Games - 10NES

	Games - 10NES

10NES was the authentication code for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) video game console. The system consisted of two parts – a computer chip in the NES that would check the cartridge in the system for authentication, and a chip in the cartridge that would give the 10NES code upon demand. If the cartridge did not provide the authentication, then the system would not boot up. The 10NES was patented; only Nintendo could produce the authorization chips, and there existed other policies that prevented other companies from producing games for the NES. The patent for the 10NES has recently expired, however.

Various companies found ways to bypass the authorization chip. Most unlicensed companies created circuits that used a voltage spike to knock the authentication unit in the NES offline. Tengen (Atari's NES games subsidiary) took a different tack: the corporation obtained a description of the lockout chip from the United States Patent and Trademark Office by falsely claiming that it was required to defend against present infringement claims in a legal case. Tengen then used these documents to design their Rabbit chip, which duplicated the function of the 10NES. Nintendo sued Tengen for these actions, and won. A few unlicensed games released in Europe and Australia came in the form of a dongle that would be connected to a licensed cartridge, in order to use that cartridge's 10NES lockout chip for authentication.

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