I remember when I was younger, there were rumors of arcade games that if you entered a "secret code", you would be granted a free game.
Now I understand that this runs counter to the idea of arcades (why have an arcade machine if you're not going to earn money from it?), but I was wondering if there was any truth to the rumors. Maybe a disgruntled programmer snuck in a backdoor in one of the games?
Best Answer
I never seen confirmation that any of those rumors about codes were true. There is a setting called "Free Play" on most arcades that the owner can enable, however, which involves opening the case itself. This may have been what started the rumors.
EDIT: That's not to say that some games didn't have a glitch that allowed free play to become available without opening the cabinet. This sometimes involved actions like physically turning the machine off, then rebooting it again when it was at a certain point in the startup sequence.