The Story Of The GameShark - Gaming's Most Famous Cheating Device!

[@JohnDoe-cd6ro]

I had a GameShark for my silver Gameboy Pocket. I was 10 and in 5th grade. The year was 1999. I never figured out how to use it. It was later stolen by Raph Ramirez and Daniel Morales along with my Pokemon Red that had the highly coveted and sought after Mew that I had to wait 5 hours in line for at the Woodbridge Mall in New Jersey. I am now 30 years old. Fuck those guys.

[@ll0StrYkeR0ll]

The Revolution Will Not Be KZbind The year was the mid 2000s. I had a copy of Ruby, I was in my teens and working a shity part time job. Over the course of about 400 hours on the ruby, and countless hours on a sapphire cart starting 3 new games to master ball catch the exclusive legendarys and an extra rayquaza, I had legit caught EVERY Pokémon and completed the dex , only missing deyoxs. The hours spent getting nose pass , feebass, Milotic, etc etc, along with pre ordering Pokémon coliseum for the bonus jirachi disc. I then used that game to transfer my best gold and silver Pokémon onto my ruby, one of the only ways to do that at that time, if not the only way if I’m not mistaken. I then spent about another 50-60 hours doing the elite four to max out legitimately a large amount of Pokémon. Then some kid from the neighborhood I kinda knew from other friends stole it and my gbsp . I hunted that fucker down within a few days , got my shit back....and..... he had erased my save file to start his own. Fuck that kid forever. I would go into what else I’d like to happen to him but you can use your imagination.

[@JohnDoe-cd6ro]

@@ll0StrYkeR0ll I feel your pain bud. As I was reading the story I was kind of hating because it seemed like there was a happy ending, some sort of redemption. I was a little jealous there. Then to read you got it back only to find out it was all gone. You one upped me. That sucks. It's like at that point, it doesn't even matter. It's useless. I feel your pain bro. Fuck those guys. Forever.

[@DamianRucci]

I feel for you. The Woodbridge mall is terrible

[@milkapeismilky5464]

Sounds like an unlikely antihero origin story. Hope both those fuckers are someone's bitch in Federal prison.

[@Mr1and14orth]

Fuck them!

[@benmaloy9757]

As a kid I was fascinated by games having cheat codes. It was like being in a secret society and I always felt like an undercover spy when trying to find every cheat available. I will always remember the intense euphoria I felt finding a cheat code booklet in a store.

[@Vlad-ue8vh]

Bro same

[@Frustratedfool]

I remember the 4 line code that “peeked” every memory value that looked for “3”. On C64, most games had 3 lives, so a soft reset with a paperclip and searching and amending each “3” to “FF” (255 in hex) until I found the magical peek to poke. Fun times. Fast forward to my first PC… and I was staggered that I couldn’t write my own code out of the box.

[@cloudbloom]

Same dude it was a whole new level of having agency over a game

[@Nathriel]

I once spent 2 hours entering codes manually into my N64 GameShark Pro, just to find out I made a typo and crashed my game. It was my first exposure to hex and got me interested in computer science. I always loved trying to find my own codes, and wish that feature continued into subsequent releases for other consoles. It was a sad day when I discovered this capability was removed and then again when Gamesharks were discontinued. Gameshark was one of my favorite things to play around with back in the day. Thanks for such an informative video.

[@themilkman6969]

that first sentence sums up coding in general

[@LuffyBlack]

Damn you need to make some videos, I'd love to hear about this journey

[@sydneynichols7562]

My mom was so dead set on me being morally pure that she refused to buy me anything like this as a kid bc it was “cheating”. Like bro it was not that deep.

[@buckroger6456]

Lol. My friend had the same problem.

[@TJ-zs2cw]

Whaaaat lmfaaao

[@ammarnapata2193]

That's how it was hack then

[@kj_H65f]

Haha me too! My parents didn't even like video games to begin with so adding "cheating" on top and it was a no go!

[@rezhaadriantanuharja3389]

Still happens nowadays but it’s more justifiable now because children now asks for parents credit card for pay to win

[@FUBARguy107]

Holy nostalgia, Batman. My step dad was always on the cutting edge of technology. He worked in an Arcade for a few years and he knew a lot about gaming when my mom met him. NOW I understand why he was so obsessed with giving me these Game Genie, Game Shark and the other iterations. I still have a lot of the hardware and cheat code magazines. Sadly my step dad passed in 2015 and he was only 47. He was still gaming from time to time, especially while he was sick. He needed an escape from the real world. It was so much fun showing him the new cheat code methods since he had been the one to teach me. Doom: IDDQD, IDKFA were the first things he taught me on the computer. He showed me how to drop behind the white block on Super Mario 3 and how to get the flutes. That man was a gaming god to me. I miss him dearly and this video gave me very good memories. Thank you

[@AiSharkgg]

Amazing share! Our condolences on your loss & we’re honoured to have been apart of those cherished memories.

[@scottparker1741]

Thanks for sharing that story bro, keep playing games for him 🙏🏻

[@Blueqoose]

Much love and respect to your step father. May he rest in gaming heaven.

[@AmandaHugenkiss96]

I’m sorry for your loss.

[@Larry]

Fun Fact: I did all the box art, in game art and the magazine art for Datel's GBA Action Replay. :)

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Of all the videos not to reach out to you about! Lol. That's some pretty iconic stuff you did there!

[@Blacko1977]

No you didn't. It was done in three different departments in Datel UK. No one person was responsible for it all. I unfortunately worked there for 12 years.

[@n64isit45]

12 years! What was it like?

[@GamerSkinny]

Larry Bundy Jr I literally see you everywhere. Make more awesome videos rather than watch them,dammit Larry!

[@jangelelcangry]

I don't believe you! You look like that little tin girl that her ears shrink when she lies. What was her name? Umm? Peta Molyneux

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Follow me on Twitter @WrestlesGaming if you'd like to keep up with the channel. Although it’s my most requested topic, I was a little hesitant to cover the GameShark because of its long and somewhat complicated history. I’m also not sure how interesting most people will find the strange stuff that went on in the business side of things or its origins as the Action Replay in the 80s. I didn’t cover every GameShark’s features for a few reasons. There were so many versions and revisions of each console’s GameShark that I’d be crazy to think I’d be able to cover them all in a timely and most importantly, accurate manner. Also, what’s interesting about the GameShark to me is its journey to even make it market. The cheat stuff is mostly the same in each version with a few variations here and there, but I do cover the Sharkwire in detail. That thing is cool!I also chose not to spend too much time covering the GameShark’s MadCatz years since it pretty much became a different product not long after they took it over. Mad Catz also started slapping the GameShark name on all kinds of stuff and really diluted the brand in my opinion. I cut out about 10 minutes’ worth of stuff during editing so I may make an addendum to this video one day if people are really interested in the minutia of the GameShark’s history. Alright, enough blabbing. Thanks for watching!

[@mbe102]

~~Spoilers~~ I didn't realize that the pre-existing technology that it was based off of was made in Canada :O.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Canada full of cheaters confirmed? Lol

[@mbe102]

Damn, you got me there lol.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Haha! The trick is to research before the match entrance.

[@StigDesign]

Yes do a extra video :D

[@DoomFinger511]

I had that Game Shark VHS "how to hack like a pro" and my parents didn't realize it came with my GS. So when they found it they yelled at me thinking I was trying to learn how to hack computers.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Haha! That's hilarious.

[@killtyrant]

That is both hilarious and sad at the same time Haha

[@jamesleslie4833]

DoomFinger511 "hack the planet!"

[@amateur_fur23owo5]

1337 H4X0R

[@chetneybaronet9445]

They shouldn't do that

[@thirtyonefifty3133]

I am happy my uncle taught me how to burn cds when i was a kid. When I got my CDX for playstation, I made sure to burn one for a back up in case the original got scratched. I ended up using the burnt copy so i could save the original in case i needed to copy it again. A school mate came over when I had some friends over and liked it so much he stole the burnt disc. I later found out he stole it because he asked me how was I able to use the burnt copy and his ps1 couldnt hahah. I told him if he gave me 20 bucks I wont tell his mom he stole my CD. Best 20 bucks ever.

[@ultrarising2983]

Evil childhood memories

[@theretrospectivegamer]

Great video. My memory of the GameShark: I had one for Dreamcast. I went to the UK as a kid and bought a few Dreamcast games while there not knowing anything about region lockout. I brought the games home and was obviously disappointed that they didn't work. However, plugging in the GameShark randomly one day I booted up the games and they played fine! If not for GameShark I never would have played Tokyo Extreme Racer and Tomb Raider.

[@richavery7491]

This video randomly came across my feed but Im happy it did

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thanks for checking it out!

[@xtremefps_]

Same

[@SannoNYC]

Same I was super heavy into game shark

[@shadownights23x64]

It just popped up on mine lol

[@joeyjohnson5724]

Same.

[@brotheramerica3331]

The gameshark literally changed my life. It gave me a Mew in Pokémon Blue when Nintendo wouldn't through their limited giveaways. It almost turned Final Fantasy Tactics into a new game altogether. I learned a lot about programming and data storage because of the GS, and now work as a computer programmer, as well as jailbreaking/rooting hardware for fun. Because the Air Force takes computer programmers, I joined it. Because I joined it, I met my wife and have four children. I have a wife, four children, and played Tales of Vesperia f in English because of the gameshark.

[@BananaReidy]

Looks like you hacked/coded your way in life. Good for you lad.

[@deikbeck]

Lol i remember making classes and new spells for FFT, your right it was almost a different game. Playable Zalbag with boss spells 😊.

[@JustinWhangYt]

Hahahaha, that "NoOo WaAaY" from the Game Genie commercial. I used to imitate that shit all the time.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Oh, hey man. I literally just discovered your channel the other day when your MK2 mysteries video popped up. How could I resist a thumbnail with both MK and HBK on it? I've all of your videos that I've watched. By the way, my friends and I imitated this crap too. We... Were dumb.

[@JustinWhangYt]

I thought I remembered you from a comment or something. Your video popped up in my homepage today, and I couldn't pass up a video about this sort of thing.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

That's some random shit. Maybe the KZbin algorithm worked for once. Lol

[@princelorian]

No waaaaay

[@pyrobison2002]

Wrestling With Gaming wtf are you talking about you’re the same person

[@Astolfo2001]

Man, the Action Replay sure takes me back to the days when the DS ruled supreme and the DS version was very popular at the time. I begged my parents to get one for me and I eventually got one. I think I still have that same exact Action Replay cart to this very day. I remember using it with Mega Man ZX and a few other games. Ah, the memories......

[@tedcraboli8021]

Same man, I loved my action replay but it corrupted my Pokémon platinum save when I was like 9 which I’ll never forgive lol

[@chimuoma390]

@TheWhiteDevil27 I Used The ARDS Code in Mega Man ZX To Unlock Model OX On Easy Mode From The Beginning Of The Game:221045D2 000000FA!!!!!!Have You Used That?!?!?You're The Messiah!HAHAHA!!

[@davidjstreader]

I had the Action Replay for the Commodore 64, it was an amazing piece of tech. Not just for cheats and game saving, but the ability to view and extract the animation, backgrounds and music for whatever use you liked.

[@adrienfourniercom]

STD were popular in the 90's every body catch them back then.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

😂

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

Good times!

[@vollsticks]

That's a massively unfortunate name. Why tf would anyone name their company that...?

[@kenrickkahn]

As soon as I seen STD I knew someone was going to say something IN the comment section.. LMAO!!

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Lol

[@SyntheticLTD]

Ahhh the 90’s, golden age of gameshark and drum and bass

[@yesindeed5998]

And STD

[@indigodream21]

Game genie/shark was an STD. They had to ban it at one point because it was used for pirating which was hurting the gaming market.

[@joevincent6981]

Yes and playing some video games while listening to drum and bass was amazing

[@x977]

If it weren't for the game genie, I would have never taken an interest in hexadecimal, which would have altered my career path dramatically. It really did change my life by giving me an interest in computers and electronics.

[@rmt74358]

Agreed. It was these cheat devices, and emulation that motivated me in learning all I can about technology. I now enjoy building and fixing computers, fixing many types of technology, Modding game consoles, and phones, and continue to learn more and more.

[@SendFoodz]

funny cause watching this I learned game genie was the one that didn't use hex, but it's own obfuscated alphanumeric codes

[@rmt74358]

Jerad Berry Curious. What part about this history that can change a persons life to have a love for technology is funny?

[@x977]

Jerad Berry the Super Nintendo used hex, rhats where I learned from. I even had notebooks full of codes which I regrettably lost in a move a few years back. This video explains the hexadecimal system that the devices used. It's great! I love this stuff! kzbin.info/www/bejne/eWmZgKaPh6Z2iq8

[@FallicIdol]

That’s awesome.

[@krookeddreamz09]

Ahh the memories of Goldeneye with Gameshark.

[@cemsengul16]

Yes!

[@odik8798]

Just make them have big heads 😂

[@travisisgood]

This video definitely dug up some memories. I had a gameshark for both PSX and N64, but before that I remember being so confused visiting cheatcc and not knowing how to enter all these weird new codes on the pause menu in THPS2. Great video, I'm glad I found this channel!

[@colincraigo5793]

Sharkwire Online in 1999 was already ahead of Nintendo in 2018.

[@Dylan-rv8xj]

Why did this physically hurt me

[@ManMadeGod4]

@@KuraIthys weird flex but ok

[@kanesmith8271]

@@KuraIthys you nintenyearolds are so full of it regardless of the main comments claim

[@vvvaygbg1611]

If that were the case it would still be in existence

[@FRANK45CASTLE]

They used to also sell a magazine called tips and tricks that had every cheat in it for almost every game. It had some articles too. Also game shark and game genie codes.

[@manueldope2292]

That was my favorite mag back then.👍

[@vagoeart1262]

Tips and tricks was the shiiit so many cheat codes gta all that

[@thehoodybadger3402]

They had Easter Egg's and unlockables spanning like three console generations at once. Incredible magazine and memories.

[@eh2396]

That magazine was everything! I miss that about gaming.

[@FRANK45CASTLE]

@@eh2396 well if you have a gaming PC which i got one a few years ago first time and holy shit. The mods and stuff you can use is insane. I have this program called a trainer and you jist show the program where the game is and it has all these toggle switches for different cheats and its with most games. It doesn't even interfere with achievments. I dont use it all the time but if i get pissed at a game kicking my ass i switch a few on and its satisfying as hell lol. One thing i noticed is it is easy to ruin a games fun with it. But i miss game magazines alot. I looked in the magazine isle a few months ago. They average $8 and up! Like wtf?

[@VulpesHilarianus]

I think one of the coolest things that the Game Genie and Gameshark did was help with the emulation scene. In the early to mid-2000s when a lot of emulators were being developed for '90s hardware such as the SEGA Saturn and Super Nintendo, people found out quite a bit by messing around with these cheat devices to figure out where memory addresses were stored, and they'd check to see if they matched in the emulators. So in a way, breaking the law helped with preservation.

[@YeOldeKamikaze]

As far as I know, these devices could be used to dump the console's BIOS (at least on the PS1). So yeah, you're right.

[@lopiklop]

well,.... imean in most cases preservation **is** breaking the law

[@lopiklop]

Are script injectors illegal? I think script injectors are less illegal than reverse engineering

[@Hawkeye26]

Another well-researched story, though sad to be reminded of the loss of Game Genie and Gameshark. Unfortunately, game systems nowadays frown on even having cheat codes used...often forcing you to not be able to achieve trophies/achievements or not be able to complete a given game if a cheat is detected.

[@TtEL]

In Superman Returns for the Xbox 360, you get an achievement for cheating. Achievements are permanent so it will forever embarrass you.

[@SirBroadcast]

People frown on false gains and lying. Not cheat codes.

[@iamyoung4eva21]

I understand turning off Achievements, how can you be awarded anything if didn't complete it the way it was intended. The goal is way more rewarding if you don't cheat. BUT I rather use cheat codes to explore areas of the game or even play as someone you cant typically play as in the game. GTA SA is a perfect example. There's tanks in the game, there's 2 ways of getting them. Break into the military and steal it, or using a cheat code to spawn it. Moral of the story... I stand by them blocking achievements when a cheat code is active.

[@tweakr4377]

@@iamyoung4eva21 yeah achievement blocking is fine when the cheats are active, but idk about them being perma disabled if you cheat once- For example, I use cheats such as savestates to practice speed runs, but I don’t think that detracts from the actual runs, as they are done without any third party influence

[@mikevanleeuwen4912]

i don't give 2 cents about achievements anymore. i once spent 3 hours on xbox360 in the force unleashed tossing endless spawning enemies of a bridge by pressing 1 button over and over. When i realized how stupid it was, i just started playing games for fun.

[@Nom_Alex]

Wow, I searched for a video to explain how GameShark worked and how much it was used and this video answered all of my questions. thanks :)

[@AltimaNEO]

All this time I thought Action Replay was some cheap Chinese knock off of Game Genie. It also explains why Game Shark seem to come out of nowhere, full throttle. And why Game Shark really sucked once it was made by Mad Katz (save games? Bleh!). But I gotta say, my Action Replay was super handy on my Play Station, if you know what I mean.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Yep! Here's a little piece of trivia I should've included in the video: before the Game Genie 2 was cancelled, it was slated to copy the Action Replay and have a code format that made it easy to create your own codes. It was even going to have a code trainer similar to action replay/GameShark's.

[@AltimaNEO]

Yeah man, a code trainer would have been amazing. My biggest challenge as a kid was finding codes that did cool stuff for my games. But there was no internet back then and trying to find codes for older games in the latest gaming mag at 7-11 was pretty much impossible (it was usually codes for newer games).

[@Elizondobass]

I feel like they could’ve came up with a better acronym than “STD”.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

I don't know, I think it's kind of catchy in an infectious sort of way lol.

[@NovatheActual]

“HIV”

[@krisfrederick5001]

I laughed when I saw that, akin to when Gordon Ramsey gives all of his rescued restaurants the POS SYSTEM, thanks a lot, too funny.

[@joelman1989]

I know right. Too easily confused with short term disability. Must be a benefits nightmare!

[@harunsuaidi7349]

11:22 makes it even more hilarious.

[@GameplayandTalk]

I didn't realize some of the PS1 versions allowed you to view assets from the game disc itself. That's a really neat feature and I could see it being useful for people these days that want to easily archive FMV from old games on KZbin. I've used the Action Replay on the Saturn for a long time, but I always assumed it was some China knock-off of the Game Shark. I never would have thought the AR was a UK-based creation based on the cheap, generic packaging of the ones I have. Really interesting stuff, thanks for the video.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thanks for watching!

[@duckysingleton4712]

I love that I got to live through all this. I used to read every game magazine I could get my hands on back in the day. There is always a crazy back in forth between companies in the game industry and it's so interesting to follow. Now that I'm older, I pay more attention to the business side then the game play.

[@aiyacrystal3353]

The gameplay is all rigged now says at least multiplayer

[@Fitforacting]

Just want to say how much I appreciate your videos. I was big gamer from 88 until 2018 but your are bring me WAY BACK

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thank you. Glad you enjoy them!

[@RetroGamePlayers]

Great job on this, just seeing that Game Genie enter code screen takes me back

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thanks! I was more of a game genie guy but that's only because I didn't get a GameShark until way, way, later. The GameShark is definitely superior but my nostalgia leans to the Game Genie.

[@frozenaorta]

I kind of always assumed that the Game Genie was the most "famous" cheating device, but I guess that could be my age showing.

[@joevincent6981]

They entered poop for the code

[@Rikorage]

I remember loading up my CDX, seeing some basic code, and improving on them for hours at a time. I think I spent more time learning hexadecimal and working on my own codes more than I actually spent playing some games, so that might tell you how much I loved using this thing. I also spent a lot of time online getting printouts of codes to use at home (before I had Internet at home, this was early 2000s and it wasn't a commodity/necessity like it is now). I honestly miss using it, and the overall simpler experience that the era allowed me to enjoy something like that. Online games kinda soil that experience, and I can understand to some degree why people do it still, even if it sucks for those of us who don't. Sometimes it just makes a game better, and gives it some extra value, like when I beat a game and want to go back again to relive it, but want to coast through it because it's not fun to actually play through a second time (like FF7 fight me).

[@humansvd3269]

This game shined for FF7.

[@Jenovi]

Great video! I never realized the GameShark was the Action Replay or that UK companies developed it and the Game Genie. The next video I want to see... Shark Wire Online, surfing the internet with a N64 today!

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thanks buddy. I think I'm GameSharked out for a while lol

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

Fun times!

[@aspreedacore]

YOU did a great job... meticulous ridiculous research

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thanks so much!

[@nthgth]

I still have my N64 Game shark and Game Shark Pro somewhere. When he showed it, I thought he was gonna say "reminiscent of the Sonic & Knuckles lock-on technology" lol, that's how I always thought of it

[@mattyice584]

Having the game shark for PS1 or PS2 was like having an infinity stone for your video game experience, man the nostalgia. Used gameshark for countless games, amazing

[@Astolfo2001]

You probably meant Infinity Gauntlet.

[@townlinetim876]

Great video. I never knew the GameShark had all those abilities. Your editing and pacing is exceptional. Can't wait for the next one.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thanks Tim. I've been trying to make my editing a little more interesting visually .

[@cacomeat7385]

The Friends Don't Let Friends Play Unprotected ad is ironic considering the company's original name as STD. XD

[@theendofit]

Action replay for gamecube was my first cheat device. Never bought the keyboard for it witch ment some times typing 100 lines of code with a controller. But i loved some of the things it could do. My grandmoth actully started helping me enter the long lines of codes at times. Lost that action replay when i lent it to my girlfriend's sister at the time and then when we broke up she refused to give it back. Miss that dam thing more then her. Lol.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Lol

[@emarskineel]

Haha great comment

[@GoldenGrenadier]

Fucking gold digging bitch she was.

[@OneBasedGod]

theendofit that bitch lol

[@andresagudelo5377]

theendofit grandmoth love grandlamp

[@realmchat6665]

Your writing, presentation and production are top notch, I think that you could make a documentary about any subject interesting - nice skills, we are lucky to have you in the retro gaming community.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thanks so much for the kind words. I appreciate it!

[@wwjoshdew]

18:58 I totally freaking forgot about DexDrive! As someone that used and loved GameShark for N64 (until I killed it and couldn't revive it, hey... it was 20 years ago!), I wanted a DexDrive.

[@jonthebizkit360]

PS2 Game Shark... so very powerful.

[@hex8787]

Mine fucking broke and stopped working for no reason. :/

[@Chbond00765]

yep, still have mine for my PS2, and also have the old tips and tricks magazines as well.

[@hobojoe9337]

Too bad it was such a pain in the ass to get working, but man did I love screwing with GTA3's graphics with it. At one point I had everyone moving around like terrance and phillip from southpark.

[@aquafishsoup]

I once did someone’s after school program for it, no lie.

[@Cloud98]

@@aquafishsoup huh?

[@wcsoblake85]

I remember you were the coolest kid in the neighborhood of you had a game genie or gameshark

[@AnonYMouse-ky4sg]

Richard Vanwinkle I bet you own a business now lol.

[@invisigrl]

@The Anthropologist _Forensic glad my neighborhood was not like that.

[@qazifaisal5]

Yep

[@m_e6289]

The Anthropologist _Forensic yeah then they fucking die from the cigarettes because of lung cancer.

[@jeremylawson6648]

man i absolutely leveled up when i got my game shark 64.

[@darkwolf4731]

I had a GameShark on "extended loan" from my friend for N64. Never could quite figure out what the little button on the front of it actually did. Then again, I never used it except for codes already stored in it and also for codes I found online and entered.

[@nthgth]

As I recall it's simply to trigger things governed by a code. I can't speculate how the code works with the button, but the one example I remember was the self-explanatory "Press GS button for 99 coins" code for Mario 64.

[@angelganon8213]

I miss GameShark and action replay I wish they were still around for modern consoles

[@Lil_Puppy]

Fun Fact, I ran the unnofficial Gameshark tech support site, standardized the game codes format for all cheat sites of the time for easier import using the playstation software for the gameshark.

[@RetroIslandGaming]

Excellent research here. I’ve only known about the Game Genie. The online aspect for the N64 sounded amazing. Too bad it had a monthly fee. Great video as always!

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thank you sir!

[@B3Band]

Only know about Game Genie, but this is "Gaming's Most Famous Cheating Device!"

[@RetroIslandGaming]

lol, sorry GameShark!

[@MrBlitzpunk]

I was 8 when i got my gameshark on PS1 The 8 years old me legit thought it was an actual game where you play a shark Needless to say i was dissapointed

[@I.C.Weiner]

Too bad shark simulator wasn't released until 2017

[@edgythehedgy6661]

Super high quality, documentary style video, nice job!

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thank you!

[@gedewahyu.p]

Great video! In Indonesia (me being in Bali) where most video games are pirated, cheat engines are inevitably part of the gaming scene, especially gameshark. Heck, most of the time back in the early 2000s, we use gameshark to play. The thing is that we gamers rarely own the consoles: we rent them in a playstation rental for 1-2 hours (it’s like a cafe with PS and television). Reminiscing the times, I think it’d be interesting again for me to see primary school aged kids (I was in primary school back in 2003) tinkering with gameshark in front of a screen. The fair play is important tho - never use cheat engines on multiplayer. Ps.: I came here from the Dr. Stone chapter where Sai wrote machine codes on the walls of his room - it reminded me of gameshark.

[@GregBartlesbyProductions]

HELL YEAH

[@torusbrane5629]

This is put together really well. I’ve always wanted to know how gameshark became popular and how they were even able to do cheats. I never knew there was a gameshark online either. That bit was new for me. Excellent gameumentary.

[@AndresLionheart]

Man... as a kid I ended up learning how hexadecimals work through trial and error because I had a Gameshark for my PS1 (a CD version of it). I tried it with Final Fantasy VIII where it let me set my character stats. I tried different values which translated in game to decimal values. After hours trying I found out how it worked, lol.

[@Theportraitdude]

Dude this was THOROUGH! I remember so much of this goin on , but didn't realize that it was all connected like this. Bravo!

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thanks man! I actually cut out like 7 minutes worth of stuff from the script too lol.

[@CommodoreFan64]

I love game cheat devices, and the Game Shark is no exception, I still keep an old Windows DOS/98se/XP gaming machine running so I can use the GameCube GameShark memory card to backup all my saves, and the N64 Game Shark never gets take out of my system. As always a very well done episode, and stay awesome.

[@TheInfectiousCadaver]

bro my thing was action replay. yeah it kinda messed up a few games but man the last action replay to release on ps2 was a hell of a thing. not only did it give you a list of games you probably didnt know of (before internet was in everyones house) but you were guaranteed to have fun with the cheats provided. re4 got countless hours and so did final fantasy X and megaman. the list goes on.

[@ViperSRTnACR]

Excellent piece on the GS. I had a Game Genie in the 90's and a Game Shark in '01. It was so satisfying to get past levels that once held you at their absolute mercy.

[@SlyBeast]

I used my PS1 GameShark to play bootlegged games. Naughty, naughty.

[@shadowstorm6331]

i did too

[@ajwright6484]

I just used a real game to get through the first splash screen and hot swapped the games while still spinning by keeping your finger on the circle in the back. Then you had to removed your finger and close the lid perfectly

[@KK-wt1te]

thats the only reason i had one. Until i got my ps1 chipped lol.

[@over00lordunknown12]

20:09 Rest In Peace, MadCatz, I always have, and always will love you... (April 1st, 2017)

[@thehoodybadger3402]

The manufacturers of the "little brother's controller/player 2 controller."

[@_J2C]

Very well put together and researched video. Had a GameShark or Action Replay on pretty much all the retro systems I owned pre-Xbox360/PS3 era. In hindsight looking back now, all the hours I spent writing countless lines of hex code on my game systems as a kid to accomplish weird and impossible feats ended up being the precursor that would get me into writing code as an adult.

[@MrVuckFiacom]

I just wish they had a GameShark equivalent for new generation consoles. There's absolutely no freedom for newer consoles, it's all locked down even though you OWN it. It's one of the many reasons I built a PC so I can mod all of my games without any restrictions.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thanks!

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

There's the xploder for ps4 I showed at the end as well as another one called save wizard. Ultimately though they just let you edit saves. You can use that to give more ammo, lives, etc. to your save files but it isn't nearly as powerful as the AR and GameShark used to be, since the ram memory can't be altered

[@__1201]

Mr Vuck Fiacom There will never be another commercially available in a console's life cycle as it opens pandora's box for publishers and online gaming in general. Anyone that tries to bring one to market will be relentlessly sued due to the damage it can cause economically. Considering online connectivity is now entrenched in our gaming culture, these cheat devices could allow users to bypass potential revenue generated by micro transactions and DLC. It would also ruin online ecosystems and PVP competition. On top of all this, the potential for piracy that these cheat devices could enable would also be a major concern for any publisher or Sony as well. The only reason why the Xploder exists is because it's an offline only save editor and doesn't have the ability to modify hexadecimal values (ex. you can't have infinite health unless the game actually allows this in a normal playthrough). If you ever played Phantasy Star Online (on either that Dreamcast or Gamecube), you'll understand why cheat devices like gamesharks are a bad idea for games that allow online connectivity.

[@lax9586]

I had no idea Game Shark was orginally a UK product. I am from the US and I remember seeing them at EB games and Walmart in 06-07.

[@kp-uz9do]

Remember being a kid and using these to play as Sephiroth way back in 1997 among other things. Simpler times.

[@drakon32]

Great video. I've always loved these cheat devices. I used them more as a means to enhance a game rather than "cheating".

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thanks man. I've used game genies and GameSharks to, uh, enhance my way to victory for years lol.

[@Rhienfo]

Why would you name your company STD

[@kylem.7466]

Rhienfo Because the std outbreak wasn't that common?

[@staggabob]

Not only that but "STD Entertainment" :D :D :D

[@maximumrisk2004]

You should try some AYDS. :P

[@brendanmccabe8373]

Rhienfo aids chocolate is a thing

[@brendanmccabe8373]

Rhienfo have you heard of Star Trek Discovery

[@streetmagik3105]

The video game detective strikes again!! Great video brother. I kept laughing when you were talking about the company, STD. Did nobody working for them stop and think, maybe we should go with a different name? Everyone's going to think we have chlamydia. Ha ha

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

thanks man. Yeah, I was like, why did THIS company have to be involved? Lol.

[@garden0fstone736]

Wow this just flashed a lost memory back of the car where the tires would narrow and the tire would expand.

[@adayinforever]

Wow. That commercial at the beginning was the most 90s thing I have ever seen.

[@Arpin_Lusene]

I remember I used to used this gameshark to enable early access to missile pod to screw around with pteranodons in dino crisis 2. Such good times :)

[@ACrownofFlowers]

As a Floridian and a marylander. I had no idea these two companies had such a big impact on gaming

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

I didn't know it either until I started researching the GameShark. Crazy.

[@ACrownofFlowers]

Wrestling With Gaming Yep, definitely two states that are normally associated with gaming I at all.

[@ACrownofFlowers]

Are not*

[@jazzx251]

@@WrestlingWithGaming I'm from the UK - back in the day, the Action Replay was advertised in the "seedy" classified section at the back of ZZapp! 64 (a popular C64 magazine in the UK) along with that terrible "101 games on one cassette" rubbish. I can see how they struggled in the US, despite having a vastly superior product to the excellently marketed Game Genie. The Action Replay was quality through and through ... I think, someone somewhere is still using the exact same cartridge I used 30 years ago.

[@sabin1981]

Fantastic video, thoroughly informative and entertaining. Thank you :) I literally had a "jaw drop" moment when you revealed that GameShark *was* Action Replay.. my entire life I never knew that and always thought GameShark was just some clone, haha!

[@mama9048]

I remember my family member working at Datel in Stone before they shut down. He said they had a room with old stuff they used to make like this in. He only worked there a year as a picker/packer.

[@trippivey]

I was literally scrolling through KZbin thinking about how i used to change the colors on pokemon and walk through walls with the gameshark when i saw this video. Very strange. I wish we still had cheats and stuff like this in games.

[@AzariusR]

I love how customizable the Gameshark releases had. I remember back in the days using a Gameshark CD on PS1 and also Gameshark 4 on PS2 which feels like I have POWER IN MY GAMES.

[@lostnumbr]

I was glad I had an early model ps1 because having to use that boot cd seems really annoying. I had the gameshark pro that plugged into the back of the console and it was pretty handy, even if just used for extra memory slots.

[@Lugmillord]

Ah, we had an XPloder for the PS1 to "enhance" all those definitely-not-copied CDs. I also have an Action Replay for GC, but only use its freeloader function to play the Japanese game Nintendo Puzzle Collection.

[@HUYI1]

same, and still have most of them, sadly datel are a shell of their former selves now, they are subjected to just save modifiers for pokemon these days but they go back a long way.

[@michaelalameda2002]

#SM74

[@dwaindibbley1965]

I did Xploder for PS1 as well 😀

[@godzilla7391]

Still use my Action Replay disc and vmu that came with it to play PAL Dreamcast games. Worth it alone just to play Headhunter, which wasnt realeased here in North America sadly

[@SaanMigwell]

This deserves a bump. I had an action replay, all it was good for was save states when I was 8ish. Then I learned how valuable a snapshot was when I first learned 6502 assembly a few years later.

[@The90sGamingGuy]

Twenty years ago when my dad got our family Play Station my brother and i wanted a Game Shark for the system after hearing about some of the cheats you could input. At first my dad was against it saying "Don't cheat through your games you won't enjoy them then ive wasted my money buying them." We insusted he get it and we got one that Christmas, sadly we don't have it anymore.

[@BIGBamBam86]

Glad I found your channel. I love gaming history. I love the gaming historian but he don't come out with video that often. I need my fix. I just subbed

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thanks! I love the Gaming Historian too. Norm is the best at this kind of stuff.

[@littlemac743]

Same

[@littlemac743]

Keep doing your thing homie. No disrespect to the gaming historian but if u can keep uploading well researched and beautifully edited videos you have to potential to overtake him. PS I would really like to another good Sega channel video. Had it as a kid and was the best summer of my life.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thanks man! Sega channel is definitely on my list of topics to cover. Just not sure when I'll get around to covering it.

[@anactualmotherbear]

I have four broken N64 gamesharks. What exactly kills them? At this point it might be cheaper to get myself some soldering tools, a multimeter, and then replace what's breaking...

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

I'm not sure. My N64 GameShark still works but it's gotten a little touchy over the last year. I have to clean the contacts every time I use it in order for it to work.

[@DFX2KX]

having taken one apart many a year back... Probably the top cart slot. that thing isn't terribly well attached all things considered.

[@BigOlSmellyFlashlight]

i have a broken action replay for dsi (i dont have a dsi btw) so youre not alone kinda

[@joevincent6981]

Rosemary Marie Or maybe buy a PS4 Pro instead

[@spacet1me]

GameShark changed my life when I discovered it for the PS1, as well as later on the CS hacking scene. It's because of those two things that today I'm a Security Architect for a Fortune 50 company lmao.

[@gedewahyu.p]

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@VendettaPSC]

O7

[@TheDabKing710]

I had gameshark for my PS2 and used it mostly to spawn things in San Andreas like the andromeda lol. What a blast from the past great video.

[@DeanVarney]

Man, memories going online and copying the codes for games into word and printing them out and putting them into a binder so I could sit and add them into my game shark. I still have my original PS1 and the v1 game shark to this day.

[@jessebittermann5530]

I was going through my dad's old stuff and I found a gameshark box for PlayStation 2

[@Setta-p2d]

Hopefully no copyright over 3 words this time. Great research as always!

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Haha! I managed to avoid any strange demonetization... so far.

[@jamelherring5359]

Man thanks for bringing back memories growing up in the 90s I subscribed to your channel based off this video alone. You should do a video on BOOT discs. I remember using I believe the Action Replay for the PS1 and a boot disc to play Japanese Dragon Ball Z games.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thanks for checking the channel out and for the boot disc suggestion.

[@MCHH-ml2qq]

used to love using the gameshark on the N64 and PS1 back in the late 90s when they were new, you had to be careful though because using a gameshark in many ways was basically playing with fire because you could ruin your save file or your game disc/cartridge entirely. i remember back then watching someone use a gameshark to play through FFVII for 40+ hours and when he made it to where you steal the highwind from junon he ended up being stuck on the elevator unable to get on the airstrip or leave the screen forever being being stuck on that screen and was forced to restart the entire game with the gameshark turned off. I will never forget the look of pure horror and frustration on his face.

[@thatsharkeyguy]

I cannot tell you the wave of nostalgia that hit me when I saw those different Interact controllers. Over the years I used nearly all of them, whether at friends houses or at home

[@AshtonSnapp]

I had an Action Reply cart for my DSi back when I had my DSi. I remember using the cheat to catch Pokémon in trainer battles. Yup. I basically stole Pokémon from the NPCs.

[@rustyshackleford1910]

I remember using both the game genie and game shark as a kid! Made me feel like a criminal, breaking the rules in the game XD

[@disappointednep-nep2430]

“WHY WOULD SOMEONE NAME THEIR COMPANY STD?!” -AVGN

[@harunsuaidi7349]

A company named STD came up with advertising tagline in 11:22 is both hilarious and brilliant.

[@RaceLounge1]

I can't lie, when the algorithms work, they work. Glad this popped up on my time-line. Liked and subscribed.

[@InvntdXNEWROMAN]

I remember growing up using action replay, game shark, and codebreaker. Those were fun days, haha. I can't exactly remember what games I needed cheats on though. Pokemon for sure. I think maybe armored core to unlock all weapons and infinite money and the dragon ball z Budokai games to unlock all characters 🤔

[@d-boyzeighteenhundred]

I was just going to say I definitely remember using a bunch of codes on Pokémon all the time lol, I still remember the day game shark came out and I got it for the PlayStation the very first one i was the man on the block that day 🤣😎

[@deikbeck]

I usually used it for infinite money in games, it would save me a lot of time grinding for cash. Infinite health and exp was too much and made most games too easy.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

This was great (as usual), I had no idea Datel were behind the Gameshark originally.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thanks man. Yeah, Datel had no shortage of Action Replay based cheat devices. It's crazy how many they had.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Oh yeah, but for my money, their best device is still the Action Replay Plus for the Saturn. Kills the region lock, adds save game space and acts as a RAM expansion for the games that need it! I never even use the cheat stuff on it!

[@HUYI1]

i did, but this video is fun, i really do miss the old days of action replay.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thanks, glad you liked it!

[@electronash]

Fantastic vid. I can't even imagine the amount of editing involved. lol I really lusted over Datel add-ons for my ZX Speccy +2 in the late 80s / early 90s, especially the "Artist II" with the mouse, or any of the snapshot carts / disk interfaces. I think the closest I got were a few RAM carts and Kempston joystick interfaces. Very nostalgic seeing some of those magazine adverts again. Keep up the good work. ;)

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Hey Ash, good to hear from you again! Yeah, it was pretty time consuming to put together. Think I'm going to go for topic that's a little shorter next time lol.

[@PandorasTmrw]

Yes this video took me all the way back to my childhood and printing up cheat code pages for tomb raider and manually entering the codes into my psx gameshark as I recited the codes back to myself as I typed them to remember 😅. I miss those days of gaming.

[@MoneyHoneyBunny]

The craziest thing is, Action Replay was the only one that survived. I don't think they make them anymore but, they made them for a very long time, like I have a Nintendo 3DS one still!

[@VOAN]

Nowadays these cheat device and features are implemented into emulators as well so even if they aren't available physically anymore they now live on digitally side by side built into emulators. emulator such as SNES9x, ZSNES, bSNES, Kega Fusion, RetroArch, VisualBoyAdvance, FCEUX, Nestopia, MAME, PCSX, PCSX2, Dolphin, PPSSPP, and more had these cheat device feature built into their emulators and they work flawlessly. Some flash cartridges even had them built in as well.

[@AllieRX]

I loved using the GameShark for WWF No Mercy on N64. The create-a-wrestler feature was legendary, but I wanted to go beyond that. I could even create my own arenas with the GameShark Pro.

[@ghost909090]

you make best video games documentary ever

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thanks, I appreciate it!

[@Dreyz-pg2zz]

Could really use this for resident evil right now

[@godzilla7391]

Damn! Awesome research and great info! Thorough as always.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thanks!

[@godzilla7391]

Wrestling With Gaming YW.

[@LukeThomas00000]

I loved the GameShark for the original PlayStation. The ability to find your own codes was great, but it also lead to some crashes, especially when trying to use the same code again on a different play through as the initial memory values could be different on a subsequent play through. Then putting in different values, ones that worked previously, wouldn’t make sense to the game and would cause it to freeze. But it was a fun introduction to programming and understanding how basic code works

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

100% agreed!

[@canispeaktodave]

Have no idea how you were able to research this so thoroughly. Loved it.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

It was a pain lol. I even took a two hour trip to a library in FL that had some newspapers detailing some of the business stuff that wasn't available online

[@randt0l123]

@@WrestlingWithGaming if you have any other good sources to find anywhere else on this that'd be great. still wanna know what happened to the mythical GS team that made silly posts on the website. they marketed CodeBoy like crazy and always wondered how made up or real his character was. that for me was the biggest difference between Action Replay and Gameshark before 2003. they all pretty much vanished and on the way back machine you can find a funny headline story in the columnist section about CodeBoy selling his house 🤣😂 like you mentioned in the video looks can be deceiving. after 2003 corporate takeover it changed so much culture lost.