I Dream of Game Genies and ZIP Files - Hacking the NES

Presented at The Circle Of HOPE (2018), July 20, 2018, 7 p.m. (60 minutes).

The Nintendo Entertainment System existed in a time when video game consoles didn't have an operating system. It was up to the game cartridges to tell the NES what to think and how to behave. Cheating devices like the Game Genie worked by taking full advantage of that fact. These cheating devices, along with the fact of cartridges being mightier than the console, opens up unusual and creative gameplay options that can be utilized by a game developer. The design of these cartridges also allows for information to be discreetly concealed in unexpected ways. Building on the research from his article in PoC||GTFO Issue 0x18 about concealing ZIP files in NES ROMS, Vi will share his process for creating a custom game cartridge that utilizes these unusual gameplay options while also making the cartridge data work as a fully functioning ZIP file and web page.


Presenters:

  • Vi Grey
    **Vi Grey** (@ViGreyTech) is a technology researcher, software engineer, and web developer who co-runs an interactive technology studio. His recent projects include a personal digital assistant, a minimalist theoretical computing system, and a custom interpreter in NES Cartridge format for the programming language used in the CypherCon 2.0 and 3.0 badges. Over the years, his curiosity has led him to build servers from scratch, develop software for old systems, research information theory, learn lockpicking, and even dabble in quantum computing.

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