Wherefore art thou, oh Game Genie?

December 22, 2011 7:43 PM

Is there something like Game Genie for Wii? Surely Nintendo must be willing to take the money of us uncoordinated folk!

So, my boyfriend just gave me my Christmas present a little early. A Wii! Woohoo! Except it came with Super Mario Brothers Wii, and in playing it tonight I have been reminded of just why I relied so heavily on Game Genie on the original NES games: I completely lack the hand-eye coordination required to play action games without it.

So either Mario and I are going to have to part ways, or I'm going to have to find a way to cheat my way through his worlds. I need a Game Genie! But...there isn't one? Really? In all my googling, the only option I've found is to hack my Wii. I really, really don't want to do this (I'm wary of warranty-voiding and the like), so I would very much like to find a legal, non-hacky, non-warranty-voiding solution.

Someone please tell me that somewhere, there is a download or "game" I can buy that will give me cross-game functionality similar to old school Game Genie: invoke Genie, start game, enter cheat code, prance my invincible way through Marioland, and live happily ever after.

This has to exist, right? Or have I been away from gaming consoles for so long (I have it on good authority that the world has changed slightly since I mastered SMB3 on NES...) that this sort of cheating isn't popular anymore? If I can't get Game Genie, is there any *other* solution that will let uncoordinated people like me enjoy coordination-requiring games like SMB?

Bonus question: I like puzzles and casual-gaming style games (think Bigfish Games hidden object titles, Bejewled, etc). I tend to stay away from action and shooter games due to my aforementioned grevious lack of physical coordination. Any recommendations for what Wii games someone like me would enjoy? I've heard talk of various "Lego [thing]" games being puzzly and fun...

posted by badgermushroomSNAKE to Technology (10 answers total)

Not exactly what you asked, but many games these days have built-in cheat codes.
posted by box at 7:49 PM on December 22, 2011

I am pretty sure that what you're asking for (a program that can run across other programs) is not possible on a standard Wii. It's basically that the security models have changed since you played - consoles these days are pretty locked down (in theory) and this kind of cross-game interaction is one of the things that is not allowed.
posted by jacalata at 7:52 PM on December 22, 2011

Game Genie envolved into Gameshark which eventually evolved into Action Replay.

There is the Action Replay Wii Powersaves, which sounds close to what you're looking for. I have no personal experience with it though.

I do have a rule bending device for the nintendo ds made by them that works fine. (Pokemon, I love you, but I don't have time to catch them all the legit way)
posted by royalsong at 7:52 PM on December 22, 2011

My husband and I are about 20 hours into Zelda Skyward Sword. There is a fair amount of low-grade kill the wildlife, and two bosses or so per area, but it's entertaining and well made. And designed well, so that it's not too challenging, but not boring. (although they made some annoying UI choices for interacting with the NPCs.)

I recommend it!
posted by leahwrenn at 8:10 PM on December 22, 2011

I don't have New Super Mario Bros., but I seem to recall that Nintendo's been building in "frustration modes" to their recent games (including NSMB.) Basically if you die enough times in one spot, the game will allow you to either skip the trouble spot or give you some kind of buff to make it easier. Maybe check your game manual for more info about that feature?
posted by Wulfhere at 8:48 PM on December 22, 2011

As far as games that do not require dexterity to play...

Wii has some good adventure titles of the traditional point and click variety. Tales of Monkey Island and Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars come to mind.

World of Goo is a pretty slick and stylish puzzler.

Beautiful Katamari does require some physical coordination, but everyone loves Katamari, so maybe take a look anyway.
posted by Winnemac at 8:56 PM on December 22, 2011

Check out Boom Blox (or it's sequel Bash Party). It's a physicsy-Jengaish game that doesn't need too many controller skills to be fun (though there's optional challenges that will tax you.)
posted by Wulfhere at 10:41 PM on December 22, 2011

Yeah, NSMB has a guide system that kicks in around the fifth or sixth time you die in the same place on any given level. A block appears that makes a chiming sound; if you hit the block, the game gives you the option of bypassing the level and watching an pre-programmed "expert" run through the level for you. Also, getting the three magic coins in each level allows you to buy videos that show advanced gameplay tips and tactics for getting infinite 1-ups, hard-to-reach powerups, etc.
posted by Strange Interlude at 11:44 PM on December 22, 2011

I had a very difficult time playing SMB on the Wii and ended up selling it. I'm not a regular gamer, and playing that was frustrating and unfun. I second Boom Blox, that's relatively challenging but satisfying to play. And though you say you don't do the action games, I strongly suggest you consider playing the Zelda for Wii titles: Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword. They are unbelievably entertaining and exploit perfectly what that system was built for. Glowing review of Skyward Sword (first Zelda game to have a full orchestral score) here.

p.s. Game Genie was awesome! You could make Mario invincible, FFS!
posted by therewolf at 3:50 AM on December 23, 2011

Best answer: You have to understand, these were almost always unlicensed devices, and Nintendo never wanted the Game Genie to exist. It could mess with their endlessly tweaked and perfected user experiences and allow players to see things that they were never meant to see. As such, Nintendo sued to prevent the existence of the Game Genie and lost. However, just because a company like Nintendo couldn't sue to prevent a Game Genie from being on the market doesn't mean that they and a lot of other companies wouldn't continually physically lock down their devices to prevent these devices from working or being possible (e.g., the redesigned version of the 8-bit Nintendo that Game Genies would not fit into, later versions of the Playstation 1 with the serial port removed).

At this point in game systems, things are indeed locked down enough on virtually all platforms with "cheating" or "game enhancer" devices that one would often actually have to hack their console to do it. You have to remember, too -- if a modern Game Genie were allowed with today's competitive games played online, everyone would be playing against rampant cheaters constantly (this is also a major reason why current consoles detected as being hacked wind up automatically banned from servers).

But yep, Nintendo's been making a lot of effort lately to allow an "out" to frustrated players on difficult levels in games like New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Donkey Kong Country Returns (they usually call it something like a "super guide"). My advice to you would be to either live with dying the eight times on a given Mario Bros. Wii level and hitting the green box to let computer-Luigi play the level for you, or bite the bullet and hack your Wii if Game Genie-style invincibility, super-jump, etc. antics are ultimately more important to you than your warranty (or potentially, your ability to play games against others online).
posted by stleric at 8:53 PM on December 25, 2011