Update []:
An earlier version of this article contained an error stating that the teams were previously playable via an alternative. This has since been pointed out by VGMuseum on BlueSky as incorrect, who specified that you could only play against teams using the original method. We apologize for the error.
Original Story []: You'd think, after being around for almost three decades, we'd have already unlocked all the mysteries associated with the 1996 SNES game Ken Griffey, Jr.'s Winning Run.
But recently, thanks to The Cutting Room Floor and one of their contributors, TakuikaNinja, a collection of previously unknown cheat codes has now come to light, offering a way for players to play as the game's secret teams, including the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the Arizona Diamondbacks, Team Nintendo, and Team Nintendo 64.
In the past, players could play against these teams, but would need to win an MLB season, use the code A, B, X, Y, Up, Down, Select on the title screen to enable a hidden games menu, and then enter X, Up, A, Right, B, Down, Y, Left, and Select to unlock the hidden opponents. TakuikaNinja, however, has now found a way to unlock the four teams as playable, without needing any pre-existing saved data (or cheat devices), marking a major new discovery and bringing the end to a mystery related to one of the game's screens, which said "It is possible to play as one of the hidden teams, but only if you Play Hard'."
The Cutting Room Floor describes the process as follows:
- Set up a 2P or exhibition match.
- On the pre-match screen with the team logos displayed over the batting view, hold either the L or R shoulder button while inputting one of the following codes: Tampa Bay Devil Rays (X, X, X, Select), the Arizona Diamondbacks (A, A, A, Select), Team Nintendo (B, B, B, Select), and Team Nintendo 64 (Y, Y, Y, Select).
- The game should play a sound, do a fade transition, and then switch to the hidden team.
- Repeat for controller 2 as desired.
-Play ball!
The lineups for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Arizona Diamondbacks are pretty self-explanatory, being modelled after the two expansion teams, which would debut in the MLB in 1998, albeit with fictional players. The Nintendo teams, on the other hand, require a little more explanation.
The first Nintendo team, for instance, is composed of Nintendo of America staff and includes the then-Nintendo chairman Howard Lincoln, the Nintendo of America president Minoru Arakawa, localiser Dan Owsen, head of game development Ken Lobb (whose name famously inspired one of the most infamous weapons in GoldenEye 007), and the former NOA producer Henry Sterchi, among others.
The second Nintendo team, Team Nintendo 64, meanwhile, is composed of developers from Rare and features Banjo Kazooie voice actor Chris Sutherland, GoldenEye 007 legend David Doak, Diddy Kong designer Kev Bayliss, and more.