'Game Genie' cheat cartridge; Galoob, USA, 1990

Game Genie 'cheat cartridge', a black ABS case containing an interface for NES Game Paks, with a long, flexible plastic halter projecting from the front end. On its top is a gold paper sticker with the product's name and an image of a genie conjuring a spell. With the item is its manual, containing 112 printed pages of cheat codes for use with NES games.

Given by Alex Malloy

This object belonged to the donor Alex Malloy (b. 1980) and his younger brother when they were children. He later recalled 'I was a happy and very spoilt child. When I was very young I didn't have many friends and didn't like to play outside, so my parents and grandparents bought me LOTS of toys. As I got older my attention turned to computer games, particularly Nintendo... When my little brother came along he was even more spoilt than I was, so the toys and games really started to accumulate at that time.'

It was given to the Museum in 2016 [2017/119].

The Game Genie was the first of what became known as ‘cheat cartridges’, interfaces which allowed games to be ‘enhanced’, usually in the form of infinite lives, invincibility, unlimited ammunition etc., by inputting codes found in its manual. It debuted in 1990, near the end of the NES’s retail life, to much opposition from Nintendo. However, the Game Genie was fully endorsed by Sega, at the time Nintendo’s biggest rival, contributing to the NES vs. Mega Drive contest which took place among children, in living rooms and on playgrounds around the world.

B.605-2016