Retro enthusiast injects Snake game into vintage S3 graphics card VBIOS — enjoy some serpentum fun while your old PC boots

https://www.tomshardware.com/author/mark-tyson· May 23, 2026 · 9:30 AM UTC ·9 min read · 0 reactions · 0 comments · 38 views

#gaming #technology #retro

TL;DR · WeSearch summary

A retro PC enthusiast has successfully embedded a version of the classic Snake game into the VBIOS of a vintage S3 graphics card. This modification allows users to play Snake during the boot process before the operating system loads. The project involved hacking the VBIOS and adding a dynamic splash screen to display GPU frequency.

Key facts

▪The Snake game embedded is a free version called Snake 512, designed to fit within 512 bytes.
▪The enthusiast used reverse engineering tools to modify the VBIOS and insert the game code.
▪The project showcases the blending of retro gaming with vintage computing technology.

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Tom's Hardware · https://www.tomshardware.com/author/mark-tyson

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Original publisher	Tom's Hardware
Canonical URL	https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/pc-gaming/retro-enthusiast-injects-snake-game-into-vintage-s3-graphics-card-vbios-enjoy-some-serpentum-fun-while-your-old-pc-boots
Publication time	Sat, 23 May 2026 09:30:00 +0000
Retrieval time	2026-05-23T09:32:26.258Z
Last seen	2026-05-23T09:32:26.258Z
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Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand

Video Games PC Gaming Retro enthusiast injects Snake game into vintage S3 graphics card VBIOS — enjoy some serpentum fun while your old PC boots News By Mark Tyson published 23 May 2026 They also modified the VBIOS to add a dynamic clock frequency reporting splash screen. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Snake gaming, stock photo (Image credit: Getty Images) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter A retro PC enthusiast has modified the VBIOS of a vintage graphics card to embed a version of Snake – the game everyone used to play on their dumb phones.

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