Game genius
Game Genie is the name of a series of cheat - Cartridges , originally from Codemasters have been developed and marketed by Came Rica and Galoob. The first device in the series was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990, with subsequent devices for Super NES, Game Boy, Genesis and Game Gear. All devices temporarily modify game data, manipulate various aspects of games, and sometimes access unused assets and functions. Five million units of the original Game Genie products have been sold worldwide, and most video game console emulators support the Game Genie code. Emulators that support Game Genie also allow an almost unlimited number of codes to be entered, while the actual products have a much smaller limit of between three and six codes.
In mid-1993 Codemasters began developing a "Game Genie 2", with Galoob once again marketing and distributing the device in North America. Ultimately, however, Codemasters did not release Game Genie devices for the fifth generation of consoles. However, other companies have made similar hacking devices like the Code Breaker and GameShark. The Game Genie brand was later revived by the Hyperkin company, which released cheat systems for newer consoles.
Operation and design
The original Game Genie systems were pass-through devices that were placed between a cartridge and the console. When the console starts up, the player is presented with a menu that allows it to enter a series of characters called "codes" that refer to addresses in the cartridge's ROM. Each code contains an integer value that is read by the system instead of the actual data on the cartridge. The Game Genie is protected by U.S. Patent No. 5112051, "Interface Device for a Computer Games System," filed May 30, 1990. This patent expired on May 30, 2010 under current US patent law.
Because Game Genie changes a game's programming code, the codes are sometimes referred to as patch codes. These codes can have a variety of effects. Most of the published codes give the player some form of invulnerability, unlimited ammunition, level skipping, or other modifications that allow the player to be more powerful than the developers intended. In rare cases, codes can make the game more difficult or even unlock hidden game functions that developers scrapped in normal game operations and made inaccessible.
The Game Genie is sold with a booklet of codes for use with various games available for the system. However, new codes continued to be developed and new games released after these brochures were released. To address this, Galoob has set up a paid subscription service that gives subscribers quarterly code updates. In addition, Galoob has placed ads in certain game publications such as: B. GamePro, which contained codes for newer games.
To create new codes, it is possible to enter random codes into a Game Genie. This evolutionary approach corresponds to the use of random POKE operations. Typically, entering random codes will not result in a noticeable change in the game or freeze the game and possibly corrupt backup data. However, repeating this process multiple times can make a useful difference in the game. You have to write down the random codes for each attempt as there is no way to display the codes after starting the game. Once useful code is found, minor changes to that code are much more likely to create additional useful code. With ROM files, emulators, and decompilers for these games and systems, it has become possible to undo games to find certain ROM data to change. This information can be converted directly into Game Genie codes.
NES
Game Genie attaches to the end of the NES cassette so that the cassette protrudes from the console when it is fully inserted, making it impossible to push in. Therefore, the Game Genie was designed so that it did not have to be pressed to start the game. This design puts even more stress on the LIF socket than inserting standard games, bending pins, and possibly making units unplayable without the presence of the Game Genie.
The Game Genie's design also made it very difficult to fit into a newer toploader NES without pushing very hard. An adapter was created to solve the problem that Galoob Game Genie owners were offering for free. However, only a few were requested and the inventory was liquidated.
There is also a version of the Game Genie for the family computer, distributed by Realtec and sold in areas where Famiclones were common.
SNES
Originally, Game Genie did not work with Super NES games that contained a performance-enhancing chip, but offered an updated version to address these issues in some games such as Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. Game Genie remains incompatible with certain games, like Star Fox and Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars because these games use the extra pins that most other Super NES games never use, as there is no circuitry to accommodate these pins on the game's PCBs. It also has problems with the SNS-101 Remodel SNES. When used with an SNS-101, only two codes can be used at the same time. These must be entered in the top and bottom lines of the Game Genie menu. There are three known versions of the SNES Game Genie (v1, v1.1, v2). Pictures of v1 and v2 PCBs have been posted and the difference is day and night with v2 containing much fewer components on the PCB. All three versions look exactly the same from the outside, but when v1.1 boots up, dashes are displayed before a code is entered. The only way to tell the difference between v1 and v2 is to open the cart and inspect the circuit board.
Game Boy
The Game Boy Edition also has a slot for cassettes, while it must be inserted into the game slot on the console. It has two buttons on the front that you can use to toggle codes on and off or to return to the code entry screen. On the back there is a compartment with a very small code booklet.
The physical design made it difficult to use with any version of the Game Boy other than the original. Although it might work if one tried to use the Game Genie on the Game Boy Pocket or Game Boy Color, the large top of the Game Genie would come in contact with the top of the Game Boy Pocket. Paint before it was full. Therefore the Game Genie would have to be bent backwards in order to push the mechanism down so far that it reaches the contacts of the Game Boy Pocket / Color cartridges. Despite this story, it will work pretty well with the Game Boy Advance SP. A standard device will not fit in a Super Game Boy, but with some minor modifications to the plastic it will fit and function normally. There was also a third party Super Game Boy to Game Genie adapter that the player could use to connect the Game Genie to a Super Game Boy cassette could connect.
The device is also not compatible with Game Boy Color cartridges (which do not physically fit into the device). However, this also applies to original Game Boy games with Game Boy color enhancements when played in a Game Boy Color or Game Boy Advance system. However, color enhanced games will work when played in a genuine Game Boy system.
genesis
On the Genesis / Mega Drive, the Game Genie can act as a country converter cartridge, as most of these games are only "bound" to their respective regions by the shape of the cartridges and / or a set of a few bytes in the header of the ROM. Some games do not work with the Genesis Game Genie.
Game Gear
The Game Gear version of the Game Genie had a more complicated design than that for other systems. When you insert it into the cassette slot, another slot will appear into which the Game Gear cassette can be inserted. It also had a compartment that held a book of codes. The codes were printed on adhesive labels on the back of the Game Gear cartridge. When entering codes, the player could easily see what to enter instead of flipping through the book.
On the screen where a code for the Game Gear Game Genie is entered, a player entering the word "DEAD" may move up and down as an Easter egg.
Some games do not work with Game Genie.
Legal problems
The introduction of the original NES Game Genie met with fierce opposition from Nintendo. Nintendo then sued Galoob in the Galoob case against Nintendo, alleging that the derivative created by Game Genie violated copyright law. The Game Genie was initially sold in the United States, but not in Canada. In many game magazines of the time, Galoob Game Genie placed ads with the slogan "Thank you Canada!" However, after the courts determined that the use of the Game Genie did not lead to a derivation, there was nothing Nintendo could do about the Game Genie being sold in the United States. Before the lawsuit was filed, Galoob offered to make the Game Genie an officially licensed product, but this was rejected by Nintendo.
Around the time of Galoob's lawsuit, Nintendo tried other methods to thwart the Game Genie. In later titles, ROM checksums were used to identify the cheat modifications. These measures were partially successful, but some could be circumvented with additional codes. Later versions of Game Genie had the ability to hide Genie modifications from checksum routines.
Sega, on the other hand, was a full supporter of the Game Genie with the official seal of approval. However, one of the prerequisites for Sega was that the Game Genie wouldn't work with games with a safe feature like Phantasy Star or Shining Force.
Game Genie 2
A much more powerful device was developed by Codemasters for the Super NES. Many improvements include the ability for users to find their own cheat codes, selectively enable cheats while playing using the game controller, and put games in slow motion mode. as well as the automatic saving and restoration of the high scores of games in the battery-backed memory of the Game Genie device. A fully functional prototype of the device has been completed but has not been brought to market due to changed market conditions. A prototype is known to exist in the possession of Richard Aplin, one of the original creators.
