The tool that let a generation bend games to its will.

01 · The legend that changed gaming

From the late ’90s into the early 2000s, GameShark became shorthand for curiosity and control: the after-market key that turned a finished game back into a playground. Todd Hays founded STD Entertainment in 1991, the company behind the InterAct accessory line (the controllers, memory cards, and programmable pads a whole generation grew up holding). In January 1996 InterAct brought GameShark, built by the UK’s Datel, to American players on Saturn and PlayStation, and made it a household name.

GameShark Labs was founded by Todd Hays, whose company brought GameShark to American players in 1996. We’re building for the same players now.

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  The Nintendo 64 GameShark (1997), the pass-through cartridge that let a generation rewrite the rules.

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  The Handy Boy — STD's all-in-one Game Boy add-on: screen magnifier, fold-out stereo speakers, and a joystick.

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  The SN ProgramPad (InterAct SV-337) — a programmable, auto-fire SNES controller, in-box.

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  SharkPad Pro 64² — the clear N64 controller, bundled with the Bonus TremorPak.

04 · Where it’s going

• About GameShark Labs — what we’re building now: a vault, a device, and a book.
• Our approach to AI — where the classics meet what comes next.

05 · About the original hardware

People still write to us holding a cartridge from the original era, asking for a repair, a replacement, or their saved codes back. To be straightforward: GameShark Labs carries the brand forward, but not the old service desk. We don’t manufacture, repair, or service the cheat devices from the InterAct and Mad Catz years, and we can’t look up a serial number, swap a unit, or restore the codes stored on one. The last GameShark-branded hardware shipped in 2012.

If it’s the codes you’re after rather than the device, that part we can help with — it’s most of what we’re rebuilding. For a device you own, the retro-hardware preservation community is the better first stop.