Bank of Canada put an Easter egg on its website announcement of a new $10 bill in the form of a Konami code used in video games such as "Contra."
If visitors to the website enter the right sequence of keys, the national anthem of Canada plays and tiny animated bills rain down the screen, the Financial Post reported. The Konami code key sequence is up, up, down, down, left, right, left right, b, a.
The sequence was a cheat for many video games made by Japan’s Nintendo Entertainment System in the 1980s. On game consoles, the joystick was used to enter the code, but on computers, the arrow keys also work, according to PC Gamer. The same sequence has been used on a few modern games such as "BioShock Infinite" and "Rocket League," and the cheat does various things like unlock different levels, versions of the game, or additional lives.
The new $10 bills are meant to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Canada’s Confederation. A rep for the bank told Motherboard the Konami code seemed like “a fun way to celebrate” the special occasion.
The move was seen as a nod to video game “geeks” or “nerds,” CNET said.
In another nod to nerds, Canada’s official Twitter account last year asked followers to say which Pokemon they think is the most Canadian.
Twitter followers were delighted at the Bank of Canada web team’s geekout.
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