Jack Recider

And I want to remind you that the NES system was just a little computer. It had a bootstrap, BIOS, firmware that all needs to load before it can execute a game. I mean, just look at the first version of the NES. It was called Famicom, which is short for Family Computer. It's clearly a computer. Now, when something failed on the Nintendo NES, it was very tricky to fix it.

You might find someone who knows a few basic things that they can try, like maybe taking a part out of another NES and putting it in yours. But Nintendo wasn't helpful at showing you how these things were architected to allow you to fix it or buy replacement parts. So by hiding all this info made it extra hard for people to just fix their own systems.

You might find someone who knows a few basic things that they can try, like maybe taking a part out of another NES and putting it in yours. But Nintendo wasn't helpful at showing you how these things were architected to allow you to fix it or buy replacement parts. So by hiding all this info made it extra hard for people to just fix their own systems.

And it also made it really tricky to modify them, to improve upon them, to upgrade them. They also used weird custom hardware that was just crazy hard to find those parts. It's like these game system makers were anti-innovation. They did not want people to customize or add on anything special to their systems. Just play the games that we approve the way we want you to, and that's it.

And it also made it really tricky to modify them, to improve upon them, to upgrade them. They also used weird custom hardware that was just crazy hard to find those parts. It's like these game system makers were anti-innovation. They did not want people to customize or add on anything special to their systems. Just play the games that we approve the way we want you to, and that's it.

Don't try any funny business with your own computer. Was there... Was there pushback from the video game makers of like, hey, what are you doing getting inside our consoles? What's going on here?

Don't try any funny business with your own computer. Was there... Was there pushback from the video game makers of like, hey, what are you doing getting inside our consoles? What's going on here?

Okay, so yeah, people in the gaming scene were taking these systems apart and trying to modify it. Making the game systems do new things that they didn't originally do. And the game makers hated this. They wanted desperately to keep their systems from being tampered with and started making games that wouldn't work if you did tamper with it.

Okay, so yeah, people in the gaming scene were taking these systems apart and trying to modify it. Making the game systems do new things that they didn't originally do. And the game makers hated this. They wanted desperately to keep their systems from being tampered with and started making games that wouldn't work if you did tamper with it.

As I'm learning about all this, I'm getting super fascinated with the history of video game systems. So before the PS1 was the Nintendo, and there was some drama going around over there that's worth highlighting. There was a UK game developer in the 90s called Codemasters, and they started making games for the Commodore 64, which is just an early computer.

As I'm learning about all this, I'm getting super fascinated with the history of video game systems. So before the PS1 was the Nintendo, and there was some drama going around over there that's worth highlighting. There was a UK game developer in the 90s called Codemasters, and they started making games for the Commodore 64, which is just an early computer.

And you didn't need to ask Commodore for permission to make a video game for their system. In fact, Commodore made it super easy for you to program on it. It came with a compiler that was easy to access. So Codemasters made games for it. Then when Nintendo came out with the NES, Codemasters wanted to make games for this too. But there was a big problem with this plan.

And you didn't need to ask Commodore for permission to make a video game for their system. In fact, Commodore made it super easy for you to program on it. It came with a compiler that was easy to access. So Codemasters made games for it. Then when Nintendo came out with the NES, Codemasters wanted to make games for this too. But there was a big problem with this plan.

Nintendo only wanted approved games to be played on their gaming console. So they were strict on what game studios got a license to make games for Nintendo. And they didn't share any information publicly like... how to develop for it or anything unless you had a license.

Nintendo only wanted approved games to be played on their gaming console. So they were strict on what game studios got a license to make games for Nintendo. And they didn't share any information publicly like... how to develop for it or anything unless you had a license.

What's more is NES had a little lockout chip that would check if the game you inserted was licensed, and if it wasn't, it wouldn't let you play it. Well, Codemasters thought this is an interesting challenge and poked and prodded at the NES until they figured out how to get an unlicensed game to load on the NES, bypassing the lockout chip. And with this, they were able to create and sell NES games.

What's more is NES had a little lockout chip that would check if the game you inserted was licensed, and if it wasn't, it wouldn't let you play it. Well, Codemasters thought this is an interesting challenge and poked and prodded at the NES until they figured out how to get an unlicensed game to load on the NES, bypassing the lockout chip. And with this, they were able to create and sell NES games.

Nintendo was not happy about this. An unlicensed game for sale on our system? How dare you? But Codemasters took it a step further. Since they had this working knowledge of how the NES loaded games and stuff, they developed something called a Game Genie. This was a clever little device and it modified the game in real time to let you cheat.

Nintendo was not happy about this. An unlicensed game for sale on our system? How dare you? But Codemasters took it a step further. Since they had this working knowledge of how the NES loaded games and stuff, they developed something called a Game Genie. This was a clever little device and it modified the game in real time to let you cheat.

If you wanted extra lives or jump extra high or just go right to the final boss, Game Genie could do that for you. It essentially gave you superpowers in the game that you were playing. Now, these were all one or two player games back then. There was no online play. So cheating in a one player game isn't really ruining the game for anyone else. Codemasters didn't call this a cheat device, though.