The Konami Code

So it turns out the greatest video game code in the history of video games was invented because game designers couldn't beat their own games. You might know the 'Konami Code' better as 'The Contra Code' or Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A. Of course in Contra this code gave you 30 lives and was really the only way you could beat the god damn thing. Different variations on the code exist on different platforms and all kinds of games.An interview from 2003 was translated this week by GlitterBerri.com and in it Konami game developer Kazuhisa Hashimoto is asked about the early days of creating games for NES. In 1986 Hashimoto came up with the code as a way to beat the game he was creating at the time, Gradius. The game was only in arcades back then and it was being developed for a home platform, Nintendo.  He made the game so difficult he couldn't beat it so he came up with the code as a way to "power up" before the game even started. Hashimoto inserted it but never took the code out which meant the game went to market with the code still in it. Eventually players figured this out and word spread about the Konami Code. The code was effective in many Konami games and can used on devices like the Palm Pixi or Palm Pre.
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