The Gaming Historian – Game Genie

Tuesday, 20 December 2011 17:41 Last Updated on Thursday, 15 March 2012 08:15 Written by Norm 27 Comments

The Game Genie not only made cheating easy, it helped define fair use in the video game industry. The Gaming Historian gives you a closer look at the device and how it worked.

 

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  • http://twitter.com/Chronoslinger Alex W

    Audio sounded ok to me. Good job otherwise :D

  • Anonymous

    Another great video, Norm!
    I loved the Game Genie as a kid. I remember using one code to beat Super Mario 3 and when I did, the game paused automatically and I could not unpause it. But the manual said that I had to stand in front of the door and push up the second it opened. Otherwise I would be stuck in Bowser’s Time trap and the game will pause forever! lol
    Anyway, I have the Game Genie for the NES, SNES and Genesis. I moved on to the Gameshark with the PS1, Saturn and N64.
    I stopped cheating after I got more confident in my skills.

  • Omar824

    awesome and interesting episode as always. 

  • locoma

    wow, this was really interesting, Norman. I wasn’t sure what sort of material Game Genie could bring to a video but the whole trial and fare use/derivative work was very educating. Also, your new logo totally rocks. I agree with Alex W, I noticed the low quality with the initial music but for the rest of the video it sounds fine.

  • http://twitter.com/xaer0knight Jason Hicks

    thanks for sharing and making new episodes for us. I know you quit for awhile.. thanks

  • http://twitter.com/xaer0knight Jason Hicks

    thanks for sharing and making new episodes for us. I know you quit for awhile.. thanks

  • http://www.facebook.com/fracassi Anthony Fracassi

    I always liked to use it to make games harder – by increasing damage the player would take and whatnot.

  • DeanW

    Loved the Shining Force music in the first segment, excellent choice

  • http://twitter.com/davidhass3lh0ff michael smith

    Awesome episode

  • Daniel Hoffman

    Huzzah, that was a really good episode.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Tyler-Bartsch/1818490062 Tyler Bartsch

    Awesome video. But I was hoping you would also talk about the game genie on Super Nintendo. Because I could never get mine to work.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Austin-Kelly-Mackert/100000790359124 Austin Kelly Mackert

    Excellent overview! I was actually unaware about the attachment released towards the end of the NES’s life. I am going to be keeping an eye out for that now..

  • Jobocan

    Ah, I have the Camerica Game Genie. I didn’t even know there was 2 versions of it so I went to check right away when you mentioned it :P

    Great video, I actually learned a couple things here.

  • Anonymous

    Ah, I miss the 90′s, when Fair Use protected the consumer, and not the Bloated Electronics Giants who decide to break their own ToS and then sue you for it.

  • http://www.facebook.com/billy.w.hudson Billy Hudson

    Excellent video as always

  • http://twitter.com/itobandito Lance Cortez

    Norm=Awesome

  • Nathan Graves

    found out my game genie is the Rarer Camerica version, yay me

  • Nathan Graves

    found out my game genie is the Rarer Camerica version, yay me

  • http://www.facebook.com/jordan.vachon Jordan Vachon

    hey , i looked at my game genie , and i have a question , both stickers say camerica , but on the plastic where you plug a nes game , you can see galoob written on it , how come ? 

    • http://www.facebook.com/jordan.vachon Jordan Vachon
      • http://twitter.com/GamingHistorian Gaming Historian

        Wow! Looks like you have some crazy hybrid version. Galoob probably sent a batch of Game Genies to Camerica and this was just an error. Very cool though!

      • Tim Klassen

        Yeah I just looked at mine and its the same thing.  Are you sure that all Camerica Game Genies aren’t like that?

  • eelface

    Brilliant video as usual….keep up the good work, man!

  • Dev

    I too went right over to see what mine was after it was mentioned, I have a camerica one.  This was a great video, this is the first I have watched, and I love it

  • Der Gast

    Deeewd, I just realized how the production quality of this show has vastly improved. Camera, lightning, … thumbs up! Besides the content has always been decent. 

  • DraculaAlucard1

    I’m guessing you’re not a huge fan of FF XIII, or Lightning.

  • http://www.facebook.com/OxBigly Charles OxBigly

    I never understood how this was supposed to work if you have to push the cartridge down in order for the game to work.