Starting with the home edition of Pong put out by Atari in the 70's, there has been a massive industry of home-based video games, games which are designed to hook up to TVs and bring the experience of the arcade to the living room. Of course, this wasn't really the case for a long time, because the home consoles would always be a little (or a lot) less powerful than what you'd be dumping quarters into at home. To keep the games fresh and new, a game-player would have to purchase cartridges, CDs, or other 'gaming packs' that are sold in stores. Naturally, it becomes a challenge to be the best at every new game that comes out, and people would show their prowess or abilities by solving or beating games and then going out to report their victories in "how-to" or "FAQ" files about the games. You can see many examples below.
There was never as much copy protection on home console games because it was
never thought easy to duplicate the cartridges. This became a sub-industry
in itself and many files about how to copy games, how to program in the gaming
systems, and how to make the systems do things they were never supposed to do
are below.
| Filename |
Size |
Description of the Textfile |
| NINTENDO | Files Dealing with Nintendo and Nintendo Gaming Systems | |
| 24mhzhck.txt | 2680 | Hardware Hack to make a 24mhz Atari Lynx |
| 32xcheat.txt | 4328 | The Sega 32x Game Listing and Code/Cheats FAQ, by Trevor Ryder, v0.2 1995 |
| 3doinfo.txt | 52709 | The Battle of the 32/64 Bits Game Console Supremacy |
| aquarius.lst | 1696 | List of Games for the Mattel "Aquarius" (March 16, 1994) by Dean Dierschow |
| arcadia.lst | 1616 | Game List for the Emerson Arcadia 2001 (October 25, 1993) by Dean Dierschow |
| at2600.lst | 51501 | Game List: Atari 2600 |
| at5200.lst | 4874 | Game List: Atari 5200 |
| at7800.lst | 3785 | Game List: Atari 7800 |
| at800.lst | 16083 | Game List: Atari 800 (Cartirdges) |
| atar2600.tut | 23365 | Programming on the Atari 2600, posted by Greg Alt (December 7, 1992) |
| atarilnk.txt | 18667 | The AtariLink Directory - Last updated 27 Feb 1995 (A list of people who own Atari Jaguars) |
| atarishw.txt | 4105 | Advertisement for the 4th Annual Connecticut Atarifest (1994) |
| atlynx.lst | 5198 | Game List: The Atari Lynx |
| bally.lst | 3003 | List of Games for the Bally Astrocade |
| billteds.txt | 24182 | Game Notes for Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure on the Atari LYNX (January 9, 1992) |
| bloodstm.txt | 95632 | Bloodstorm: Complete Background History, Moves Reference, and Secrets Guide by James Elkinton (January 18, 1995) |
| bmb_cc1.txt | 6055 | Shout Outs from Bushwick Bill to the NEO-GEO crowd |
| bob_ces3.txt | 32066 | Dateline Atari! by Bob Brodie (January 7th, 1994) |
| bofwalk | 59238 | Walkthrough for Breath of Fire by The Spook |
| bouncers.txt | 2560 | Review of "Bounces" for the Sega (Basketball Game) |
| brodie.txt | 24220 | Dateline Atari! with Bob Brodie (October 1, 1993) |
| c64.lst | 2795 | List of Cartridges for the Commodore C-64 By Dean Dierschow (March 16, 1994) |
| carts.lst | 4061 | List of Dean Dierschow's Video Game Cartridge List (March 16, 1994) |
| cdsecret.s | 9770 | Sega CD Game Secrets Version 6 (January 1, 1994) by Bob Rusbasan |
| cheapcop | 29172 | Videogame Cartridge Copiers by Lawrence Chiu |
| cid205.txt | 6853 | Documentation for CART_ID v2.05, a Console Cartridge Image Identification Program |
| console.apr | 47839 | Copiers Information from Alpha Flight (April 1992) |
| console.mad | 3991 | Information on Console Copies by Console Madness |
| console.mar | 35972 | Copiers Info by Executioner (March 1992) |
| corrupt1.nws | 20584 | The 'Real" Console Newsletter by Corrupt, Edition 1, January 8, 1994 |
| devibmpc.txt | 10373 | Information on the Developers Toolbox from T&S Versand |
| dinodude.txt | 4573 | The JAGUAR game: EVOLUTION of DINO DUDES - Passwords and Comments |
| dkcfaq | 44959 | King Kung's Donkey Kong Country FAQ ver. 1.0 |
| dkcfaq.txt | 70292 | Donkey Kong Country FAQ Version 1.0 (December 20, 1994) |
| dkcgg | 9042 | OCF's Donkey Kong Country Game Genie Codes by Orlando C. Fernando Version 2.0 (February 2, 1995) |
| dsfxdocs.txt | 27346 | DSFX - SFX 65816 disassembler v1.20 by The Voice Over (1992) |
| dune2faq.txt | 37113 | Dune II: The Battle For Arrakis Sega Megadrive version by D.Kennedy (January 21, 1995) |
| ecco.txt | 22757 | Ecco The Dolphin Frequently Asked Questions Version 1.5 by Aleksandr Berland |
| ewjguide | 23791 | Earthworm Jim Guide Version 2.0 by ManoS |
| ewjsnes.txt | 23566 | Earthworm Jim Unearthed! Spoiler guide to EWJ by peter Booth (December 1, 1994) |
| famicon.txt | 22277 | The Famicon CPU G65SC802 / G65SC816 Instruction Set, Compiled by Carnivore/BeerMacht (August 23, 1992) |
| famitec2.txt | 7499 | Documentation on Famicom Hardware Register Locations 9Version 1.1) |
| fchild2.lst | 1863 | GAME LIST: Fairchild Channel F (March 16, 1994) by Dean Dierschow |
| ff2faq.txt | 60248 | Final Fantasy II FAQ by Adam Lederman and Kelly Gillilan |
| ff3faq | 185234 | Final Fantasy 3 FAQ Version 4 by Wizard 201, JonN2000 & King Kung (January 1995) |
| ff3guide.txt | 169463 | Final Fantasy III Guide by Mynock (Version 1.5) |
| fflwt | 19760 | TGSSZ Walk-Through #1: Final Fantasy Legend |
| ffs_move.txt | 40346 | Fatal Fury 2 Special FAQ (1994) |
| fight4lf.txt | 6640 | The Unofficial Fight For Life FAQ v. 0.9 |
| finlfan2.txt | 28141 | Final Fantasy II Frequently Asked Questions and Strategy Guide Version 1 (February 11, 1993) |
| fmc_cpu.txt | 23837 | Famicon CPU G65SC802 / G65SC816 Instruction Set by Carnivore/BeerMacht (August 23, 1994) |
| form16.txt | 3129 | A 1.6mb IBM PC Disk Formatting Program (Documentation) April 20th, 1992 |
| gamecds.txt | 38081 | Video Game Background Music FAQ Version 2.03 (June 29, 1994) |
| genesisj.amf | 12173 | Sega NBA JAM FAQ! v1.1 |
| ggenie.txt | 4840 | Information on Using the Game Genie for Genesis (January 8, 1993) |
| gnup02.txt | 68938 | Game Genie for Sega Genesis Codes |
| gvg.zap | 10417 | Guerilla Video Gaming by Craig E. Engler |
| hardware.txt | 16507 | Sega Genesis Hardware Internals - Revised (April 7, 1993) by Rick McTeague |
| ho-news.txt | 10794 | Ho-Wei Wong Tells you about the latest in Game Copiers |
| inter.zap | 9996 | An Interview with Chris Eisnaugle of Vor Technologies Inc. |
| intv.lst | 6549 | List of Games for the Mattel Intellivision |
| jag_eet.txt | 8417 | The Atari Jaguar is an IBM Animal (July 5, 1993) |
| jag_may.txt | 40162 | The Jaguar Teckboard (April 19, 1994 Version) |
| jag_out.txt | 30236 | Transcription of Dateline: Atari (November 4, 1993) |
| jag_rels.txt | 8983 | Chris Millar of Delphi and Andy Eddy discuss the new Atari Jaguar |
| jagcheat.txt | 13065 | Atari Jaguar Game Cheats and Codes Compiled by Clay Halliwell (March 8, 1995) |
| jagfaq.txt | 30557 | The Atari Jaguar Frequently Asked Questions (January 30, 1994) |
| jeffmint.txt | 13622 | Interview with Jeff "Yak the Hairy" Minter by Richard Karsmakers |
| joystick.txt | 5669 | Genesis Joystick Pinout Information (March 2, 1993) |
| lap.txt | 38613 | List of Arcade Ports by Kris Kelley (February 1995) |
| lethalen.txt | 1979 | Lethal Enforcers II: Gun Fighters: Konami Sends in the Big Guns! |
| lostvkng.txt | 30821 | The Lost Vikings Transcripts by Rick Furr (April 12, 1994) |
| lynxrvws.txt | 60494 | Some Lynx Reviews (February 25, 1992) |
| macro.txt | 15236 | Microvision FAQ Version 0.04 (February 9, 1995) |
| mana.txt | 17728 | Secret of Mana FAQ Version 0.2 (January 6, 1994) |
| mbox | 300416 | The Usenet Lynx FAQ (January 1, 1993) by Rob Jung |
| mcfaq | 64559 | Maximum Carnage FAQ version 1.2 |
| mdcheats.txt | 11573 | MegaDrive Secrets Removed from the Genesis Secret List Version 4 (January 19, 1992) |
| mdemulat.pre | 10820 | Information on the megadrive/Genesis Emulator for the Amiga from Advanced Emulation Limited |
| megaconv.txt | 7194 | Documentation for MEGACONV 1.0: Converter for MegaDrive game files between MultiGameDoctor 2, Super Magic Drive and Raw binary data formats for AMIGA & PC |
| megamanx.txt | 29214 | Passwords and information on Mega Man X by Rick Furr (1994) |
| megamnx2.txt | 17522 | Mega Man X 2 FAQ v1.5 |
| mgd.txt | 11911 | Information on a List of Game Doctors (Game Copiers) Including Origin and Capabilities |
| mghcode1.txt | 14510 | Game Finger Codes for the MGH by Johnny 5 (May 14, 1993) |
| nba_jam.txt | 32136 | How to Win at NBA Jam, by Rudolph S. Vance and William G. Henderson |
| nbajam.ref | 1837 | Nearly all the NBA Jam Codes |
| nbajam1.13 | 32018 | How to Win at NBA Jam by Randolph S. Vance and William G. Henderson Version 1.13 (August 18th, 1993) |
| nbajam1.17 | 55337 | NBA Jam FAQ Tips and Info by Fast Eddie Version 1.17 (February 19, 1994) |
| nbajamte.v2 | 34751 | NBA Jam Tournament Edition FAQ Version 2.0 (April 26, 1994) |
| nbate_cn.txt | 19636 | NBA Jam Tournament Edition for Consoles FAQ Version 1.1 (February 25, 1995) |
| nbate_sn.txt | 18177 | NBA Jam Tournament Edition FAQ 1.0a (February 21, 1995) |
| odyssey2.lst | 3203 | List of Games from the Magnavox Odysey II |
| pac-man2.txt | 4614 | Review of Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures |
| powrinst.txt | 6813 | Power Instinct FAQ Release 0 (January 1994) |
| programm.ing | 43672 | Sega Programming FAQ February 5, 1994, Third Edition |
| raid.txt | 4840 | Newsflash: Customs RAIDS/CONFISCATION of Copiers in United Kingdom (September 2nd, 1992) |
| rawfaq | 6090 | RAQ FAQ 1.4 by Robert Fleming |
| rev_x.txt | 39695 | The Official Revolution X Frequently Asked Questions List by the Immortal Spam (Revision 1.4, July 11, 1994) |
| samsho.pt1 | 41030 | Samurai Shodown FAQ Release 12 (December 1, 1994) |
| samsho.pt2 | 46711 | Samurai Shodown FAQ Release 12 (December 1, 1994) Part II |
| schem | 7475 | Schematics for Connecting a Genesis Joypad to an Amiga |
| secod1.txt | 2613 | Game Genie for Sega Genesis Codes (1993) |
| secretso | 179589 | Secrets of the Sega Sages Volume 1, Number 4 (February 1994) by Brian Preble |
| sega-rgb.txt | 2214 | Connecting a Sega Genesis to an RGB Monitor by Dennis Gale Brown |
| segacd.tip | 5655 | SEGA CD Game Secrets Version 5 (August 21, 1993) |
| segafaq.txt | 43939 | Sega Programming FAQ February 5, 1994, Third Edition by Henry Rieke |
| segaprog.txt | 75311 | Sega Programming FAQ September 14, 1994, Sixth Edition by Henry Rieke |
| send.txt | 5202 | Super Magicom File Upload Program (Version 2.1) Documentation by R. Bubba Magillicutty |
| shadowrn.txt | 20064 | Shadowrun Walkthrough Version 1.05 (March 15, 1994) |
| shinefrc.txt | 20579 | Guide to 'Shining Force" for Sega Genesis by Col. G. L. Sicherman Version 0.5 (February 6, 1995) |
| smc_spli.txt | 3538 | Super Magicom File Split Program V1.0 Documentation by Nightshade of High Society |
| smkart.txt | 50805 | Super Mario Kart Frequently Asked Questions and Strategy Guide v1.0 (July 13, 1994) |
| sms.lst | 6813 | Collection of Games for the Sega Master System |
| sms1_06.txt | 54995 | Sega Master System Frequently Asked Questions v1.06 by Jeff Bogumil |
| smwfaq | 37414 | Super Mario World Guide |
| snsfaq | 5076 | Saturday Night Slamasters FAQ by Marlin Liew Version 2.0 (October 13, 1994) |
| sound.txt | 13532 | The Bloody SPC-700, an overview of a Nasty Chip for Sound by Paradis |
| sswtips | 2636 | Super Star Wars Tips by the TOMinator |
| studio2.lst | 902 | List of Games for the RCA Studio II |
| swc.txt | 11175 | The Super Wild Card & Super Magicom Programmers Handbook by MicroChip/Evolution/Submission |
| switch.txt | 3217 | Sega NTSC/PAL and Language Switch on the Sega MegaDrive (November 30, 1993) |
| t2.txt | 19904 | How to WIN at Terminator 2:Judgement Day (Version 1.1) by Randolph S. Vance |
| td-t.txt | 6453 | The Top 20 Console Game Charts 7 by Tomdoc of Crystal |
| techspec.txt | 7073 | Documentation of Fami hardware Register and Locations and Explanations by Corsair and Kari (Version 1.0) |
| tg16.txt | 138146 | 90 Big Reviews of Turbografx-16, TurboDuo, and PC-Engine by Clarence K. Din, aka The TurboKid (january 11, 1993) |
| ti99.lst | 4602 | Game List for the Texas Instruments TI/994a |
| tow-doom.txt | 91130 | The Tower Of Doom FAQ Version 2 - August 5, 1994 by Roland Acton |
| trs_coco.lst | 2572 | Game List for the Tandy Color Computer |
| ufo-pass.txt | 6597 | The password for UFO Super Drive Pro 6 as of Nov. 20, 1992 |
| vectrex.lst | 2483 | Vectrex Game List by Dean Dierschow, 1994 |
| video_ga.txt | 7309 | A Quick History of Home Video Game Systems |
| vpiracy5.txt | 10099 | Video Game Piracy Information or Time to Trash the Amiga (January 14th, 1992) |
| wizzlizz.txt | 16907 | Wizz 'n Lizz Hint/Cheat FAQ Version 1.3 (February 26, 1995) by Nick 'Jinxed' Brassard |
| wndrboy.txt | 14880 | Wonder Boy in Monster World V Assistance by Matt Latrobe |
| ymguide | 8975 | Young Merlin Guide by Brian P. Minnebo (July 26, 1994) |
| zeldafaq | 28903 | The Legend of Zelda FAQ by Alan "Linkmaster" Mitsugi (February 25, 1995) v1.0 |
| There are 136 files for a total of 3,711,782 bytes. |
| There is 1 directory. |