A Brief History of Video Game Cheating Devices

[@Wunkolo]

Oh my gosh I appreciate you making this video so much. The days of cheat devices like this are over but Action Replay for the GBA is what started my entire computer science career. I taught myself hexadecimal at the age of 11 and had an "action replay" book where I would edit Pokémon Sapphire action replay codes like "Hold L while walking through doors to teleport to X" and would change up the action replay opcodes and experiment among plenty of other codes. This Kickstart Ed my entire career into computer science and now I am a senior graphics/rendering engineer and reverse engineer and reverse engineered many games since and working on emulators and such. Action Replay codes was my epoch moment of learning how computers worked. Thanks for your video and I'm glad I subbed to you from some of your other videos!

[@JonahUniverse]

That's so cool!

[@RoachChef]

i didn’t realize you were canadian until you said “zed” and then the way you say “newer” (nyoo-er instead of noo-er) really cemented it lmaooo

[@J_Ciner]

The tiny microphone is my favorite part of this channel

[@jojo_entertainment]

this reminds me of when i used to buy cheat code books when i was little

[@poindextertunes]

my favorite cheats were the secret characters you could unlock in NBA JAM. hooping with bill clinton was always hilarious. sex and BJ puns galore 😂

[@FemboyLevi]

my brother in law has one of these books right next to his pc still, hahaha

[@burninsherman1037]

I had, if I remember right, an '05 code book, and a stack of tips and tricks magazine on hand back in the day! Still have a couple issues of tips and tricks hanging around. Think it's a destroy all humans cover issue, and the all cheats issue from the year halo 3 (maybe 2, but I'm pretty sure it's 3) came out.

[@RSOFT92]

I have fond memories of using cheats for the first time in AoE RoR (Age of Empires: Rise of Rome) at probably Age 10 (2002). My Father asked me why i look so miserable and i told him i can't complete the mission. He asked me why i don't use cheats and that started an interest in gaming, cheats (incl. messing around with Cheat Engine) and computers in general. BTW, i still have the cheat code magazine from which i looked up the cheats for AoE. It's called "Softsale Cheat Checker", from 2001. Used to cost 7,80 DM back then (which is about 3,99 EURO in todays money....).

[@joharakiri]

Bro the 90's kids ad 😭 Haven't felt such a mix of nostalgia and cringe in a while. Also imagine explaining to these kids what gaming and cheating in games is like now... Like we don't just do it to "have more lives", some people spend hours on Nexus to see just how jiggly they can make Seranas knockers before Skyrim won't boot.

[@missmangobat5628]

My mom has one for the DS and used to cheat so many Pokémon. I still have my old HeartGold game with boxes stuffed with cheated legendaries, shinies and limited event Pokémon that she traded me ages ago lol

[@ariana8573]

love your videos, every topic is so interesting and perfectly nostalgic. you definitely deserve more hype

[@ozmarichardson6524]

Nintento: "oh no our toy is compatible with another toy!" Sega: *pulls down shades and rips a bong like a badass* (no i don't think it's badass to rip bongs, I'm just personifying sega as a cool sonic-esque 90s stoner caricature)

[@gatorism]

it is cool to rip bongs tho

[@beansfebreeze]

Bong rips are badass tbf

[@baileyturner2202]

Great video. I just wanted to add that cheating devices are often used by the disabled and neurodivergent communities as a way of making games that were not built to be accessible more accessible and this neuance is sometimes overlooked in conversations on why these devices exhaust or are needed

[@sveadezember403]

I also wanted to write this 😊! I would have had a hell of lot more fun as an undiagnosed ADHDer when there would have been any way to work around my impulse controll issues (No! I did not have "tamper tantrums". A lot of times it's just a melt down) in Super Mario Bros and stuff. Especially the jump and run games on NES and Game Boy without safe states and only a few lifes (aka chances) to do it right.

[@fatherWolt]

oh my god that bootleg pokemon action replay box brought back SO MANY memories holy shit

[@periwinkle43]

I love cheating in single player games. Even ones im good at ill cheat for fun i eat that shit up

[@Braindead-Baby-Hazel]

i remember beating Kingdom Hearts 2 SO many times as a kid (a full ps2 memory card of saves) that I bought a gameshark just to change shit around, because i didn't want to stop playing it. Good times... Great video and keep up the great work

[@GreenShadowCat]

I remember getting Pokemon Heartgold on it's release day, but being so bad at it as it was my first Pokemon game, that I couldn't beat the 8th gym leader. I took a break from the game got some advice on the mechanics of Pokemon by a friend of mine and beat the eighth gym and the rest of the game and postgame after that, catching all legendaries that I could. I only found out some time later that there were special events for Celebi and other Pokemon, like the Creation Trio of gen 4, which you needed Arceus for, but had been to late for them. I wanted to get Dialga so badly and complained to that same friend, he told me could trade me Arceus since he knew a guy who had an action replay and could trade him Arceus to give me. A few days later he traded me Arceus and I finally got Dialga and couldn't have been happier. Especially with event pokemon I really wish I understood what an action replay did more since I thought it was some hacker magic at the time. Oh and I can't forget asking my mom to drive me to gamestop every time there was a mystery gift pokemon for BW and BW2. Haven't played Pokemon since then, so I'm not sure if they still have those, but I still despise Game Freak for that practice.

[@TheDufflebagGang]

Growing up, I knew other kids that had Game Genies and such, but it wasn't until I got a PS2 that I ended up with an Action Replay because it came with a special, extra-large memory card (and it happened to be the only memory card left at our town's only store). The card needed the disc to use and when I got Sly Cooper, I found myself unable to progress past the first level. Apparently that memory card hated certain games and would screw up game functionality- whether you had utilized cheats or not lmao

[@tryker01]

Top tier content love to see the channel progression!

[@alanfike]

3:14 This would be extremely '90s back in the 1990s. It's like they told both of them to do their best Ted of Bill and Ted impression.

[@doomdimensiondweller5627]

Cheat devices never went away. Look up the Cronus Max and Zen as well as the Titan One and Titan Two. I don't know why more people don't talk about these in these sorts of videos.

[@fooxylol]

Tbh those are more for cringe online pvp game cheaters rather than small children getting infinite money in the sims 2 but they did brush over online cheating so idk.

[@diotenchi]

Thank you for the video Randy Moon, it was very good!

[@Sethwaynethegoat]

GameShark on ps1 that load up screen with the shark was sooo 🔥

[@declanmoore]

I think to some extent, action replay codes that messed your save files and cause glitches was often caused by just shoddy cheat codes. At least in mkds, there are so many of these. Making proper cheat codes is just "harder" I suppose.

[@Iggy_Dogg]

10:38 oof canadian, that's rough

[@CommanderWiggins]

Ah the good old Action Replay. My brother bought one back in the day for the DS and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I've still got my original Pokemon Diamond save file from back in the day, full of all the hallmarks of Action Replay useage. (Complete Pokedex, 999 Master Balls and Rare Candies, a bunch of shinies and legendaries) But I also did a bunch of peak 9 year old child things like catching hacked Pokemon but doing it on the first route so I have a ton of Pokemon like Level 2 Arceus or a Level 3 Hippowdown. Somehow I managed to avoid giving myself any Bad Eggs or softlocking myself with walk through walls cheats which is honestly quite impressive. I still have that Action Replay but at some point it kicked the bucket. The brief snippet of the Action Replay DS software was the first time I've seen that screen in well over a decade.

[@sobertillnoon]

But Randy, cheating is wrong!

[@safarirat]

don't care

[@samburger6739]

​@@safarirat 🤯

[@Yamabanana]

Interesting how your cheating experience on DS was completely different from mine, as I pirated games with my flashcart, which also allowed me to cheat, so I didnt need an seperate device. Also on many Consoles, cheating throu homebrew is a thing.

[@reesesapphire267]

cheating is a sin it says in the 10 commandments "thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's action replay"

[@Normal-Lad]

The game shark allowed us to play some secret un used bosses in twilight princess

[@stardustman420]

"that's right, we´re gonna cheat"

[@Rockercdc]

still mad my nintendo ds action replay stopped working the day after i bought it

[@joebot86]

Man, those things were so unreliable

[@CryptidKk]

I ruined my Pokemon Sapphire by overloading my pockets with items and making a key item needed to access one of the gyms go into the wrong pocket which made it unusable so I couldn't progress in the game. I was so upset but it didnt stop me from using the action replay

[@Nichslvl]

Thank the LORT I have found another entertaining creator making videos about silly things like this. Definitely nice to find B)

[@ChicagoMel23]

The one problem with AR and AR Powersaves was it would annoy event collectors who found that people were injecting events and trading them…most collectors want legit redemptions though cloning is usually ok (except on Reddit). I remember the requests for photo or video proof that it was obtained legitimately

[@sagaevan9641]

i got a 3ds action replay and primarily used it to hack in legendary pokemon to my pokemon X save file. it made me feel like such a cool hacker. i would flex my diancy (i havent played a pokemon in years idk if that's spelled right) in online betters and pictured my opponent's jaw drop at the sight

[@ChicagoMel23]

No it isn’t right, it’s Diancie. You should try the Switch games

[@hrvbox]

So glad I found your channel, your videos are sooooo interesting

[@burninsherman1037]

I've still got my n64, and GameShark! I remember so many times playing goldeneye 64 with my dad, and turning on shit like big head mode, and paintball bullets so we'd be trying to sneak around with baloon heads, and turning maps into giant rainbow colored death chambers.

[@renargues]

you mentioning zellers caused so much whiplash i just froze loved the video :D

[@LandonEmma]

GameShark is coming back though as ai shark for Nintendo switch

[@Henners]

The most obscure cheating device I’ve seen that was mass produced was the Pro Action Rocky for the Famicom (NES in Japan). Datel (action replay) under sub-brands they owned had a ton of other cheaper ones that would work with one or a handful of games in the late 90s

[@JC20XX]

12:12 I did the exact same thing. Best part was the old stock they'd keep for decades

[@AvitheTiger]

My favorite cheats to use nowadays are "make any pokemon shiny" "encounter any pokemon" and my favorite "exp multiplier" because my tired ass is NOT grinding anymore

[@alenaphoenix]

You are the coolest person of All Time

[@Devari_Cogison]

Action Replay DS to get items in pokemon was great. Nowadays I use a hacked 3DS to get events from back in the day.

[@TriegaDN]

I had GameShark for the GBC and I really didn't feel bad using it on my first gen pokemon game because it was already completed and my cousin did the missing no glitch which I didn't ask him to do that. It also had a cable that allowed you to plug the GBC into the printer port on the PC and had a disc. I think it was to update the cheat code bank from the internet and some other little features like changing the background of the code select screen. I remember hoping it would allow me to do something like take screenshots of my GBC games and save them onto the PC and being disappointed

[@theswamp1133]

ACTION REPLAY… my childhood

[@GFreeman515]

Yeah. Cheating in single player games is fine. You purchased the product so you should be able to enjoy it however you like. Games used to let you go crazy with cheats after playing the single player vanilla anyway. I think ill go play dark souls with a bunch of whacky cheats and mods

[@N3Selina]

i used to have a few of these for DS and even one for 3DS i think it was fun to mess around in New Super Mario Bros DS and Super Mario 64 DS good times.

[@murkyseb]

That was great can’t wait for your next video

[@ariana8573]

I love cheating. also lying and stealing, on occasion

[@SageArdor]

This makes me miss my GBA Gameshark. It just... stopped working one day for no discernible reason, and I immediately junked it. But the fun I had with it was unforgettable. Especially since it gave me a Voltorb in Pokemon Emerald when I was trying to get a shiny starter.

[@pyroyuy]

I remember back in junior high my gym coach told me "if you're not cheating you're not trying hard enough". Best relationship advice I have ever gotten in my life.

[@JonahUniverse]

Such a good video, keep up the good work!

[@SadKris]

hi im a woman in stem! i really liked this video, thank you a lot for it

[@Heattokun]

It's fascinating you didn't cover a switch accessory that I thought about, but covered the switch-up. There's a little puck that lets you copy and edit amiibo, originally used for skylanders.... Yeah, it's basically just a pirating tool now

[@SpookySkeletonGang]

yooooo new randy vid. loved my good ol action replay.

[@MorbidAlways]

you should be verified by now your content is very high quality

[@yastergoodman2195]

I had a DS action replay until I let a kid I knew in high school borrow it and he never gave it back lol. I used it in bowser's inside story a lot to level up faster but there were a few specific points that it never failed to softlock the game when I was using it

[@mrdeatheli]

Yay! More Randy!

[@null-gp4cd]

Great video as always

[@jeffulsamer2885]

I still have a game genie for game boy + game boy. And yes, they both still work.

[@samanthah220]

lets GOOOO another BANGER from randy!

[@argustaveras6391]

Action replay! I forgot that existed

[@ParappaIRL]

Been here since first video, waiting for you to get famous.

[@bkc.108]

Bro is so cool def subbing especially bc randy has anakin on they pfp

[@doubletheblack]

You can't stop me from cheating nintendo

[@djebrayass]

i love your videos!!

[@sofeyuh]

anyone else use some kid's action replay at summer camp and turn on the walk through walls cheat and glitch tf out of your pokemon diamond game

[@HeavyDutyModularSynths]

what cheats do they use on PVP games these days on steam ?

[@FriendlyNeighborhoodGeek99]

Another great video!❤

[@icarusquack]

new randy moon hell yeah

[@ZuoKalp]

Other "cheating devices" are the turbo controllers. To this day I firmly believe that if your game gets easier when you use a turbo controller, then your game is poorly designed. If anything it's an accesibility tool.

[@wilfordbrimley689]

When i heard about arceus in pokemon diamond and the internet said the only way to get it was cheating, i used my allowance to butly an action replay that same hour lmao

[@giangeegibb]

wake up babe new randy moon

[@Normal-Lad]

It really shouldnt be illegal or even controversal to modify something you bought and OWN like imagine bmw suing you for altering your car If i wanna play pokemon black 2 with a lucario as a starter let me dam it

[@buriedpet]

Oh, this is extremely my ish. Clicked so fast.

[@naturalistmind]

To be fair I cheat using console commands these days so I think I earned those cheats, I also make sure not to cheat or even use mods so that I can get achievements

[@toonlien4589]

new video i'm in

[@eskimo1000]

Cheat codes were the stuff 💯

[@lydiafrye1204]

❤️

[@48Daytripper]

cool

[@Sethwaynethegoat]

Infinite rare candy's lol

[@ChicagoMel23]

I still have my AR but it isn’t the 3ds version. I have Powersaves for 3ds but after modding I haven’t used it much. The Switch has an editor named Edison that has cheats if you have mods. My action reply was also used a lot in Gen 4 and 5. I once accidentally got a bad egg from a bad groudon coce in hgss oops. Bad eggs couldn’t erase your save but they could corrupt it by turning other Pokemon in your boxes into bad eggs. Had that happen in Gen 6 but I used AR power saves to get rid of em Wish there wasn’t swearing. I pray you’ll go on and read the Bible…it’s truth.

[@bnjxh787l]

king shit

[@PhantomOutlaw]

She could make an entire section for xim if she knew about it lmao

[@Badusername2000]

I miss cheats, even the kings of cheats rockstar games messed it up in RDR2, enabling cheats disables saving, just let me play the game with cheats rockstar

[@TanteiRotana]

whats your tattoo it looks big cool?!

[@incorrectbeans]

but randy!

[@xgamemasterzer0]

It was an interesting video. How is this legal? The game modifies the game on your system only and all official devices do not support or condone cheats for online games.

[@dirtking1294]

i love your vids hopefully i can make better vids

[@fart7361]

Cheaters always win! TWU

[@kimkinney425]

Randy's a babe.

[@rustytoyota]

another ambiguois person that confuses me. IDC anymore you good looking , you good lookin.

[@yungneronero]

you look exactly like Napoleon Dynamite

[@poindextertunes]

you need to get your eyes checked

[@AnonymousTrainer-x6v]

How the fuck is any of this legal 🤣 love your content

[@poindextertunes]

i mean, it wasn’t. the were lawsuits over these devices

[@haha_hollie]

new video i'm in

[@toonlien4589]

ikr