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custom cartridge modification?


syntax010

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I've been playing around with vintage game systems for some time now. I'm a big fan of vintage gaming systems, like the NES, SNES, and Sega Genesis. I've seen the occasional pirate cartridge for sale on various websites, that seem to be hacks of original NES, SNES or Genesis game cartridges that allow for more than one game to be placed on a cartridge. I am curious, does anyone know where someone would find information on doing this?

Please don't misunderstand me, i'm not asking how to pirate games or game systems. However, the technology of the SNES and Genesis have been around a long time now, the technology for the original NES even more so.... Storage space size, the average ROM for an SNES or Genesis game is around 2MB or so, and the average ROM for an NES game is around 500k or so...those are tiny file sizes by comparison to today's storage standards. They barely take up any space at all on a hard drive, especially one that is many gigabytes in size.

I'm trying to find answers to any of a few of these questions. If anyone can help me out and offer some thoughts, advice, or feedback, it would be greatly appreciated. Please understand that these questions are in regard to a situation of already owning the actual game system and already owning legitimate copies of the games in question. Since the technology in question for each of those game systems is quite old by today's standards, i'd think something like this might be possible?

Is there anywhere that you could order a blank cartridge that would be playable on a NES, SNES or Sega Genesis?

Is there any known way for ripping the ROM files from the original game cartridges and then placing multiple games on a single cartridge?

Where would you find software for doing that? if it's even possible?

Would it be possible to simply erase an existing owned cartridge and then somehow expand its storage capacity so that you could put as many games onto it as the storage space would allow? Or...is there a place where one could custom order a cartridge with modern storage capacities?

If this is for some reason not possible, is there any way to get an original NES, SNES or Genesis game system to load games from an external hard drive or over a LAN from a shared folder?

I know that through emulation, those games and systems can easily be played on a PC. I also know that you can modify the original gamepads to work via USB on a computer. However, my goal is for playability on a TV and with a home theatre. I'd really rather not have to go out and get over 25' of audio and video cable to run from outs on my PC to my TV. I know that it's possible to run those emulators on an Xbox or on a PS2 if the system is modified. However, emulators aren't always exactly perfect, and one of the biggest reasons i'd prefer to use the original systems.....modern gamepads aren't even close to the smooth feel and capabilities that were offered with those vintage gamepads.

As an example, just trying to play Street Fighter with an Xbox or PS2 gamepad is nearly impossible. Since both types of gamepads have significantly raised and less smooth d-pads than any of the vintage system pads used, trying to pull off the fluid motion needed for doing special attacks or combos takes a real effort and usually doesn't work the best. Unfortunately, to my best knowledge there is no way to make an original NES or SNES or Genesis gamepad actually work on an Xbox or a PS2. The closest i've found so far is a retropad by MadCatz. That pad is layed out just about like what would be perfect for an NES or SNES game but doesn't even come close to the configuration of the Genesis gamepads, seeing as those had 3 buttons side by side, and eventually 6, but no triggers.

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