"New Discovery Leaves Speedrunners Puzzled: SNES Speeds Up with Age"

The speedrunning community is buzzing with excitement and confusion over a strange phenomenon: the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) appears to be running games faster as it ages. In early February, Alan Cecil, known on Bluesky as @tas.bot, sparked a discussion after noticing that the nearly 50 million SNES units sold might now perform better with classics like Super Mario World, Super Metroid, and Star Fox than when they were new in the 1990s.

The idea that a console could improve its performance over time sounds far-fetched, but Cecil's research points to a specific component: the audio processing unit (APU) SPC700. According to official Nintendo specs, the APU's digital signal processing (DSP) rate is set at 32,000Hz, controlled by a 24.576MHz ceramic resonator. However, retro console enthusiasts have observed that this rate can vary based on environmental conditions like temperature, affecting how the console processes audio and, consequently, game speed.

Cecil's call for SNES owners to record data on their units led to over 140 responses, revealing a trend of increased DSP rates over time. The average DSP rate has risen from 32,040Hz in 2007 to 32,076Hz today. While temperature can affect these rates, the changes observed are too significant to be explained by environmental factors alone. In a follow-up Bluesky post, Cecil shared that, based on 143 responses, the average SNES DSP rate is now 32,076Hz, with a range from 31,965 to 32,182Hz as temperatures vary.

Despite these intriguing findings, Cecil emphasizes the need for further research to understand the full extent and cause of these changes. Data from the console's early years is scarce, but as the SNES approaches its 35th anniversary, it seems to be aging gracefully.

This phenomenon has significant implications for the speedrunning community. A faster APU could theoretically reduce load times, potentially affecting leaderboard standings. However, the impact on game speed is not a direct result of APU speed alone. Even under the most extreme conditions, the effect on a speedrun might be less than a second. The community is just beginning to explore these effects, and while more research is needed, there's currently little cause for alarm among players.

As Cecil continues to investigate, the SNES remains a beloved piece of gaming history, seemingly improving with age. For those interested in its legacy, you can find the SNES on the list of best-selling consoles of all time.