For many players, GameShark was a rite of passage during the cartridge and early disc era. A small plastic device that promised shortcuts, secrets, and chaos, it sat between the console and the game, letting players unlock hidden characters, skip impossible levels, or simply break the rules for fun.
Cheat code books were dog-eared, handwritten codes were swapped at school, and getting a code wrong meant staring at a frozen screen and starting over. GameShark wasn’t about playing games properly, it was about seeing what else was possible.
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Now GameShark has resurfaced with a new project aimed at preserving the cheat code era and reviving the brand as an active business. A Kickstarter campaign has been launched for GameShark: The Complete Cheat Code Compendium, a collectors book paired with a digital archive designed to document decades of game cheats, tips, and maps.
The project is being led by Todd Hays, the original creator of GameShark. The campaign is intended as both a historical record and the starting point for new GameShark products.
The physical book is presented as a curated collection of cheat codes and related material from across multiple gaming generations. Alongside that will be a digital archive that expands on that content and will grow over time.
The digital tiers of the campaign focus on building what is described as a living archive which will include cheats, maps, tips, and walkthroughs that can be updated and expanded as new material is added.
GameShark RetroShark
That archive will also be the foundation for RetroShark, a planned GameShark product that will provide real-time access to cheats and reference material while playing classic games. The idea is for RetroShark to work alongside supported emulator setups rather than as a standalone reference.
If the campaign is successful, the plan is to restart GameShark Labs as an active development arm and allow work to continue on RetroShark.
RetroShark is described as the first official GameShark peripheral in more than 20 years and will be a return to hardware and software tied directly to gameplay, rather than just reference material.
There are further ambitions for the GameShark brand. These include comic books, game modding marketplaces, and a platform designed as a safe space for content creators.
According to GameShark, the long-term aim is to reconnect with players who grew up using cheat devices while also introducing the brand to a new generation of retro game fans.
What do you think about GameShark returning in this way? Let us know in the comments.
