Man Misses Out On $7,000 Because He Didn’t Know The Konami Code

Kotaku - You'd think that the Konami Code would be a well-known part of pop culture these days, even if you're not a gamer. It's everywhere.

[prototypeknuckles]

LMFAO ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!

[LOGICWINS]

Ummm...yeah. I bet my left arm that most gamers don't know what the Konami Code is, much less the average person.

[nukeitall]

I have used in Gradius, but didn't know it was called the Konami code. I have been gaming since the NES days and consider myself at a minimum an average gamer.

[hkgamer]

i knew of the code, but didnt know that many games actuallyhad the code...
most gamers that go on gaming sites should know about the konami code, but the ones that don't will most likely not have heard of it.

[guitar_nerd_23]

Yep, I'd have phoned a friend!

However!

^^^^X[]^^^^[]X^O^^^O[]^XXXX - Crash Bandicoot 100%

[pompombrum]

Well I'm a 26 year old gamer who has been interested and playing video games as far back as I can remember and I don't know what the Konami code is.

[WeskerChildReborned]

Yea i don't even know it.

[silvacrest]

yup, i would have guessed

that question is for the older gamer

[nveenio]

I have used that code, but could never have told you the name of it, and I've been gaming since before I could read.

[Bereaver]

For a quick cool reference.... At one point when LoL didn't have enough servers and it gave the server busy patch screen you could enter something very similar to the konami code if not exactly because I can't remember what it was for LoL and the system message would change to go and you could play.

[Anon1974]

I've been gaming for 30 years and I didn't know this. Not a clue. I probably would have guessed Capcom. I know I've seen it before but I didn't have any idea what it was for. I just googled it now and didn't realize it was used for multiple games - but I never had a NES back in the day. At the time I was happily gaming on my Commodore 64 and shortly after that I moved up to a Commodore Amiga 2000 which I bought just prior to going away to University. I didn't really start console gaming until the Genesis, Super Nintendo days when I bought a Genesis for my floor in residence, mostly just to play that latest NHL game. I swear someone was on my Amiga in my room 24 hours a day, mostly playing Civilization, Populous or Syndicate.

So yeah. I didn't know that code.

[RankFTW]

OMG how can gamers in this thread not know the Konami code...

[Spydiggity]

you think "most gamers" don't know what the Konami Code is?

normally i agree with your comments, but this one is a little ridiculous.

100+ games have this code. i'm pretty sure there's even an achievement in one of the viva piñata games for using it.

Edit: wow, even more games than i thought. and even Half Life 2 uses it apparently.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

[ShinMaster]

Actually a lot of new and young gamers have never heard of it and used it because of the fact that these codes were used in games before their time.

Viva Pinata, seriously?

[nerdkiller]

i remember my friends telling me but i always thought it was just a rumor cuz they never could get it to work like the bloody mary story just kid stuff

[SilentNegotiator]

I didn't know it. Don't think I know anyone that would would have guessed that.

@spy
85+ agrees to 4+ disagrees says otherwise. Even if people have used it, they probably don't know the name for it.

[asmith2306]

I have even used that code and didn't know that it was referred to as the Konami Code.

[Oh_Yeah]

yeah...even though ive been gaming since the nes...got it when i was 4. im 20 now i still dont know it. i havnt owned many konami games though...just contra's, castlevanias, batman returns and metal gear solid's. konami might of made 1000's of games but none of them were really hits (contra, and castlevania were pretty well known) but it wasnt until metal gear solid rolled out on ps1 where people really payed attention to them.

[Kopite_2020]

Yep, never heard of it and I'm a pretty avid gamer from the days of the C64.

[DarthJay]

Just to echo everyone else's sentiment, I have used the code before and never knew what it was called.

That said, I personally could have probably answered it correctly simply by knowing I used it in Contra which is made by Konami. I understand it was used in other games but that's the one I know it from and I knew it was Konami.

[geth1gh]

Yup, never heard of this. I have been a gamer and a pc nerd since the early 90s too.

[attilayavuzer]

The only reason I know it is because of the Deftones.

[Christopher]

I like how the "old" gamer is for gamers in their 30s whereas many gamers here are in their 20s. Reminds me of when my wife calls me old... and she's only two years younger than me.

[problemchild84]

Wow I'm 28 and have been gaming since about 1989, I am shocked that this many people on here haven't heard of this before, kinda always thought this was sort of common knowledge for most gamers my age.

Now as far as the average person on the street goes I doubt you could find anyone that knows of this.

Edit: I think using this code on Super C for the NES would give you the much needed 30 extra lives.

[Parasyte]

First used it on Contra, I think that was the first time I used it anyway. Can't remember exactly.

It doesn't surprise me that he didn't know it as most gamers don't know what it's called.

[Abdou23]

Is this the one for WInning Eleven 3 ? to unlock dream team and Europe team ?!

[LackTrue4K]

i dont know it....im ben playing for 15 years now. I have never needed it....is it the same code for Contra on the NES??? (if so then yes)

[TBM]

I know the code, i think most old gamers should know the code lol.

[greenpowerz]

Used the code last week on my Samsung BLU Ray player. Netflix and Samsung use the code for sign out bugs.

[solidt12]

I know it from Contra. So I would of got it right.

[Daver]

I didnt know about this code...

They only thing I remember is A B A C A B B it was for blood in mortal kombat on genesis.

[Tetsujin]

Now entering combat...

[pixelsword]

Technically, that question is wrong; the "start" enters the code and is not part of the code.

At any rate, does anyone else find it weird that a story like this pops up on the eve of the MGS4 trophy upgrade. I wonder if that code is in the game now, or if it was in the game all along?

I also wonder if Square (a block "B") and the triangle (an Angle "A") are used in it's place?

[Gamer1982]

Its almost the sonic 1 level select cheat. I would say thats more famous.

[Tainted Gene]

up down left right A Start

I will go to old age and still remember that code....

[ATi_Elite]

Konami Code made famous in Contra for 30 lives and then tossed into many games since then and even in Metal Gear Solid!

I believe Capcom copied the code for same character vs. mode in Street Fighter 2 for the SNES! (or the code was very similar)

Konami Code is LEGENDARY!

[Patrick]

I agree, it is legendary, my brother and I used to play Contra all the time and used this code so much I could say it in my sleep. In fact I still use it playing Contra with my kids on our retron 3 system. You can even buyT-shirts with the code on it. I will never forget this code and kind of thought every gamer from the NES days or before (atari 2600 was my first console) knew of it. Funny that it was in a game show though.

[FamilyGuy]

I thought it originated from the first Contra game, I wouldve unknowingly guessed capcom of the given choices sense konami doesnt just come to mind. Seems obvious in the aftermath though.

27 year old gamer, gaming since i was 2

[CarlosX360]

My first response to this story was "What. The. #@..^&?" Really?

I have used this code before, and I already know what it's called. And it's obvious what the code refers to since the game that started this craze was one of Konami's games. Dumb@$$.

At the time, Gradius was this game. Until Konami continued to use the code on countless games.

[-Mezzo-]

I usually very bad at answering questions on the Spot (Even If I Know The Answers), but even i would have answered that.

[HappyGaming]

You say even you would have answered it when you are on a gaming site... That is like a guy on a football forum saying wow even "I" would have answered that football question!

[CarlosX360]

No, it's not, dude. This was pop culture. Meaning just about anyone would've known this by now.

It's the same thing as answering "Mario." To this question: "Who was the lead character in The Simpsons?"

[Dark_Overlord]

lol fail on his part, though I have seen far stupider answers :D

[HammadTheBeast]

How is that a fail?

NO ONE knows what the f*ck the Konami Code is.

[Bereaver]

I guess I'm a "no one".

[Dark_Overlord]

Every gamer I personally know disagrees with you :D

P.S Even modern games use it, frogger and Saw 2 come to mind :)

[WorseCase]

Who in the heck plays SAW 2?

[Dark_Overlord]

Wow, it seems like people know my friends more than me, or most likely don't understand what the word 'personally' means :/

@worsecase

I enjoyed it, it wasn't a great game but it kept me entertained :)

The Konami code is actually required to get the platinum :)

[NCAzrael]

Speak for yourself. Plenty of people know what the Konami Code is.

[Ramas]

i am a gamer, but i never was interested in any cheats of anykid so i didint knew the answer too :)

[Army_of_Darkness]

You would use it if you wanted to finish that game and not break your controller, like me;-)

FYI- I used the konami code to reset my netflix account on my panasonic bluray player lol! just without the B,A,B,A part.

[Persistantthug]

It's been a long time, but I think I beat the game without losing a life too.

[Puddlejumper75]

Beat Contra without losing a life?

Come on man that is complete BS. That's like saying you beat Jordan 1 on 1 and he didnt score once.

Arcade games were not made to be beaten with one quarter.

[Patrick]

lol..yeah I would love to see anyone beat Contra without even using any continues much less without losing a life. Without the Konami code the fun of playing it would have been replaced with frustration. AHHHHHHH I have to start ALLL OVER... ha ha ha.. love the good old days of having to beat a game on one sitting.

[GuyManDude]

You'd be surprised what you can do in some of those old video games. I've beaten Mega Man II without dying before. But I played that game religiously as a kid.

Everyone has a game or two that they can just destroy. Once you find the tricks a lot of those old games become very easy.

[oldfriend86]

If it was an older man or woman, that would make sense. I would even excuse someone for not knowing how the code worked.

But this dude looks pretty young. He has no excuse. lol

[Baka-akaB]

What ? the average person doesnt know this at all . And half of those that do even forget about it

[oldfriend86]

Relax. It's just nerd hazing.

It'll be like going into a comic book store and not knowing that Spiderman is from Marvel and Batman is from DC.

It's good to know that N4G has no fun atmosphere. Point taken.

[oli]

I'm more familiar with the buttons needed to press than the actual name, i never knew that code had a name.

[TekoIie]

Dude im sure many people didn't know what it was (myself being one of them). Seriously we're talking waaay too highly of ourselves thinking that every gamer (or anyone) knows this.

[SnakeforPresident]

Not everyone is a gamer. I dont think i know a single none gamer that knows what the Konami code is.

[JBSleek]

You guys are acting like this was a super easy question. If you don't know video games that much then how would you possibly know. This isn't a common sense question at all.

[oldfriend86]

I also love how people like you are taking this seriously and feel the need to be above others.

Some people probably still call Bowser and Princess Peach as King Koopa and Princess Toadstool. As a joke, I'd go pft, but seriously they might not know. (I'm referring to Americans, as the Japanese has always called him King Koopa).

[Tonester925]

Lol I wasn't going to comment but

WTF ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT MAN?!

[oli]

You sound like those annoying people that act surprised and call people out when another person doesn't know something you know.

[ZombieNinjaPanda]

"Some people probably still call Bowser and Princess Peach as King Koopa and Princess Toadstool."

Those are their alternate names....

[dafegamer]

Dude just give it up. You must accept that not all gamer know this so called Konami. I dont know it either

[StreetsofRage]

Ha! That's awesome. Pretty cool it was actually a question.

[chasegarcia]

I am a huge gamer and don't know the code.

[HappyWithOneBubble]

Me too and I've been gaming since the 80's lol.

[CarlosX360]

Then I guess you've never played Gradius, Contra, or LifeForce? Many of Konami's shooters were very well known.

[linkratos]

People are ridiculous for thinking that any average person would know this. You have to be really into games. Mario and GTA are about as much as you should expect average people to know.

[CarlosX360]

ANY one of the Konami games were the "Mario's" and the "GTA's" or "Call of Duty's" of the 80's. This was an EASY question.

[DivineAssault]

ya thats pretty tough for a casual to know.. If you werent gaming in the 80s-90s era, u wouldnt know it

[beerkeg]

I've been gaming since the start of the 80s and I wouldn't have known it either. Just one of those things I've never heard of.

[ado908]

I'm a hardcore gamer and I didn't know it. I got collection of games from my N64 to super nintendo to dreamcast to Ps1 to Gamecube to ps2 to ps3, xbox 360, and wii. Maybe it's because I never actually used cheats in a videogame. I did a little in the old GTA games but only once I beat those games.

[Moncole]

People here are stupid. He is not a gamer, how is he supposed to know something game related?

If they asked a sports question I wouldn't know it.

[BelieveinGhosts]

That doesnt make sense because most gamers have never heard of the konami code

[phantomexe]

This code appeared in contra way back on the NES lol. old school gamers should know it.

[NeoTribe]

Never heard of a konami code in my life.

[PersonaCat]

Guess I wouldn't have won that cash, because I have no idea what the Konami code is lol.

[Gorbenshore]

I didn't know about it until now. $7,000 is a good chunk of money too.

[krisq]

...dude lost 250.000 euros because he didn't know who created Batman. Not everybody can know everything.

[Moncole]

Who created Batman? Be honest and dont look it up.

[EazyC]

Kris Kringle.

[Scarfy]

Bob Kane.

[HappyGaming]

The criminal that killed his parents.

[Tsukuyomi]

I know the code since i been gaming for 20 plus years and i know majority of gamers dont know these codes even the average gamer i guess some ppl dont explore other gaming info then just games itself.

[Kran]

Not even I know it. And I certainly wouldn't want to answer it for such a small amount of money. I'd want to be in the XX,XXX's by then.

[BelieveinGhosts]

I have played a lot of Konami games, MGS 1,2,3,4 and PES 4,5,6,8,11,12 and i have no idea what the konami code is

[CarlosX360]

Have you played arcade legends such as Gradius, Contra back in the 80's? They were even ported to NES.

[BelieveinGhosts]

Is it a cheat code?

[Puddlejumper75]

Something like this tells you who was gaming in the NES days and who wasnt.

It's a cheat code used in a couple of games. Contra being the main one I remember using it in.

It's funny though because I see a lot of people posting how they never heard of it but in other articles they are complete experts on gaming.

[TheDivine]

Yep NES gamers know that for sure. Even if you didnt know the name just think of who made Contra. I also remember up, down, left, right, a start from sonic, abacabb from mortal combat, and R2 R2 L1 R2 Left down right up left down right up and the other gta 3 codes.

Back in the day codes and hidden stuff like the doom cheats were the shit. I didnt have internet and nobody i know did so it was al word of mouth and from stuff like nintendo power. We would get so excited when we found a glitch or secret in games. My bro used to sell cheat codes and level unlocks for snes/genesis games at elementary for a quarter a pop. Good times.

[turgore]

I own like 100 games and didn't know that. Maybe it was popular in the 90's

[Reverent]

80's actually :P

[Fel08]

Why are people acting like the guy should know what the Konami code is?? I've been gaming most of my life, and I didn't even know what it was.

[Gish]

I would have been looking for "The Contra code" personally.

[Puddlejumper75]

Since Contra Code isnt an option you would have been laughed off stage however if you know Contra and knew the company that made it, you could make an educated guess from the 4 option provided.

[mastemikegee]

Lol that's what I just said! That's how I would of guessed it.

[NoobJobz]

Knew of that code, just didn't know it had a specific name. I probably would have guessed Capcom Code.

[chukamachine]

Dam i'm old and never heard of it,lol

[Deadpool616]

Well I'm starting to see a pattern here, because that's the most famous code of all codes in video games. No other code is more famous than the Konami code. How many codes has it's own merchandising? It's the only code I've ever seen on mugs and t-shirts. The Konami code was also mentioned in a movie last year called 30 minutes or less.

[Reverent]

I agree. I actually didn't know it had a name until now, but when I looked it up, I immediately recognized the Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A pattern. It's used in sooooooo many games even today. It's used in a bunch of GTA cheat codes, Mortal Kombat combos, etc. It's pretty crazy honestly.

Way back when I first played Gradius 3, my friend told me to enter the code... It destroyed my ship. My friend was a d*ck.

[Deadpool616]

The best of friends. :D

Yep, I kinda miss putting in codes. Back in my day (Yeah I said it) we had to get a Game Magazines called "Tips and Tricks". I remember not having enough money to pay for the magazine. So we took the it to the copy machine in the store and made copies of the pages with the codes we needed. Then put it back on the shelf. :)
Man...I forgot about not having money as a kid. I constantly had to be clever to make due. I'm 27 now and I can learn a thing or two from my younger self. ʘ‿ʘ

[mastemikegee]

When I saw the code I thought 'Contra' and by that deduction only would I of chosen 'Konami Code' as the answer cause I remember Konami made Contra but I thought it was called the 'Contra Code' lol.

[Apophenia]

I've never even played a game that utilized the Konami code, but I know about it just because it's so prominent in gamer culture. The Ataris have a song about it!

[modesign]

i totally used that code in GTA3,san andreas, GTA4, WTF is konami code.

[AO1JMM]

That sucks!!!! Should have been a gamer due. LOL

[ThaMobbFinest]

GTFOH

[Thabass]

He wasn't a gamer...how would he know.

Horrible article by Kotaku.

[DrRobotnik]

It pays to game.

[TheOnlyMastrx]

Really guys? I don't understand how some of you don't know this. Age cannot be the factor here, I am only 22 and I knew this.(:

[paleselan]

That is hilarious!

[spunnups]

I am a 28 year old avid game and i would have jumped this question too. what is that from?

[Parasyte]

I believe it first appeared as the Invincibility Code for the original Contra. Since then, it appeared in a crap-ton of different Konami games.

[akaFullMetal]

Yea when i saw this, i thought contra too. And with that i knew it was from konami.

[dcortz2027]

LOL I bet the majority of the people on here that claim to know what the Konami code is don't know sh*t! There is no shame in not knowing the "Konami code" guys, it won't make you any less of a gamer so stop lying!

[Reggonoy]

For crying out loud, how do you older guys not know this?

Didn't anyone else own an NES growing up?

[tigertron]

What the hell is a Konami code? seriously. I'm a gamer and I haven't got a clue what that is.

[YodaCracker]

I know of the code, but I did not know it is called the "Konami code".

[Ck1x]

For those that are way to young to know what the Konami Code did for gaming back then. It was an epic fan tribute that most of only the hardcore gamers then could even pull off... It was things like that back then that made gaming what it was and I think has lost alot of flair with the generation of gamers today.

[TukkerIntensity]

didn't know it. dumb question.

[pandehz]

General knowledge my arse

[cuddlemonkey]

Fun fact, metal band deft ones have a song named after the code

[MWH]

a funny comment from you tube "Capcom Code will come in DLC". credit to MANUDS.

[Stoppokingme]

I've been gaming since '89 and I've never heard of it being called the Konami code, it was just 'that code' that my friends talked of, i didn't pay much attention since i was too busy playing Rick Dangerous on my C64.

Honestly who cares what it's called? It only matters to those pedantic people who feel the need to be better than their peers. Knowing all the jargon doesn't make you a better player, hell that's probably why they remember the code in the first place.

[ZodTheRipper]

Am I the only one thinking that this is not news worthy?
It's cool that such a question is asked on TV but I couldn't care less honestly.

[Ninjamonkey82]

Only code i know of the top of my head and ive been playing from the 87 is the titlescreen code for Sonic. The rest i have to look up :/.

[dboyman]

Maybe the guy was not a gamer...

[BertlSenix]

Probably a Xbox Gamer
Doesn't know shit about gaming - He probably has Call of Duty and Halo at home and thinks he is the king.

[Themba76]

man either im getting very old (been gaming for 30 yrs now) or the gaming community now consist of angry birds and cod 24-7. how in the world could you not know what the Konami code is. man if I had an opportunity like this.

[MoreRPG]

Whats the big deal with this konami code anyway?

[TheMutator]

well not everyone its a gamer , you know!!!

[Ser]

Not surprising. I doubt many people know about it. Think about how many bro-dude-gamers are out there that have never even played a Contra game.

[josephayal]

he's not a gamer c'mon

[MaverickStar7]

Now I give the younger generation a pass. But if you played a fair amount of NES in the 80's and don't know the Konami code then, you are not as much of a gamer as you think. Now if you are are under about 25, you probably don't have a chance at knowing it.

[beerkeg]

Wait up, what?

I played loads of nes games and I didn't know about the code, because I never used cheats on games. I used to get magazines with cheat sections which I skipped. My old speccy magazines had sections with pokes you could use for games that gave you infinite lives and whatever, and I never used them.

How does not knowing about cheat codes make you less of a gamer?

[MaverickStar7]

It was everywhere back then and still today. They print the damn thing on tshirts as much as the Atari symbol for nostalgia. I don't know how, but everyone knew it back in the day. Contra and the code were about as common as it got. Gamepro, EGM, and Nintendo Power had not even started yet.

Its not about knowing a cheat code, its about knowing a common piece of gaming history. I'm sorry it if offends you, but as with any subject if you know less, and experience less, then in that subject you are less.

[ITFGaming]

I have not heard of the code before hahahahaha! Nice catch though :). Anyone keen on giving an opinion on this as well? http://n4g.com/news/1052645...

[1nsomniac]

Im a hardcore gamer of id say about 26 years maybe & I have no idea what this is & have never-ever heard of Konami code. I think it's just made up marketing.

All they've done is named a single random cheat code. as a kid growing up i've inputed literally billions of these random codes all different (up, down, left, right, x, y,)??? whats stops me from saying right from now & i want everyone in the world to call that 'MyJiggaCodeBoi'...... It's bullshit! must be an american thing or summit cus it certainly wasnt named anything other than 'a cheat code' anywhere else!

WOW what a news story! please, tell me more.....

[GTRrocker666]

I know the code but not what it was actually called

[Steadyhndz]

I knew of this code with several games when I was a kid, but never knew it as the "Konami Code"

[FinaLXiii]

video game related questions specialy one like that is not fair for the average person.

[jjb1981]

Uuddlrlrbaba, select, start for two players