Vintage Nintendo Console Gains Bluetooth and Enhanced Audio with Add-On — NES Hub Exploits Unused Expansion Port

If you’re a fan of the classic NES and have always wondered about its mysterious expansion port, you’re not alone. For many years, this feature remained unused, never officially receiving any enhancements. However, a nifty new product from RetroTime is about to change that. Say hello to the “NES Hub,” a Bluetooth innovation now available for pre-order at 8BitMods, exclusively for the NES-001 model.

This clever little gadget transforms your NES into a more versatile machine. With the NES Hub, you gain access to Bluetooth controller support and enhanced audio capabilities. Adding more spice, RetroTime offers an add-on system with the “SNES Add-on,” which lets you connect wired SNES and 15-pin Famicom controllers to your beloved console.

Mark your calendars for December 2024, when these game-changing extensions are set to ship. Investing in this nostalgia trip will set you back $57.28 for the NES Hub and an additional $26.03 for the SNES Add-on, bringing your total to $83.31 pre-tax—well worth it for the ultimate NES experience. What’s more, the NES Hub lets you link up to four Bluetooth controllers concurrently. For those with a tweaked NES that plays Famicom titles, the Hub unlocks Expansion Audio mode for certain games, expanding beyond what was thought possible back in the day.

A little history lesson—did you know that the Famicom, known formally as the “Family Computer,” is essentially the Japanese predecessor of the NES? This console was pretty ahead of its time, featuring non-gaming internet functionalities, like checking stock prices, way before its Western counterparts. While Japanese gamers were experimenting with online interactions early on, gamers in America had to wait until systems like the Sega Dreamcast and the Microsoft Xbox hit the scene.

Speaking of being ahead of its time, Bluetooth didn’t become a standard console feature until the Seventh Generation of consoles, which kicked off in 2005. This includes notable names like the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Nintendo Wii. The NES, hailed as a third-generation console, debuted in October 1985, a good 14-year leap before Bluetooth became a thing. Hence, adding Bluetooth functionality to the original NES is a delightful development, narrowing the gap between playing on the original hardware and the more advanced emulator experiences on platforms like Nintendo’s Virtual Console or your trusty PC.

Sure, this enhancement is quite niche and might turn off some casual gamers with its niche pricing. But if you’re on the lookout for an enriched NES controller experience and own the NES-001, the NES Hub might just be the ultimate game-changer for your retro gaming sessions.

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