[LUGSB] Next LUGSB Meeting: ROM Hacking

[David Wendt JR.]

7:00PM in CS 2311

A talk/demo on ROM hacking

Ever wanted to find out how old videogames work? Perhaps you want to add new levels, or translate a lost gem. In this case, what you want to do is called "ROM hacking", an extremely technical skill that requires knowledge of the lowest levels of computing, often on hardware platforms that don't exist. Just because something is neither Free Software nor Open Source does not mean it's immutable. (Outside of the legal system, of course.)

We will start with a high level overview of the ROM hacking "scene", followed by more technical details about a particular system I have experience with (Game Boy to be specific). We will then perhaps do a live demo of some disassembly and analysis on a game I have never actually hacked before (Super Mario Land), and if that doesn't blow up in my face then we'll do a Q&A if we have time. Perhaps sometime within I will also fit in an analysis of the legal system's position on ROM hacking, what it means for copyright, and why legal ability to modify programs is more important than the documentation (source code) for those programs.

The idea for this talk was originally brought up by me during an SBCS meeting and later suggested by Jan as a possible LUGSB talk. It is a bit beyond the normal scope of LUGSB, but given the last few talks I believe it is still appropriate.
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