Gameshark versions

[codehaxter]

I discovered that my gameshark 2 V1.3, shows on the memory card as GS 2 V5? and so I put in a gameshark 2 V 3.3, and it says my gameshark 2 v 1.3 on the disk is older, Really, anothe one says Xploder. who came first? Gameshark 2 V 1.3 is RAW coding only, correct?

[Pyriel]

This is for PS2, correct? Oldest to newest:

1. GameShark Version 1, based on Datel Action Replay Version 1 (Used AR V1 encryption)
2. GameShark Version 2, based on Datel Action Replay Version 2 (Used AR V2 encryption, DEADFACE)
3. GameShark Version 3, based on Xploder around version 2-3. It's difficult to pin that down exactly. It's pretty much a CodeBreaker version 6.x with a stupid Shark animation. What happened here is that Interact sold the trademark to MadCatz, and Datel decided to just market the Action Replay software in the US as Action Replay and sell it themselves. In need of software, MadCatz made a deal with Fire International, the people who make Xploder in Europe, and until that point had been selling it as CodeBreaker in the US through a company called Pelican. Fire jumped at the chance to sell their product under a popular trademark. Fire seems to make changes to the Xploder for MadCatz, so the software isn't strictly a rebranding like the Datel stuff was. That's why it's hard to correlate GameShark and Xploder versions. (Used GameShark V3 encryption, which allows raw codes)
4. GameShark Version 4, based on Xploder roughly version 3. (Used GameShark V3 encryption)
5. GameShark Version 5, based on Xploder 4. (Used GameShark V3 encryption, also added a disc ID checksum that didn't work)
6. GameShark Cheat Codes Version 1.0. Not really any Xploder version I know of. Now's where it gets really stupid. They added two words to the name and restarted the version number at 1.0 just to confuse the hell out of people. They also rewrote the cheat engine to be crappier, so it didn't work with a fair number of games, and certain codes wouldn't work right. I'm collapsing this entry because after this, they just went in small increments to version 1.3 that I recall (might have gone to 1.4 or 1.5 before calling it quits). The changes were fairly minimal, and mostly geared toward cleaning up the mess they'd made.

I don't recall if any of them were unencrypted/raw codes only. It wasn't that way up to version 5, but when they restarted the numbering, it was two years or so after the PS3 came out, and nobody had any need for another GameShark. Especially not one that didn't actually work. I had heard that they did away with encryption on it, but that was a rumor that circulated about version 5 too. Then again version 5 was also rumored to not accept unencrypted codes.

There may have been some minor versions mixed before they restarted the numbering, but any of those were released without fanfare, and would have represented minimal changes. In all likelihood if you check the software version on those and it's 1.1 or something, it's still the only version 1 that was released commercially.

[MIR]

Fix a spelling error that was eating me in the title.

[codehaxter]

Interesting, what I know is that I have a gameshark 2 V 1.3, and it is particular about having mastercodes entered into it, that actually function correctly in a game, it may glow when you select the cheats, but may not work in actual game play. that's with me entering in my own codes. they all seem to start with a 9 or a F, an are one line of code, mostly....

[Pyriel]

If it's 1.3 and it takes 9 type master codes, it's got to be the GameShark Cheat Codes version, which jives with the save file identifying as V5. They probably never changed any of the identifiers used in saves, if they didn't change the format at all.

[codehaxter]

apparently not, that's what it shows as V5 on the save file. it is a 1.3 version I have. it's strange converting codes or entering ones in to this one, it will accept a master, and cheat code but in the game, no effect...strange......

[Pyriel]

There's a really awful bug that was in Version 5, that may never have been remedied. I'm pretty sure it was responsible for all the rumors about its inability to accept raw codes and encrypted codes in turns. What happens is that if you enter a code, activate it, save, and then immediately start the game, none of the codes are actually active. You have to enter the codes, save, go back into the menu, pick the codes you just entered, and activate them before you boot the game. Then it usually works. And just to be safe, I always say when in doubt, reboot the GameShark and try again before you change anything else.

The software got so buggy around version 4 or 5 that I can't really recommend it. The only redeeming factor it had was that it would accept unencrypted codes where the AR MAX wouldn't. If that was crucial for you, you could tolerate the bugs, you had to buy something retail, and you couldn't find a CodeBreaker, it might be worth it. Otherwise, the hierarchy was CodeBreaker in first place, followed fairly closely by the AR MAX. Depending on the features desired, the AR MAX could actually come out ahead of the CodeBreaker, based mainly on its ability to read USB drives on all PS2 versions. The GameShark is such a distant third it barely registers.

[lee4]

games that will not work with the new GameShark 1.2 or 1.3

The cheat engine used for GameShark version 1.2 and 1.3 was changed from 1.1 and the previous editions. There are a handful of games that will not work with the new 1.2 or 1.3 GameShark programs. So far, these games are:

Champions: Return to Arms
Jak 3
Jak X: Combat Racing
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja
Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
Star Ocean: Til the End of Time
The Godfather
Hot Shots Golf
Soul Calibur 3 (All Characters / Museum / Movies is the only cheat that’s not working)
Burnout Revenge
Tales of Legendia (Not working with any version of GameShark)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07

Gameshark 3, 4, 5 are not buggy

madcatz gameshark v6 (labeled as 1.1, 1.2, 1.3) are buggy due 7 code check

[Pyriel]

I'm not just talking about the cheat engine. I never looked at a version 4, so I don't know if the bugs originated there or in version 5, but I know for a fact that the activation bug, the non-functioning checksum codes, and a handful of other glitches were in version 5. That's on on top of the interfaces being gaudy and clumsy, and the branding being obnoxious as all hell. But yeah, when the Cheat Codes versions came out and started breaking compatibility with games, that was the final nail. You could work around the bugs in version 5, but not knowing if your games would be incompatible for strange and seemingly pointless reasons was intolerable.

[codehaxter]

agreed..........

[teripanglaut]

i'll check my gameshark version 1st

[felicia112]

Oh, please no. I would rather watch Barney & Friends.

slope game