This mechanism involved manipulating the game’s code to alter gameplay, often providing advantages like infinite health, enhanced stats, or access to rare items. These codes were entered into a hardware device connected to the game console, rewriting specific memory addresses to achieve the desired effect. As an illustration, a code might modify the quantity of a particular item in the player’s inventory, effectively creating an unlimited supply.
The appeal stemmed from its ability to personalize the gaming experience, circumventing standard progression and difficulty. For players, this offered a way to overcome challenging sections, expedite the acquisition of powerful Pokmon, or simply experiment with the game’s mechanics in unconventional ways. Historically, these devices were popular during the Game Boy era, offering a tangible means to modify and enhance gameplay, before the advent of widespread internet access and easier methods of save file manipulation.