DCEmu Featured News Articles

Tom Murphy, aka Tom7, has found a way to manipulate NES cartridges so that they can truly outperform what would usually be expected from them. Tom hacks the circuit boards of these cartridges, equipping them with Raspberry Pi 3 mini-computers. The Pi plays host to a number of SNES ROMs which are all filtered through a special program, translating the necessary data into something the NES can read and essentially display on a TV.

If you want to see all of this happening in action, check out the video below. The idea starts to take shape at around 5:40, and if you skip ahead to 16:12, you'll see Tom placing the finished NES cartridge into the system, allowing the NES to play the SNES classic Super Mario World. This is some kind of Back To The Future-style wizardry that goes well over our heads, but it's pretty amazing to see.
Subscribe to Nintendo Life on

This isn't the only interesting project that Tom7 has created, though. A few years back he created a computer program that could learn how to play NES games on its own, with just tiny amount of instruction from the player. Somehow, though, seeing Super Mario World be played on a NES just seems even more crazy. We're all used to Virtual Console, where retro games are played on newer systems, but reversing that is very interesting indeed.
Click to expand...

• Unit Dimensions 14.5" x 5.3" x 1.6"
• Unit Weight 3 lbs.
• Materials Plastic, Metal, Wood
• Operating System Linux OS based on Ubuntu (Linux Kernel 4.10)
• Compatible Systems Linux
• Power Low TDP architecture - Less Heat & Noise
• Connections HDMI 2.0, 2.4/5GHz Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, Gigabit Ethernet, 4xUSB 3.0
• External Inputs Classic Joystick, Modern Controller, Microphone
• Storage 32GB eMMC, external HD, SD card
• RAM 4GB DDR4 RAM
• Memory 32GB eMMC
• CPU Bristol Ridge A10
• GPU Radeon R7
• HDCP Integration HDCP 2.2
• Second Screen (Screencasting) Yes
• Cloud Storage Yes. Additional Service Offering
• Required Internet Connection Not for classic gaming but required to access all features
• Cross Game Chat Skype, Discord, etc.
• Voice Commands 4-front facing mic array
• Subscription Needed? No. Includes cloud and other services.
• Live Streaming Yes with Twitch.tv
• Mouse & Keyboard Support Yes

Click to expand...

Additionally, the Atari VCS platform will support 4K resolution, HDR and 60FPS content, onboard and expandable cloud storage options, dual-band WiFi and Bluetooth 5.0, as well as USB 3.0 support. Moreover the proprietary Atari VCS User Interface that the device packs integrates optional voice control and a web browser for full access to the internet.

A new Atari VCS launch video accompanied the announcement: (see the video below)

And what about games? Every Atari VCS comes with the Atari Vault collection of more than 100 classics like Asteroids, Centipede, Breakout, Missile Command, Gravitar and Yars’ Revenge. (see the video below)

And that's as much as we know for now but the team behind the Atari VCS previously said that "a growing list of games, especially a full range of popular modern titles, will be announced at later dates". Nevertheless, the Indiegogo campaign page is touting the device as a "gaming and home entertainment streaming device with open platform for creativity and customization". This might entice tinkerers as the platform runs on Linux and might evolve into a community investing in independent software development for the console.

However this revival of the Atari brand in the console market does not come cheap. The less pricey option is the Atari VCS Onyx priced at $199 USD (without controllers), and that for a limited time. Other options include extra controllers or even the $299 USD Indiegogo-exclusive Atari VCS Day One Collector’s Edition, also available only for a limited time. Nevertheless, there seem to be a lot of people interested in the product as its campaign has raised 1819% of its initial goal (over $1.8 million) at the time of writing, with a month left before the backing ends.
Click to expand...