25 games with secret messages hidden in their code
July 12, 2021Developers have been hiding messages in their games’ code since the 80s.
All the way back to the Atari 2600, developers have been hiding messages in their game’s binary code. To find the hidden message, someone would have to dump a cartridge’s ROM into a computer, open the compiled program code in a hex editor, and find the address with the hidden message.
The only reason someone would be doing this back in the 80s or 90s would be to hack the game, break copy protection, and pirate it. For that reason, most messages are vulgar insults towards game pirates.
But other times, developers hid messages just for the fun of it. The SFW ones are below.
1. Hot Wheels: Velocity X (Game Boy Advance)
Found at program address 0x885D0:
I LIKE MONKEYS. I like monkeys. The pet store was selling them for five cents a piece. I thought that odd since they were normally a couple thousand each. I decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth. I bought 200. I like monkeys. I took my 200 monkeys home. I have a big car. I let one drive. His name was Sigmund... I like monkeys.2. Centipede (Intellivision)
At program address 0x991 is comedy gold for 1981:
Joe: Knock knock!
Moe: Who`s there?
Joe: Santa!
Moe: Santa who!
Joe: Santapede is comin` to town!3. Donkey Kong (Arcade)
Hidden at address 0x3F00:
CONGRATULATION ! IF YOU ANALYSE DIFFICULT THIS PROGRAM,WE WOULD TEACH YOU.*****
TEL.TOKYO-JAPAN 044(244)**** EXTENTION 304
SYSTEM DESIGN IKEGAMI CO. LIM.2. Flak (ZX Spectrum)
Message at the end of the ROM:
This program was adapted from a Commodore 64 version by Christopher Smith of Croydon, Surrey, England between September and December 1984, using an A.C.T. Apricot micro.
It took approx 300 hours of programming and debugging time and bought the programmers wife
a new kitchen.5. NHL ’96 (SNES)
Hidden job offering at the beginning of the ROM:
If you're a talented programmer or Artist please fax us your resume at 407-862-XXXX.
Although formal education is a plus, it's not required. This message is directed
to all you hackers and demo coders out there who might be looking through our ROMs.
We have good benefits, and pay competitive wages.
We understand that while your resume may not reflect jobs programming, that you
may still be very talented, and the opportunity may not have been available.
In this case we ask your to mail us you're demos, or examples of work you have done.
Tiburon Entertainment c/o Hey! I'm good, and I want a job
900 Fox Valley Drv. Suite #202 Longwood, FL6. Cruis’n USA (Arcade)
At offset 0x41e48, a developer named Eric warns:
DONT DISASSEMBLE MY CODE!!! YOU WONT FIND ANYTHING BUT BUGS AND PULLED OUT HAIR AND MAYBE SOME FERRET TURDS. LIVE LONG AND ENJOY LIFE. WE ONLY LIVE ONCE,
AND THERES FAR TOO MUCH CODE LEFT TO BE WRITTEN.
ERIC PRIBYL AUG 15, 19947. Final Fantasy VII (PSX)
A love note hidden on Disc 3:
great special thanx to you, ARIKO...from your husband, HIDEJI
8. Jack the Ripper (ZX Spectrum)
A love note in block 5 of the ROM:
I Write This 3 days After I Got Engaged And Im Deeply In Love So This Is Dedicated To All Those Hackers And Programmers Who Are In Love And Lets Do It To Them Before They Get Us Eh!
And This Is Aslo Dedicated To Those People In Strides Grimsby Who Stuck A Mickey Finn In My Drink My Headache And New Technicolour Bathroom Is All Through Them.
Programmers Do It While Rotating9. NASCAR Arcade
They can’t all be love notes. Written to the EPROM data of the machine:
I'm tired...
No one help me.
No one don't realize me.
No one love me.
No one save me.
No one hope me.
No one miss me.
Shu Ito
5/28 modified...
This file is needed more size.
So, I must add lazy sentence.10. World Championship Soccer II (Genesis)
At address 0xD50DE:
HELP, I AM TRAPPED IN A
SEGA CARTRIDGE FACTORY10. Bust-A-Move (SNES)
Translated from Japanese present at address 0x7F510:
Hey, wait a second; why would you copy this? In the name of the ROM, I will punish you!! If you're reading this, you're pretty bad aren't ya. Oh? You weren't trying to copy it, you say. Well, I'm sorry then. Alright kids, you can't go around copying games! Copying games is just for bad old men. So, anyway, thanks to those who bought this game. Best regards!11. ACE 2 (Commodore 64)
Loaded into memory at 0x50B6:
IF YOU ENTER THE NAME OF MY HAMSTER ON THE HIGH SCORE TABLE, PLAYER ONE WILL BE IMMORTAL
A REAL HACKER WILL FIND HER NAME FROM THE CODEHer name is DUSTY BUG.
12. Invasion of the Body Snatchas! (ZX Spectrum)
This game owes its existence to :-
(53) 2-Litre coke bottles
(6) Greens Original Cheese Cakes
(24) Very hot curries
(4) 600 K floppy discs
(100000) Neurons
(1) Another Greens Original
(4) 1/2 pint glasses
(98) kWh of t'electric
(2*4*10^6*60*60*10*49) T-States
and finally
(980) misery filled hours of wasted effort.
PSSS We appologise for the awful noises
They weren't our idea13. ESPN National Hockey Night (SNES)
“Padding the ROM” means the developer needs to add dummy text to fill up extra, unused space:
This is the way we pad the ROM, pad the ROM, pad the rom...
Boy, you sure are wasting lots o' bytes. Learn to be
more frugal. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Still more space to pad? Why not add another sound or two.
Youd think that game programmers today would be more careful
about using all available ROM space, but I guess not. Four
score and seven years ago yatta yatta yatta. Who the heck is
looking at this anyway. This is a ROM, no one sees this, WHO
ARE YOU, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? Quit snooping around and
play this great game.14. F-18 Thunder Strike (GameBoy Color)
At ROM address 0x3CBBC, we win the prize:
This game was written by Roger W. Amidon
and originally released on October 22, 1999
It then was delayed for re-design. God knows when
this game will actually get released!
If you are reading this, you win the prize!
Please call 609-466-**** for your reward!
Keyword: AppleZap15. Druid (Armstrad CPC)
At address 0x87A1, Paul complains about his low pay:
I AM PAUL HUTCHINSON. WATCH OUT FOR MY NEXT GAME.
FIRST I WROTE XAVIOR. THEN I WROTE THE COVENANT.
& P.S.S. RIPPED ME OFF! 450 QUID IS A JOKE!16. Excitebike (N64)
At the end of the ROM:
Please don't copy this game... that would be rude. Hey!
What are you doing looking at this binary when you should be
looking after my shed?17. Back to the Future II (ZX Spectrum)
At offset 0xE219 are the ramblings of a very tired developer:
I DON'T BELIEVE IT IS TEN PAST SIX IN THE MORNING!
YEAH! AND WE'VE BEEN TYPING THIS SODDIN' TEXT IN ALL NIGHT!!!!
I WONDER....... IF I'LL GET PAID TODAY. WHAT DO YOU THINK DAMIAN?
NAAAAHHHHH! THE MASTERING HASN'T BEEN DONE!!!
WIBBLE WIBBLE WIBBLE WIBBLE.... WOOGAFRUNCLEBARF!!!
OH NO! THE LACK OF SLEEP HAS FINALLY GOT TO TONY!!
CALL THE MEDICS! I THINK IT'S INFECTIOUS! (bibble)!!
WHY IS THERE SOME BLUE ECTOPLASMDRIPPING DOWN MY MONITOR TONY?
WHAT BLUE ECTOPLASM???? (AHEM!)
WOW! HEAVY DOC!
WHO THE HECK IS DOC?
YOU'RE THE DOC, DOC!
NO I'M NOT! IT'S ME, DAMIAN. I AM JUST PRETENDING TO BE DOC!
LOOK DOC! YOU HAVE TO HELP ME!!!
COME ON TONY! DON'T MESS ME ABOUT!!
HMM, at last I get control of the keyboard!
Now what to say ?
OH ON! I'VE RUN OUT OF MEMORY!!18. Army Moves (Commodore 64)
Written to RAM at address 0xF800 is this “charming” personal ad:
ANY FAN MAIL, SEND TO OCEAN SOFTWARE. ANY
EXTREMELY PRETTY BLONDES ( AGE 17+ ) LOOKING FOR A REAL MAN, THEN
PHOTOS IN THE POST A MOI ‘. NOW FOR A BIT OF INSIDE INFO ! EYES -
BLUE. HAIR – YES. SEX – SURE, ANYTIME.BRAINS – WELL, I’M WORKING FOR
OCEAN. FAVE GROUPS ARE :- LEVEL 42 – SIMPLE MINDS – AHA – WHAM -
DURAN-DURAN – MICHAEL JACKSON LEVEL 42′S LATEST LP ON CD IS MEGA BRILL
19. Pac-Man (Intellivision)
At ROM offset 0xAAB:
WISH WE HAD MORE TIME TO MAKE THE GAME REALLY NIFFFFFFTY20. Paperboy (Arcade)
STEAL THIS CODE AND YOU DIE.. ATARI 1985 J.F.S.
21. Predator 2 (Genesis)
At address 0xBFEC8, the programmer lets hackers know where the lives counter is located in memory:
Hi hackers, compiled from 41900 lines of 68000 assembler and about 700 files spread over 8 MByte
. Lives is at:(binary address)22. Q*bert (DOS)
A backwards hidden message is at 0xB683:
!rood kcab
eht dnuof evah uoy snoitalutargnoC
.retsaM ,eeht erofeb levorg I
dna NIS yb sdnuoS
reppoH yb demmargorPIt reverses to:
Programmed by Hopper
Sounds by SIN and
I grovel before thee, Master.
Congratulations you have found the back door!23. Rescue Raiders (Apple II)
Right below the names used for the high scores table:
WARNING: MODIFING THE HIGH SCORES
WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY AND SANTA
WON'T VISIT YOU ANY MORE. THINGS
ARN'T ALWAYS AS SIMPLE AS THEY SEEM.24. Spider-Man 2 (Game Boy Color)
At 0xB667F in the ROM:
Grant was last seen fleeing Torus Games with a briefcase packed full of money under each arm. He remains wanted in 4 states.
Smitty made several unsucessful attempts to circumnavigate the world in a lunch box. He now lives in Peru.
Peter 'Stinky' Suwara devoted his life to the quest of spiritual enlightenment. He has lived in recluse since Spider-Man.
Paul submitted several game designs to Activision, all featuring a snowboard and a railgun. None were accepted.
Ivan was arrested after a hosting series of wild parties with crazy antics. He is currently serving 32 life sentences in a state penatentiary24. Spyro the Dragon (PSX)
Now is the winter of our discontent...
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...
Call me Ishmael...
Stately, plump Buck Mulligan...
Call me Jonah. My parents did...
Gaily bedight a gallant knight...
Beware the ides of March...
Tyger tyger burning bright...
...
I always get the Shemp...24. Tecmo Super Baseball (SNES)
At address 0x1655A:
KISS HIS BUTT GOODBYE
DWAIN IS MY BUDDY
BUY TECMO NBA BASKETBALL
HAL AND RICH ARE LOVERS
I WANNA BE LIKE MIKE
I WANNA BE LIKE DWAIN
TESTING CAN KISS MY..24. WWF WrestleMania (SNES)
At address 0x22A91A in the ROM:
HELP ME I AM STUCK IN THE ROM AND CAN NOT GET OUT.25. Messages to pirates
https://tcrf.net/Moon_Strike
https://tcrf.net/720_Degrees_(Arcade)
https://tcrf.net/A.M.C.:Astro_Marine_Corps.(Amiga) pirates
https://tcrf.net/A_Prehistoric_Tale_(Atari_ST) pirates
https://tcrf.net/Airbrush_(ZX_Spectrum) pirates
https://tcrf.net/Alternate_Reality:The_Dungeon(Atari_8-bit_family) pirate
https://tcrf.net/Almazz pirate
https://tcrf.net/Baal_(Atari_ST) pirate
https://tcrf.net/Beast_Busters_(Amiga) pirate
https://tcrf.net/Buck_Rogers:Planet_of_Zoom(Apple_II) pirate
https://tcrf.net/Blaster pirate
https://tcrf.net/Cagara pirate
https://tcrf.net/Cobra_Pinball_2 pirate
https://tcrf.net/Crazy_Foota pirate
https://tcrf.net/Death_Trap_(Atari_ST) pirate
https://tcrf.net/Desolator_(Atari_ST) pirate
https://tcrf.net/Dimension_X pirate
https://tcrf.net/Atlantis_(Amstrad_CPC,Cobra_Soft) pirates https://tcrf.net/Elf(Amiga,Ocean) pirate https://tcrf.net/Blood_Money(Amiga)
https://tcrf.net/Dragon%27s_Lair_(Amiga) pirate
https://tcrf.net/Dragon%27s_Lair:Escape_from_Singe%27s_Castle(Amiga) pirate
https://tcrf.net/Drol_(PC-88) pirate
https://tcrf.net/Modem_Wars_(Commodore_64) pirate
https://tcrf.net/Risk_(Commodore_64,_Joker_Software)
https://tcrf.net/Rubicon_(Commodore_64)
https://tcrf.net/Saboteur_(ZX_Spectrum)
https://tcrf.net/Sorcery%2B_(Atari_ST)
https://tcrf.net/Volley-Ball_(Amstrad_CPC)
https://tcrf.net/Xenon_(Amiga,_Atari_ST)Bonus: NSFW messages
Here are links to the best NSFW ones, over on The Cutting Room Floor. Proceed at your own risk.
https://tcrf.net/ATP_Tour_Championship_Tennis dirty
https://tcrf.net/Alley_Cat_(Atari_8-bit_family) dirty
https://tcrf.net/Ganso_Saiyuuki dirty
https://tcrf.net/Hades_Nebula_(Atari_ST) dirty
https://tcrf.net/ESPN_Final_Round_Golf_2002 profanity
https://tcrf.net/Hard_Dunk dirty
https://tcrf.net/NBA_Courtside_2002 dirty
https://tcrf.net/Baal_(Amiga) dirty
https://tcrf.net/Pinball_Dreams_(Amiga)
https://tcrf.net/Rip-Off_(Vectrex)
The greatest developer rant of all-time is also NSFW: https://tcrf.net/Erika_to_Satoru_no_Yume_Bouken
