# Hacked super Nintendo.....video synth? **URL:** \ **Category:** DIY STUFF\ **Created:** [September 9, 2020, 8:40am UTC](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/hacked-super-nintendo-video-synth/1767 "2020-09-09T08:40:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jwotto](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/jwotto/32/1932_2.png) [@jwotto](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/u/jwotto)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 8:40am UTC](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/hacked-super-nintendo-video-synth/1767/1 "2020-09-09T08:40:52Z")
I’ve circuit bend a somewhat broken Super Nintendo in to a video synthesizer lolol. When is was poking around some wire on the circuitboard of the Nintendo i did found some cool spot that I could connect together. when i connected those spots i got these great visuals glitches. ![Screenshot 2020-09-09 at 10.29.15](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/lookmumnocomputer/original/2X/f/f85d3a68974e473f97b2709601ac074caf3dc597.jpeg) I used some 122 transistors i had laying around (i know overkill…haha) to connect those spots so I can control the circuit bends with a arduino. Then i created a midi input for the arduino so i can control those glitches during my music… Should i circuit bend more of those old game consoles? this was such a fun project. ---
**Author:** ![jwotto](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/jwotto/32/1932_2.png) [@jwotto](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/u/jwotto)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 8:42am UTC](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/hacked-super-nintendo-video-synth/1767/2 "2020-09-09T08:42:31Z")
If you want to see the whole process or see a musical performance with the hacked super nintendo watch this video [![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/lookmumnocomputer/original/2X/8/8a270094e6e69255fb9ef499ce6204ea4164d68c.jpeg "I’ve Hacked a Super Nintendo for VEE-JAY-ing!!!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDArikhlg2Y) ---
**Author:** ![Dud](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/dud/32/610_2.png) [@Dud](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/u/Dud)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 9:06am UTC](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/hacked-super-nintendo-video-synth/1767/3 "2020-09-09T09:06:31Z")
really cool ! circuit bending attitude 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Trumac22](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/trumac22/32/3900_2.png) [@Trumac22](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/u/Trumac22)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 9:10am UTC](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/hacked-super-nintendo-video-synth/1767/4 "2020-09-09T09:10:12Z")
Very dope! Would be cool to see if you can do something similar with an N64/PS1 - think those early 3d models would lend well to some glitchy madness ---
**Author:** ![jwotto](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/jwotto/32/1932_2.png) [@jwotto](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/u/jwotto)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 9:23am UTC](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/hacked-super-nintendo-video-synth/1767/5 "2020-09-09T09:23:33Z")
haha thank you dud… punk electronics! 😀 ---
**Author:** ![jwotto](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/jwotto/32/1932_2.png) [@jwotto](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/u/jwotto)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 9:25am UTC](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/hacked-super-nintendo-video-synth/1767/6 "2020-09-09T09:25:41Z")
Oh yes i would love to try it with a PS1 /N64!! good idea!! ---
**Author:** ![irregularshed](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/irregularshed/32/30374_2.png) [@irregularshed](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/u/irregularshed)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 10:07am UTC](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/hacked-super-nintendo-video-synth/1767/7 "2020-09-09T10:07:58Z")
Sir, this is brilliant and I’m going to go right on over to your Youtube channel and subscribe - and even click on the bell - purely on the basis of this video. Love the sexy pink panel as well 😁 any reason for not keeping one of the controller ports though, to get past start screens? ---
**Author:** ![Trumac22](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/trumac22/32/3900_2.png) [@Trumac22](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/u/Trumac22)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 10:21am UTC](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/hacked-super-nintendo-video-synth/1767/8 "2020-09-09T10:21:12Z")
I know I’m just shouting out every retro console here but also thinking that if the mods mean you can’t get past the main menus, some megadrive/genesis games had awesome menu screen art - Golden Axe, Shinobi and Streets of Rage II spring to mind ---
**Author:** ![irregularshed](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/irregularshed/32/30374_2.png) [@irregularshed](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/u/irregularshed)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 10:23am UTC](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/hacked-super-nintendo-video-synth/1767/9 "2020-09-09T10:23:33Z")
I don’t think it would work, not the way that this does. The way graphics work on the NES, SNES and Gameboy (and possibly the GBA, but I’ve never poked around in one of them) is what makes this hack work (and why Mario was missing in the first place). It’s a combination of rigidly defined data structures for tiles and sprites baked into the hardware - the graphics chip knows what it has to do and how to do it, and just gets on with displaying the data it is presented with. If you start messing about with that data, you start getting the glitches - it’s a lot like circuitbending a Casio SK-1 by shorting the lines on the ROMs; the keyboard knows how to play data but you’re getting in there and tying its shoelaces together 😁 3D based consoles have far less standardisation at an electronic level because the data structures being dealt with can’t be worked in the same way. That why these videos could only be created by fiddling about with the game engine’s parameters 😆 [![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/lookmumnocomputer/original/2X/1/19c109fefbc38a0270c8ca0a12a8fe254595311c.jpeg "Resident Evil 2 but 500% facial animations") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTvqsXWTlVY) ---
**Author:** ![Trumac22](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/trumac22/32/3900_2.png) [@Trumac22](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/u/Trumac22)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 10:32am UTC](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/hacked-super-nintendo-video-synth/1767/10 "2020-09-09T10:32:02Z")
Ah! Yeah fair enough - interesting to know! I played a lot of these machines growing up but know very little about how they operate aha. Thought the 3D stuff would be harder to do - maybe it would be interesting to see some of these style hacks with some of the pseudo-3D games that came out on the NES/SNES. There’s something about the idea of dimension-bending glitches which appeals to me - 2d glitches in a 3d world ooooOOooo Also, that video if horrifying - as if Resident Evil wasn’t spooky enough! Learning to mod games has been on my to-do list since i was about 15 but I never got any further than making skins for the odd game here and there ---
**Author:** ![Farabide](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecc23a/32.png) [@Farabide](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/u/Farabide)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 10:37am UTC](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/hacked-super-nintendo-video-synth/1767/11 "2020-09-09T10:37:18Z")
There are many free ways to program your own cartridges. I’ve only done it for gameboy but I’d imagine its the same deal. That way you could create and possibly MIDI control your own visuals to glitch. ---
**Author:** ![jwotto](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/jwotto/32/1932_2.png) [@jwotto](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/u/jwotto)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 10:41am UTC](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/hacked-super-nintendo-video-synth/1767/12 "2020-09-09T10:41:07Z")
[![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/lookmumnocomputer/original/2X/c/c84db6892e5d16e1cd41d65df371656b0c445b13.jpeg "Circuit Bent PlayStation - Leftfield- Double Flash Music 2000 Video Glitches!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JAixzWXYIY) Aslong it glitches it will be cool! ---
**Author:** ![jwotto](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/jwotto/32/1932_2.png) [@jwotto](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/u/jwotto)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 10:43am UTC](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/hacked-super-nintendo-video-synth/1767/13 "2020-09-09T10:43:06Z")
tahnk you my dude! haha yes i thought of adding a port after i was done building… i think i wil rebuild a better one…one day ---
**Author:** ![irregularshed](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/irregularshed/32/30374_2.png) [@irregularshed](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/u/irregularshed)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 10:43am UTC](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/hacked-super-nintendo-video-synth/1767/14 "2020-09-09T10:43:28Z")
I did a fair bit of game coding waaaaaaaay back in the day. 3D was too different for me to enjoy (and now I just do boring business things for money). My old manager ended up working on the Lego Star Wars games, then Little Big Planet 2 for the PS Vita. He’s clever which is why he was my manager 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Vumnoo](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/vumnoo/32/6942_2.png) [@Vumnoo](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/u/Vumnoo)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 10:22pm UTC](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/hacked-super-nintendo-video-synth/1767/15 "2020-09-09T22:22:31Z")
Liked and subscribed. Great content! ---
**Author:** ![jwotto](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/jwotto/32/1932_2.png) [@jwotto](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/u/jwotto)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 7:43am UTC](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/hacked-super-nintendo-video-synth/1767/16 "2020-09-10T07:43:43Z")
Wow…!! Thank you Vumnoo ---
**Author:** ![jwotto](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/jwotto/32/1932_2.png) [@jwotto](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/u/jwotto)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 1:01pm UTC](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/hacked-super-nintendo-video-synth/1767/17 "2020-09-10T13:01:02Z")
BTW does anybody know why america got the square Super Nintendo design. and Europe did get the super famicon design. while Europe and America had the same first generation VCR loader type design. I know the story of the first generation of the Nintendo but why oh why did Europe get a different design then America with the second generation Nintendo consoles? does anybody know? ---
**Author:** ![irregularshed](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/irregularshed/32/30374_2.png) [@irregularshed](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/u/irregularshed)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 6:34am UTC](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/hacked-super-nintendo-video-synth/1767/18 "2020-09-17T06:34:42Z")
A quick heads-up - I submitted this to Hackaday and just got word that it’ll be on the site in the next couple of days 👍 ---
**Author:** ![jwotto](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/jwotto/32/1932_2.png) [@jwotto](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/u/jwotto)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 9:01am UTC](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/hacked-super-nintendo-video-synth/1767/19 "2020-09-17T09:01:43Z")
That’s super nice of you! cool cool. send me a link when its up! ---
**Author:** ![irregularshed](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/irregularshed/32/30374_2.png) [@irregularshed](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/u/irregularshed)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2020, 5:40pm UTC](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/hacked-super-nintendo-video-synth/1767/20 "2020-09-19T17:40:32Z")
> **[Controlling A Broken Super Nintendo With MIDI](https://hackaday.com/2020/09/19/controlling-a-broken-super-nintendo-with-midi/)** > > A Super Nintendo that has trouble showing sprites doesn’t make for a very good game system. As it turns out, Super Mario World is a lot less fun when the titular hero is invisible. So it̵… 😀 [Next page](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/hacked-super-nintendo-video-synth/1767.md?page=2)