Bitcoin blockchain hosts classic SNES games

Ninjalerts CEO Trevor Owens argued that Bitcoin is the best place to preserve “cultural digital artifacts” for future generations.

Developers at the Bitcoin Ordinals portfolio tracker Ninjalerts have inscribed the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) emulator on a satoshi, allowing the community to play classic games on the Bitcoin network. 

In an X (formerly Twitter) thread, Ninjalerts CEO Trevor Owens explained that it took six months to customize the emulator to work on all marketplaces and explorers. He wrote, “If the Laser Eyes are gonna host all our JPEGs forever, at least now they can play games!”

1/ We Inscribed the Super Nintendo on Bitcoin

I’m happy to announce, our GitBook is officially live!

88 pages of content (with images and code)

Let’s dive in, and discuss our attempt to raise the technical bar for Ordinals projects going forward pic.twitter.com/G0EpU38aE2

— trevor.btc — b/acc (@TO) January 8, 2024

According to Owens, the effort to inscribe SNES on the blockchain was made to address the issue of the preservation of classic video games. Citing a study concluding that 90% of classic video games are critically endangered, Owens argued that Bitcoin is the best place to preserve these “cultural digital artifacts” for future generations. 

Apart from preserving cultural artifacts, inscribing the SNES emulator on Bitcoin was also Ninjalerts’ attempt to raise the technical bar for Bitcoin Ordinals projects. Owens also said that they wanted to leverage the capabilities of Ordinals in a way that is challenging to replicate on the Ethereum network. 

Within the tweet, the executive also shared a comprehensive GitBook with 88 pages that included images, code and a more detailed project walkthrough, sharing how it achieved the results.

Related: Bitcoin Ordinals versus off-chain NFT storage: Execs explain how to choose

Some community members thought that the inscription of an emulator on Bitcoin was a positive thing, while others expressed some concerns. An X user described the development as taking Ordinals to the next level of fun and versatility, while another called it Ordinals season two. 

Meanwhile, one community member asked if the game copyright holders had permitted the games to be inscribed in the Bitcoin network. At the same time, another posted that the action could result in a lawsuit.