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Konami Code

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The Konami Code

The Konami Code, known in Japan as the Konami Command (コナミコマンド, Konami Komando), is a cheat code that appears in many Konami video games,[1] although the code also appears in some non-Konami games.[2] The code was first used in the 1986 release of Gradius for the Nintendo Entertainment System[3] but was popularized among North American players in the NES version of Contra, for which it was also dubbed the "30 Lives Code". While pausing the game or during the title screen, the player could press the following sequence of buttons on the game controller:

⇡ ⇡ ⇣ ⇣ ⇠ ⇢ ⇠ ⇢ B A Start

Variations

The original version of the cheat code was designed for the NES controller. The exact sequence varies from game to game, and has been adapted to fit the button layouts of different video game consoles; mostly the A and B buttons. For example: any PlayStation controller, which uses shapes instead of letters, would be "Triangle, Circle." In mobile phone games by Konami, they are substituted with 5 7 3 on the numerical pad, which is the goroawase pronunciation for "konami."

History

File:Facebook Konami Code.jpg
The result of entering the Konami code on Facebook within Mozilla Firefox in November 2009.
File:Marvel konami code.jpg
One-time result of entering the Konami code on Marvel's website.

The Konami Code was created by Kazuhisa Hashimoto, who was developing the home port of the 1985 arcade game Gradius, a scrolling shooter released on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986. Finding the game too difficult to play through during testing, he created a cheat code to give the player a full set of power-ups (normally attained gradually throughout the game).[2] The code was present in the released Gradius after Kazuhisa forgot to remove the code. Players discovered and shared the code. It has been included in the other sequels and spin-offs, including the SNES version of Gradius III, which actually destroys the player's ship upon entering the original code (however, substituting ← and → with the L and R triggers of the SNES controller powers up the ship), all the way through the most recent iteration of the series, Gradius Rebirth on the Wii, where the Wiimote's 1 and 2 buttons fill in for A and B, respectively.

The code has been subsequently re-used in a large number of other games, and has found a place in popular culture as a reference to the third generation of video game consoles. For example, entering the code is the one of two standard ways to put a Palm webOS device (such as the Palm Pre or Palm Pixi) into "developer mode", and the code is also present as an Easter egg on a number of websites.[4][5][6][7] A number of websites and projects have shown up which use this code as their name, for example the web comic Up up down down.

In popular media the code has shown up in quite a few places. The Ataris had a song called "Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start" on their 2001 released CD End Is Forever. The Deftones have an instrumental song titled "U, U, D, D, L, R, L, R, A, B, Select, Start" on their 2006 album Saturday Night Wrist. The Moldy Peaches song "Anyone Else But You" features the lines "Up up down down left right left right B A start/Just because we use cheats doesn't mean we're not smart". The Konami Code was also the basis of a remix of the 2008 song "30 Lives" by The Motion Sick. The song went on to be featured in contemporary versions of Konami's Dance Dance Revolution dance video game series. The Gothsicles have a song about the Konami Code, and the code is referenced in the song "Up, Up, Down, Down" by Kirby Krackle. The Konami Code was directly referenced in Hellsing Ultimate 2, when Jan Valentine is attacking the Hellsing Mansion; when he finishes, he says "Bringing the death by Konami."

See also

References

  1. ^ The editors of GamePro and GamerHelp.com, "The 'Konami Code:' We Must Never Forget," GamePro 235 (April 2008): 63.
  2. ^ a b "Cracking the Code: The Konami Code". 1up.com. Retrieved 2008-03-15.
  3. ^ "Geek Trivia: The cheat goes on". techrepublic.com. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
  4. ^ Carvin, Andy (June 14, 2010). "Geek Trick Of The Week: Newsweek Vs. The Zombies". NPR. Retrieved June 14, 2010.
  5. ^ "The Konami Code Makes ESPN.com Magical!". Kotaku.
  6. ^ "Konami Code triggers Easter egg on Facebook too". CNET. 2009-05-08.
  7. ^ Moore, Matthew (September 17, 2009). "Google easter eggs: 15 best hidden jokes". The Daily Telegraph. London.
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