Kazuhisa Hashimoto, Creator of the Konami Code, Has Passed Away

Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start. Without a doubt the Konami Code is the most famous code in the medium that is gaming. Heck, the Konami Code is recognized even outside of video games. Unfortunately the creator of the code, Kazuhisa Hashimoto, died on February 25. This news comes from former Konami collaborator Yuji Takenouchi via Twitter.

The Konami Code gained fame from being used in the NES version of Contra where entering the code would up the player's lives count from three to 30. The code was first printed in the pages of Nintendo Power's Classified Information section, which really helped the code spread like wild fire. While Contra may have made the code so well known, it was not the first game to use it.

Hashimoto-san came up with the code while play testing the NES version of Gradius. The Nintendo Hard difficulty from the arcade game was carried over to the home version, thus he came up with the world's most recognizable button inputs to make things a bit easier for himself. The code gave him a fully powered up Vic Viper, which allowed him to finish play testing the game. Why did Hashimoto-san go with that particular set of button inputs? Because it was easy to remember. Makes sense. Even someone that hasn't played Contra in years probably still has the code cemented in their skull. I know I do.

There's some debate on whether or not Hashimoto-san forgot to remove the code before the game hit store shelves. Did Konami like the code and leave it in? No one really knows for sure. Whatever the reason, the Koanmi Code remained and went on to have a colossal impact on gaming and pop culture.

I never would have been able to beat Contra without the Konami Code. Matter of fact, I still can't beat Contra without it. That game is so punishing that I am certain that players that do no death runs on Contra or are able to beat the game without any help used the Konami Code to get as good as they are. I let out the biggest sigh of relief when playing NES Contra on Contra Anniversary Collection when I input the Konami Code and got 30 lives. 

When I played Gradius III religiously, I would frequently use the Konami Code. I was even aware that the code in Gradius III had two different versions. Knowing this, I had one of my best friends input the code on his game and got a laugh out of his ship blowing up when he entered the old Konami Code and unpaused the game. Of course he didn't think it was funny.

I don't think we can thank Kazuhisa Hashimoto enough for his contribution to gaming. That cheat that he came up with in Gradius to make play testing easier for him made gaming infinitely better. R.I.P. Hashimoto-san. Thanks for helping me power up the Vic Viper and for letting so many gamers beat Contra.

Additional source: The Gaming Historian