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NES Mini hacked, extra games added via USB

Console yourself.

Hackers have managed to add extra NES games to Nintendo's NES Classic Edition microconsole.

Do you have Battletoads?

The legally dubious method involves uploading your console's memory to a PC, adding in the extra ROM files, then reuploading the whole lot to your NES Mini.

Apart from the legal implications, it also risks bricking your console if you don't do it right. It's not a quick process, although Ars Technica has more information if you wish to peer down the rabbit hole.

The NES Mini launched November with 30 NES games pre-baked onto the console. Nintendo was quick to make clear it would not expand the device's software library - and the hardware has no way of connecting to the internet to purchase or download more.

All of which means that this method is the only way you'll get more NES games installed on the system. Here it is in action:

Hackers have discovered the NES Mini's operating system has a hard limit of 60 games - double the amount the hardware launched with.

But enterprising coders have already cobbled together a system to swap games in and out to get around this, NeoGAF users report.

NES Mini owners who have tampered with their systems have been able to play numerous NES titles not included with the hardware out of the box, including Mega Man and Battletoads.

We've contacted Nintendo for comment.

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Tom Phillips

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Tom is Eurogamer's Editor-in-Chief. He writes lots of news, some of the puns and makes sure we put the accent on Pokémon. Tom joined Eurogamer in 2010 following a stint running a Nintendo fansite, and still owns two GameCubes. He also still plays Pokémon Go every day.

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