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The Beige Years

Nintendo Tried to Kill the Game Genie. Then Came the Bill

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The Game Genie case cost Nintendo its whole bond, but the court priced Galoob's lost sales with Nintendo's own joystick.

How a cheat cartridge Nintendo sued to stop ended with Nintendo paying Galoob for the year it was kept off American shelves.

Subject
The Game Genie, 1990
Chapters
8
Sources
8
Credits
27
Corrections
0

Sources

8
  • Interview3
  • Article3
  • Book1
  • Archive1

The sources the story leans on most, primary sources first. Read dates are when the page was consulted; the live page may have changed since.

  1. [1]
  2. [2]
  3. [3]
  4. [4]
  5. [5]
    Book ; read in the 1999 GamePress edition of the same text David Sheff

    Game Over

    archive.org/download/0966961706/0966961706_djvu.txt ↗
  6. [6]
  7. [7]
  8. [8]

Image & music credits

27
  • License unknown23
  • CC BY-SA 3.02
  • CC BY-SA 2.51

26 photos, from the hosts linked below. Each file name links to the file's page, which carries the full license terms.

#UseFileAuthorLicense
1 Photo https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Game-Genie-NES.jpg Game-Genie-NES.jpg, Evan-Amos, Wikimedia Commons, public domain License unknown
2 Photo Game genie nes back.png Museo8bits CC BY-SA 3.0
3 Photo https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Galoob logo.JPG Galoob logo.JPG, Wikimedia Commons License unknown
4 Photo cbc 1990 nintendo sign.png CBC Venture, 'Game Genie's battle with Nintendo', 18 November 1990 (Internet Archive), frame at 0:30 License unknown
5 Photo https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/NES-Console-Set.jpg NES-Console-Set.jpg, Evan-Amos, Wikimedia Commons License unknown
6 Photo https://archive.org/download/game genie 1991/game genie 1991.jpg Internet Archive item game_genie_1991 License unknown
7 Photo https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Lewis Galoob Toys v. Nintendo of America.pdf/page4-1920px-Lewis Galoob Toys v. Nintendo of America.pdf.jpg Lewis Galoob Toys v. Nintendo of America.pdf, Wikimedia Commons, public domain License unknown
8 Photo https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Nintendo-NES-Advantage-Controller.jpg Nintendo-NES-Advantage-Controller.jpg, Evan-Amos, Wikimedia Commons License unknown
9 Photo ZXSpectrum48k.jpg Bill Bertram CC BY-SA 2.5
10 Photo https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/55/18/94/17c1b5453c431d/US5112051-drawings-page-2.png U.S. Patent 5,112,051, drawing sheet 1 of 18, via Google Patents License unknown
11 Photo https://archive.org/download/GameGenie-NES-Scans/Game Genie - Front.jpg Internet Archive item GameGenie-NES-Scans License unknown
12 Photo https://archive.org/details/Game Genie 1992 Codemasters/page/n6 Internet Archive item Game_Genie_1992_Codemasters License unknown
13 Photo https://archive.org/details/electronic-gaming-monthly-1990-06/page/n30 archive.org License unknown
14 Photo https://archive.org/details/Game Genie 1992 Codemasters/page/n6 Internet Archive item Game_Genie_1992_Codemasters License unknown
15 Photo https://archive.org/details/electronic-gaming-monthly-1990-06/page/n30 archive.org License unknown
16 Photo Phillip Burton Federal Building.jpg Sam Wheeler CC BY-SA 3.0
17 Photo https://archive.org/details/video-games-computer-entertainment-october-1990/page/n37 archive.org License unknown
18 Photo https://archive.org/details/video-games-computer-entertainment-may-1991/page/n29 archive.org License unknown
19 Photo https://archive.org/details/Game Genie 1992 Codemasters/page/n7 Internet Archive item Game_Genie_1992_Codemasters License unknown
20 Photo https://archive.org/details/Game Genie 1992 Codemasters/page/n8 Internet Archive item Game_Genie_1992_Codemasters License unknown
21 Photo https://archive.org/details/Game Genie 1992 Codemasters/page/n7 Internet Archive item Game_Genie_1992_Codemasters License unknown
22 Photo https://archive.org/details/GamePro Issue 017 December 1990/page/n15 archive.org License unknown
23 Photo https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Game-Genie-Genesis.jpg Game-Genie-Genesis.jpg, Evan-Amos, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 License unknown
24 Photo https://archive.org/download/1992-advertisement-for-game-genie/1992 advertisement for Game Genie.jpg Internet Archive item 1992-advertisement-for-game-genie License unknown
25 Photo https://archive.org/details/Mean Machines Issue 17 1992-02 EMAP Images GB/page/n11 archive.org License unknown
26 Photo https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Lewis Galoob Toys v. Nintendo of America.pdf/page3-1920px-Lewis Galoob Toys v. Nintendo of America.pdf.jpg Lewis Galoob Toys v. Nintendo of America.pdf, Wikimedia Commons, public domain License unknown

Music: Eric Skiff - Behind the waterfall lies the beginning - Resistor Anthems - Available at http://EricSkiff.com/music — https://ericskiff.com/music/

Corrections

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