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The Konami Code, known in Japan as the Konami
Command (コナミコマンド, Konami
Komando?), is a cheat code that can be used
in many Konami video games, usually giving
the player a large number of lives or fully
charging up the abilities of the character.
The code was first used in the 1986 release
of Gradius for the Nintendo Entertainment
System but was made famous in North America
in the NES version of Contra. While pausing
the game or during the title screen, the
player presses the following sequence of
buttons on the game controller:
Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right,
B, A
This is the original version of the code,
designed for the NES controller. In many
popular representations of the code, "Start"
is added at the end of the sequence. This is
because in many of the early occurrences of
the code, "Start" had to be pressed before
any effects of the code could be seen. In
these cases, "Start" either started or
unpaused the game. "Select" is also sometimes
inserted at the end of the code, but in this
instance, the code would be input at the
title screen, and pressing "Select" usually
switched the players option from one to two
for cooperative play (as in Contra). The
player can actually press "Select" before
inputting the code and it will still take
effect. The exact sequence varies from game
to game, and has been adapted to fit the
button layouts of different video game
consoles. In mobile phone games by Konami, B
and A are substituted with 5, 7, and 3 on the
numerical pad, which is the goroawase
pronunciation for "konami."
The Konami Code was created by Kazuhisa
Hashimoto, who was developing the home port
of the 1985 arcade game Gradius, a scrolling
shooter released on the Nintendo
Entertainment System in 1986. Finding the
game too difficult to play through during
testing, he created a code which gives the
player a full set of powerups, which are
normally attained gradually throughout the
game. Also, the code entered backwards would
award the player 30 lives. For whatever
reason, he did not remove the code when
testing was finished. The code has continued
to be present in Gradius sequels and
spin-offs, including the SNES version of
Gradius III, which actually destroys the
player's ship upon entering the original code
(however, substituting Left and Right with
the L and R triggers of the Super Famicom
controller powers up the ship).
Arguably the best-known example of the Konami
Code is in the 1988 NES version of Contra,
where using the code increases the player's
lives from 3 to 30. Due to the game's intense
difficulty, many Contra players became
reliant on the code to finish the game,
earning it the title "The Contra Code."
Although the Konami Code was not the first
video game password (that distinction
belonging to "xyzzy" from Colossal Cave
Adventure), it is probably the most
well-known video game code. The popularity of
Gradius and Contra has closely associated the
Konami Code with the gaming era of the late
1980s and early 1990s. Because of its
popularity, the code has been repeated in
countless video games. It has also been
referenced in many different pop-culture
contexts, such as shirts, songs, TV shows,
and other media.
You can enter the code while viewing a topic
on digg.com and it will expand all comments.
You can input the code on GameSpot (using the
arrow keys and the letter-keys "A" and "B")
and instead of pressing "start", press the
Enter key. Once entered, you will be sent to
the NES Contra cheat codes page.
The song "Anyone Else But You" by The Moldy
Peaches references this code in the line "Up
up down down left right left right B A start,
Just because we use cheats doesn't mean we're
not smart".
The song "99 lives" by The Pettit Project
references the Konami code in the line "up up
down down left right left right B A select
start, now I'll play you all night."
Track five of The Ataris' End Is Forever
album is named "Up, Up, Down, Down, Left,
Right, Left, Right, B, A Start."
The Deftones Song entitled
"U,U,D,D,L,R,L,R,A,B,Select,Start" references
this code.
The Johnny Socko Song "Old School Master"
includes the line: "Up, Up, Down, Down, Left,
Right, Left, Right, B, A, Select, Start!"
Ring of Honor wrestler Jimmy Jacobs calls his
finisher the Contra code. Whenever he applies
the move the announcer would usually shout
"Its the Contra code! Up, up, down, down,
left, right, left, right, A, B!"
Stand-up comedian Byron Sadik does a joke
about the Konami Code in his performance.
In the film Stay Alive, Swink tells Phin that
to unclothe the zombie concubines he must
input the Konami Code.
The album The Funeral Sciences by the
Seattle-based band Schoolyard Heroes features
the song "Contra," which is about the code.
This was taken from wikipedia.
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