If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

The Nintendo Famicom Mini has a hidden message for hackers nestled in its code

It was only a matter of time before the mini consoles were hacked. Nintendo thought so too and left a surprise message in the code.

new famicom mini

The Nintendo Classic Mini: Famicom released in Japan last year, alongside the NES Classic Edition in the west.

Both shipped with a list of games pre-installed, with no legitimate way to add more to the library. Obviously people were going to try to find a workaround, and they have.

It's entirely possible to hack the mini NES as demonstrated in this YouTube video, although you do so at your own peril.

Nintendo knew people would start poking around too, and one hacker posted a message they found in the mini Famicom's code over on Reddit.

mini famicom hidden message

"This is the hanafuda captain speaking. Launching emulation in 3..2..1. Many efforts, tears and countless hours have been put into this jewel. So, please keep this place tidied up and don't break everything!

"Cheers, the hanafuda captain."

For the young whipper snappers amongst you, Nintendo used to make Hanafuda playing cards - in fact it was the first 'game' the company made when it started up over 100 years ago - so that's what the "hanafuda captain" reference is all about.

Frankly, it's adorable.

Sign in and unlock a world of features

Get access to commenting, homepage personalisation, newsletters, and more!

Related topics
About the Author
Shabana Arif avatar

Shabana Arif

Contributor

Shabana has been writing about video games for over a decade, and has been contributing to VG247 on-and-off for most of that. She is currently a Senior Content Creator for Mirror Gaming, providing the mainstream masses with the gaming news.

Comments