Many sport consoles have at the least a number of options that go unnoticed by most gamers. In uncommon circumstances, a few of these options by no means even see the sunshine of day, even when they’re already constructed into the {hardware}.
From unrealized multiplayer to advertising memes, listed below are some probably revolutionary options in well-known consoles that you have in all probability by no means heard of.
5
The Sport Boy Is Able to 16-Individual Multiplayer
Each iteration of the Sport Boy helps multiplayer performance throughout a wide range of video games. You possibly can join two Sport Boys collectively utilizing Nintendo’s Sport Hyperlink cable, or hook up 4 handhelds utilizing a four-player adapter. Video games just like the Pokémon collection use wired-multiplayer to allow buying and selling with different gamers, whereas co-op multiplayer titles just like the Sport Boy Advance (GBA)’s The Legend of Zelda: 4 Swords allow you to expertise unforgettable adventures with your mates.
Multiplayer was a big a part of the Sport Boy’s success, however it was able to internet hosting much more gamers. The Sport Boy model of Faceball 2000—a handheld port of the multiplayer first-person shooter MIDI Maze—was initially deliberate to characteristic a 16-player deathmatch mode. Developer Xanth meant to bundle the sport with an adapter that supported as much as 16 gamers, however did not obtain Nintendo’s approval to launch the system.
Because of this, the formidable mode needed to be scrapped and changed with a four-player mode that used the official Sport Hyperlink Cable.
Regardless of its elimination from the ultimate launch, the whole code for Faceball 2000‘s 16-player mode remains to be current within the sport’s recordsdata. Modders have been in a position to restore the minimize mode, however working it with a full foyer is much more difficult. A technique of working the sport is by connecting a number of GBA Hyperlink Cable adapters collectively and attaching a GBA for every participant.
Sadly, this technique is extremely susceptible to freezing—a problem that solely turns into extra frequent with increased participant counts—and an unlucky glitch ensures the sport will instantly crash after including a sixteenth participant.
In 2024, a staff of modders lastly managed to run the 16-player mode with the max participant rely and on the unique Sport Boy {hardware}. To perform this, they used a customized adapter to attach all 16 Sport Boy handhelds and ran a ROM hack titled Faceball 2000 DX that patches the unique sport’s bugged multiplayer.
4
The Wii U Supported A number of GamePads
The Wii U GamePad is one in every of Nintendo’s most ingenious controllers, however its many problems outweigh the positives. Not like different kinds of controllers, just one GamePad could be related to the Wii U at a time. This downside not solely restricted how the Wii U GamePad might be utilized in multiplayer video games however was additionally the rationale Nintendo refused to promote the GamePad in shops.
Earlier than the console’s launch, Nintendo repeatedly advised that the Wii U might assist two separate GamePads. The characteristic was initially confirmed at Nintendo’s E3 2012 showcase and later reaffirmed on the company’s official website. However that wasn’t the case when gamers acquired their palms on the console. So why was there such an essential discrepancy between Nintendo’s messaging and the truth of its {hardware}?
The reality is that the Wii U’s single-GamePad restriction wasn’t all the time meant to be a everlasting downside. In an interview with MinnMax, former Nintendo of America COO Reggie Fils-Aime revealed that the Wii U is able to connecting with two separate GamePads, however the characteristic was by no means absolutely carried out. Initially, the characteristic was deemed pointless since not one of the Wii U’s launch titles supported the usage of a number of GamePads. Any possibilities of the characteristic being added at a later date have been dashed by the Wii U’s lackluster sales and short lifespan.
3
Some Retro Nintendo Consoles Have Unused Enlargement Slots
Ever for the reason that Nintendo Leisure System (NES), practically each Nintendo console has included a seemingly pointless enlargement port. This uncommon design pattern extends to consoles as latest because the Wii U. The questionable causes for the inclusion of those unused enlargement ports fluctuate between consoles, although all of them relate to Nintendo’s penchant for releasing unorthodox console add-ons.
Nintendo’s first three consoles—the NES, SNES, and Nintendo 64—all obtained console add-ons that have been by no means launched exterior of Japan. Of be aware have been the Famicom’s Family Computer Disk System and the Nintendo 64’s 64DD, which served as floppy disk readers for his or her respective consoles.
These add-ons allowed builders to ship bigger digital worlds and extra complicated sport mechanics (equivalent to the real-time clock in Animal Crossing) than a conventional NES or N64 cartridge would enable. The 64DD was additionally able to connecting to Randent, a subscription-based on-line service that features entry to on-line multiplayer, messaging, and an web browser—three years earlier than Microsoft debuted Xbox Dwell.
Equally, the SNES’s enlargement port was a leftover from the add-ons made for its Japanese equal, the Tremendous Famicom. As an alternative of a floppy disk reader, the Tremendous Famicom obtained a modem often called the Satelliview. Very similar to the 64DD, the Satelliview related to an online subscription-based service, by which customers might view new problems with well-liked magazines, take heed to broadcasted interviews and music, and entry a rotating library of Satelliview-exclusive video games—three a long time earlier than Xbox Sport Go.
Every add-on connects to the ports situated on the backside of their respective consoles, which can also be the place the unused enlargement ports of their worldwide equivalents are situated. It is probably that Nintendo might have thought-about worldwide releases for its console add-ons sooner or later. Nonetheless, components such because the Satelliview’s reliance on licensing agreements and the 64DD’s disastrous gross sales might have put a halt to those plans.
The GameCube and Wii U GamePad additionally characteristic spare ports, however not a lot is understood about their meant function. Even in Japan, there weren’t any official add-ons that made use of the additional enlargement ports. It is probably that Nintendo by no means discovered a superb purpose to make use of the GameCube’s spare port, as a lot of the console’s peripherals and add-ons plugged into its controller slots. Even much less is understood concerning the Wii U’s potential add-ons, although it is probably that any plans to make use of the GamePad’s port have been canceled following its business failure.
2
The Digital Boy (Type of) Invented Multiplayer VR
You’ll have observed that I did not point out the Virtual Boy with Nintendo’s different consoles, and that is as a result of it deserves its personal particular point out. Like many different Nintendo consoles, the Digital Boy options an unused enlargement port, although it was included to serve one particular perform.
Nintendo initially deliberate to launch a hyperlink cable add-on for the system, which might have enabled multiplayer for sure video games by connecting two Digital Boy consoles—much like the Sport Boy hyperlink cable. However between the Digital Boy’s horrendous gross sales, widespread vital panning, and quite a few potential well being hazards, the console did not final lengthy sufficient for these multiplayer plans to come back to fruition.
The Digital Boy’s lack of multiplayer video games can also be generally cited as one more reason for the hyperlink cable’s cancelation, however there have been a number of video games that have been already being developed with plans to make use of the console’s multiplayer performance. Waterworld and Mario’s Tennis have been each initially meant to feature multiplayer modes, however have been scrapped throughout growth.
Modders have been in a position to restore the latter’s multiplayer after discovering unused code referring to the scrapped characteristic. It is also price noting the canceled Digital Boy port of Faceball—the identical sport that introduced 16-player performance to the Sport Boy—was equally deliberate to characteristic a two-player mode.
If the Digital Boy had obtained official multiplayer assist when it launched in 1995, it could have been one of many first virtual reality (VR) methods to characteristic multiplayer performance. Though it was predated by the Virtuality VR arcade machines—which debuted with multiplayer VR video games in 1991—the Digital Boy might have been the primary home-released VR system with functioning multiplayer. Though you would simply discover better multiplayer experiences on actually another console, I am certain that even subjecting your self to the Digital Boy is extra enjoyable with mates.
1
The Sega Genesis Truly Has Blast Processing
If you’re even remotely accustomed to the console wars of the early 90s, you’ve got in all probability heard of “blast processing.” All through the heated battles between the Nintendo SNES and Sega Mega Drive (Genesis), Sega’s advertising commonly touted a characteristic they known as “blast processing.” The console’s advertising claimed that blast processing was the rationale Sega’s video games seemed higher and ran sooner than something on the SNES, supposedly powering video games like Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Ecco the Dolphin.
No person exterior Sega actually understood how blast processing labored, and plenty of gamers assumed that “blast processing” was a nonsensical time period invented by the advertising staff. If truth be told, blast processing was an actual characteristic on the Genesis, however it did not do as a lot for the console as Sega’s advertising would have you ever imagine.
Opposite to well-liked perception, the rationale the Genesis was sooner than the SNES was merely the results of higher {hardware} relatively than any particular processing methods. The Genesis featured the mixed energy of two central processing units (CPUs); a Motorola 68000 with a clock pace of seven.67 MHz and a Zilog Z80 clocked at 3.58 MHz. By comparability, the SNES depends solely on a WDC 68516 CPU with a max processing pace of three.58 MHz.
The Sega Genesis additionally features a Yamaha YM7101 video show processor (VDP) with a direct reminiscence entry (DMA) perform, that means it might probably transmit information from its inner reminiscence to its RAM at a a lot sooner fee than the SNES. Due to the VDP, Genesis video games have been able to delivering clearer visuals, smoother parallax scrolling, higher frame rates, and bigger sprites. The Genesis was additionally in a position to assist 3D polygonal graphics in video games like Vectorman and Virtua Racing with none enhancements, whereas SNES video games like Star Fox required a built-in Tremendous FX graphics chip to assist their 3D visuals.
Though “blast processing” is usually related to the Sega Genesis’s spectacular specs, the time period originated from an unused console characteristic. To elucidate how blast processing works, it is essential to know what makes it particular. I will attempt to preserve this straightforward, however I extremely suggest Digital Foundry’s video on blast processing for a extra detailed rationalization.
Usually, the Sega Genesis divides a sport’s background tiles, character sprites, and different graphical components into separate layers, which the console’s video show processor (VDP) then shows on-screen as one full picture.
An exploit within the Genesis permits the VDP to disregard these additional layers and solely show the background coloration space—the bottom-most layer that’s usually unseen throughout gameplay. Blast processing entails utilizing this exploit and “blasting” (sending massive quantities of knowledge) pure coloration information to the VDP. When this occurs, the CPU’s full processing energy is devoted to displaying coloration pixels on a single layer, permitting the console to show extra colours and current visuals with a vastly increased stage of element than normal.
Sadly, blast processing was too complicated and unreliable to be a possible instrument for builders. As a result of precision required to show pure coloration information relatively than particular person belongings, the VDP must be carefully synced with the tv show. On CRT televisions—which 16-bit consoles just like the Genesis have been designed for—any vital desync between the display and console may end up in the pixels being displayed out of order, leading to a scrambled mess of colours. Blast processing additionally makes use of your entire CPU to perform, limiting what could be displayed with this technique.
Most significantly, blast processing wasn’t an meant characteristic for the Sega Genesis, however relatively a novel glitch that took benefit of its {hardware}. It is not clear if Sega’s personal builders understood easy methods to make use of blast processing, and followers have solely lately cracked the code to create tech demos that showcase its capabilities.
There’s much more work that goes into console growth than we might notice. Gaming methods will not be solely geared up to deal with present applied sciences, however additionally they have to be able to dealing with future add-ons. Even when these options go unused, their presence typically offers a manner for console modders to rediscover the unrealized potential of our favourite retro methods.