Retro console lovers are perhaps the last group I'd expect to be up in arms on a quiet Tuesday because of the BBC. Yet, the corporation's breakfast news show has committed blasphemy by jamming a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) game into a Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) console.
The BBC retro cartridge catastrophe occurred specifically during a segment featuring guest Prof. Nick Poole OBE, CEO of the Association for UK Interactive Entertainment (UKEI). The show should have sparked conversations about how the best retro consoles are making a big comeback. Instead, it perfectly demonstrated the nerdy intricacies of classic gaming platforms (via VGC).
Should you be shamed for not knowing the difference between an NES and SNES? Well, even typing out the above line makes me feel like Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons, but we are talking about two iconic Nintendo systems with pretty different designs. If you do fancy trying to spot what's wrong with the BBC's cursed console setup, though, there's luckily backup footage on YouTube.
Even the UKEI seems unwilling to take the blame for the blunder. In a statement shortly after the broadcast, the group says "the studio team set up the in-studio display independently and handled the placement of the consoles – unfortunately, we couldn’t adjust it whilst on air.”
Regardless of who's actually to blame for the console cruelty, as GamesRadar+ retro console connoisseur, I'm going to give them a pass on this one. That's in part because Nintendo should have made the SNES backwards compatible anyway and still deserves shade for it, but also since modern hardware normalizes multi-platform retro gaming.
One such company that makes playing NES and SNES games on the same console is Hyperkin. For years now, the hardware makers have been whipping up systems like the Retron 2 HD that use emulation to run carts via multiple slots. It'll even let you output to your newer gaming TV using HDMI, something that the BBC may have tried to do with the original if given the chance.
I want to go on record and say I'm not remotely horrified by the BBC's shenanigans this morning. If anything, I'm more offended that they chose to bring a Wii onto the show over any other Sega console, as the Mega Drive fan in me is outraged. Don't even get me with the choice to bring a ZX81 instead of a ZX Spectrum or Commodore 64, but all that aside, I'm just glad the retro scene could have a bit of fun this morning at the expense of a national news outlet.
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Looking for a portable way to play the classics? Swing by the best gaming handheld options for emulation devices and more. The best Steam Deck accessories and best Steam Deck dock will kit you out with handy add-ons too if you've got Valve's portable.
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