Ben Heckendorn the guy who wrote the book on hacking video game consoles has some instructions on his site for turning the original NES into a fully functioning "Super" NES!


Steps include:

* Faux Stereo Sound: "Much like the 2 sound pins on the Atari 2600's TIA (Stella) chip, you can isolate the signals to get a separation of the sound channels and a kind of stereo."
* Disable your NES's Lockout Chip: "One of the big reasons a NES cartridge doesn't always load is because the lockout chip inside the NES and the one in the cartridge must "talk" to each other before the system is allowed to boot. Corroded (that is, not blown on) cartridge connectors can prohibit this data transmission from taking place. If the screen flashes on boot that's the problem."
* Replacing the Zero Insertion Force Cartridge Slot: "But this cartridge slot just didn't cut the mustard after about 2-3 years of play, and for those of use still playing NES after a couple decades that's a big deal. What's really crummy about the thing is the cartridge moves but IT DOESN'T. Thus, it gets all bent and smashed up, therefore not making contact after a while."

He doesn't go in detail on the post (that's what the book's for we presume) but he recommends Nes.Dev, which has a plethora of info on the NES. But if you don't feel like breaking out the soldering iron, you could just wait for the Revolution's download service. Nintendo will be more than happy to provide you with all the old school (first party for now) games you can handle.