NES-on-a-chip

A NES-on-a-chip (NOAC) is a single CMOS integrated circuit which duplicates the functionality of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES, known in Asia as the Famicom) video game console. However, NOACs tend to poorly recreate the NES system's circuitry, which causes inaccurate colors, inaccurate audio, missing sounds, additional glitches, and the inability to run certain NES and Famicom games. Most NOACs were manufactured in grey market factories in China; their original inventor is unknown.

The NOAC consists of 82 pins, and because of its small size and power consumption, is frequently used in unlicensed hardware clones of the NES, especially those touting handheld portability or in game controllers which connect directly to a user's television set. NOACs were also utilized in the Super 8 (also known as the Tri-star) and Tristar 64 accessories, which allowed NES cartridges to be played on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Nintendo 64 consoles, respectively.

Some NOAC models include the Novatek NT6578, the Sino Wealth SH6578 and the UM6578 (manufacturer unknown). These chips may be different designs, the results of separate reverse-engineering efforts from the original NES hardware, but it's very likely that they have the same origin. That first design would have been distributed among the manufacturers through licensing or "piracy"; likely a combination of these due to the grey market situation in China.

NOAC's have also become popular among the DIY and modding communities, who utilize the chips into portable devices and other hand-made gadgets, similar to NES Micro portable project

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