Datel Action Replay (1985)

Beginning with use for the Amiga personal computer, then quickly branching off to home game consoles, the Action Replay offered a number of features that let players quickly edit game code to cheat or manipulate the design of games.

Over the years, the devices have been able to do this in various ways--from those that have players manually enter codes, to newer versions that simply let you choose from a list of existing codes that can be updated for new titles.

Datel's creation sparked a wave of competitors, including Galoob's Game Genie, which got into a legal battle with Nintendo over its editing of game code. It eventually came out on top, and helped shape the legal precedent for video game copyright law.

September 8, 2009 4:00 AM PDT

Photo by: Wikipedia

| Caption by: Josh Lowensohn