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Super Nintendo Entertainment System

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Super Nintendo Entertainment System
File:SuperNintendoLogo.pngFile:Sneslogo.png
The original North American SNES (circa 1991)
The PAL version of SNES (Europe)
ManufacturerNintendo
TypeVideo game console
GenerationFourth generation (16-bit era)
LifespanJP November 21, 1990
NA August 13, 1991
EU April 11, 1992
AU July 3, 1992
Units sold49 million[1]
MediaGame Pak
CPU16-bit 65c816 Ricoh 5A22 3.58 MHz
Online servicesSatellaview (Japan Only)
Best-selling gameSuper Mario World
PredecessorNintendo Entertainment System
SuccessorNintendo 64

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System or Super NES, also known as SNESTemplate:Hcref or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit video game console released by Nintendo in North America, Brazil, Europe, and Australia. In Japan and South-East Asia, the equivalent to the SNES is known as the Super Family Computer, Super Famicom (スーパーファミコン, Sūpā Famikon), or SFC for short. In South Korea, it is known as the Super Comboy and was distributed by Hyundai Electronics. Although each system is essentially the same, due to the different designs, each system can only play the games specifically made for its system.

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System was Nintendo's second home console, following the Nintendo Entertainment System (often abbreviated to NES). Whereas the earlier system had struggled in the PAL region and large parts of Asia, the SNES proved to be a global success, albeit one that could not match its predecessor's popularity in Southeast Asia and North America—due in part to increased competition from Sega's Mega Drive console (released in North America as the Genesis). Despite its relatively late start, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System became the best selling console of the 16-bit era.

Technically, the SNES's advanced graphics and sound capabilities and the numerous enhancement chips included in certain cartridges compensated for the CPU, and enabled the console to survive well into the 32-bit era. Even after the end of official support from Nintendo, the SNES lives on through emulation, with new SNES "ROM" images being created to this day.

History

Even as the original NES was at the height of its popularity, several companies were launching their own consoles. In 1987 and 1988, respectively, NEC and Sega launched their contenders: the TurboGrafx-16 (known in Japan as the PC Engine) and the Mega Drive (one of the first 16-bit home gaming systems, also known as the Genesis in North America). Although the NES would continue to dominate the video game industry for years to come,[2] Nintendo's hardware was beginning to show its age. Nintendo executives initially showed little interest in developing a new system, but Sega and NEC's growing market share with consoles like the Mega Drive and the TurboGrafx-16 soon forced Nintendo to reconsider.

Masayuki Uemura, the designer of the Famicom several years earlier, was put in charge of the design of the console and the Super Famicom was released in Japan on November 21, 1990 for ¥25,000 (US$210). An instant phenomenal blockbuster, Nintendo's initial shipment of 300,000 units quickly sold out within hours. The social disturbance was so extensive that the Japanese government asked Nintendo and other video game companies to schedule future console releases on weekends.[3] The system was so phenomenally popular that it was said to have attracted the attention of the Yakuza, leading to the decision to ship the devices at night in order to avoid robbery.[4] In Japan, the Super Famicom effortlessly outsold its chief rivals, the PC Engine and the Mega Drive, and Nintendo retained control over the Japanese console market thanks, in part, to Nintendo's retention of most of its key third party developers from the Famicom, including Capcom, Konami, Tecmo, Square Co., Koei, and Enix.

File:Supermarioworld map.PNG
"Nintendo's strongest selling point, however, was the game that came packed in with the Super NES console—Super Mario World."[5]

Nine months later, in August of 1991,[b] the Super Famicom was released in North America with a newly redesigned case as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Initially sold for a price of US$199, the North American package included the game Super Mario World. The SNES was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland in April of 1992 for GB£150, with a German release following a few weeks later. The PAL region versions of the console use the Japanese Super Famicom design, except for labeling and the length of the joypad leads.

Rivalry between Nintendo and Sega produced the fiercest console war in the history of video games,[6] with Sega running attack ads directly bashing their competitors. Market share reached equality in the U.S. by April 1992[7] and eventually Nintendo pulled well ahead as the SNES and its games lasted well into the 32-bit era.

By 1996, the 16-bit era of gaming was coming to an end, and a new generation of consoles, including Nintendo's own Nintendo 64, caused the popularity of the SNES to wane. In October 1997, Nintendo released a redesigned SNES 2 in North America for US$99 (which included the pack-in game Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island).[8] Like the earlier NES 2, the new model was designed to be slimmer and lighter than its predecessor, but lacked S-Video and RGB output, and would prove to be among the last major SNES-related releases in America. A similar redesigned Super Famicom Jr. was released in Japan around the same time.[9]

Nintendo of America ceased production of the SNES in 1999, slightly over a year after releasing its last first-party game, Kirby's Dream Land 3, on November 27, 1997. The last SNES title to see release in the U.S. was a version of Frogger, released in the summer of 1998. In Japan, the Super Famicom continued to be produced until September 2003 and new games were produced until the year 2000, ending with the release of Metal Slader Glory Director's Cut on December 1, 2000.[10] Some video game critics consider the SNES era "the golden age of video games," citing the many groundbreaking games and classics made for the system,[11] whereas others question this romanticism.[12]

In recent years, many SNES titles have been ported to the handheld Game Boy Advance, which has similar video capabilities. In 2005, it was announced that Super NES titles would be available as downloadable games for Nintendo's newest console Wii, via the Virtual Console service.[13]

Launch titles

Main article: List of video game console launch titles § Super Famicom/Super NES

The Super NES launched with a limited number of games. For the Japanese release, only two games were available: Super Mario World and F-Zero.[14] For the U.S. release, Super Mario World became a pack-in with the console, with Pilotwings available separately along with F-Zero. Third-party titles SimCity and Gradius III were also available for the launch or shortly afterward.[15]

Regional lockout

Nintendo employed several types of regional lockout, including both physical and hardware incompatibilities.

A cartridge shape comparison
Top: Japanese and PAL design
Bottom: North American design

On a physical level, the game paks are shaped differently for different regions. North American cartridges have a rectangular bottom with inset grooves, while other regions' cartridges have a smooth curve on the front with no grooves. Since the North American console has protruding tabs, the grooveless Japanese and PAL game paks cannot be inserted, and rectangular North American game paks cannot fit into the curved opening of the Japanese and PAL console units.[16]

Internally, a regional lockout chip (CIC) within the console and in each cartridge prevents PAL games from being played on Japanese or North American consoles and vice versa, despite the fact that PAL and Japanese cartridges fit in each other's consoles. The Japanese and North American machines have the same region chip. The console CIC simply compares its output signal with the signal input from the other chip, and "unlocks" only when these two signals match. The CIC controls the reset signal to the rest of the system, placing the console in a permanent reset state unless unlocked.[16]

PAL consoles face another incompatibility when playing out-of-region cartridges: the NTSC video standard specifies video at 60 Hz while PAL operates at 50 Hz, resulting in approximately 16.7% slower gameplay. Additionally, PAL's higher resolution results in letterboxing of the output image. Some commercial PAL releases exhibit this same problem and therefore can be played in NTSC systems without issue, while others will face a 20% speedup if played in an NTSC console. Later games will detect the PAL/NTSC setting and refuse to run in the wrong region.[17]

The physical incompatibility can be overcome with use of various adapters, or through modification of the console: the North American console's tabs can be broken or filed off, and the curved front-piece of the Japanese or PAL console can be removed or filed away. In either case, care must be taken not to damage the edge connector.[16]

The CIC lockout chip (NTSC console version)

The lockout chip can be overcome through the use of the same adapters, typically by inserting the imported cartridge in one slot and a cartridge with the correct region chip in a second slot. Alternatively, disconnecting one pin of the console's lockout chip places it into "key" mode and it will therefore not lock the console. Hardware in later games can detect this situation and prevent correct operation of the in-cartridge hardware, so it later became common to install a switch that disconnected and connected the lockout chip as required.[18]

The PAL versus NTSC incompatibility can be mostly overcome by taking advantage of the fact that most PAL TVs support a 60 Hz variant of PAL by adding a switch to place the SNES PPU into 60 Hz mode. With proper construction, this switch may even be flipped after a game completes it's PAL region check.[17]

Peripherals

The European and Australian SNES controller

The SNES standard controller adds two additional buttons to the standard NES design, arranging the four in a diamond shape, and two shoulder buttons. It also features an ergonomic design later used for the NES 2. The Japanese and PAL region versions incorporate the system's logo in the colors of the four action buttons, while the North American version colors them lavender and purple to match the redesigned console. Many believe that several later consoles derive their controller design from the SNES, including the PlayStation, PS2, PS3, Dreamcast, Xbox, Xbox 360, and Wii (Classic Controller).[19][20][21][22][23][24]

Throughout the course of its life, a number of peripherals were released which added to the functionality of the SNES. Many of these devices were modeled after earlier add-ons for the NES: the Super Scope is a light gun similar to the NES Zapper (though the Super Scope features wireless capabilities) and the Super Advantage is an arcade-style joystick with adjustable turbo settings akin to the NES Advantage. Nintendo also released the SNES Mouse in conjunction with its Mario Paint title. Hudson Soft, under license from Nintendo, released the Super Multitap, a multiplayer adapter for use with its popular series of Bomberman games. Some of the more unusual controllers include the BatterUP baseball bat and TeeV Golf golf club.[25]

While Nintendo never released an adapter for playing NES games on the SNES, the Super Game Boy adapter cartridge allows games designed for Nintendo's portable Game Boy system to be played on the SNES. The Super Game Boy touted a number of feature enhancements over the Game Boy, including palette substitution, custom screen borders, and (for specially enhanced games) access to the SNES console.[26]

Like the NES before it, the SNES saw its fair share of unlicensed third-party peripherals, including a new version of the Game Genie cheat cartridge designed for use with SNES games and a variety of game copier devices. In general, Nintendo proved to be somewhat more tolerant of unlicensed SNES peripherals than they had been with NES peripherals.

Soon after the release of the SNES, various companies began marketing backup devices such as the Super Wildcard, Super Pro Fighter Q, and Game Doctor.[27] These devices were sold to create a backup of a cartridge, in the event that it would break. However, they could also be used to play copied ROM images that could be downloaded from BBSes and the Internet, or to create copies of rented video games, often violating copyright laws in many jurisdictions.

Satellaview with Super Famicom

Japan saw the release of the Satellaview, a modem which attached to the Super Famicom's expansion port and connected to the St. GIGA satellite radio station. Users of the Satellaview could download gaming news and specially designed games, which were frequently either remakes of or sequels to older Famicom titles, released in installments. Satellaview signals were broadcast from April 23, 1995 through June 30, 2000.[28] In the United States, the similar but relatively short-lived XBAND allowed users to connect to a network via a dial-up modem to compete against other players around the country.

During the SNES's life, Nintendo contracted with two different companies to develop a CD-ROM-based peripheral for the console to compete with Sega's CD-ROM based addon, Sega CD. Ultimately, negotiations with both Sony and Philips fell through, and the two companies went on to develop their own consoles based on their initial dealings with Nintendo (the PlayStation and the CD-i respectively), Philips also gaining the right to release a series of CD-i titles based on popular Nintendo franchises.[29]

Emulation and controversies

Like the NES before it, the SNES has retained interest among its fans even following its decline in the marketplace. It has continued to thrive on the second-hand market and through console emulation. Many gamers discovered the SNES after its decline. The SNES has taken much the same revival path as the NES.

ZSNES v1.51 user interface

Emulation projects began in 1996 with projects such as "VSMC" and "Super Pasofami", which, despite some important initial gains, did not last long past 1998. During that time, two competing emulation projects—Snes96 and Snes97—merged forming a new initiative entitled Snes9x. In early 1998, SNES enthusiasts began programming an emulator named ZSNES. These two have remained among the best-known SNES emulators, although development continues on others as well. Recently there has been a push for exact emulation,[c] begun in 2003 by members of both the Snes9x and ZSNES teams and others,[30] and currently led by the development of bsnes.[31]

Nintendo took the same stance against the distribution of SNES ROM image files and emulation as it did with the NES, insisting that they represented flagrant software piracy.[32] Proponents of SNES emulation cite discontinued production of the SNES, the right of the owner of the respective game to make a personal backup, space shifting for private use, the desire to develop homebrew games for the system, the frailty of SNES cartridges and consoles, and the lack of certain foreign imports.[33] Despite Nintendo's attempts to stop the proliferation of such projects, emulators and ROM files continue to be available on the Internet.

The SNES was one of the first systems to attract the attention of amateur fan translators: Final Fantasy V was the first major work of fan translation, and was completed in 1997.[34]

Emulation of the SNES is now available on handheld units, such as Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP), the Nintendo DS, the Gizmondo and the GP2X by GamePark Holdings, as well as PDAs. Nintendo's Virtual Console for the Wii marks the introduction of officially sanctioned SNES emulation.

Technical specifications

The design of the Super NES incorporates a relatively low-performance CPU (half the speed of the Mega Drive), but the powerful graphics and sound co-processors allowed impressive tiling and Mode 7 effects, many times more colors, and audio quality that represented a massive leap over the competition.[35] Individual game cartridges can easily supply further custom chips as needed.

Casing

Original U.S. SNES
Original U.S. SNES
Original PAL SNES
Original PAL SNES
Super Famicom Jr.
Super Famicom Jr.
Original U.S. version Original PAL version Super Famicom Jr.

All versions of the SNES are predominantly gray, although the exact shade may differ. The original North American version has a boxy design with purple sliding switches and a dark gray eject lever. The Japanese and European versions are more rounded, with darker gray accents and buttons. The North American SNES 2 and the Japanese Super Famicom Jr. are both smaller with a rounded contour, however the SNES 2 buttons are purple where the Super Famicom Jr. buttons are gray.

All versions incorporate a top-loading slot for game cartridges, although the shape of the slot differs between regions to match the different shapes of the cartridges. The card-edge connector has 62 pads, however many cartridges only connect to the middle 46. All versions also incorporate two 7-pin controller ports on the front of the unit, and a plug for a power supply and a Nintendo-proprietary "multi-out" A/V connector on the back.[36] The multi-out connector, later used on the Nintendo 64 and GameCube, can output RF, RGB, S-Video, and composite video signals.[16] Original versions additionally include a 28-pin expansion port under a small cover on the bottom of the unit[36] and a standard RF output with channel selection switch on the back; newer versions use the RF capability of the multi-out connector.

Central processing unit

CPU Quick Reference
Processor Ricoh 5A22, based on a 16-bit CMD/GTE 65c816 core
Clock Rates (NTSC) Input: 21.47727 MHz
Bus: 3.58 MHz, 2.68 MHz, or 1.79 MHz
Clock Rates (PAL) Input: 21.28137 MHz
Bus: 3.55 MHz, 2.66 MHz, or 1.77 MHz
Buses 24-bit and 8-bit address buses, 8-bit data bus
Additional Features
  • DMA and HDMA
  • Timed IRQ
  • Parallel I/O processing
  • Hardware multiplication and division

The CPU is a Nintendo-custom 5A22 processor, based around a 16-bit CMD/GTE 65c816 core. The CPU employs a variable bus speed depending on the memory region being accessed for each instruction cycle: the input clock is divided by 6, 8, or 12 to obtain the bus clock rate. Non-access cycles, most register accesses, and some general accesses use the divisor of 6. WRAM accesses and other general accesses use the divisor of 8. Only the controller port serial-access registers use the divisor of 12.[37]

The chip has an 8-bit data bus, controlled by two address buses. The 24-bit "Bus A" is used for general accesses, while the 8-bit "Bus B" is used for support chip registers (mainly the video and audio processors).[37] Normally only one bus is used at a time, however the built in direct memory access (DMA) unit places a read signal on one bus and a write signal on the other to achieve block transfer speeds of up to 2.68 MB/s (MiB/s).[38]

The DMA unit has 8 independant channels, each of which can be used in two modes. General DMA transfers up to 64 KB in one shot, while H-blank DMA (HDMA) transfers 1–4 bytes at the end of each video scanline. HDMA is typically used to change video parameters to achieve effects such as perspective, split-screen, and non-rectangular windowing without tying up the main CPU.[38]

The 5A22 also contains an 8-bit parallel I/O port (which was mostly unused in the SNES); controller port interface circuits, including both serial and parallel access to controller data; a 16-bit multiplication and division unit; and circuitry for generating NMI interrupts on V-blank and IRQ interrupts on calculated screen positions.[38]

Onboard RAM

Memory Quick Reference
Main RAM 128 KB (KiB)
Video RAM 64 KB main RAM
544 B sprite RAM
512 B palette RAM
Audio RAM 64 KB

The console contains 128 KB (KiB) of DRAM. This is mapped to various segments of Bus A, and can also be accessed in a serial fashion via registers on Bus B. The video and audio subsystems contain additional RAM reserved for use by those processors.[38]

Audio

Audio Quick Reference
Processors Sony SPC700, Sony DSP
Clock Rates Input: 24.576 MHz
SPC700: 1.024 MHz
Format 16-bit ADPCM, 8 channels
Output 32 kHz 16-bit stereo
Effects
  • ADSR envelope control
  • Frequency scaling and modulation using Gaussian interpolation
  • Echo: 8-tap FIR filter, with up to .24s delay
  • Noise generation

The audio subsystem consists of an 8-bit Sony SPC700, a 16-bit DSP, 64 KB (KiB) of SRAM shared by the two chips, and a 64 byte boot ROM. The audio subsystem is almost completely independent from the rest of the system: it is clocked at a nominal 24.576 MHz in both NTSC and PAL systems, and can only communicate with the CPU via 4 registers on Bus B.[39][40]

RAM is accessed at 3.072 MHz, with accesses multiplexed between the SPC700 (1⁄3) and the DSP (2⁄3). This RAM is used to store the SPC700 program and stack, the audio sample data and pointer table, and the DSP's echo buffer.[39]

The SPC700 runs programs (uploaded using the boot ROM program) to accept instructions and data from the CPU and to manipulate the DSP registers to generate the appropriate music and sound effects. The DSP generates a 16-bit waveform at 32 kHz by mixing input from 8 independent voices and an 8-tap FIR filter typically used for reverberation. Each voice can play its PCM sample at a variable rate, with Gaussian interpolation, stereo panning, and ADSR, linear, non-linear, or direct volume envelope adjustment. The voice and FIR filter outputs are mixed both for direct output and for future input into the FIR filter. All audio samples are ADPCM compressed using Bit Rate Reduction.[39]

Hardware on the cartridge, expansion port, or both can provide stereo audio data for mixing into the DSP's analog audio output before it leaves the console.[36]

Since the audio subsystem is mostly self-contained, the state of the audio subsystem can be saved as an .SPC file, and the subsystem can be emulated in a stand-alone manner to play back game music.

Video

Video Quick Reference
Resolutions Progressive: 256x224, 512x224, 256x239, 512x239
Interlaced: 512x448, 512x478
Pixel Depth 2, 4, 7, or 8 bpp indexed; 8 or 11 bpp direct
Total Colors 32768 (15-bit)
Sprites 128, 32 max per line; up to 64x64 pixels
Backgrounds Up to 4 planes; each up to 1024x1024 pixels
Effects
  • Pixelization (mosaic) per background
  • Color addition and subtraction
  • Clipping windows (per background, affecting color, math, or both)
  • Scrolling per 8x8 tile
  • Mode 7 matrix operations

The picture processing unit (PPU) consists of two separate but closely tied IC packages, which may be considered as a single entity. It also contains 64 KB (KiB) of SRAM for storing video data (VRAM), 544 bytes of object attribute memory (OAM) for storing sprite data, and 512 bytes of color generator RAM (CGRAM) for storing palette data. The PPU is clocked by the same signal as the CPU, and generates a pixel every 2 or 4 cycles. Both NTSC and PAL systems use the same PPU chips, with one pin per chip selecting NTSC or PAL operation.[38]

Images may be output at 256 or 512 pixels horizontal resolution and 224, 239, 448, or 478 pixels vertically. Vertical resolutions of 224 or 239 are usually output in progressive scan, while 448 and 478 resolutions are interlaced. Colors are chosen from the 15-bit RGB color space, for a total of 32,768 possible colors. Graphics consist of up to 128 sprites and up to 4 background layers, all made up of combinations of 8x8 pixel tiles. Most graphics use palettes stored in CGRAM, with color 0 of any palette representing transparency.[38]

Sprites can be 8x8, 16x16, 32x32, or 64x64 pixels, each using one of 8 16-color palettes and tiles from one of two blocks of 256 in VRAM. Sprites may be flipped horizontally and vertically as a whole. Up to 32 sprites and 34 8x8 sprite tiles may appear on any one line; exceeding these limits causes excess sprites or tiles to be dropped. Each sprite lies on one of 4 planes, however a lower-numbered sprite will always cover a higher-numbered sprite even if the latter is on a higher priority plane. This quirk is often used for complex clipping effects.[38]

Background layers in most modes range from 32x32 to 128x128 tiles, with each tile on one of two planes ("foreground" and "background") and using one of 8 palettes. Tiles are taken from a per-layer set of up to 1024 (as VRAM permits) and can be flipped horizontally and vertically. Each layer may be scrolled both horizontally and vertically. The number of background layers and the size of the palettes depends on the mode:[38]

  • Mode 0: 4 layers, all using 4-color palettes.
  • Mode 1: 3 layers, two using 16-color palettes and one using 4-color palettes. This is one of the most commonly used video modes.
  • Mode 2: 2 layers, both using 16-color palettes. Each tile can be individually scrolled.
  • Mode 3: 2 layers, one using the full 256-color palette and one using 16-color palettes. The 256-color layer can also directly specify colors from an 11-bit (RGB443) colorspace.
  • Mode 4: 2 layers, one using the full 256-color palette and one using 4-color palettes. The 256-color layer can directly specify colors as with Mode 3, and each tile can be individually scrolled as in Mode 2.
  • Mode 5: 2 layers, one using 16-color palettes and one using 4-color palettes. In this mode, output is always 512 pixels horizontally with altered tile decoding to facilitate use of the 512-width and interlaced modes.
  • Mode 6: 1 layer, using 16-color palettes. Output is as in Mode 5, and individual tiles are scrolled as in Mode 2.
A typical Mode 7 screen
  • Mode 7: 1 layer of 128x128 tiles from a set of 256, which may be interpreted as a 256-color one-plane layer or a 128-color two-plane layer. The layer may be rotated and scaled using matrix transformations. HDMA is often used to change the matrix parameters for each scanline to generate perspective effects.

Background layers may be individually pixelized, and layers and sprites can be individually clipped and combined by color addition or subtraction to generate more complex effects and greater color depths than can be specified directly.[38]

The PPU may be instructed to latch the current pixel position at any time during image output, both by game software and by the device attached to controller port 2. The game software may then read back this latched position. The PPU may also be used for fast 16-bit by 8-bit signed multiplication.[38]

Game cartridge

While the SNES can address 128 Mb (Mib), only 117.75 Mb are actually available for cartridge use. A fairly normal mapping could easily address up to 95 Mb of ROM data (48 Mb at FastROM speed) with 8 Mb of battery-backed RAM.[37] However, most available memory access controllers only support mappings of up to 32 Mb. The largest games released (Star Ocean and Tales of Phantasia) contain 48 Mb of ROM data, while smallest games contain only 2 Mb.

Cartridges may also contain battery-backed SRAM to save the game state, extra working RAM, custom coprocessors, or any other hardware that will not exceed the maximum current rating of the console.

Enhancement chips

Star Fox, the first game to utilize the Super FX chip, as shown with the polygonal models that compose a large portion of the game's graphics

As part of the overall plan for the SNES, rather than include an expensive CPU that would still become obsolete in a few years, the hardware designers made it easy to interface special coprocessor chips to the console. Rather than require a complicated upgrade procedure found in the IBM PC Compatible world of computers, these certain enhancement chips were included inside the plug-in game cartridges themselves if needed for a specific game. This is most often characterized by 16 additional pins on the cartridge card edge.

  • Super FX: The Super FX chip is a supplemental RISC CPU that was included in certain game cartridges to perform functions that the main CPU could not feasibly do. The chip was primarily used to create 3D game worlds made with polygons, texture mapping and light source shading. The chip could also be used to enhance 2D games.[41]
  • DSP: This fixed-point digital signal processor chip allowed for fast vector-based calculations, bitmap conversions, both 2D and 3D coordinate transformations, and other functions.[42] Four revisions of the chip exist, each physically identical but with different microcode. The DSP-1 version, including the later 1A and 1B bug fix revisions, was most often used; the DSP-2, DSP-3, and DSP-4 were used in only one title each.[43]
  • S-DD1 chip: Other than its normal processing and copy protection duties, this chip was primarily a graphics decompression chip.[41]
  • SA-1 chip: Similar to the 5A22 CPU in the console, this chip contains a 65c816 processor core clocked at 10 MHz, a memory mapper, DMA, decompression and bitplane conversion circuitry, several programmable timers, and CIC region lockout functionality.[41]
  • SPC7110 chip: A data decompression chip used solely by Hudson in a few games. Far East of Eden Zero also contains a real-time clock chip accessed via the SPC7110.[41]
Cx4 wireframe graphics, showing the Platonic solids
  • Cx4 chip: This chip was used to handle the wireframe effects, perform general trigonometric calculations, and to help out with sprite positioning and rotation in Capcom's second and third Mega Man X series games.[41]
  • OBC1: An sprite manipulation chip used exclusively in the game Metal Combat: Falcon's Revenge, AKA Battleclash 2.[41]
  • ST010: A chip created by Seta for general functions and handling computer cars' AI in F1 ROC II: Race of Champions.[44]
  • ST011: A chip created by Seta for mostly AI functions in Hayazashi Nidan Morita Shougi. Likely uses the same microcontroller core as the ST010.[45]
  • ST018: A chip created by Seta and used in Hayazashi Nidan Morita Shougi 2.[45]
  • S-RTC: A real-time clock chip used in one game, Dai Kaiju Monogatari 2.[41]
  • SGB CPU chip: This chip was used only inside the Super Game Boy peripheral and possessed a core identical to the CPU in a regular handheld Game Boy. Because the Super NES was not powerful enough to use software emulation to simulate the Game Boy, circuitry equivalent to an entire Game Boy had to sit inside of the cartridge.[45]
  • MegaChips MX15001TFC: This chip was made exclusively for Nintendo Power cartridges. It managed communication with specialized kiosks to download ROM images for a fee to flash memory on the cart, and provided an initial menu to select which of the downloaded games would be played.[46]

Market share

49 million Super NES units were sold worldwide, 20 million of which were sold in the U.S.[1] Although it could not repeat the success of the NES, which sold over 60 million units worldwide,[47] the Super NES was the best-selling console of its era. The Mega Drive came in second with 29 million sold worldwide,[48] and the TurboGrafx-16 was third with 10 million sold worldwide.[49]

See also

Content notes

^ a: The acronym SNES can be pronounced by English speakers as a single word (compare "NATO") in different ways, an initialism (compare "IBM"), or as a hybrid (compare "JPEG"); some even claim SNES should be pronounced "Super Nintendo" or "Super NES". In written English, the choice of indefinite article can be problematic due to these differences in pronunciation.[50][51]
^ b: Various sources report dates from August 13 to September 9, with some citing supply issues and others claiming various retailers began selling the system before the official release date.[52][53][54][55][56]
^ c: As opposed to emulation "good enough" for most purposes, exact emulation facilitates the use of the emulator for homebrew game development and documents the operation of the hardware against such time as all existing consoles cease functioning.

References

  1. ^ a b Nintendo of America. "Super Nintendo Entertainment System". Classic Systems. Retrieved 2007-05-10.
  2. ^ Sheff, David. Game Over: How Nintendo Zapped an American Industry, Captured Your Dollars, and Enslaved Your Children (First ed.). New York: Random House, Inc. pp. pp. 353–356. ISBN 0-679-40469-4. The Genesis continued to flounder through its first couple of years on the market, although Sega showed Sisyphean resolve.… [By mid-1991] Sega had established itself as the market leader of the next generation. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); |pages= has extra text (help)
  3. ^ Kent, Steven L. The Ultimate History of Video Games: The Story Behind the Craze that Touched our Lives and Changed the World. Roseville, California: Prima Publishing. pp. pp. 413–414, 422–431. ISBN 0-7615-3643-4. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  4. ^ Sheff, David. Game Over: How Nintendo Zapped an American Industry, Captured Your Dollars, and Enslaved Your Children (First ed.). New York: Random House, Inc. pp. pp. 360–361. ISBN 0-679-40469-4. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); |pages= has extra text (help)
  5. ^ Kent, Steven L. The Ultimate History of Video Games: The Story Behind the Craze that Touched our Lives and Changed the World. Roseville, California: Prima Publishing. pp. p. 432. ISBN 0-7615-3643-4. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  6. ^ Kent, Steven L. The Ultimate History of Video Games: The Story Behind the Craze that Touched our Lives and Changed the World. Roseville, California: Prima Publishing. pp. p. 431. ISBN 0-7615-3643-4. Sonic was an immediate hit, and many consumers who had been loyally waiting for Super NES to arrive now decided to purchase Genesis.… The fiercest competition in the history of video games was about to begin. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
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