NESticle AKA NESticle ROM Hacker
[related: Sextris, Nude Punch-Out]
A portmanteau of the Nintendo Entertainment System's corporate acronym and male genitalia, the NESticle was an open-source illegal ROM hacking software leaked on various BBS's in the mid 1990's. The program was developed by Icer Addis, founder of Bloodlust Software in the mid 1990's, though its code was subsequently stolen and shared widely by MindRape, founder of the famed hacking collective Damaged Cybernetics, leading to a significant and lasting rift in the hacking community.
The NESticle birthed a number of NES-platform derivations, including Sextris, a porn adaption of the puzzle game Tetris, and Nude Punch-Out, a version of the Mike Tyson-sponsored pugilistic contest in which the opponent's pants disappear, revealing small erect phalluses. In some instances, the NESticle was used in conjunction with overlaid audio, as with hacker/rap collective Konami Dream's Matrix Racer, a platform built on the NES's stalwart racing engine, Rad Racer, [1] which the group paired with the ambient phreaque leaked single, "Pole Position".
- ↑ A ROM hack notable both for its stunning title screen and the addition of an extended dystopian cut scene at the game's conclusion.