The Origins of the Konami Code Revealed
Posted by James Newton
All together now...
The Konami code is one of the most famous video game cheats of all time, but how did it come about? According to a translated chat between Konami's Kazuhisa Hashimoto and Shigeharu Umezaki, it all started with the NES port of Gradius.
Hashimoto, the code's creator, explains:
I had one guy under me, and he played through the coin-op version. That one’s really tough. I hadn’t played that much and obviously couldn’t beat it myself, so I put in the Konami Code. laughing
Hashimoto's code is legendary now of course, spawning more t-shirts than there are bullets in Gradius. The full interview at GlitterBerri is worth a read.
[via glitterberri.com]
User Comments (27)
#1
NX01Trekkie1992 said:
huh, interesting, lol
#2
Portista said:
Wow, I have never heard of that. :/
#3
RVN said:
I thought this was about the giant piano in castlevania
#4
theblackdragon said:
i love reading people talk about their experiences back in ye olden days of game creation. :3
#5
Retro_on_theGo said:
Lol, a game developer putting in a code because he himself couldn't beat the game. Never heard of that. Awesome.
#6
astroshamu said:
to open up developer mode on my webOS devices I have to enter that code have it memorized for sure
#7
Jfilesguy said:
Cool, but I found this on Wikipedia a wile ago...
UPUPDOWNDOWNLEFTRIGHTLEFTRIGHTBASTART!
#8
aaronsullivan said:
Nice. Cheat codes have always been for gameplay testing though, right? I always wondered about the warp pipes in Super Mario Bros. though. They seem on the border of intentionally hidden for player discovery and cheat to make testing easier. Maybe it was a cheat retro fitted as a secret.
#9
battLeToaD said:
Booorrrriiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnngggggggg !
Thanks for linking the full interview though. Love reading that stuff.
#10
Radixxs said:
Great story.
#11
Tasuki said:
Ah I cant tell you how many times I have used the Konami Code in various games like Contra, TMNT Fall of the Foot Clan and Gradius.
#12
Scissors said:
Gaming T-shirts are the worst clothing ever. "Here let me wear a not so funny inside joke as an ugly over-sized t-shirt, I'm so cool. Derp."
#13
Wizzrobe said:
@Tasuki You took the words out of my mouth. There were also games that, when you used that code, you lost all of your weapons. LOL
#14
Gameday said:
only game i use this in was Contra a true classic
#15
Ulala said:
@James "I had one guy under me, and he played through the "coin-op" version". i think u meant co-op
#16
sugarshaneo7 said:
@whitemage75. Hahaha! Are you kidding me? "coin-op" is short for coin operated. How old are you? You really think when proofreading his article he's going to confuse coin for co-op. Wow..
#17
irken004 said:
HAAAAAAAAX!!!
#18
LordAndrew said:
"Coin-op" means coin-operated, i.e. the arcade release. It's a valid term.
#19
Graph said:
@WhiteMage75 No, he means "coin-op", as in the the original arcade version which was COIN OPerated. The NES version came after.
#20
Lan said:
I read this a while back actually
#21
Red_Kinetic said:
up up down down left right left right B A Select Start
#22
Ulala said:
oh sorry I thought he meant co-op. I know what coin operated means, I just thought that there was a co-op version. wasn't really paying attention to what he wrote that much
#23
Slapshot said:
I used the Konami Code with Life Force every time!
#24
Paperclip said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDdo7T9BkxM&feature=related
All together now......
#25
LEGEND_MARIOID said:
Interesting
#26
Henmii said:
Doesn't say anything to me. Sorry!
#27
SoZettaFox said:
The problem with some games is that you have to enter it very quickly or else it'll go to the demo before you're done.