Using bent tools While circuit-bent instruments are one-off creations, software and software hacks are easily duplicated and distributed. This gives rise to the possibility of making work on systems that have been ‘software bent’ by other people. There is a staggering amount of code just waiting to be downloaded from the Net, burnt to ROMs, and used to ‘bend’ formerly innocent hardware – anything from various music programs for the Gameboy and Atari 2600 to modified operating systems for Emma Davidson’s Ensoniq SQ-80 synthesiser. Newer systems such as the Playstation 2 and Nintendo DS have also been hacked to remove their proprietary code restrictions, however the complexity of both the hacking and coding for these platforms means that few art tools are designed for them and most software is devoted to playing pirated games or showing off the actual hacking achievement itself with graphics demos.