The 2002 PS1 title E.T.: Interplanetary Mission was never likely to be remembered for its quality.
Presumably created to capitalise on the cinematic re-release of the original 1982 movie, which took place in the same year, Interplanetary Mission is the very definition of a low-effort movie tie-in – apart from one secret that has apparently remained hidden until now.
Bo Bayles, an expert on finding cool stuff in old video games, has discovered that when you input a cheat code into Interplanetary Mission, you get a rather nasty message directed at the late terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.
It's important to remember that, while 9/11 naturally remains a sensitive topic for pretty much everyone in 2025, back in 2002, the wounds were much fresher – which is presumably why one of the development staff felt compelled to include such a strong message in a video game aimed at children.
You can find the full instructions on how to unlock it here, and it's present in both the NTSC-U and PAL versions of the game, reports Bayles.
Bayles also discovered a cheat which grants the player 100 lives and a hidden model editing screen, all of which were unearthed by reverse-engineering the game's code.