio communications...
controllers (instead of wired) and earphones, and a Lithium-ion battery. The original uses mono
Monaural
Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or channels are fed from a common signal path...
with later versions using stereo sound.
See also
- List of Super Nintendo Entertainment System accessories
- List of SNES games
- List of Super Famicom games
- List of Player's Choice gamesPlayer's ChoiceNintendo Selects is a marketing label used by Nintendo to promote video games on Nintendo game consoles which have sold well; Nintendo Selects titles are sold at a lower price point than other games...