[PS1] GameGenius Ver 5.0

It's a cheat thing, a rebranded Caetla bootleg which requires a proprietary dongle.
Unlike the "Game Wizard Plus" (that is based on an old Caetla version, with less APIs and less supported code types), the "GameGenius" is based on Caetla 0.32 or 0.33. Slide codes of type B are supported...
The original disc, like a lame HK silver, did not boot without a modchip and was authored with a general purpose software (no proper license sectors, and joliet file system lol)...
On a side note, it has no cdStop system in the main menu.

Scans on the spoiler :

Spoiler

Disc image download : GameGenius.rar

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My modified one doesn't require the proprietary dongle to run; and it's read-only, since I didn't manage to make it write to a normal memory card. The patches are :
- Loads a built-in code list and goes to the main menu if the dongle wasn't found
- PAL/NTSC is set according to your console region
- The Chinese texts were translated to Japanese (using the actual texts from a legit Caetla rom)
- The graphic frame buffer viewer and the configuration modules were restored (cosmetic and useless)
- The CD-ROM module was replaced by the one from Caetla 0.38
- New hotkeys (Select+R1) to flush the built-in code list and restore the add/delete/edit/save operations, from the main menu [CAUTION to not wipe the codelist of your dongle with this thing !]
- The DVS splashscreen was removed and the main menu was modified to look more like Caetla :

[sorry but I found the original Game Genius menu was too much fugly...]

Although I haven't yet made a disc for just the hacked GameGenius and nothing else, it's in this compilation : CHEAT_ENGINE_COMPILATION.RAR


PS : GameGenius does not work in the PS2 nor in most of the emulators.

 

I have one of these and always wondered what the point of it was.
What IS the point?

 

It was originally a homebrew BIOS replacement for the GameShark/Action Replay cartridge called Caetla. Used for development purpose (uploading EXEs/VAGs/objects to the PS, remote debugging...).
Long story short : EMS and some other companies "stole" the Caetla code and produced kilotons of cartriges (the trash with random names like "Gold Finger", "Game Hunter", "Game Enhancer", "Power Replay"...), at first without the cdStop function (selling it as a simple cheat card), then with the cdStop function which lets the owner of their pirate product swap CDRs and play game backups. Caetla was also used as base program for different products, such as emulators, VCD and MP3 cards...

The point of the GameGenius is to use the cheat code function of Caetla with a CD and a dongle. Because the SCPH-900X and the PSone don't have a parallel port.

The point of my hacked GameGenius is to load the codes from the CD, and to use one of the Caetla's function that is PRICELESS in my humble opinion : the "CD-ROM" item. The CD-ROM thing scans the CDROM for XAs and STRs. Having a STR/XA player which does not require any hardware but the console and the gamepad is really cool. Yeah I know we have PC codecs and converters nowadays, but doing this on a real PS1 could be somehow useful...
[thinking of the good old days, recording game FMVs to VHS...]
[thinking of the SEXY Caetla interface...]
[thinking to not blow a parallel port fuse with some crappy hardware]

 

Thanks much krHACKen!
I ordered one of these some time ago, and posted asking for information here while I waited for the package to arrive.
The package never arrived (99% probability local customs fault) and I wasn't willing to order another one.

 

I actually think caetla is fugly and that this one looks better

 

Thanks for the explanation.
I originally got this, hoping it would be an authentic boot disk with a swap option for the later consoles.
It indeed came with a very badly authored CD and requires a chipped console to boot (with the PSX logo broken ).

 

You're welcome gentleman.
Sorry to hear you never received your item. I got mine from the same seller last month.
I'd like to buy another one, so I could write my codes to the dongle and leave the new one untouched (for preservation purpose), but the seller rejected all my offers and ~20€ is a pain in the butt...

So according to the unused "Configuration" module I found in the GameGenius executable and to the quantity of APIs the GameGenius has (60 APIs), it's based on caetla 0.32 or caetla 0.33.
I can't tell whether its cheat engine is better than Xplorer's or not, although it's definitely more reliable than the GS/AR CDX trimmed off engine. And again, this :

... has no price.

One day I'll try to hide the background texture of my Gamars cartridges...



I like the Gamars top logo, the layout of the MC Manager and the UI colours, but the background ruins my eyes.

The interface of the DIY movie card (which I don't have in my stuff) deserves a darker background...

... and they messed up the item box of the main menu because of the top "PLAY VCD" button...

 

Yo. I'm decompiling the CCL MP3 Smart-DJ rom right now. It was built from the same code as the GameGenius thing. There too, they left the unused modules on compile (which are CD-ROM and Configuration in this CCL rom).
Now from the unaltered Frame Buffer Viewer module I found in the CCL rom, I can tell that's based on Caetla 0.33.

 

I have since a lot a Game Hunter, that stop the CD for run backups and use cheat codes
Like this
The one I have:


The CD "exploration" can run STR videos, XA sound and run some executables
like the minigames of Shadow Madness directly.
Codes saved internally, but not too much space.

Also had the the strange Game Booster with crappy GB emulation from cartridge (lol)
And the best one for me, Xplorer FX

 

Even the Game Booster was cloned, by EMS ("GB Hunter"), by Innovation ("Super GB Booster Plus")...