Yogos Rollers

Yogos Rollers are a fruit and yogurty flavoured snack. It's a striped fruit roll made with real fruit concentrate and real yogurt. They were introduced just after Yogos were, and are made by Kellogg's

These are the flavours as follows: Cha-Cha Cherry, Punch A-Licious, Strawberry Splits, Orange Cream, Watermeleon.

The health claims of the snack (Made with "real fruit and yogurt," has 100 percent of the daily requirement for vitamin C, and is a good source of calcium) caused some negative press, with particular emphasis on the fact that the first four ingredients were varieties of sugar.

History

Yogos were invented in 2008, when the CEO of Kellogg's at the time, Michael Fassbender was found ejaculating all over a box of discarded packing peanuts. In his post-masturbation haze, he decided to bottle his semen, flavor it, and sell it by the pound to children all over the United States of America. This, obviously, was quite a controversial decision, with Kellogg's already facing allegations of pedophilia after the 1998 Tony the Tiger Incident, which left 6 children dead and 22 wounded. Kellogg's managed to pull through, and sold over 45 million packs of Yogos Rollers in under 2 years. They became quite popular among young homosexuals who enjoyed the creamy, salty taste of Fassbender's hot, hot cum in their mouth.

Legacy

Yogos are still widely considered to be one of the best fruit snacks of all time. They became a popular addition to little Jimmy's school lunch, however, the Nazi-like supervisors at Jimmy's school did not take kindly to all the salty, salty semen leaking out of lunchboxes during the day, as it created quite a mess, and excited the principal of the school far, far too much. Entire schools had to be quarantined and the principal had to be sent to a mental facility to get the thoughts of Michael Fassbender's cock out of her head.

2004–06: Still Not Getting Any...

In 2004, Simple Plan released its second album, Still Not Getting Any... which was produced by Bob Rock and led to the subsequent singles, Welcome to My Life, Shut Up!, Untitled (How Could This Happen to Me?), Crazy, and (in some markets) Perfect World.

According to the bonus DVD of Still Not Getting Any..., while making the CD the members of Simple Plan thought of many names including Get Rich or Die Trying and In The Zone. The group decided on the name Still Not Getting Any... for a list of explained reasons. The most popular and most likely reason is that the members of Simple Plan thought that they were not getting any good reviews, Bouvier once noting that the band only had one recent good review in Alternative Press. Still Not Getting Any... was a musical departure from the group's previous album. The band still kept its style of downbeat lyrics matched to upbeat music, but managed to transcend from the standard pop punk genre. Although many of the tracks on this CD still carry the feeling of teen angst that is probably most noticeable in the song "I'm Just a Kid" from No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls, the general slant of this album tends toward slightly deeper and more mature lyrical themes, as well as a more mainstream sound that edges away from the pure pop punk style of the group's last album. Some critics have pointed towards the inclusion of 'classic' or 'mainstream' rock elements, claiming the album 'de-emphasizes punk-pop hyperactivity in favor of straightforward, well-crafted modern rock'.

2006–09: Simple Plan

The band in concert in Trenton, NJ, December 2007

Simple Plan in 2009.

After nearly a year and a half in support of Still Not Getting Any..., the band ended most touring in February 2006, playing only a few shows, taking some time off, and beginning work on the third studio album. Bouvier headed to Miami as on about 21 March 2007 to work with Dave Fortman. The band entered the studio for pre-production in Los Angeles on 29 June. On 15 July the band returned to Montréal, to record at Studio Piccolo, the same studio at which the band had recorded Still Not Getting Any.... The band finished recording and headed back to Miami and LA to mix the album. The final part of making the record was done in New York and it was officially completed on 21 October.

When I'm Gone, the first single from Simple Plan, was released on 29 October. The album was produced by Dave Fortman and Max Martin. On 17 February 2008, the band achieved its highest charting single in the UK. After the first two albums just missed the UK top 40, "When I'm Gone" gave the band its best chart position in the UK, coming in at number 26.

Simple Plan held an extensive tour schedule in support of the album. After completing an around-the-world promotional tour, Simple Plan played several December 2007 holiday shows. After continued promotional tours in January, Simple Plan played a triple bill in Camden Town, London on 27 January 2008, with the first show featuring songs from the band's first CD, the second from the second, and the third from the new release. The band played four U.S. shows in late February, and completed a European tour running until late April. The band played four Japan dates, followed by several European festivals and headlining dates. On 1 July 2008, the band gave a free concert on Québec City's Plains of Abraham, attracting a crowd of 150,000 to the Canada Day show. After a return to the Far East in late July and early August, the band played a Cross Canada Tour with Faber Drive, Cute is What We Aim For and Metro Station. After dates in Germany, Mexico, and Australia, the band played its second full European tour of the year from 28 October to 29 November, playing Estonia and Poland for the first time. The band also played Tel Aviv and Dubai in early December—shows at which the band played as a four-piece, with Desrosiers absent due to a family emergency and Lefebvre on bass.

2010–13: Get Your Heart On!

The band's fourth album Get Your Heart On! was released on 21 June 2011. The album marks Simple Plan's second time since No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls to feature collaborations with other artists, including Weezer's Rivers Cuomo, Marie-Mai, Natasha Bedingfield, K'naan and Alex Gaskarth of All Time Low. In April "Jet Lag" was released in English and French versions featuring singers Natasha Bedingfield and Marie-Mai respectively. The band was on the roster of Warped Tour 2011 for selected dates in June and July 2011.

In September and October 2011, Simple Plan performed four shows in Australia, on the "Get Your Heart On" tour, with supporting bands Tonight Alive and New Empire. During the Australian tour, Jenna McDougall from Tonight Alive featured in Jet Lag. We The Kings supported Simple Plan in Europe on a tour in spring 2012.

An EP titled Get Your Heart On - The Second Coming! was released on 3 December. Consequently, Simple Plan uploaded the DVD to the official Simple Plan YouTube channel, in high quality for free as a gift to the fans.

2014–present: Taking One for the Team

In March 2014, the band members started recording the first demos for the album, it was announced through 3OH!3 member Sean Foreman's Instagram that 3OH!3 are working with Simple Plan on the next album. This information was later confirmed by Comeau; the band estimates to release the album on the second half of 2015, plus the band discussed the band’s future projects. On 30 July 2014, the band formally stated that music writing for the next album had begun. In December 2014, Simple Plan started to choose which songs would be included on the album. "Saturday", was released on 21 June 2015, although the band stated this song would not be in the album.

In April 2015, Simple Plan performed with up-and-coming Canadian singer Andee at the FIFA Women's World Cup Trophy Tour at MUCH in Toronto.

Simple Plan toured on the 2015 Vans Warped Tour, performing a total of five shows.

On 28 August 2015, the band released "Boom", a song from the upcoming fifth album. On the same day, a music video was released for the song, which contains footage from the 2015 Vans Warped Tour, The Alternative Press Music Awards, and a performance in Montreal at New City Gas; the video contains cameos from members of the bands MxPx, All Time Low, New Found Glory, PVRIS, Pierce the Veil, The Summer Set, Silverstein, Black Veil Brides, Parkway Drive and Issues.

On 18 September 2015, the band released a second song from the fifth studio album, "I Don't Wanna Be Sad," and a third called "I Don't Wanna Go to Bed," featuring rapper Nelly on 16 October 2015.

On 17 October 2015, it was leaked by Pierre Bouvier there will be a song called "Kiss Me Like Nobody's Watching". On 30 November 2015, the band revealed the title of the album would be Taking One for the Team. The group set the release date for 19 February 2016, along with the album cover and the first tour dates of the "Taking One For The Team World Tour", with shows scheduled in European countries.

"Opinion Overload", the second single from Taking One for the Team was released on 5 February 2016. The album was released on 19 February 2016. The album ‘Taking one for the team’ was described as a “pure, no-frills, feel-good fun, a start-to-finish crowd-pleaser for fans of that classic pop-punk sound.”

Musical style

Simple Plan's style of music has been described as pop punk by the Calgary Herald, The Torontoist, Channel News Asia, AllMusic, NME, MTV, The Guardian, the BBC, Rocklouder About.com, Entertainment Weekly and VH1; punk rock revivalist by The New York Times, "Dude Rock" by Digital Spy; with Rolling Stone reviews describing No Helmets No Pads... Just Balls as "new-punk". Atlantic Records marketing material has described the band's style as having "classic punk energy and modern pop sonics". Also, Simple Plan has been described as emo.

Simple Plan Foundation

The members of Simple Plan created the Simple Plan Foundation, which focuses on teen problems ranging from suicide to poverty to drug addiction. As of 9 December 2005, the Simple Plan Foundation had raised more than $100,000.

A fundraising event was held on September 2009 in Montréal. In October 2008, the band announced a special release, on iTunes, of the single "Save You", to benefit the Foundation, with a special composite video featuring cancer survivors. The song was inspired by the struggle with cancer of Bouvier's brother Jay.

On 15 March 2011, the Foundation stated it would donate $10,000 in aid after the 2011 earthquake that hit Japan.

In 2012, to mark the band's tenth anniversary, the book Simple Plan: The Official Story was released, which was used as a fundraiser for the Simple Plan Foundation.

Band members

Current members

• Pierre Bouvier – lead vocals, acoustic guitar (1999–present)
• Chuck Comeau – drums, percussion (1999–present)
• Jeff Stinco – lead guitar (1999–present)
• Sébastien Lefebvre – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1999–present)
• David Desrosiers – bass guitar, backing vocals (2000–present)

Discography

Main article: Simple Plan discography

Studio albums

• No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls (2002)
• Still Not Getting Any... (2004)
• Simple Plan (2008)
• Get Your Heart On! (2011)
• Taking One for the Team (2016)

Awards and nominations

Pierre Bouvier at Simple Plan's performing

Radio Canada/La Presse Awards

• 2013 Nominated for Arts and Entertainment Award

CASBY Awards

• 2002 Won CASBY Award

Juno Awards

• 2012 Won Allan Waters Humanitarian Award
• 2009 Nominated for Juno Award
• 2009 Nominated for Juno Award (for the group itself)
• 2006 Won Juno Fan Choice Award
• 2005 Nominated for Juno Award
• 2005 Nominated for Juno Award
• 2005 Nominated for Juno Award

Kerrang! Awards

• 2008 Nominated for Kerrang! Award

MTV Asia Awards

• 2006 Nominated for Favourite Pop Act

MTV Europe Music Awards

• 2014 Nominated for MTV Europe Music Award (Best World Stage- WS Monterrey)

MTV Video Music Awards

• 2004 Nominated for MTV Video Music Award
• 2003 Nominated for MTV Video Music Award

MuchMusic Video Awards

• 2012 Nominated for MuchMusic Video Award (Best International Video by a Canadian)
• 2012 Nominated for MuchMusic Video Award (UR FAVE VIDEO)
• 2011 Nominated for MuchMusic Video Award
• 2009 Won MuchMusic Video Award
• 2008 Won MuchMusic Video Award
• 2008 Nominated for MuchMusic Video Award
• 2008 Nominated for MuchMusic Video Award
• 2006 Won MuchMusic Video Award
• 2006 Nominated for MuchMusic Video Award
• 2006 Nominated for MuchMusic Video Award
• 2005 Won MuchMusic Video Award
• 2005 Nominated for MuchMusic Video Award
• 2005 Nominated for MuchMusic Video Award
• 2004 Won MuchMusic Video Award
• 2003 Won MuchMusic Video Award

NRJ Music Awards

• 2012 Won NRJ Music Award
• 2007 Nominated for NRJ Music Award

Teen Choice Awards

• 2008 Nominated for Teen Choice Award
• 2005 Won Teen Choice Award

ADISQ

• 2006 Won Artiste québécois s'étant le plus illustré hors Québec
• 2006 Won Album de l'année - Anglophone

External links

• Simple Plan official website

Console wars

Main article: Console wars

The rivalry between Nintendo and Sega resulted in what has been described as one of the most notable console wars in video game history, in which Sega positioned the Genesis as the "cool" console, with more mature titles aimed at older gamers, and edgy advertisements that occasionally attacked the competition. Nintendo however, scored an early public relations advantage by securing the first console conversion of Capcom's arcade classic Street Fighter II for SNES, which took over a year to make the transition to Genesis. Despite the Genesis's head start, much larger library of games, and lower price point, the Genesis only represented an estimated 60% of the American 16-bit console market in June 1992, and neither console could maintain a definitive lead for several years. Donkey Kong Country is said to have helped establish the SNES's market prominence in the latter years of the 16-bit generation, and for a time, maintain against the PlayStation and Saturn. According to Nintendo, the company had sold more than 20 million SNES units in the U.S. According to a 2014 Wedbush Securities report based on NPD sales data, the SNES ultimately outsold the Genesis in the U.S. market.

Changes in policy

During the NES era, Nintendo maintained exclusive control over titles released for the system—the company had to approve every game, each third-party developer could only release up to five games per year (but some third parties got around this by using different names, for example Konami's "Ultra Games" brand), those games could not be released on another console within two years, and Nintendo was the exclusive manufacturer and supplier of NES cartridges. However, competition from Sega's console brought an end to this practice; in 1991, Acclaim began releasing games for both platforms, with most of Nintendo's other licensees following suit over the next several years; Capcom (which licensed some games to Sega instead of producing them directly) and Square were the most notable holdouts.

The company continued to carefully review submitted titles, giving them scores using a 40-point scale and allocating Nintendo's marketing resources accordingly. Each region performed separate evaluations. Nintendo of America also maintained a policy that, among other things, limited the amount of violence in the games on its systems. One game, Mortal Kombat, would challenge this policy. A surprise hit in arcades in 1992, Mortal Kombat features splashes of blood and finishing moves that often depict one character dismembering the other. Because the Genesis version retained the gore while the SNES version did not, it outsold the SNES version by a ratio of three or four-to-one.

Game players were not the only ones to notice the violence in this game; US Senators Herb Kohl and Joe Lieberman convened a Congressional hearing on December 9, 1993 to investigate the marketing of violent video games to children. While Nintendo took the high ground with moderate success, the hearings led to the creation of the Interactive Digital Software Association and the Entertainment Software Rating Board, and the inclusion of ratings on all video games. With these ratings in place, Nintendo decided its censorship policies were no longer needed.

32-bit era and beyond

While other companies were moving on to 32-bit systems, Rare and Nintendo proved that the SNES was still a strong contender in the market. In November 1994, Rare released Donkey Kong Country, a platform game featuring 3D models and textures pre-rendered on SGI workstations. With its detailed graphics, fluid animation and high-quality music, Donkey Kong Country rivaled the aesthetic quality of games that were being released on newer 32-bit CD-based consoles. In the last 45 days of 1994, the game sold 6.1 million units, making it the fastest-selling video game in history to that date. This game sent a message that early 32-bit systems had little to offer over the SNES, and helped make way for the more advanced consoles on the horizon.

In October 1997, Nintendo released a redesigned model of the SNES (the SNS-101 model) in North America for US$99, which sometimes included the pack-in game Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. Like the earlier redesign of the NES (the NES-101 model), the new model was slimmer and lighter than its predecessor, but it lacked S-Video and RGB output, and it was among the last major SNES-related releases in the region. A similarly redesigned Super Famicom Jr. was released in Japan at around the same time.

Nintendo ceased production of the SNES in 1999, about two years after releasing Kirby's Dream Land 3 (its last first-party game for the system) on November 27, 1997, a year after releasing Frogger (its last third-party game for the system). In Japan, Nintendo continued production of the Super Famicom until September 25, 2003, and new games were produced until the year 2000, ending with the release of Metal Slader Glory Director's Cut on November 29, 2000.

Many popular SNES titles have since been ported to the Game Boy Advance, which has similar video capabilities. In 2005, Nintendo announced that SNES titles would be made available for download via the Wii and Wii U's Virtual Console service. On October 31, 2007, Nintendo Co., Ltd. announced that it would no longer repair Family Computer or Super Famicom systems due to an increasing shortage of the necessary parts.

Technical specifications

Main article: Super Nintendo Entertainment System technical specifications

The 16-bit design of the SNES incorporates graphics and sound co-processors that allow tiling and simulated 3D effects, a palette of 32,768 colors, and high-quality 8-channel audio. These base platform features, plus the ability to dramatically extend them all through substantial chip upgrades inside of each cartridge, represent a leap over the 8-bit NES generation and some supposed significant advantages over the higher bit-rate competition such as the Genesis.

Regional lockout

Nintendo employed several types of regional lockout, including both physical and hardware incompatibilities.

A cartridge shape comparison
Top: North American design
Bottom: Japanese and PAL region design.

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The bottom cartridge also illustrates the optional pins used by enhancement chips such as the Super FX 3D chip.

On a physical level, the cartridges are shaped differently for different regions. North American cartridges have a rectangular bottom with inset grooves matching protruding tabs in the console, while other regions' cartridges are narrower with a smooth curve on the front and no grooves. The physical incompatibility can be overcome with use of various adapters, or through modification of the console.

Internally, a regional lockout chip (CIC) within the console and in each cartridge prevents PAL region games from being played on Japanese or North American consoles and vice versa. The Japanese and North American machines have the same region chip. This can be overcome through the use of adapters, typically by inserting the imported cartridge in one slot and a cartridge with the correct region chip in a second slot. Alternatively, disconnecting one pin of the console's lockout chip will prevent it from locking the console; hardware in later games can detect this situation, so it later became common to install a switch to reconnect the lockout chip as needed.

PAL consoles face another incompatibility when playing out-of-region cartridges: the NTSC video standard specifies video at 60 Hz while PAL operates at 50 Hz, resulting in approximately 16.7% slower gameplay. Additionally, PAL's higher resolution results in letterboxing of the output image. Some commercial PAL region releases exhibit this same problem and, therefore, can be played in NTSC systems without issue while others will face a 20% speedup if played in an NTSC console. To mostly correct this issue, a switch can be added to place the SNES PPU into a 60 Hz mode supported by most newer PAL televisions. Later games will detect this setting and refuse to run, requiring the switch to be thrown only after the check completes.

Casing

Original Japanese SFC	Original U.S. SNES	Original PAL SNES	Super Famicom Jr.	Super Famicom Jr.
Japanese SHVC-001 model (1990–1998)	American SNS-001 model (1991–1997)	PAL-region SNSP-001 model (1992–1998)	Japanese SHVC-101 model (1998–2003)	American SNS-101 model (1997–1999)

All versions of the SNES are predominantly gray, although the exact shade may differ. The original North American version, designed by Nintendo of America industrial designer Lance Barr (who previously redesigned the Famicom to become the NES), has a boxy design with purple sliding switches and a dark gray eject lever. The loading bay surface is curved, both to invite interaction and to prevent food or drinks from being placed on the console and spilling as had happened with the flat surfaced NES. The Japanese and European versions are more rounded, with darker gray accents and buttons. The North American SNS-101 model and the Japanese Super Famicom Jr. (the SHVC-101 model), all designed by Barr, are both smaller with a rounded contour; however, the SNS-101 buttons are purple where the Super Famicom Jr. buttons are gray. The European and American versions of the SNES controllers have much longer cables compared to the Japanese Super Famicom controllers.

All versions incorporate a top-loading slot for game cartridges, although the shape of the slot differs between regions to match the different shapes of the cartridges. The MULTI OUT connector (later used on the Nintendo 64 and GameCube) can output composite video, S-Video and RGB signals, as well as RF with an external RF modulator. Original versions additionally include a 28-pin expansion port under a small cover on the bottom of the unit and a standard RF output with channel selection switch on the back; the redesigned models output composite video only, requiring an external modulator for RF.

Yellowing of console plastic

The ABS plastic used in the casing of some older SNES and Super Famicom consoles is particularly susceptible to oxidization on exposure to air, likely due to an incorrect mixture of the stabilizing or flame retarding additives. This, along with the particularly light color of the original plastic, causes affected consoles to quickly become yellow; if the sections of the casing came from different batches of plastic, a "two-tone" effect results. The color can sometimes be restored with UV light and a hydrogen peroxide solution.

Game cartridge

The cartridge media of the console is officially referred to as Game Pak in most Western regions, and as Cassette (カセット, Kasetto) in Japan and parts of Latin America. While the SNES can address 128 Mbit, only 117.75 Mbit are actually available for cartridge use. A fairly normal mapping could easily address up to 95 Mbit of ROM data (48 Mbit at FastROM speed) with 8 Mbit of battery-backed RAM. However, most available memory access controllers only support mappings of up to 32 Mbit. The largest games released (Tales of Phantasia and Star Ocean) contain 48 Mbit of ROM data, while the smallest games contain only 2 Mbit.

Cartridges may also contain battery-backed SRAM to save the game state, extra working RAM, custom coprocessors, or any other hardware that will not exceed the maximum current rating of the console.

Peripherals

Top: Japanese Super Famicom controller, bottom: North American SNES controller

The standard SNES controller adds two additional face buttons (X and Y) to the design of the NES iteration, arranging the four in a diamond shape, and introduces two shoulder buttons. It also features an ergonomic design by Lance Barr, later used for the NES-102 model controllers, also designed by Barr. The Japanese and PAL region versions incorporate the colors of the four action buttons into system's logo. The North American version's buttons are colored to match the redesigned console; the X and Y buttons are lavender with concave faces, and the A and B buttons are purple with convex faces. Several later consoles derive elements of their controller design from the SNES, including the PlayStation, Dreamcast, Xbox, and Wii Classic Controller.

Throughout the course of its life, a number of peripherals were released which added to the functionality of the SNES. Many of these devices were modeled after earlier add-ons for the NES: the Super Scope is a light gun functionally similar to the NES Zapper (though the Super Scope features wireless capabilities) and the Super Advantage is an arcade-style joystick with adjustable turbo settings akin to the NES Advantage. Nintendo also released the SNES Mouse in conjunction with its Mario Paint title. Hudson Soft, under license from Nintendo, released the Super Multitap, a multiplayer adapter for use with its popular series of Bomberman games. Some of the more unusual controllers include the one-handed ASCII Stick L5, the BatterUP baseball bat and the TeeV Golf golf club.

The Super Game Boy allowed Game Boy games to be played on the SNES

While Nintendo never released an adapter for playing NES games on the SNES (though the instructions included a way to connect both consoles to the same TV by either daisy chaining the RF switches or using AV outputs for one or both systems), the Super Game Boy adapter cartridge allows games designed for Nintendo's portable Game Boy system to be played on the SNES. The Super Game Boy touted several feature enhancements over the Game Boy, including palette substitution, custom screen borders, and (for specially enhanced games) access to the SNES console. Japan also saw the release of the Super Game Boy 2, which added a communication port to enable a second Game Boy to connect for multiplayer games.

Like the NES before it, the SNES saw its fair share of unlicensed third-party peripherals, including a new version of the Game Genie cheat cartridge designed for use with SNES games. In general, Nintendo proved to be somewhat more tolerant of unlicensed SNES peripherals than they had been with NES peripherals.

Soon after the release of the SNES, companies began marketing backup devices such as the Super Wildcard, Super Pro Fighter Q, and Game Doctor. These devices were sold to create a backup of a cartridge, in the event that it would break. However, they could also be used to play copied ROM images that could be downloaded from BBSes and the Internet, or to create copies of rented video games, often violating copyright laws in many jurisdictions.

Satellaview with Super Famicom.

Japan saw the release of the Satellaview, a modem which attached to the Super Famicom's expansion port and connected to the St.GIGA satellite radio station. Users of the Satellaview could download gaming news and specially designed games, which were frequently either remakes of or sequels to older Famicom titles, released in installments. Satellaview signals were broadcast from April 23, 1995 through June 30, 2000. In the United States, the similar but relatively short-lived XBAND allowed users to connect to a network via a dial-up modem to compete against other players around the country.

During the SNES's life, Nintendo contracted with two different companies to develop a CD-ROM-based peripheral for the console to compete with Sega's CD-ROM based addon, Mega-CD. Ultimately, deals with both Sony and Philips fell through, (although a prototype console was produced by Sony) with Philips gaining the right to release a series of titles based on Nintendo franchises for its CD-i multimedia player and Sony going on to develop its own console based on its initial dealings with Nintendo (the PlayStation).

Enhancement chips

Main article: List of Super NES enhancement chips

Star Fox, the first game to utilize the Super FX chip, as shown with the polygonal models that compose a large portion of the game's graphics

As part of the overall plan for the SNES, rather than include an expensive CPU that would still become obsolete in a few years, the hardware designers made it easy to interface special coprocessor chips to the console (just like the MMC chips used for most NES games). This is most often characterized by 16 additional pins on the cartridge card edge.

The Super FX is a RISC CPU designed to perform functions that the main CPU could not feasibly do. The chip was primarily used to create 3D game worlds made with polygons, texture mapping and light source shading. The chip could also be used to enhance 2D games.

The Nintendo fixed-point digital signal processor (DSP) chip allowed for fast vector-based calculations, bitmap conversions, both 2D and 3D coordinate transformations, and other functions. Four revisions of the chip exist, each physically identical but with different microcode. The DSP-1 version, including the later 1A and 1B bug fix revisions, is used most often; the DSP-2, DSP-3, and DSP-4 are used in only one title each.

Similar to the 5A22 CPU in the console, the SA-1 chip contains a 65c816 processor core clocked at 10 MHz, a memory mapper, DMA, decompression and bitplane conversion circuitry, several programmable timers, and CIC region lockout functionality.

In Japan, games could be downloaded for a lower price (than standard cartridges) from Nintendo Power kiosks onto special cartridges containing flash memory and a MegaChips MX15001TFC chip. The chip managed communication with the kiosks to download ROM images, and provided an initial menu to select which of the downloaded games would be played. Some titles were available both in cartridge and download form, while others were download only. The service was closed on February 8, 2007.

Many cartridges contain other enhancement chips, most of which were created for use by a single company in a few titles; the only limitations are the speed of the SNES itself to transfer data from the chip and the current limit of the console.

Emulation

See also: List of SNES emulators

Like the NES before it, the SNES has retained interest among its fans even following its decline in the marketplace. It has continued to thrive on the second-hand market and through console emulation. The SNES has taken much the same revival path as the NES (see History of the Nintendo Entertainment System).

Emulation projects began with the initial release of VSMC in 1994, and Super Pasofami became the first working SNES emulator in 1996. During that time, two competing emulation projects—Snes96 and Snes97—merged to form a new initiative entitled Snes9x. In 1997, SNES enthusiasts began programming an emulator named ZSNES. In 2004, higan began development as Bsnes, in an effort to emulate the system as closely as possible.

Nintendo of America took the same stance against the distribution of SNES ROM image files and the use of emulators as it did with the NES, insisting that they represented flagrant software piracy. Proponents of SNES emulation cite discontinued production of the SNES constituting abandonware status, the right of the owner of the respective game to make a personal backup via devices such as the Retrode, space shifting for private use, the desire to develop homebrew games for the system, the frailty of SNES ROM cartridges and consoles, and the lack of certain foreign imports.

Emulation of the SNES is now available on handheld units, such as Android devices, Apple's iPhone and iPad, Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP), the Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance, the Gizmondo, the Dingoo and the GP2X by GamePark Holdings, as well as PDAs. While individual games have been included with emulators on some GameCube discs, Nintendo's Virtual Console service for the Wii marks the introduction of officially sanctioned general SNES emulation, though SNES9x GX, a port of SNES9x, has been made for the Wii.

Legacy

49.10 million SNES units were sold worldwide, with 23.35 million of those units sold in the Americas and 17.17 million in Japan. Although it could not quite repeat the success of the NES, which sold 61.91 million units worldwide, the SNES was the best-selling console of its era.

In 2007, GameTrailers named the SNES as the second-best console of all time in their list of top ten consoles that "left their mark on the history of gaming", citing its graphic, sound, and library of top-quality games. In 2015, they also named it the best Nintendo console of all time, saying, "The list of games we love from this console completely annihilates any other roster from the Big N." Technology columnist Don Reisinger proclaimed "The SNES is the greatest console of all time" in January 2008, citing the quality of the games and the console's dramatic improvement over its predecessor; fellow technology columnist Will Greenwald replied with a more nuanced view, giving the SNES top marks with his heart, the NES with his head, and the PlayStation (for its controller) with his hands. GamingExcellence also gave the SNES first place in 2008, declaring it "simply the most timeless system ever created" with many games that stand the test of time and citing its innovation in controller design, graphics capabilities, and game storytelling. At the same time, GameDaily rated it fifth of ten for its graphics, audio, controllers, and games. In 2009, IGN named the Super Nintendo Entertainment System the fourth best video game console, complimenting its audio and "concentration of AAA titles".

See also

• List of Super Famicom games
• List of Super Nintendo Entertainment System accessories
• List of Super Nintendo Entertainment System games
• List of best-selling Super Nintendo Entertainment System video games
• Nintendo Selects

Bibliography

• Kent, Steven L. (2001). The Ultimate History of Video Games: The Story Behind the Craze that Touched our Lives and Changed the World. Roseville, California: Prima Publishing. ISBN 0-7615-3643-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
• Sheff, David (1993). Game Over: How Nintendo Zapped an American Industry, Captured Your Dollars, and Enslaved Your Children (First ed.). New York: Random House. ISBN 0-679-40469-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)

External links

• Super NES Programming at Wikibooks
• , archived from Nintendo.com.

See also

• Fruit by the Foot