There is a point at which game design simply gets in the way of players. Designers rely on restricted access to ammo, levels, and new weaponry to guide player’s through their games, creating the illusion of “progress.” Under no circumstances are players to be given free reign of all a game’s levels, weapons, and items until they’ve finished the game, presumably demonstrating they can handle the responsibility. 

In the 1980s the Game Genie was a magical way to circumvent all these encumbrances, allowing players to skip freely between levels or get infinite health. The plastic attachment fit over game cartridges and, with the entrance of the appropriate codes that could be found in an accompanying guidebook, allowed players to short-circuit a game’s most frustrating limitations.

Today, Hyperkin announced it will revive the Game Genie with a full unveiling at next week’s E3. The new Game Genie: Save Editor will work on PlayStation 3 as a USB flash drive that allows players to move save files to a PC. An associated program will allow them to manipulate their save files to get extra lives, more experience points, ammo, and unlock new levels.

So far, the list of compatible games include Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, Batman: Arkham City, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Twisted Metal, Street Fighter X Tekken, and Final Fantasy XIII-2. 

[via PlayStation Universe] [img]