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ROM hacking is modifying and editing the information inside ROMs. This would be things like changing graphics, colors, sounds, and text. Translations are a form of ROM hacks, the entire text is replaced with a completely new language. A more wise quote, made by WildBill, would be:

This is an inexact science, a trial-and-error type of hobby. If it wasn't devilishly challenging, everybody would be doing it. I get the feeling that we're living in a special, once-in-a-lifetime era in amateur game re-coding and pioneering. In a few short years, the technology will be simply amazing, and these games that captivate us today will seem like ancient history. I don't see how it can ever be as much fun as it is right now.

Is it legal?

As with all the other topics discussed in this FAQ, there is no official word on the legality of ROM Hacking. Most people would say they are, however game companies and other such people are going to say they aren't. It's a grey area, and it's completely unknown. The same people who will arrest you for copying cassette tapes will arrest you for rom hacking, though.

How do I ROM Hack?

There are many different ways.

The first way most people do it is by using the sprite editor in NESticle. Hit F2 to see the pattern tables, click on the pattern you want to edit, and start editing. Save your changes by writing the VROM, it's in the file menu. Not all NES ROMs have a VROM, so make sure it does before you spend hours on it. Try writing the VROM but making no changes to see if there is one. You can also do stuff like make your own custom palettes with NESticle, but keep reading.

The second way most people do it is by using some form of a hex editor. A hex editor is a program that displays the hexadecimal values in a ROM for your editing pleasure. You can use a Hex Editor to change almost whatever you want, like text and colors. Sorry, music has never been done. You can corrupt the ROM, so be careful. You also can't insert extra bytes. There are different kinds of hex editors designed for ROM hacking, like Unirom, Thingy and Hexposure. They are available on Zophar's domain in the translation utility section.

The third and most expert way is ASM hacking. I'm not even going to touch that stuff. Unless you're an expert at assembly and ROM hacking, don't even try.

There are also groovy little utilities the for editing popular NES ROMs like Super Mario Brothers and Final Fantasy. They can be found in the NES Utility Section.

Still, ROM Hacking can be quite difficult and time consuming...

How do I translate? Is there some program to do it?

There is no magic program which will translate a ROM. In fact there is no magic program which will translate Japanese text. Translations require MONTHS of hard work, blood, and sweat. If you're still interested, someone profiecient in Japanese has to translate it for you, or you could try to learn Japanese. You can do either a script dump with Thingy(recommended), or screenshots (good for small games). If you feel you have the motivation, skill and time to start a translation... start with something small. The bigger games like the Dragon Warrior SNES games and Secret of Mana 2 use icky things like text compression. Start with some action games, then go on from that. Pace yourself.

By the way, don't ask anyone to translate anything for you unless they ask you to do so.

Where can I get hacked ROMs?

The One Stop NES Emulation Shop is an archive of various game hacks.

Where can I get Translations?

The Translation Section. We've got the latest versions of the patches. There aren't any other ones anyone's hiding from you, unless they're beta. Then you won't get them, so don't try.

I can't run the ROM! It's this stupid ips thing!

An .ips file is a patch that changes the original ROM to the hacked ROM, not a ROM. It is used so you don't have to distribute ROMs for legality's sake, and that it is much smaller than a ROM. You have to apply it to the original ROM using ips.exe, or Ucon and SNESTool, which are found here in the Utilties Section. Go to DOS, and in the directory where the ips and the rom is, type

ips (rom) (patch.ips)
example: ips ff2j.nes ff2eines.ips

When will a translation for X be released?

I'm no psychic, but in most cases, whenever it's ready. It's not a good thing to set a release date.
RPG Dimension and Omizone keep up sometimes almost obsessively with translation news.

Is anyone translating X?

I can't say, I don't know. See the Translation Section.

Where is RPGe, DeJap, and Shadow's trans groups?

RPGe's web site is at http://rpge.home.ml.org.
DeJap went out with Squareplanet. [J3D!] seems to be working on RAINE.
Shadow's website is http://shadow.dragonfire.net

Wait a sec... you're no ROM Hacker, you suck!

I've fooled around with ROM hacking, and have a decent amount of knowledge on the subject. I don't really want or like to, however. I have no desire to turn pac-man into a penis or translate some stupid rare cheap-o Japanese game (I'll leave the good Jap games [Square, Enix] to the masters). However, there are people with some real experience, and its best if you read up on some genius documents that they wrote.

You can get ROM Hack docs at:
The One Stop NES Emulation Shop. They have a lot of docs, utilities, and etc. It has mostly beginner docs on NES hacking.
Cataclysm X's Academy. There are some more advanced documents here. Strange layout on the page, tho.
demi's ROM Hack Board You can learn a lot by going here. (DOWN)
Zophar's ROM Hack Board Temporary replacement for demi's board, as some lame idiot forced the maintainters to take it down.

If anyone here has some comments on this page, please send them to me. Comments from real ROM hackers would be appreciated =).