GameShark codes

The Action Replay’s long-running rival, and on several consoles the same hardware sold under a different name in a different territory.

What a GameShark code is

A GameShark code is the same idea — write this value to this address — with a different word length and a different encryption scheme per platform. On the PlayStation the first two digits of the address are a TYPE: they say whether the write happens once at boot, continuously every frame, or only while a button is held. That prefix is why two codes that look almost identical can behave completely differently.

Entering one

Entered in the device menu before the game starts. The PlayStation versions want a master code for many games — a code that does nothing visible on its own, but without which none of the others take effect.

What goes wrong

GameShark and Action Replay codes are not interchangeable even where both exist for one game, and a code taken from another region’s release points at the wrong address in yours.

• Made by InterAct / Datel, in use 1990s onward.
• A code looks like: XXXXXXXX YYYY
• Ran on 6 of the consoles this library covers.