Amazon Alexa owners are just realising little-known ‘super mode’ voice command that requires a secret code
ALEXA users may not realize that their smart speaker has a hidden “Super” mode.
And to unlock, you need a secret code.
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To use it, you must first say, “Alexa, turn on super mode.”
Alexa replies, “Access to Super Alexa mode is severely restricted.”
“I can only activate it if you give me the right code.”
The code in question is: Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start.
The feature is actually just a special, playful Easter egg and doesn’t make your Alexa device do anything out of the ordinary.
But it’s still a lot of fun.
It’s all a nod to the famous Konami Code, a cheat code used in many of the game publisher’s early titles.
Alexa will be back with some nostalgic arcade game sounds.
And it responds with something like, “Super Alexa mode enabled. starting reactors, online; activation of advanced systems, online; breed donger, bug; missing dongers, miscarriages”.
What is the Konami Code?
The Konami code was first used in the 1986 scroll shooter Gradius.
Japanese video game developer Kazuhisa Hashimoto created it while working on a port of the game from arcade to NES.
The Konami Code gained notoriety with the release of Contra on the NES in 1988, which gave players 30 extra lives.
It was also called “Contra Code” and “30 Lives Code”.
What is Alexa?
If you’ve never heard of Alexa, here’s what you should know:
- Alexa is an “intelligent” personal assistant from Amazon.
- You’ll find it on several different devices, including Amazon’s Echo speakers.
- Alexa responds to voice commands and can talk to you.
- It can perform thousands of different tasks, including notifying you about the news or the weather.
- But more complex things can also be done, such as ordering a pizza or arranging a pickup with an Uber taxi.
- To activate Alexa, you need to say “Alexa” to an Amazon Echo speaker.
- Since Alexa is based on artificial intelligence, it is only getting smarter.
- Alexa will also get used to your voice better over time and better understand what you want her to do.
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