Konami Code Code Unlocks Surprise on Bank of Canada Website
If you needed another reason to love Canadians, we have one for you today. The Bank of Canada has included a secret feature on its website to celebrate the new Canadian $10 dollar bill. This little gem of a secret pays tribute to old school gamers and will put a smile on your face. If you know what the legendary Konami Code is, you’ll be able to unlock the surprise. If you don’t know what it is, don’t worry, we will tell you.
Okay here is what you need to do. Go to the new $10 bill page on the Bank of Canada website and press the following keys:
up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, b, a
Then like magic, the Canadian anthem a starts to play and the screen fills with mini $10 bills. It’s so silly but amazing!
The Bank of Canada unveiled the new $10 on April 10. The re-vamped bill features the faces of Sir John A. Macdonald, Sir George-Étienne Cartier, Canada’s first female member of parliament Agnes Macphail and Canada’s first Indigenous senator James Gladstone or Akay-na-muka—his Blackfoot name. The design also incorporates Inuit and Metis cultural elements: a reproduction of the artwork Owl’s Bouquet by world-renowned Inuit artist Kenojuak Ashevak and the distinctive arrow sash pattern, a symbol of the Métis nation. The $10 note will go into circulation on June 1.
The Konami code was first used in the 1986 release of Gradius for the NES, but is more famous for its presence in classic 2D sidescrolling shoot-em-up Contra, where it was sometimes referred to as the “Contra Code” and the “30 Lives Code.”
This code has been used in a variety of other video games over the years and has become engrained in video game culture.
Have you tried the code yet? What do you think? Tell us in the comments below.