Action Replay

For the Indian film, see Action Replayy. For the Howard Jones EP, see Action Replay (EP).

Action Replay cartridge for the Amiga 500

Action Replay cartridge for Commodore 64

Action Replay MAX DUO for Nintendo DS

Action Replay ISA card for PC 1994

Action Replay is the brand name of a series of video game cheating devices created by Datel. As of 2010, Action Replays are currently available for some of the current major gaming platforms which include the Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi, PlayStation 2, and the PlayStation Portable, and many older gaming platforms including the Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance, and the Xbox. PowerSaves by Action Replay is a related series of video game cheat devices that store game saves created by Datel in order to allow users to cheat without modifying the game code being executed unlike the main Action Replay series, which cheats by modifying game code itself. These are available for gaming platforms such as the Nintendo Wii on an SD card.

Typical Features

General:

• Infinite lives, invulnerability, permanent power ups, no collision detection, walk through walls, one hit kills, super-high jumps etc.
• Obtain any item in the game, even those not normally obtainable (e.g. debug or removed items).
• Access or warp to any level, even those not normally accessible (e.g. test or unused levels).
• Activate debug menus, normally used by programmers when testing and debugging a game. Typically options include cheats, level warping and display of internal game data not normally viewable by the player.
• Download, upload, import and export save games to the internet or storage device.
• Save game state to disk, so it can be restarted from that point even if the game does not support saving.
• Region free operation.
• Bypassing of copy protection for loading of copies/backups on CDR/DVDR or HDD, or homebrew software.

Criticisms

Datel, the maker of Action Replay, has received several criticisms from the gaming world over its products. One of the most frequent complaints is the so-called "planned obsolescence" where codes for a just-released game require the most recent version of the cheat software.

Datel as of now^{[citation needed]} has encrypted the codes on the Action Replay for PS2, GC and GBA; this was meant to stop hackers from translating its codes for use in other cheating devices, but it prevents users from making their own codes for their games. It also prevents the creation of codes using a template. There is, however, a program called 'GCNCrypt' that decrypts and encrypts Action Replay codes for the Nintendo GameCube, making editing and hacking of codes possible. Cheat codes normally involve a memory address, a value, and sometimes a trigger that says when the code is activated (always on, on at the start, on after a certain button press); because of this, for some games it is possible to create a code template, and derive hundreds of codes by modifying the values. For example, in a role-playing game, one can use a code template and a table of values to create a code that will give any character, any piece of equipment in the game. By encrypting the codes, it is not possible to use such a template, and any code must be created and distributed by Datel; because of the sheer number of codes that can be created in this fashion, it is not plausible for Datel to release a list of codes with this versatility. A new Action Replay for the DS, which allows cheat codes (the previous Action Replay only managed game saves), uses unencrypted codes, and has a trainer toolkit available that allows users to create their own codes.

The PS2 Action Replay version occasionally corrupts the memory cards, leaving corrupt files on the card that cannot be deleted by the PS2. The Action Replay can, however, fix the memory card by formatting it, but the corrupted data cannot be restored.

Action Replay codes allow access to game features not normally available to players. One notorious example is the "Hot Coffee" mod for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas which allowed users to access an incomplete simulation of sexual intercourse that was removed from the game before release, but for which code remained in the game. Rockstar Games, the creators of the game, came under heavy criticism for releasing the game with the code in it, despite it not normally being accessible, which was soon patched by Rockstar.

Cheating in online games is also usually frowned upon, with game companies making efforts to prevent and detect it. However, with an Action Replay it is possible to cheat without being detected, or in a game for which there is normally no way to cheat. Examples include Phantasy Star Online for the Dreamcast, in which it was possible to manufacture items using an Action Replay in the offline mode, and then carry them over to the online mode undetectably. There was no way to determine if the item had been manufactured or legitimately won. Of course, it is also possible for the Action Replay to disable anti-cheating code or otherwise prevent detection, however since most modern versions only allow codes to be created by Datel and they have so far not taken this route, there are no such --- for current generation systems.

Other criticisms include the loss of data and or progress when using Action Replay. Entering an inappropriate or wrong code may not cause a noticeable loss in the area of play, however the data error takes effect after the Action Replay is removed from the users' system.^{[citation needed]}

Versions for computers

• Commodore 64
  • Action Replay
  • Action Replay MK II
  • Action Replay MK III
  • Action Replay MK IV (1988)
  • Action Replay MK V (1989)
  • Action Replay MK VI

• Commodore Amiga
  • Action Replay (A500 cart / A2000 CPU card)
  • Action Replay (A1200 card)
  • Action Replay MK II (A500 cart / A2000 CPU card)
  • Action Replay MK III (A500 cart / A2000 CPU card) (1991)

• PC
  • Action Replay PC (ISA card) for DOS (1994)
  • Action Replay PC for Windows 95/98 (1998)

The ISA based Action Replay needed memory resident drivers for real and protected mode. The card had a grabber, trainer and a slowdown feature. It could also interrupt the current game or save it to disk (freezer).

Models running firmware 4.0 and beyond use EEPROM instead of ROM and thus are upgradable ^[1]

In December 1998 Datel released a version for Windows 95/98.^[2]

Versions for video game consoles

Third generation

• Nintendo Entertainment System
  • Pro Action Replay
• Sega Master System
  • Pro Action Replay

Fourth generation

• Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis
  • Action Replay
  • Pro Action Replay
  • Pro Action Replay MK2
  • Pro CDX (Action Replay) for the Mega-CD
• Super Nintendo Entertainment System
  • Pro Action Replay
  • Pro Action Replay MK2
  • Pro Action Replay MK3

Fifth generation

• Sega Saturn
  • Pro Action Replay
  • Pro Action Replay 4M [with 4MB Ram]
  • Pro Action Replay 4M Plus [Same as the 4M, but with manual Choose of the needed Ram]
• PlayStation
  • Action Replay (1995)
  • Pro Action Replay (1996)
  • Action Replay CDX (1997)
  • Action Replay 2 V2 (2001) [As Bonus Disc With PS2 Action Replay 2 V2]
  • Equalizer
  • Equalizer CDX
  • Equalizer Xtreme
• Nintendo 64
  • Action Replay
  • Action Replay Professional (1999)
  • Equalizer

Sixth generation

• Dreamcast
  • Action Replay CDX (2000)
  • Equalizer Xtreme
• PlayStation 2
  • Action Replay 2 (2000)
  • Action Replay 2 V2 (2001)
  • Action Replay MAX (2003)
  • Action Replay MAX EVO (2004)
  • Action Replay MAX EVO (2009)
• Xbox
  • Action Replay (2002)
  • Action Replay MAX
• Nintendo GameCube
  • Action Replay (2003) [Note: The latest Wii firmware blocks this on Wii consoles running in GameCube mode.]
  • Action Replay MAX (200X)
  • Action Replay (2006, works on Wii)

Seventh generation

• Wii
  • Action Replay Powersaves including 512MB or 1GB SD card (July 2007)
• Xbox 360
  • Action Replay MAX 360Powersaves (July 2009)

Versions for handheld consoles

• Sega Game Gear
  • Pro Action Replay
• Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Color
  • Pro Action Replay
  • Action Replay Professional (1997)
  • Action Replay Pro (1999)
  • Action Replay Online (2000)
  • Action Replay Xtreme (2001)
• Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Advance SP, Game Boy Micro
  • Action Replay GBX (November 2001)
  • Action Replay (2003)
  • Action Replay MAX (2004)
  • Action Replay MAX DUO (March 2005)
• Nintendo DS, Nintendo DS Lite
  • Action Replay MAX DUO (March 2005)
  • Action Replay DS (July 2006) [Last firmware v1.71, games released later are not compatible]
    • NDS Trainer Toolkit (February 2007) [available only online] Toolkit Manual
  • Action Replay DS Media Edition (September 2008) [available only online]
  • Action Replay DS EZ (February 2009)
• Nintendo DSi, Nintendo DSi XL
  • Action Replay DSi (October 2009); Later software updates to the DSi included anti-piracy and anti-hacking software that will disable the console when an Action Replay is used, thus rendering the Action Replay useless for those that have been updated.
• PlayStation Portable
  • Action Replay MAX including 64MB Memory Stick (August 2005) [Powersaves only]
  • Action Replay for PSP including 64MB or 1GB Memory Stick [Powersaves only]
  • Action Replay PSP including 1GB Memory Stick (October 2008)
  • Action Replay PSP Online (December 2009)

See also

• GameShark
• Game Genie
• Multiface
• Code Breaker
• Xploder

References

1. ^ "README included in ZIP archive for PC". 2009-12-11. http://web.archive.org/web/19970607055334/www.datel.co.uk/pc.htm. Retrieved 2009-12-11. 
2. ^ "statement retrieved from Archive.org". 2009-12-11. http://web.archive.org/web/19990218081023/www.datel.co.uk/pc.htm. Retrieved 2009-12-11. 

External links

• Official Action Replay website