Were NP counsellors able to crack codes?

[Draven]

I was flipping through an old Nintendo Power last night and there has been a question burning in my mind since the advent of gaming magazines. Remember all those game counsellors (the guys' pics were at the bottom of the tips page... they all seemed to enjoy karate or kayaking, and the majority of them sported a mullet)? Did they sit around and crack cheat codes or did the developers just call them and tell them the sequence? It seems unfathomable that someone could figure out the Konami code on their own. How did it go down? Anyone know?

[jack612]

I don't have any evidence to back this up, but I've always been under the impression that developers were required to disclose any cheat codes to Nintendo. They probably just passed the info on to their game counsellors.

[tcv]

they all seemed to enjoy karate or kayaking, and the majority of them sported a mullet)?

Ah, these things were required. You had to have been in a kayak five times. You had to have at least a brown belt in Karate. Your mullet had to touch the nape of your neck. These were stringent rules and Nintendo was often very violent in the enforcement. A few game counselors have been missing since the middle 80s. It's quite a scary story if you read up on it.









ROFL Kidding.

[MrSparkle]

well seeing as nintendo power was run by nintendo they probably had one or two dudes just reading over all the source code to the games or something. That or just had the developers tell them the cheats, the idea that nintendo would have to employ people to sit around guessing for cheat codes all day just doesn't seem like a cost effective model to do this. Then again given how much they charged per minute on those damned tip lines who knows lol.

[SegaAges]

Ah, these things were required. You had to have been in a kayak five times. You had to have at least a brown belt in Karate. Your mullet had to touch the nape of your neck. These were stringent rules and Nintendo was often very violent in the enforcement. A few game counselors have been missing since the middle 80s. It's quite a scary story if you read up on it.









ROFL Kidding.


Or are you saying you are kidding so that Nintendo doesn't come after you?

[mailman187666]

I always wondered, when I was younger, how these game magazines were able to get these random codes also. Since it was before the internet, I figured that game companies just gave them the cheat codes, or were leaked by programers from the companies. Either way, there couldn't have been people who sat around all day trying different button sequences for every game.

[Icarus Moonsight]

There is a big difference between a code/cheat and a glitch. Cheat code effects are intended by the devs and the method of use can easily be passed on. Glitches are another mess entirely. They have to be discovered because they certainly were not discovered in play testing. :D

To put it in a real scenario. The warp pipe rooms in Mario were intentional cheats. The minus world? Not so much. When was the Minus World discovered? That's what I'd like to know.

[tcv]

Or are you saying you are kidding so that Nintendo doesn't come after you?

I've really said too much already.

[R.Sakai]

I don't have any evidence to back this up, but I've always been under the impression that developers were required to disclose any cheat codes to Nintendo. They probably just passed the info on to their game counsellors.

This is probably the most likely thing, Cheat codes are required to be disclosed for submissions/cert on the current three consoles.

[boatofcar]

This is probably the most likely thing, Cheat codes are required to be disclosed for submissions/cert on the current three consoles.

But was that the case before hot coffee?

[R.Sakai]

Interestingly enough, I left my game store management spot for my first "Game Industry Job" about 8 months after the GTA recall, so, I have no clue, hehe.

The thing about cheat code, unlocks, etc for submissions and cert was for QA purposes as far as I know. If the level select cheat erases your save games, then there's an issue there, and the QA teams need it caught.

[gdement]

When was the Minus World discovered? That's what I'd like to know.

Not sure, but I think it wasn't discovered by Nintendo. I didn't first see the game until I think early 87, but I remember at the time the -1 world was known. Some people bragged about being able to get there, but I only saw people try and fail. :)

I don't remember seeing it in Nintendo Power until much later, but I guess it could have been in that thing they printed before NP, whatever it was called (never had a subscription to it).

[skaar]

The thing about the minus world was discovery was almost inevitable.

Think about it - it's the first warp zone in the game, and if you forget to jump up ahead of time of course you'll spend some time trying to get up there - maybe by wedging his head in a brick by crouching and standing up since he seems to float through them sideways if you jump at the right angle...

Cheat codes have to be released to NOA/Sony/etc when you submit a game for approval (at least pre-PS2, I haven't been as involved as much anymore since then)

They test those too pre-approval. What you do with them then is up to you - most publishers I've known leaked them to magazines as another form of free advertising ;)

[rbudrick]

I asked a game counselor this very question once back in 90 or 91 or so, but the counselors themselves did not find the cheats and eggs and such. They had binders full of info on every game and pretty much had most of them memorized. Later, they had computer databases for the cheats, strategies, maps, etc.

But anyway, this counselor said they had folks that searched for these and when I asked how, he said it was secret. To be honest, they probably were told them by the developers, as mentioned above, but in some cases they were probably found by looking at the source code, much in the way hackers nowadays find all manner of hidden things in the source code of old games.

-Rob

[AllP0werToSlaves]

I actually wonder about stuff like this all the time. How the hell do people even discover codes to begin with? Do they just sit there and push random buttons all day? There's got to be a leak somewhere. Does everyone remember the dungeon that involved burning a completely random bush in the middle of Hyrule to access? How would anyone every figure that one out lol.

[R.Sakai]

Back on the Turbo when I was a kid, almost all the cheats/codes in those games (Especially the earlier games) were things like "At title screen: Hold 1, 2, and Down on the dpad, then press run".
So, I'd try things like holding right or left instead of down, and every once in a while run into something cool (Like, China Warrior skipped you to the second half of the game, rather than whatever the original printed cheat did).

Always made my week as kid to find one of these :)

[skaar]

I actually wonder about stuff like this all the time. How the hell do people even discover codes to begin with? Do they just sit there and push random buttons all day? There's got to be a leak somewhere. Does everyone remember the dungeon that involved burning a completely random bush in the middle of Hyrule to access? How would anyone every figure that one out lol.

http://www.videogamesprites.net/Zelda1/Link/Link%20(Normal)%20-%20Red%20Candle.gif

Burn baby burn.

[Tempest]

Does everyone remember the dungeon that involved burning a completely random bush in the middle of Hyrule to access? How would anyone every figure that one out lol.
Some of us were pyros and burned just about everything we could. Once I got the red candle I'd tourch everything looking for rupies. I found the dungeon by mistake that way.

Tempest

[AllP0werToSlaves]

I know right? I usually just end up bumping into the flame myself.

[jdc]

I kind of miss the old days of cheat codes. They don't seem to "make" them for modern games. It was way fun to run around fully locked and loaded with God mode on in Duke Nukem 64. I'd love one for Resistance Fall Of Man, just to be able to blast through on a murderous time trial.

[Wolfrider31]

They're made for modern games, just very often the "debug" codes for QA purposes are on seperate builds - ones that are not released to the public.

[acem77]

I always wanted to know my self. I always fig the developers gave them away to the mags.

Some are found by luck. I found some my self.

I found a bunch for revenge of the ninja on sega cd. Started mush buttons at the title screen and heard a chime then kept finding more and recording the final button presses. I submitted them back in the day but never got credit it took popular magazines 3 months after that to post them.

Mega clubs for Arnold palmer golf genesis (get a hole in one on par 5 course!) entered a password wrong :P
Plus I found a hided music test at the bgm select screen.
I submitted them but they never got publish.

Virtua fighter 5 ps3 code to just what random battles(movie mode).
that's on gamefaqs now. I had to keep submitting before they published it.

Some code I found but could never replicate.
Infinite lives parasol stars for the turbografx (beat the game)
Invincibility in dungeon explorer sega cd (was playing with friend and beat the game because of it. We were laughing that I had the undead knight)

Found some cheap moves/glitches.
Saturn bomber man never die trick once you have a dino.
Hold l+r to hop off at the right time when a bomb is about to blow you up.
Your guy leaps off and lands back on the dino.
Do it wrong and the dino, you or both will die.

Now I like making cheats.
I have the comlink to make AR codes for psx and Saturn games.
I have made few trainers for xbox, the best one was for steel battalion

A lot of emulators now have built in cheat creators I love these.
Most of the codes found will work on real hardware with action replay like devices or flash carts from tototek. I even made codes for cd rom turbo duo titles that work on the real system(with help from the tototek flash cart).

I even made 32x action replay cheats that work on a real 32x.
I Beat starwars with a code I made.

[Daria]

Some of us were pyros and burned just about everything we could. Once I got the red candle I'd tourch everything looking for rupies. I found the dungeon by mistake that way.

Tempest

Bingo. When I was six I torched every tree in the game and blew up every title of rock.

I ran through the game for first time since last year, all the secret locations were still ingrained in my memory 18 years later.

[ProgrammingAce]

But was that the case before hot coffee?

Been the case since at least the first Playstation, which is as far back as my knowledge goes...