The Author's Experience with Action Replay for PCs
As I delved deeper into my exploration of retro technology and gaming, I stumbled upon the Action Replay for PCs. This device promised to unlock various cheats and features for popular games, but unfortunately, my experience was marred by disappointment and frustration. The first issue I encountered was with the game Age of Empires, which only provided a single cheat code for unlimited resources. However, this code did not work as intended, allowing me to place buildings and spawn units without any issues, but still eating into my resources when performing other actions such as upgrading technology or advancing ages.
The built-in cheat codes that can be typed directly into the game's menus were far superior to what the Action Replay had to offer. It seemed that the developers of the Action Replay for PCs had not taken into account the fact that many PC games already came with their own set of cheat codes and customization options, making the Action Replay redundant and unnecessary. I couldn't help but wonder who this device was intended for - someone who was deeply invested in modifying their PC games and willing to spend money on a copy-protected little dongle? The idea seemed absurd, especially when one considers that a keyboard can perform many built-in commands and there are numerous free software options available that don't rely on such a restrictive format.
I decided to investigate further and looked through the archives of the old Datel website, which revealed that the UK version of the Action Replay was strictly designed for UK versions of PC games. This explained why my North American releases were not functioning properly, but it still left me feeling underwhelmed by the lack of cheats in general. Even with all updates applied, the Action Replay for PCs did not come with a plethora of cheat codes - most PC games had their own better options available through simple modifications or typing in cheat codes.
The device itself seemed to rely heavily on trainer software to enable its supposed cheats, and even then, it required a parallel port dongle as a form of copy protection. This made the entire kit feel like an unnecessary hassle. I couldn't shake off the feeling that the Action Replay for PCs was more trouble than it was worth. In contrast, the older version of the Action Replay, which came in the form of an ISA card, seemed to offer more features and capabilities - including screenshots and memory management.
In conclusion, my experience with the Action Replay for PCs was a resounding disappointment. The device failed to deliver on its promises, and I couldn't help but wonder who it was intended for. If you have any experience with this device or the older versions, please feel free to share your insights - I'd be curious to hear about it.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enGreetings and welcome to LGR Oddware, wherewe're taking a look at hardware and softwarethere's odd, forgotten, and obsolete.And this little thing right here, this isthe Datel Action Replay for Windows 95.Yeah, this is a PC compatible cheat device,and it's not just a device it comes with awhole package of stuff we're gonna be takinga look at.But yeah this is “the ultimate cheat system”for PCs, oddly enough.Kind of similar in theory to the stuff thatyou would see especially for consoles backin the 1990's, but this one plugs into yourprinter port of all things.And yeah, let's just see what all this does.So this is the Datel PC Action Replay forWindows 95, which sold for £29 or about 40US dollars when it hit store shelves in Decemberof 1998.“Action Replay: Play to win, never to lose!”“Extra characters, extra vehicles, infinitelives and health!”Yeah all these cheat devices promised thesame things back in the day, whether it wasAction Replay, GameShark, Game Genie, BlazeXploder, or whatever else.I dunno about you though, but I always associatecheating hardware with consoles, not computers.After all, game consoles are typically prettyclosed down and don’t have access to modsor trainer programs.But with PCs, I mean, modifying games to workhow you want them to is practically a way of life.So when I saw that Datel made Action Replaykits for personal computers I was instantly intrigued.Turns out these devices go way back, withsome of their first products being for theCommodore 64 and Amiga systems during themid-1980s.Then in the first half of the ‘90s a coupleof PC-compatible devices were released, includingthe PC Comms Link Package: a half-size ISAcard interface that allowed you to connectyour Sega Saturn or PlayStation Action Replayto a PC and directly address your console’s memory.Followed by the first PC Action Replay, consistingof another ISA card, software for MS-DOS,and a little breakout box they called thefreezer paddle, allowing you to activate cheats,take screenshots, and enable slow motion.That brings us to our 1998 version of thePC Action Replay, updated for Windows 95 and98, and replacing the internal 8-bit ISA cardwith an external dongle that plugs into the parallel port.It also comes with the PC Action Replay softwareitself on a single CD-ROM, and even a freakin’ VHS tape.Hehe, yeah this is pretty much the entirereason the box is as big as it is, becauseotherwise all you get is the CD and that littleparallel port device.Speaking of which, what is that thing anyway?Is it even necessary?I mean, just going into this project I assumedthat the software would do most of the work,acting as a kind of paid-for trainer programthat’s updated online every so often.And according to the old Datel website that’skinda what it looks like, with patches anddownloadable cheat code lists to update functionalityfor the latest games.So yeah, I had to open it up and see what’sinside.Which, it turns out is not much.You get the expected resistors and tracesto pass-through a parallel device, usuallya printer or external storage.But there’s also a PIC 12C508 chip, interesting.I’ve seen these used as mod chips for consoleslike the original PlayStation, but they canbe programmed to do all sorts of things soas for what exactly it’s doing to a Windows 9x PC?Well, let’s go ahead and see what we canfind out.But first, I had to try that VHS tape.Ahh I was afraid of that.Being that this is the UK version the tapeis in PAL format, so it’s not only playingtoo fast but my NTSC VCR and TV doesn’tknow what to do with the visuals either.While there was also a North American versionrebadged and sold under the GameShark brand,I haven’t been able to find one of thoseyet.Thankfully though, the CD-ROM comes with digitized,albeit highly compressed, video files of what’s on the tape.So let’s take a moment to enjoy the late‘90s radicalness!-”Action Replay is the ultimate game enhancer for the PC.”-”Now you can rewrite the rules.Action Replay takes the””latest and greatestbrain-busting games and blows them apart.”-”If you’ve experience the humiliationof crashing out at level 4”“of your favorite action-adventure game, then Action Replay”“is the only tool you’ll ever need to even the odds.”Yeah we’ll see about that.Let’s go ahead and get to cheatin’ likea dirty cheater!We’ll just get the dongle plugged into theparallel port on the back of the Lazy GreenGiant running Windows 98, and get the softwareinstalled and ready to go.And now it’s time for yet more high-energynonsense in compressed video form.Yeah that just keepsgoing for a while, so let’s move onto the main menu.We’ll get to the cheats in a moment, butreal quick here I was kinda surprised to seean options menu with such granular detailsettings.It uses animated 3D transitions between menus,customizable down to the individual number of frames.Anyway onto the cheats menu itself, whichuh. Is a lot smaller than I thought it’d be.Compared to the number of games that oftencame with the console Action Replays, I figuredyou’d get more than 20 on PC. Nope!Though you could download more from the websitetwenty years ago, but even then they onlyadded about another dozen titles from whatI could find on the Wayback Machine.And considering how few codes are actuallyincluded for many of these titles?Yeah the only way I can describe this is underwhelming.Ah well, let’s just try Quake 2 here, turningon all the infinite ammo cheats.The starting pistol’s ammo is unlimitedalready, so lemme play ahead here till weget to the machine gun.Hrm, well the ammo isstill counting down.Annnnd yep, I’m out of ammo.So much for Action Replay being the only cheattool I’ll ever need.Exiting the game you can see a trainer programopen that shows every cheat is activated,but it seems it’s entirely dependent onthe version of the game you have.Guess I’m using a different version of Quake2 than it expected so yeah, that’s a problem.Again the downloadable cheat updates couldaddress this, but it’s still a notable limitationcompared to consoles at least in the 90s wheregames usually didn’t change after release.On the other hand, this is a PC game, so youcan just open the command console and typein your own dang cheats.Aw yeah, all the weapons and infinite ammo,no Action Replay required.Let’s move on though and try Tomb Raider 2which also has infinite ammo cheats that can be enabled. In theory.Again the pistol ammo is unlimited by default,but the shotgun isn’t so let’s try that.Welp. Okay maybe the infinite health cheat works, let’s go up against the first tiger and see.Yeeeaaah.Another case where it seems the version I’mplaying is incompatible.Which is too bad because the game doesn’thave any cheats you can just type in thatI’m aware of, instead relying on the classicmethod of performing obscure sets of movesto unlock stuff.Like stepping back and forth, spinning aroundthree times, and jumping backwards while holdinga flare, which unlocks every weapon in thegame.Yeah, suck it tiger, howdo you like that? No thanks to the Action Replay.All right, let’s give the original Age ofEmpires a shot this time, which the ActionReplay only provides a single cheat for: unlimitedresources.Should be simple enough right?And eh, you’d think.I mean, it kind of works, but only for placingbuildings and spawning units.Anything else that requires resources, likeupgrading technology or advancing ages, willstill eat into your resources as usual.And once again, the built-in cheat codes typedinto the chat window are all way better thanwhat the Action Replay provides anyway.Can you win the game using nuclear sportscars with the Action Replay? I think not.So even if it did work with this version ofthe game, who cares?What it comes with is much better.Okay, one more game here even though I don’thave much hope for it: Forsaken.Again it comes with cheats for unlimited thingslike ammo and time.Again, it doesn’t work whatsoever.And again, the codes you can just type intothe menus without the Action Replay are allway better than what the Action Replay comeswith.So what’s going on?I mean I assume this thing worked at somepoint.Well yeah, so I have a theory.After looking through the archives of theold Datel website, it seems that the UK versionof the PC Action Replay is strictly meantfor UK versions of these games.Which is probably why there was that PC GameSharkreleased here in the US with its own distinctset of cheats.So yeah, I guess it’s not surprising thatmy North American releases aren’t workingproperly, but it’s still quite the disappointmentregardless.There’s just the lack of cheats in general.It doesn’t come with very many, even withall the updates applied, and since most PCgames had their own, better codes you couldtype in or access through simple modifications?The PC Action Replay just seems silly.Oh and in case you’re wondering, the ActionReplay application does actually look forthe parallel port dongle, and mine’s workingfine.If it’s unplugged or there’s some problemwith it, the cheat software will refuse towork or even open up a game at all.Now, I’m still not 100% certain that thedongle is necessary for enabling the cheatsthemselves since it seems to be completelyrelying on trainer software to do that.But it is required as a form of copy protection,which just makes this entire kit all the more irksome to use.Well that's about it for the Action Replayfor PCs, at least this one.I think that the other one, the older one,like the full ISA card version might havebeen a little more useful than this.Just because you know, it did things likescreenshots and not fall over on my table.And it had a memory manager and all sortsof extra things, you know, that little boxthat came out of the back. But,this, I mean. The more I thought about it the more I just don't know exactly who this was targeted towards.Like at first I thought well, maybe this isfor people that just want to play their PCgames and don't know that they can just typethem in like cheat codes or use the dev consoleor command line stuff or anything like that.I don't know, maybe this is just me assuminghere.But if somebody is into PC games enough thatthey want to, you know, modify them to somedegree with software and you know cheat andadd things to them.And they're willing to spend 30 pounds onsomething, plug this into there and get itworking and get the software going.And use a trainer and then go on the internetto download stuff to update it.It just, it boggles my mind who this is for.It doesn't make sense on a PC when you havea keyboard that can do all sorts of thingsfor built-in commands.And then you also have all sorts of othersoftware that's for free and doesn't relyon a copy protected little dongle thing!Anyway, if you had any experience with thisback in the day do please let me know, I'd be curious.Or even the older ones because I -- again,I think those might be a little more useful.And if you enjoyed this episode of LGR Oddwarethen thanks!I'm sure you'd find some other stuff enjoyablethat I've made in the past on this seriesand many others that I have going on LGR.It's pretty much all focused on retro techand computers and games and stuff, so if that'syour thing then you're in the right place.Regardless though, thank you very much for watching LGR!\n"
