• Players have already managed to hack the NES emulator included with the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service, allowing them to load the system up with additional ROMs of classic games.
• Nintendo’s NES Classic is a $60 device that looks just like the original Nintendo Entertainment System game console, only smaller. Unveiled last summer, the device went on sale a few months ago.

You may have heard that there's a way to get more than just the 30 pre-loaded games on your NES Classic Edition, but it involves hacking and potentially bricking it.

The Classic's 30 trips down memory lane were apparently not enough for a Russian modder, who goes by Madmonkey online and managed to hack Nintendo’s sought-after mini console this weekend. Using a custom toolkit, Madmonkey was able to upload several ROMs, but the number that will fit on the Classic seems arguable as one gamer ran into errors with the games they uploaded after they hit a certain amount.

After the instructions went online — which aren’t much more difficult than pulling off the hacker equivalent of a Konami code in conjunction with a USB device and some software — NES Classic owners have been running wild, hacking their devices to include games Nintendo didn’t intend for you to play on their mini console. Gamers have managed to load Battletoads, the entire Mega Man series (Mega Man 2 comes legally preloaded), Metal Gear and more.

Hack Your NES Classic and SNES Classic with Hakchi2 The tool we’re going to use to mod your NES or SNES Classic (we’ll be using the SNES Classic for demonstration purposes) is called Hakchi2. This essentially lets you back up the original kernel for the console, then replace it with a new one containing whatever games you choose to load.

Though everyone is excited to try their hand at hacking their NES Classic, doing so should of course come with the consideration that you could potentially brick your cherished mini NES. The process involves moving and uploading files between a computer and your NES Classic and, if you don't do it right, it could corrupt the whole thing.

'Where you get these ROMs you are adding is almost certainly not legal as well.'

Legally there are specific scenarios in which you can run ROMs that won't break any rules — they mostly involve you already owning the game and creating a backup of it — but you can't, for example, do so by downloading anything that's unlawfully hosted on the internet. 'While first sale doctrine permits you to jail break your console in some instances, this kind of use probably still violates everything from the ToS to the warranty,' Ryan Morrison, founding attorney of Morrison/Lee, said. 'And where you get these ROMs you are adding is almost certainly not legal as well.'

A few Redditors who have picked up on the hack have also spotted several files on their computers that scanned positive for viruses from the custom tool that's needed to upload the ROMs, though at least one Redditor mentioned they seemed benign.

Regardless, now seems like a good time to remind any would-be hackers of what they could be inviting by tampering with their Classic. While boosting your NES Classic's library may seem like a fun idea, it comes at legal, ethical and technological risks.

Hacking Nes Classic With Mac Software

This tutorial will show you how to hack your SNES Classic Mini on your Apple computer running MacOS. Mac users can now use hakchi2 to add more games, play different consoles, and much more on their Classic. This tutorial will guide you step-by-step on how to install a free Windows VM to your Mac and set it up so you can begin hacking.

This tutorial is the same and works for both the SNES Classic Mini and NES Classic Mini.

1. Download and install VirtualBox here (click on OS X hosts under VirtualBox #.#.# platform packages).

2. Download the VirtualBox Extension Pack here (click on All supported platforms next to VirtualBox #.#.# Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack). Open the file and press Install.

3. Download and extract MSEdge on Win10 (x64) Stable for VirtualBoxhere.

4. In VirtualBox, go to File > Import Appliance...

5. Hit the folder icon, select the .ovf file extracted from step 3, and press Continue.

6. Press Import.

How To Easily Hack The Nes Classic

7. Connect your SNES Classic Mini to your Mac and turn it on.

8. Select MSEdge - Win10_preview and go to Settings.

9. Go to Ports > USB > check Enable USB Controller and select USB 2.0 (EHCH) Controller.

10. Press the + USB icon and select Nintendo Co., Ltd... and press OK.

11. Turn off the SNES Classic, then hold the reset button, turn the SNES Classic back on, and release the reset button (the power light should not be on).

12. Again, select MSEdge - Win10_preview and go to Settings.

13. Go to Ports > USB and hit the + USB icon and select Onda (unverified) V972 tablet in flashing mode... and press OK.

14. Select MSEdge - Win10_preview and press Start.

Hacking Nes Classic With Mac

15. When prompted, sign into Windows with the password (note: the 0 is a zero):

Passw0rd!

16. You will now have a Windows VM running on your Mac which you can use to install hakchi2 and add games, consoles, and more to your SNES Classic. From here, you can now follow any of our guides. We recommend this tutorial (how-to add more games to your SNES Classic) to start. When installing running hakchi, you will be prompted to install .NET Framework.

If you have any questions, leave it in the comments below.