Saying a secret code to Amazon Echo unlocks Super Alexa Mode with hidden meaning
There's a secret mode hiding in your Amazon Echo and it can only be unlocked by using a famous cheat code.
If you're an avid gamer, you'll know that cheat codes can unlock certain abilities or modes that you wouldn't have known about otherwise.
From making the game a little less challenging by granting your character extra powerups or lives, to even to just make the game more entertaining, cheat codes unlock a series of helpful options.
Well, the fun doesn't stop at gaming - secret cheat codes can also be said to your Amazon Echo to unlock a hidden Alexa feature - granting you what's known as 'Super Alexa Mode'.
Advert
Depending on your Echo device, you'll either need to type the code or speak it aloud.
One the code is activated, Alexa will respond with: "Super Alexa Mode activated. Starting reactors – online. Enabling advanced systems – online. Raising doners. Errors. Dongers missing. Aborting."
Pretty intense stuff.
Depending on whether your Echo model is voice-only or has a screen, this message will either appear on display or read out as an audio message.
So, what code unlocks this? It's as follows: "Alexa: up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, start."
The famous code is known as the Konami code, and was first introduced by a man named Kazuhisa Hashimoto.
It dates all the way back to its first use in Konami 1986's release of Gradius for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).
Typing in the code on the Nintendo gamepad would unlock certain abilities and game modes.
The Konami code became more recently dubbed as the Contra code - when it gained fame for granting 30 extra lives in the NES version of Contra.
Since then, it's become a big hit across gaming culture worldwide, even finding its way into popular classics such as Tetris and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
More recently, big-title games such as Rocket League, Dead by Daylight, and Just Dance 3 also use the Konami code to unlock hidden features and modes.
Unfortunately, Super Alexa Mode doesn't actually unlock any special features, just an amusing response to show family and friends if they don't know about it.
The Konami code has also been featured in other devices besides Amazon's Echo, such as Google Assistant and Siri.