Jason Roach lives in a small town in Northern Illinois about 100 miles west of Chicago. A gamer most of his life, Jason was raised on Nintendo systems, so his love for Mario is undoubted. That dedication has also transferred to his two year old daughter who already LOVES Mario. It wasn’t till August of last year that he took his passion for gaming to another level when he created NES cartridges hard drives and sold them as 8-Bit Memory. The very first drive he sold was a 500 MB Mega Man drive and since then his sales have soared. The internet has taken notice, landing him an article on heavy-weight gaming site Kotaku. We ask Jason about how it all started, what challenges he faces and the future for 8-Bit Memory.

How did you come up with the idea for using 8-bit and 16-bit cartridges as hard drive enclosures?
I was looking for a hobby and had actually seen tutorials on sites like Instructables.com on how to create a NES hard drive. I took a look at their methods and improved on them to create what I sell today. The SNES drives were a result of curiosity and experimentation on my part. I’ve never seen anyone else making drives from SNES carts, so it was really cool to take them apart and play around with the design. I actually like the SNES drives a lot more than the NES drives. They’re more compact and just feel nicer in your hand.

If you don’t mind us asking, how does it work?
What I’m doing is basically creating a custom enclosure for the drive, not actually making the drive itself. Without getting too much into detail, I use 2.5″ laptop drives and create the enclosure around that.

Our hearts are set on this sexy Killer Instinct mod.

Which is your best selling title?
Without a doubt, the original Legend of Zelda. I can’t keep that one in stock! Besides Super Mario/Duck Hunt (which I use for the desk clocks), it’s the only game that I buy multiples of on a regular basis. I sell a lot of other classic stuff like Metroid and the Super Mario Bros series, but the one everyone seems to want is Zelda. That gold cartridge does look pretty sweet as a hard drive. It’s the one I actually chose for my own hard drive.

The Legend of Zelda for the NES is 8-bit Memory’s best selling hard drive

We can only imagine that some NES and SNES titles are harder to acquire than others. Thus far, which game has proven the most difficult to find?
Well, fortunately eBay has everything! I’ve never had too much difficulty finding games for orders, but I have had some requests for really rare stuff like Chrono Trigger and Earthbound. I’m always happy to look for the oddball request for customers, but mostly people are pretty happy with the main Nintendo franchises like Zelda and Mario.

Has there been a game that you’ve gotten a request for that you have been unable to fulfill?
Not yet, but I imagine if someone wanted Stadium Events as a hard drive enclosure, that may be a tough one to fill. I have had requests for games that don’t exist, and those are obviously a challenge.

How come you don’t provide hard drive enclosures for cartridge based systems like the Sega Genesis?
I have looked into Sega Genesis, Nintendo 64, and Sega Master System games, but they’re simply too small. I have had many requests for Sonic the Hedgehog, but until I can convince Toshiba to make their drives a little smaller, it just isn’t possible. I had briefly considered putting flash drives in them, but that idea evolved into the Game Boy Advance Flash Drive I’m currently selling on the site.

GBA game are too small for standard drives, so Jason decided to make them Flash Drives.

I can only imagine it must make your heart cry a little when you remove the electronics components from one of the cartridges. Is there one particular title that tugs at your heart strings every time you convert it?
Not only do I remove the circuit board, in the case of the NES drives, I actually cut it in half! I did have someone request a Super Metroid hard drive, and it was seriously difficult for me to hack into that one. I really think that’s the greatest game I’ve ever played, and it was near blasphemy to dissect it like that. On the other hand, I’m creating something unique and really cool that I know the customer is going to love, so there’s some give and take there.

What were some of your favorite video games growing up?
I’m a Nintendo fanboy at heart, so The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, and all the NES classics are right up there. I’m a HUGE Metroid fan, so all the games in that franchise are among my favorites. A Link to the Past and Super Metroid are probably at the top of my list for retro games, even though I played them for the first time when I was an adult. I spent many hours playing Lifeforce and other NES games with my brother when I was young, and I remember that fondly.

Metroid is one of Jason’s favorite video game franchises

What are you currently playing?
Well, I have quite a backlog right now, but I just finished Red Dead Redemption on Xbox 360. Amazing game! I’m not a fan of GTA, but this game grabbed me from the very beginning and wouldn’t let go. The story and voice acting are top notch. Right now I’m playing through Darksiders on Xbox 360, but I also spend a lot of time playing Super Mario Galaxy 2 on Wii. My 2 year old LOVES it and asks for me to play it nearly every day.

Jason is currently enjoying Rockstar’s Latest Masterpiece, Red Dead Redemption

What does the future hold for you and 8-Bit Memory? Do you have any new products in the pipeline?
I actually just launched a new product this past Sunday, the NES and SNES Mouse Pads. I’m always tossing different ideas around in my head, so I’m sure I’ll be coming out with new products down the road. I have a couple things I’m working on now, but nothing to announce today!

Jason has just released a new line of video game mouse pads.

We thank Jason for taking the time to talk to us. You can find him and his products at 8bitmemory.com