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

Kazuhisa Hashimoto, creator of the Konami Code, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 79.

Hashimoto joined Konami in 1983. In 1986, he took over the port of the arcade hit called Gradius on NES. During the tests, Hashimoto couldn’t play the game properly because of its high difficulty, so he created the so-called “Konami Code”: ↑, ↑, ↓, ↓, ←, →, B, A, Start.

Hashimoto picked out that combination because it’s easy to remember but it’s unlikely to be accidentally entered. In Gradius for NES, the cheat opened up all the amplifications. The code migrated to the Contra series, eventually became the hallmark of Konami games and then became a classic that many other projects use.

For example, the Konami Code opens the highest level of complexity in BioShock Infinite and changes the music in the main menu in Rocket League.

Thanks to the Konami Code, Hashimoto made his mark on video game history.