Grand Theft Auto: 10 Coolest Easter Eggs, Secrets & References Explained
8. The Cheat Codes Contain Hidden Messages
As much as achievements have made cheat codes decidedly less fun these days, back in 1997 DMA Design/Rockstar included a host of barmy cheats for players to experiment with in the original GTA.
The cheats were all activated by entering a short message at the menu screen, and while many were nothing more than wilfully provocative phrases - like "suckmyrocket" (pictured above) - several contained overt references to both personnel who worked on the game and pop-culture at large.
Inputting "groovy" to access all weapons was surely a nod to Bruce Campbell's iconic catchphrase from the Evil Dead movies, while obtaining all weapons, armour, and a get out of jail free card required the code "peckinpah", as in iconic filmmaker Sam Peckinpah.
The God-mode cheat was meanwhile unlocked with "hangtheDJ", a lyrical reference to the famous song "Panic" from The Smiths, and in the PC version, entering "iamgarypenn" turned on profanity, namedropping DMA's creative director at the time, Gary Penn.