In the beginning, there was darkness and despair. The land was infested with video games that were too difficult to beat for even the most passionate fan.
Households were torn apart by siblings squabbling, claiming that it was technically still their turn to play because they hadn’t progressed far enough, even though they had been playing the second level of Disney’s The Lion King for two days straight.
It seemed like games such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mega Man would never be vanquished, and that gamers were doomed to look on as their incomplete games pile grew. Then one day, a champion rose. A champion of great light and power. A champion known as…Game Genie!
What was the Game Genie?
With the swipe of its mighty cartridge, the Game Genie transformed gaming forever and made it so that even the most challenging games were now beatable. Suddenly the Ninja Turtles were able to carry 50 weapons at a time, and Mega Man stopped taking damage from non-boss enemies.
Power was given back to the player, with invulnerability, infinite ammo, and level skipping being just some examples of the gifts that the Game Genie bestowed upon the gaming sphere.
But the Game Genie’s powers didn’t stop there! It made even the most enjoyable games more fun through its whimsical customization options. In Super Mario Bros. you could unlock a super jump that allowed you to chain jumps together and hip-hop your way through any level.
In Tetris, players were given access to an unreleased two-player version of the game that was hidden in the source code. The Game Genie even allowed players to make games harder by adding options like giving hammers to all enemies in Super Mario Bros. and completely randomizing what enemies appear throughout Kirby’s Adventure.
How PLITCH carries on its legacy
Although the Game Genie and similar cartridges — and later on, CD adaptations — have passed from this realm, its impact lives on and its legacy is part of what inspires us at PLITCH.
In a digital world where physical games are left languishing on the shelf, we see PLITCH as the natural successor to the Game Genie. Providing gamers with the ability to play their favorite games the way that they want to is the core of our mission, and Game Genie is our inspiration.
Today’s gaming landscape is very different from the console era when Game Genie and its predecessors made a splash. The Game Genie was around in a time before online multiplayer and, in our opinion, it pioneered the idea of ethical customization of video games.
The fact is that single-player experiences should be enjoyed to their fullest, and PLITCH supports over 4,700 games with an extra 40 being added each month. Game Genie understood that gaming should be fun and helped transform a generation of people into gamers. With PLITCH we hope to do the same.
Today and every day we give thanks to the Game Genie, as we work tirelessly to carry on its noble goal to make gaming as fun as possible, and to put the power back in players’ hands.
This is why we PLITCH.
Happy Gaming!
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