Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A. Older than the web and hidden in more websites than any other sequence of buttons; the man who invented it died in 2020 and it was typed at his memorial.
I remember exactly where I was when Konami Code stopped being funny: a work meeting, 2009 or thereabouts, when the most senior person in the room used it correctly. Silence. Then everyone carried on.
There was a version of Konami Code that went round my family group chat about a decade late, presented as new. I did not correct anyone. It was, for them, new, and that has to count for something.
The tell with Konami Code is who is saying it. In 1988 it marked you as early. By 2009 it marked you as present. After that it marked you as someone who had not checked recently.
Best short gloss I have heard for Konami Code: the thing everyone knew about for about eighteen months and then agreed, without discussing it, not to bring up again.
Evidence, with a photograph: a dentist's appointment-reminder text, 8 January. Konami Code appearing as a menu option. Someone in a meeting proposed this and nobody stopped them.
Evidence, with a photograph: a council recycling leaflet, 2 February. Konami Code appearing as a menu option. Someone in a meeting proposed this and nobody stopped them.
I remember Konami Code as the thing that made me realise other people were online at the same time as me. It was everywhere at once, on the same day, and that was new.
What does it mean? Write it the way you would say it out loud.
