Hacking This Game Is, Ummm . . . A Pipe Dream?

This is just on the cusp of "maybe a too different kind of geeky for these parts," but I was enthralled, so maybe you will be, as well.

A video from YouTuber Kosmic shows how the discovery of a glitch in the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros 2 by a casual player led to a search for a new hack in one of the most-understood bits of computer code: the original Super Mario Bros. for the original Nintendo Entertainment System.

The goal? Arbitrary code execution . . . also known as ACE – a cool-sounding acronym that means the ability to reprogram the game from within the game. Jumping immediately to the ending, changing on-screen text to whatever you want, giving the iconic jumping hero Mario strange new powers . . . All may be possible if you can figure out how to allow ACE.

Did the hex-editing gurus dissecting the odd crash succeed? Well, that's part of the fun of the video . . . But let's just say that – at a minimum – I feel like I have a lot more options for my RPG hacker characters when I consider things like, "Can I reprogram my electric razor to gain access to this villainous lair?"

-- Steven Marsh