Game Genie

The Genesis version.

A runtime Game Enhancer which can modify ROM addresses and was developed by Codemasters. It is the first cheat device to use encryption. In the United States it was distributed by Galoob.

History

The first Game Genie to be released was for the NES. It was met with strong opposition by Nintendo and it was prevented from being distributed in the US as a lawsuit was underway. It was sold openly in Canada and when Nintendo lost the lawsuit it was finally released in the US. It was then released for SNES, Genesis, Gameboy, and Game Gear. The portable versions would have a small opening to insert codebooks which contain the cheat codes.

A version for the Sega-CD was in the works but was ultimately cancelled. It was to fit inbetween the Genesis and Mega CD on the model which requires the systems to sit side-by-side.

Code Book

Game Genies came packaged with a book full of codes. There were several re-releases of these books that would come with the product which included codes from games released after the systems first launch. It was also possible to purchase a codebook subscription which would get you quarterly codebook updates. These minibooks would include codes for the newest game releases. Some of these codes were also sent to gaming magazines and published in their cheat code pages.

External links

• NES Game Genie code tutorial

Game Genie
Galoob
Game Boy - Game Gear - NES - Genesis - Super Nintendo - Sega CD (Cancelled)
Hyperkin
DS/DSi/3DS - PSP (Cancelled) - Wii (Cancelled) - PlayStation 3