Alan Cecil, a security consultant and the brains behind TASBot—a Tool-Assisted Speedrun robot—recently unearthed something intriguing about the Super Nintendo: with age, these consoles might be speeding up slightly due to one of their integral chips. As reported by 404 Media, this hinges on the classic SNES’s use of the Sony SPC700 audio processing unit, which functions at a typical digital signal processing rate of 32,000 Hz. Back in 2007, though, emulator developers noticed these chips were operating a bit faster, at 32,040 Hz, necessitating a tweak to keep everything running smoothly.
Now, the SPC700 coprocessor relies on a ceramic resonator clocking in at 24,576 Hz to determine its operation frequency. But here’s the kicker—it’s a sensitive piece of equipment, easily influenced by heat and other environmental factors.
In late February, with this in mind, Cecil took to Bluesky via the TASBot account to share his theory and seek out data from SNES enthusiasts. The preliminary findings are pretty fascinating. What’s emerging is a pattern: as these vintage consoles age, the SPC700 chip is inching faster. One user even submitted a frequency of 32,182 Hz. This represents less than a 1% increase from the original 32,000 Hz, but it’s enough to potentially impact audio and disrupt certain games.
Now, you might wonder, why does this matter? Well, for most gamers, it doesn’t change much—especially if you play with the sound muted. But, for speed runners and technology like TASBot, which depend on precise timing, this slight uptick could spell trouble. You see, the moment a level finishes and the screen goes dark, the console gears up to load the next phase, audio included. If the APU can transmit that data even a smidgen faster, load times could be shaved down, indirectly affecting play speed.
For everyday gamers, that might sound like a bonus, but it could really throw a wrench in the works for the competitive speed-running community and their meticulously calibrated records. Human speed runners are in the clear, as the performance boost isn’t drastic enough to impact them directly.
“We’re still figuring out what this means for lengthy speed runs,” Cecil said. “What we do know is there’s some impact on how swiftly data zips between the CPU and the APU.”
Conversely, TASBot, which operates with exact millisecond precision, might not fare as well. This is why Cecil continues to collect data, attempting to understand how these aging components evolve over time. The insights gained won’t just offer a clearer picture today but will also be vital in emulating and preserving the beloved games from our younger days.
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