For years, I had a Game Wizard for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) tucked away in my collection, without realizing how mysterious it truly was. I originally owned it as a kid in the 90s, likely purchased on a whim through GamePro or a similar magazine. Years later, I discovered it again while selling off parts of my vintage collection on eBay. When I went to write its product listing, I found almost no reliable information about it—no definitive product descriptions, no big reviews, and hardly any forum or Reddit posts. At the time, I simply wrote a quick mention that it was a cheat device, put it up for sale, and didn’t think about it again.

It wasn’t until I decided to research the Game Wizard for a YouTube video that I realized the rabbit hole I was about to dive into. What I initially assumed was a niche cheat device soon revealed a tangled saga of multiple attempts to break into the U.S. market, a U.S. distributor operating under countless DBAs, and a swirl of legal intrigue involving federal raids and lawsuits from major corporations like Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft. With so little documented about the device itself, it seemed like the perfect subject for an article preserving a little bit of gaming history: a relic almost lost to time, with a backstory more complicated—and occasionally more troubling—than anyone might expect.

The Game Wizard’s shadowy origins

A tale of overlooked ambition

The Game Wizard first appeared in the early 1990s, credited to a company named Innovation—sometimes referred to as “Innovation Technologies” or “Innovation Inc.” In the wake of established cheat devices like the Game Genie, which used ROM patching, the Game Wizard took a different route with RAM-based codes similar to the Pro Action Replay. By searching memory addresses on the fly, it offered an advanced approach that gave players the freedom to discover or create their own cheats. It also featured dual cartridge slots, so the user could play Super Famicon game imports.

Yet even in its era, few gamers recall seeing the Game Wizard on store shelves or advertised widely in mainstream gaming publications. Searching back issues of GamePro or Electronic Gaming Monthly yields occasional references—an ad here, a snippet there—but nothing close to the fanfare surrounding better-known cheat devices, like the Game Shark. The device seemed to be exclusively available through Innovation, an extension of the Ultimate Game Club mail-order outlet in Old Saybrook, CT. They sold Nintendo, Sega, Atari and other video game accessories. According to scattered user stories on Reddit, it managed only a limited release, making it a rare find today.

For a time, it seemed Innovation itself was juggling a range of ventures, including one in the 1980s that was literally called Venture Inc.

While scarcity alone could explain some of the device’s enigma, the deeper you dig, the more it appears that the company’s business entanglements complicated matters. Paper trails reveal connections to multiple companies—Ultimate Game Club, Cheap Game Stuff, Beyond Incorporated, FutureTeck LLC—sharing the same addresses in Old Saybrook. For a time, it seemed Innovation itself was juggling a range of ventures, including one in the 1980s that was literally called Venture Inc.

Clashing forces behind the scenes

Legal knots and uncertain partnerships

Innovation’s path was anything but smooth. Public court documents and archived newspaper articles, such as those from the Hartford Courant, outline multiple run-ins with federal agencies and entertainment giants. In August 1995, the founder, Keith J. Taruski, was arrested when law enforcement—accompanied by representatives from the Recording Industry Association of America—raided four locations in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. They confiscated 50,000 alleged bootleg CDs and a million alleged fake CD insert cards, reportedly one of the largest such seizures in U.S. history at the time.

By September 27, a grand jury indicted Taruski—marking the first indictment under the federal anti-bootleg statute enacted in 1994.

By September 27, a grand jury indicted Taruski for trafficking in sound recordings of live concerts, illegal importation of bootleg CDs, and conspiracy to commit these crimes—marking the first indictment under the federal anti-bootleg statute enacted in December 1994. These legal troubles did not always concern gaming hardware, but they cast a significant shadow over the company’s manufacturing and distribution practices.

This wasn't Keith's only run-in with the law. The oldest clearly documented reference I found of Keith Taruski’s illegal activities dates back to 1981. In that Billboard Magazine article (dated June 27, 1981), it states that the FBI in New Haven, Connecticut, confiscated tens of thousands of recordings from Taruski—operating under the name Venture Inc.—and charged him with interstate transportation of stolen property.

For the Game Wizard, this seemingly regular turbulence likely impacted marketing and availability, overshadowing its distribution and promotion. Adding to the confusion, some claim the Game Wizard was based on British company Datel’s cheat-device technology, the same technology powering Datel’s Pro Action Replay. Others speculate Innovation had some connections with a lot of China-based companies, so it may very well have been released without Datel's blessing through a knockoff hardware manufacturer. Innovation had been Datel's primary U.S. distributor for some time, as they repeatedly tried to break into the U.S. market.

Diving into the Game Wizard's code

Rediscovering a forgotten relic

Despite the Game Wizard’s obscurity, it enjoys sporadic mentions in niche gaming forums. Occasionally, collectors post a thread asking, “Has anyone ever heard of the Game Wizard?” only to be met with a smattering of anecdotes from childhood memories. Technical tinkerers, on the other hand, have taken a more direct approach.

The emulator and debugging site problemkaputt.de highlights that the Game Wizard’s underlying code-handling closely mirrors the X-Terminator (another SNES cheat device), which itself shares raw 8-digit RAM-based codes similar to Pro Action Replay. More specifically:

• Identical Code Format: The Game Wizard and X-Terminator both use an 8-digit format (AAAAAADD) for WRAM patching, just like Pro Action Replay’s standard codes.
• Likely Rebadged Hardware: Because the BIOS and hardware signals appear nearly identical to the X-Terminator, it suggests the Game Wizard is essentially a rebadged version (or at least heavily derived) from that device or vice versa.
• Connections to UFO: Some references note the “Super UFO” copiers (and possibly other products) use or recognize the same code structure, linking the Game Wizard’s approach to a broader ecosystem of cheat devices and copiers that handle Pro Action Replay–style codes.

In short, the site’s documentation implies that the Game Wizard was not a wholly original design—rather, it borrowed or reused existing cheat-engine technology originating from Pro Action Replay and the X-Terminator line. It may have been developed by Datel, developed by Innovation behind Datel’s back, or by UFO, a manufacturer of game disk copiers that is deserving of its own story.

Escalating rumors and evidence

Piecing together allegations and facts

The Ultimate Game Club's court case with Nintendo of America was difficult to find, but I dug up a reference to it with the WayBackMachine. The case was filed in 1990 and settled in 1993, making it plausible that the Game Wizard’s production run was restricted to avoid stepping on legal landmines. Whether these constraints directly influenced the device’s low profile remains unknown, but the timeline suggests they could well have played a part.

Later in 2005, more court documents reveal that Taruski at one point required Nintendo’s approval to release any Nintendo-compatible accessories. I also found he had been sued by Funimation Productions (Crunchy Roll), Microsoft, Sony, numerous worker's compensation claims, tenant rights lawsuits, and was allegedly involved in some sketchy real estate deals.

Meanwhile, the swirl of corporate DBAs—Ultimate Game Club, Cheap Game Stuff, Beyond Incorporated, FutureTeck LLC—only adds to the confusion. Legal records hint that these overlapping entities might have been attempts to restructure after federal raids or lawsuits. How many actual Game Wizard units reached the market remains anyone’s guess. Stories abound of small test-market shipments, unadvertised releases, or inventory sitting idle in storage.

A legacy shaped by intrigue

Viewed through today’s lens, the Game Wizard occupies a fascinating intersection of low-profile distribution, rumored legal drama, and genuine cheat functionality. Despite its intriguing history, there isn’t broad evidence that collectors actively seek out or prize the device, which sets it apart from more widely recognized accessories of the era. Instead, it stands as an unusual footnote in the development of cheat devices, revealing how smaller or legally precarious operations could still find enough market space to experiment.

For me, personally, the deeper story of the Game Wizard began when I realized how frustratingly little was known about it. My casual eBay listing years ago never hinted at the tangled corporate saga or the near-mythical status the device would gain among certain retro gamers. Now, it stands as a testament to how a seemingly simple cheat device can carry a surprising amount of baggage—court documents, shadowy distribution channels, and overlapping business fronts.

Over time, more evidence may emerge from old magazine scans or corporate records, filling in gaps about what truly happened behind the scenes at Innovation. My research certainly hasn’t ended. Until then, the Game Wizard remains a seldom-discussed chapter in the SNES era, tempting researchers with its reclusive charm. For those dedicated enough to chase it down, the payoff is an item that exemplifies why retro gaming is as much about stories as it is about the hardware. But if old hardware isn't your thing, these days you can always emulate an SNES on your Raspberry Pi or even carry vintage games with you on your Android.