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Nintendo Game Processor - The lost Nintendo game creation PC
A 1994 PC, built by Nintendo, for making SNES games... that never saw the light of day.
August 27, 2023
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Back in 1994, Nintendo filed a patent in the USA for something truly remarkable.

Patent US6115036A - “Video game/videographics program editing apparatus with program halt and data transfer features”

To put it in clear terms:

The Nintendo Game Processor was a custom built computer — complete with a keyboard & mouse — that was built with one specific purpose: to visually create your own Super Nintendo games, via drag and drop, and write those games onto an actual SNES game cartridge.

Here’s a glimpse at what the Game Processor would have looked like:

Note the four SNES / Super Famicom style game connectors on the front. One for keyboard, one for mouse, and two for SNES controllers.

Note the cartridge slot on the very top of the unit. In this slot is where you would place a battery-backed, SRAM cartridge. When you created your game, it could be exported to the SRAM on that cartridge… the battery would keep the contents in RAM… thus allowing your game to be playable on anyone’s regular SNES.

The RAM-based cartridges were known as “Game Processor RAM Cassettes”. There’s not a ton of these floating around, but some were clearly produced. They even pop up on eBay from time to time (so we know what they look like):

Unfortunately, because the data was stored entirely on battery backed RAM… the odds of finding a cartridge with a fully in tact game are close to zero.

Here is what one of these RAM cartridges looked like inside the case:

So, what did the software look like that allowed you to create these Super Nintendo games? Well, we don’t actually know a whole lot about that. But we do know at least one of the possibilities (the one outlined in the patent itself) was called “Mario Factory.”

Much like how Super Mario Maker nowadays works, Mario Factory would allow you to lay out a map to design game levels. The patent uses a variation on the original “Mario Bros” game… such as in this illustration:

But it clearly was intended to go much further than creating just levels in a Mario game. Most aspects of the game appeared to have been (visually) programmable. Changing sprite direction, playing sounds, etc. could all be tied to actions.

Sprites could be designed entirely within Mario Factory and animations created based on them.

You could even create in-game music using a traditional sheet music interface. Very strong “Mario Paint” overtones here.

Again, every aspect of the sprite control appears to be configurable. Here using visual representations of the SNES controllers. “While Pressing [D-Pad Right] Move Right”. Lots of possible conditionals to customize the controls: “Only when Pushed”, “While pressing”, etc..

So.

How does this all work, exactly? From the patent:

“The main CPU and game CPU cooperate in the game execution and editorial process such that an editing screen generated by the main CPU is superimposed on a game screen generated by the program executing CPU. The game processing console includes ports connected to a wide variety of peripheral devices including a standard television set, keyboard, game hand controllers, mouse, modem board, an interface board for coupling the game processor to a personal computer system, floppy disk drive, an external RAM game cartridge and a user's ID card.”

A fairly fascinating way to approach it.

As I understand it, the Nintendo Game Processor really is two machines in one: A SNES (the “Game CPU”), and a more PC-styled side (the “Main CPU”).

The game itself runs on the SNES portion… and the main CPU overlays all of the editing tools on top of it. So you aren’t running a Super Nintendo emulator or simulator… there’s no interpreted runtime environment… you’re creating a real SNES game and running it on real SNES hardware… as you are developing it.

A super cool way of doing this sort of thing.

Nintendo clearly intended this to (at least in part) be targeted at schools:

“In accordance with the present invention, unique video games may be simply created by users ranging from a relatively unsophisticated elementary school students to sophisticated game developers. A unique hardware and software platform enables users to create original games by selecting icons which access more detailed editor screens permitting the user to directly change a wide variety of game display characteristics concerning moving objects and game backgrounds.”

Gotta help those “unsophisticated elementary school students” out. :)

This system seemed to have partially existed, at least to some degree. RAM cartridges have been found. And some ROM/RAM dumps have been recovered, that appear to have been made with the system, for Nintendo’s long dead “Satellaview” service (which allowed people to download regular games from Nintendo).

A partial ROM dump from a "Mario Factory" created game.

That said… I have yet to see any actual picture of a complete “Nintendo Game Processor” system. Nor have I found any screenshot (or any files pertaining to) the “Mario Factory” software, itself.

But one can’t help but imagine just how cool this would have been… all the way back in 1994.

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Looking for the Podcast RSS feed or other links?
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"Andreas Kling creator of Serenity OS & Ladybird Web Browser" - Lunduke’s Big Tech Show - September 13th, 2023 - Ep 044

This episode is free for all to enjoy and share.

Be sure to subscribe here at Lunduke.Locals.com to get all shows & articles (including interviews with other amazing nerds).

"Andreas Kling creator of Serenity OS & Ladybird Web Browser" - Lunduke’s Big Tech Show - September 13th, 2023 - Ep 044

An internet time machine!!!

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50% Off The Lunduke Journal through Oct 31

Holy moly, there’s a lot of new Free Subscribers to The Lunduke Journal!

As a way of saying “Welcome!” to all of you new people, here’s a little (well… big) discount on full subscriptions.

50% off all types of Subscriptions (Monthly, Yearly, and Lifetime) through October 31st (Friday).

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October 15, 2025
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The Unpublished Anti-Lunduke Hit-Piece
A Tech Journalist interviewed me for a hit-piece article. But the questions made them look bad, and they shelved the story. So I'm publishing their hit-piece for them.

Back in September, shortly after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, I was contacted by a Tech Journalist writing for FossForce.com (a smaller, Open Source focused publication) who was working on an article around Open Source, Antifa, and the Lunduke Journal’s coverage of those topics.

This particular outlet had, several months prior, run an “anti-Lunduke” hit piece without first reaching out for comment — which resulted in their most popular article (at least on social media) in quite some time.

With that in mind, it seemed reasonable that they’d want to repeat that success with another “anti-Lunduke” story.

This time they were doing the responsible thing. They reached out to the subject of the hit-piece article with questions. I like encouraging Tech Journalists when they do actual journalism, so I answered each and every query with easy-to-quote responses.

But, it would appear that the answers they received were not conducive to creating the hit-piece they were hoping for — my guess is they realized their questions made them look like the villain in the story. The villain they, clearly, hoped to portray me as.

They opted to not publish the piece.

So I’m publishing their hit-piece for them.

Below is every question — and every answer (with no edits) — which I was asked, on September 19th, by a Tech Journalist by the name of Christine Hall, writing for FossForce.

Fair warning: This is very, very politically charged.

Enjoy.


September 19th

Hall:

The last time I mentioned you in an article, you castigated me for not reaching out to you beforehand. Well, I’m reaching out now. We’ll see what comes of this.

You do recognize that the vast majority of organizations using the term antifa as a descriptor are not in the least bit terrorist and pose no threat to society -- and indeed, the only threats they might pose to fascist groups are not physical or life-harming?

Lunduke:

Hello Christine! Nice to hear from you!

Many, if not most, of those proclaiming support for Antifa (within Open Source) have also made statements encouraging or supporting violence and discrimination.

Regardless of that fact -- which I have documented extensively in Lunduke Journal coverage -- when violent acts are committed (such as murder, riots, and lynchings) in the name of “Antifa”, to turn around and immediately declare yourself to be “Antifa” is a clear declaration of support of that violence.

Hall:

And why did you feel it necessary to call out Danielle Foré’s [the founder of the elementary OS Linux Distribution] trans status in such an ugly manner?

Lunduke:

There is a noteworthy overlap between “Trans activism” and support for political violence -- including in the recent murder of Charlie Kirk (the murderer’s boyfriend was “Trans”).

In the case of Daniel Fore, he, a leader of an Open Source project, regularly calls for discrimination (and violence) against people he disagrees with -- often in conjunction with his self-declaration as “Trans”.

Thus, his declaration of being “Trans” becomes a part of the overall story.

It is worth noting here that The Lunduke Journal has never -- and would never -- call for discrimination or violence against someone because of how they identify or who they may (or may not) vote for.

This is in stark contrast those, such as Mr. Fore, who consider themselves “Trans” or “Antifa” -- who actively advocate for both discrimination and violence.

Hall:

Mentioning a person’s trans status in ways that are pertinent to your argument necessates rudeness such as calling her a “dude who likes to wear dresses”?

Lunduke:

Dan Fore is, in fact, a dude who likes to wear dresses.

The only reason to view that as a negative is if you view dudes wearing dresses as a negative.

Hall:

I’ll quote you on that, which I’m pretty sure won’t bother you in the least.

Lunduke:

Absolutely! Quote anything I say here. In fact, I suggest quoting absolutely everything I’ve written to you here, today.

Hall:

You also understand, don’t you, that voicing disagreement with an assessment made by POTUS is not only legal but a healthy part of the national dialog.

Lunduke:

Absolutely! Did I say somewhere that it was illegal to disagree with a politician? It seems unlikely that I have ever said that.

Hall:

Also, how would you reply to this:

There have been very few murders linked to individuals associated with Antifa, some incidents of rioting attributed to Antifa supporters, and no credible evidence of lynchings conducted in the name of Antifa. Compared to far-right groups, violence attributed to Antifa is much less frequent and lethal, with only one suspected kill—Aaron Danielson in Portland, by an anti-fascist activist—officially confirmed in recent U.S. history.

Lunduke:

Murder is bad. I am opposed to all murder.

In the context of these discussions, bearing in mind the Kirk murder is important (as many statements were made in response to it). The murderer of Kirk appears to have been pro-Trans and pro-Antifa (based on all available information).

Hall:

Is there any evidence that the suspect was part of an antifa group? I haven’t seen any.

Lunduke:

I have seen some reporting to this effect (including statements from family and messages he wrote).

But, far more important to this story, is the response to the murder among Antifa supporters (including those within Open Source). A large portion of Antifa supporters have celebrated the murder as justified because it killed someone they considered to be a “fascist”.

Hall:

Also, no group should be held responsible for what some deranged person who identifies with the group has done.

Lunduke:

I agree that a broader group should not be held responsible for the actions of a small number of individuals.

However, and this is critically important, it is entirely appropriate to hold people responsible for their own statements and actions.

With that in mind: The overall messaging of Antifa (and Antifa supporters) tends heavily towards violence. Punching, killing, molotov cocktails, etc. are all common messaging used by Antifa (including by those I quote within the Open Source world -- many of whom have advocated violence against myself).

Advocating for violence, then celebrating when violence is committed, are not good things.

Yet we see a great deal of that among Open Source supporters of Antifa.

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October 13, 2025
Sale ends in a few hours, Lifetime Subs set up.

Holy moly, you guys are amazing.

A few days ago I published a “50% off” sale for Lunduke Journal subscriptions… and all of you showed up. In a big way.

To everyone who grabbed a Lifetime Subscription over the last few days: All of you are set to full Lifetime access. You should have a confirmation email in your inbox. If not, email me and I’ll make sure you’re setup properly.

That “50% off” sale ends tonight at midnight. So you have a few hours to snag a discounted subscription, if you haven’t already.

A huge thank you to everyone who supports this work. Couldn’t do it without you.

-Lunduke

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