The Konami Code is one of the longest-running inside references amongst both gamers and coders, acting as something of a shibboleth for a certain kind of nerd. Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A. I never owned a Nintendo Entertainment System, didn't care about most Konami games, and was never really into either that gaming scene or those aspects of programming culture, and yet I still knew the code by heart, like a lot of folks my age.

So it was truly a delight to see the excellent Displaced Gamers channel document the code behind the Konami code, all the way down to the bytecode level. It's a brilliantly clear explanation of some very dense code, masterfully explained. This video also acts as a charming introduction to the current state of video game emulation, which has advanced to the state of being able to programmatically manipulate games in the middle of play, a delightful reminder that we are living in the future that the kids who played these games must have been daydreaming about.

Set aside a few minutes where you can focus, and do give it a watch.