The expansive storage capacity that CD technology brought to game consoles also raises the possibility of a different future for NES. In the project prepared by [Throaty Mumbo], the system’s operation is demonstrated by adding a CD drive to NES; a video about the project also features a presentation of the system.
In the custom circuit, the RP2350B microcontroller provides communication between the Everdrive N8 Pro cartridge and the IDE CD drive. In the system, which uses the PCM5102 audio DAC, the game ROM is read from the CD and transferred to Everdrive via USB. NES’s expansion port is used for audio samples and the power connection.
Why it matters
The project shows that simply adding a drive is not enough to bring the extensive storage capacity offered by CD together with NES’s existing cartridge-based structure; a custom communication layer is required between different components. Reading ROM data from the CD and transferring it to Everdrive via USB demonstrates that optical media can be used by NES not directly, but through intermediary hardware. The use of the expansion port for audio samples and power also provides a concrete example of how the console’s connection points can be used for new functions. However, the work leaves open questions about which games this setup is compatible with, the scope of audio transfer, and the extent to which it is suitable for everyday use.