14 'Genius' Video Game Features That Were Total Accidents

5. The 'Konami Code'

What you think: Konami's now-iconic cheat code was something the various teams decided on intentionally implementing across their many departments, throwing it into everything from Castlevania to Metal Gear Solid, Contra to Dance Dance Revolution.

What really happened: Its simplistic nature was actually to help out fumbling tester Kazuhisa Hashimoto as he attempted to get through 1986 side-scrolling blaster, Gradius.

Hashimoto put the code in himself to grant instant access to the title's full list of power-ups right from the off, literally because his own game was proving too hard. Nearing the release date, Gradius went gold and was being shipped to retail - only for Kazuhisa to remember he'd left the code in the final build of the game.

Naturally, consumers discovered it, but thanks to cheats back in the day being things that were shared with love and hilarity (not charged for, like in 2015), Konami's staff decided to embrace the cultural shift, implementing it in nearly all their games going forward.