Just to prove there’s life in the old dog yet I’ve just had my SNES modded. It doesn’t do anything nearly as interesting as a modded Xbox, but it makes the PAL version not be shit anymore since it can run stuff in 60Hz and play 99.9% of import games.

It might seem odd to pour more money into a dead console when there’s the Wii virtual console coming soon, but for me you can’t beat the real controller in your hand and it’s a known fact that cartridges > discs > digital downloads. Throw a DVD disc down the stairs and tell me if it still works. Throw a digital download down the stairs and…well, you can’t.

Anyway, many thanks to chaoticjelly over on NTSC-uk for doing the mods for £20 including shipping. First of all the cartridge slot has been widened to accommodate both PAL SNES/Super Famicom games and ones from the hideous US version. Note the cool blue LED:

Secondly it now has two switches on the back: one can flick between regular PAL 50Hz (blegh) and full screen, full speed 60Hz, even on PAL games; the other enables and disables the lockout chip so that import games get confused and run anyway. Check them out in action:

For those of you who don’t live in a PAL territory that middle photo is how almost all of our games ran until the middle of the N64’s life. What the picture doesn’t show is that they run 17.5% slower as well, and we still occasionally get games that do.

Some minor issues aside, I’m very happy with it. I can now play full-speed Super Metroid which is brilliant since it’s the best game ever. And I’ll also be enjoying Yoshi’s Island, Super Mario All-Stars, Super Mario World, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI, Harvest Moon, Super Street Fighter II, Zelda: Link To The Past, Turtles: Tournament Fighters again, and then buy some more all-time classics for less than a tenner each. Sweet!