<s>
NESticle	B-Device
is	O
a	O
Nintendo	O
Entertainment	O
System	O
emulator	B-Application
,	O
which	O
was	O
written	O
by	O
Icer	O
Addis	O
of	O
Bloodlust	O
Software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Released	O
on	O
April	O
3	O
,	O
1997	O
,	O
the	O
widely	O
popular	O
program	O
originally	O
ran	O
under	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
and	O
Windows	B-Application
95	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
freeware	B-License
NES	O
emulator	B-Application
,	O
and	O
became	O
commonly	O
considered	O
the	O
NES	O
emulator	B-Application
of	O
choice	O
for	O
the	O
1990s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Initially	O
offering	O
few	O
features	O
and	O
only	O
supporting	O
a	O
handful	O
of	O
games	O
,	O
development	O
proceeded	O
rapidly	O
and	O
to	O
expand	O
usability	O
such	O
that	O
NESticle	B-Device
is	O
today	O
credited	O
with	O
introducing	O
the	O
concept	O
of	O
recordable	B-Protocol
playthrough	I-Protocol
for	O
emulation	B-Application
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
providing	O
the	O
capacity	O
for	O
users	O
to	O
create	O
their	O
own	O
graphical	O
hacks	O
via	O
an	O
integrated	O
graphics	O
editor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
pioneering	O
this	O
heightened	O
level	O
of	O
access	O
for	O
users	O
,	O
and	O
providing	O
the	O
tools	O
for	O
fans	O
to	O
hack	O
and	O
remix	O
familiar	O
classics	O
,	O
NESticle	B-Device
has	O
been	O
credited	O
by	O
Spin	O
as	O
representing	O
a	O
milestone	O
toward	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
video	O
game	O
music	O
as	O
a	O
genre	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
the	O
emulator	B-Application
is	O
no	O
longer	O
updated	O
and	O
has	O
become	O
obsolete	O
as	O
other	O
emulation	B-Application
projects	O
have	O
developed	O
and	O
improved	O
,	O
NESticle	B-Device
remains	O
frequently	O
listed	O
among	O
prominent	O
top	O
tier	O
emulators	B-Application
and	O
it	O
is	O
still	O
regarded	O
as	O
a	O
good	O
choice	O
for	O
emulation	B-Application
on	O
older	O
(	O
486	B-General_Concept
and	O
earlier	O
)	O
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
January	O
2022	O
,	O
the	O
source	O
code	O
for	O
a	O
Super	B-Application
NES	I-Application
version	O
of	O
the	O
emulator	B-Application
,	O
SNESticle	O
,	O
was	O
released	O
by	O
Addis	O
after	O
a	O
programmer	O
attempted	O
to	O
reverse-engineer	O
the	O
code	O
,	O
which	O
had	O
been	O
released	O
in	O
a	O
GameCube	B-Application
game	O
,	O
Fight	B-Application
Night	I-Application
Round	I-Application
2	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
February	O
of	O
that	O
same	O
year	O
,	O
Addis	O
began	O
work	O
on	O
a	O
follow-up	O
to	O
NESticle	B-Device
,	O
an	O
experimental	O
macOS-based	O
application	O
based	O
on	O
transistor-level	O
simulation	O
of	O
the	O
NES	O
chipset	O
,	O
called	O
metalnes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NESticle	B-Device
offered	O
its	O
initial	O
release	O
as	O
NESticle	B-Device
v0.2	O
on	O
April	O
3	O
,	O
1997	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Its	O
name	O
is	O
a	O
portmanteau	O
of	O
"	O
NES	O
"	O
(	O
the	O
console	B-Device
it	O
emulates	B-Application
)	O
and	O
"	O
testicle	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
program	O
originally	O
ran	O
under	O
DOS	B-Device
and	O
Windows	B-Application
95	I-Application
,	O
offering	O
few	O
features	O
and	O
only	O
supporting	O
a	O
handful	O
of	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
freeware	B-License
NES	O
emulators	B-Application
,	O
and	O
soon	O
became	O
more	O
popular	O
than	O
shareware	B-License
rivals	O
such	O
as	O
iNES	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NESticle	B-Device
was	O
coded	O
in	O
C++	O
and	O
assembly	O
using	O
Microsoft	O
Visual	O
C++	O
4.10	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Part	O
of	O
the	O
emulator	B-Application
's	O
appeal	O
was	O
performance	O
:	O
its	O
system	O
requirements	O
capped	O
at	O
around	O
25MHz	O
enabling	O
it	O
to	O
run	O
on	O
modest	O
Pentium	O
and	O
486	B-General_Concept
DX2	O
PCs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Within	O
two	O
months	O
of	O
its	O
April	O
release	O
,	O
NESticle	B-Device
could	O
take	O
screenshots	O
mid-game	O
,	O
pause	O
and	O
resume	O
progress	O
at	O
any	O
point	O
using	O
save	O
states	O
,	O
edit	O
in-game	O
palettes	O
and	O
graphics	O
,	O
play	O
games	O
online	O
,	O
save	O
audio	O
output	O
,	O
and	O
record	O
and	O
playback	O
gameplay	O
movies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NESticle	B-Device
,	O
as	O
its	O
name	O
implied	O
,	O
also	O
had	O
a	O
dash	O
of	O
lowbrow	O
and	O
morbid	O
humor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
source	O
code	O
for	O
NESticle	B-Device
was	O
illegally	O
copied	O
from	O
Addis	O
's	O
computer	O
by	O
a	O
code	O
cracker	O
named	O
Donald	O
Moore	O
(	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
MindRape	O
)	O
of	O
Damaged	O
Cybernetics	O
,	O
who	O
accessed	O
its	O
network	O
shares	O
with	O
Samba	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
of	O
the	O
incident	O
,	O
Addis	O
decided	O
to	O
discontinue	O
NESticle	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
August	O
1998	O
saw	O
the	O
final	O
NESticle	B-Device
release	O
,	O
version	O
x.xx	O
,	O
and	O
support	O
for	O
the	O
emulator	B-Application
was	O
discontinued	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
version	O
featured	O
noticeably	O
improved	O
emulation	B-Application
,	O
especially	O
audio	O
emulation	B-Application
(	O
the	O
triangle	O
wave	O
was	O
correctly	O
4-bit	O
quantized	O
,	O
the	O
50%	O
pulse	O
wave	O
had	O
the	O
correct	O
duty	O
cycle	O
and	O
the	O
noise	O
was	O
corrected	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
also	O
DOS	B-Device
only	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NESticle	B-Device
eventually	O
became	O
obsolete	O
as	O
other	O
emulation	B-Application
projects	O
continued	O
to	O
develop	O
and	O
improve	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
particular	O
,	O
NESticle	B-Device
has	O
been	O
criticized	O
within	O
modern	O
emulation	B-Application
circles	O
for	O
an	O
overwhelmingly	O
aesthetics-based	O
philosophy	O
making	O
heavy	O
reliance	O
on	O
emulation	B-Application
quirks	O
which	O
resulted	O
in	O
game	B-General_Concept
images	I-General_Concept
that	O
would	O
only	O
work	O
on	O
this	O
emulator	B-Application
specifically	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
more	O
popular	O
early	O
emulators	B-Application
,	O
NESticle	B-Device
's	O
influence	O
on	O
the	O
emulation	B-Application
scene	O
has	O
been	O
far-reaching	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Its	O
innovative	O
development	O
of	O
'	O
NES	O
movie	O
 '	O
playthrough	B-Protocol
recording	I-Protocol
,	O
and	O
its	O
use	O
as	O
a	O
tool	O
for	O
homebrew	B-Application
graphical	O
hacks	O
enabled	O
it	O
to	O
influence	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
even	O
tangentially	O
related	O
fields	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
video	O
game	O
music	O
genre	O
,	O
and	O
console	B-Device
case	O
modding	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
emulator	B-Application
has	O
been	O
noted	O
as	O
an	O
influence	O
in	O
the	O
gaming	O
backgrounds	O
of	O
video	O
game	O
collectors	O
like	O
Pat	O
Contri	O
(	O
known	O
as	O
"	O
Pat	O
the	O
NES	O
Punk	O
"	O
)	O
,	O
Destructoid	O
's	O
Samit	O
Sarkar	O
,	O
and	O
indie	O
video	O
game	O
musicians	O
,	O
The	O
NESkimos	O
.	O
</s>
