<s>
The	O
Multiface	B-Device
was	O
a	O
hardware	O
peripheral	O
released	O
by	O
Romantic	B-Device
Robot	I-Device
for	O
several	O
1980s	O
home	O
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
primary	O
function	O
of	O
the	O
device	O
was	O
to	O
dump	B-Error_Name
the	O
computer	O
's	O
memory	B-General_Concept
to	O
external	B-Device
storage	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pressing	O
a	O
red	O
button	O
on	O
the	O
Multiface	B-Device
activated	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
most	O
games	O
of	O
the	O
era	O
did	O
not	O
have	O
a	O
save	O
game	O
feature	O
,	O
the	O
Multiface	B-Device
allowed	O
players	O
to	O
save	O
their	O
position	O
by	O
saving	O
a	O
loadable	O
snapshot	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Home	O
computer	O
software	O
of	O
the	O
early	O
1980s	O
was	O
typically	O
loaded	O
into	O
RAM	B-Architecture
in	O
one	O
go	O
,	O
with	O
copy	O
protection	O
measures	O
concentrating	O
the	O
loading	O
phase	O
or	O
just	O
after	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
snapshot	O
feature	O
could	O
be	O
used	O
after	O
copy	O
protection	O
routines	O
had	O
been	O
executed	O
,	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
backup	B-Protocol
that	O
was	O
effectively	O
unprotected	O
against	O
unauthorised	O
distribution	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Later	O
models	O
of	O
the	O
Multiface	B-Device
mitigated	O
this	O
by	O
requiring	O
the	O
device	O
to	O
be	O
present	O
when	O
re-loading	O
the	O
dumps	O
into	O
memory	B-General_Concept
,	O
making	O
the	O
dumps	O
useless	O
to	O
people	O
without	O
a	O
Multiface	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Software	O
producers	O
also	O
reacted	O
to	O
the	O
threat	O
by	O
using	O
routines	O
that	O
would	O
prevent	O
execution	O
of	O
the	O
product	O
if	O
it	O
detected	O
that	O
a	O
Multiface	B-Device
was	O
present	O
and	O
by	O
loading	O
the	O
software	O
in	O
multiple	O
parts	O
,	O
thus	O
requiring	O
the	O
presence	O
of	O
the	O
original	O
,	O
copy-protected	O
media	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pressing	O
the	O
red	O
button	O
on	O
the	O
Multiface	B-Device
raised	O
the	O
non-maskable	B-General_Concept
interrupt	I-General_Concept
line	O
on	O
the	O
computer	O
's	O
processor	O
,	O
effectively	O
taking	O
control	O
of	O
the	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Multiface	B-Device
would	O
then	O
page	B-Architecture
in	I-Architecture
its	O
own	O
ROM	O
,	O
temporarily	O
replacing	O
the	O
computer	O
's	O
operating	O
system	O
with	O
that	O
within	O
the	O
Multiface	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
Multifaces	B-Device
had	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
view	O
and	O
edit	O
the	O
contents	O
of	O
memory	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
made	O
cheating	O
in	O
games	O
especially	O
easy	O
:	O
magazines	O
used	O
to	O
print	O
codes	O
every	O
month	O
,	O
known	O
as	O
'	O
pokes	B-Language
 '	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
changing	O
the	O
memory	B-General_Concept
,	O
various	O
aspects	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
could	O
be	O
altered	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
lives	O
one	O
had	O
before	O
the	O
game	O
was	O
over	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
models	O
of	O
Multiface	B-Device
allowed	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
save	O
a	O
screenshot	B-Application
,	O
and	O
this	O
is	O
how	O
Your	O
Sinclair	O
and	O
likely	O
other	O
magazines	O
produced	O
screenshots	B-Application
of	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Multifaces	B-Device
contained	O
an	O
extra	O
8	O
kilobytes	O
of	O
RAM	B-Architecture
that	O
could	O
be	O
used	O
by	O
specially	O
written	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Examples	O
of	O
such	O
software	O
included	O
Genie	O
,	O
a	O
machine	B-Language
code	I-Language
disassembler	O
,	O
and	O
Lifeguard	O
,	O
a	O
program	O
for	O
analysing	O
the	O
memory	B-General_Concept
of	O
a	O
game	O
during	O
play	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
identify	O
which	O
memory	B-General_Concept
locations	O
should	O
be	O
changed	O
to	O
aid	O
cheating	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
programs	O
could	O
be	O
loaded	O
into	O
the	O
Multiface	B-Device
RAM	B-Architecture
and	O
activated	O
by	O
pressing	O
the	O
red	O
button	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
later	O
Multifaces	B-Device
had	O
a	O
'	O
thru-port	O
'	O
,	O
an	O
additional	O
interface	O
on	O
the	O
back	O
of	O
the	O
unit	O
which	O
allowed	O
other	O
peripherals	O
to	O
be	O
plugged	O
into	O
the	O
back	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
solved	O
the	O
problem	O
of	O
the	O
Multiface	B-Device
using	O
up	O
the	O
computer	O
's	O
only	O
expansion	O
port	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Multifaces	B-Device
were	O
released	O
for	O
8-bit	O
and	O
16-bit	O
microcomputers	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
ZX	B-Operating_System
Spectrum	I-Operating_System
,	O
Amstrad	B-Device
CPC	I-Device
&	O
Atari	B-Device
ST	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Multiface	B-Device
One	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
1986	O
for	O
the	O
ZX	B-Operating_System
Spectrum	I-Operating_System
48K	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
initially	O
cost	O
£39.95	O
and	O
had	O
the	O
capability	O
of	O
saving	O
data	O
to	O
cassette	B-Device
tape	I-Device
,	O
ZX	B-Device
Microdrive	I-Device
,	O
Opus	O
Discovery	O
(	O
an	O
external	O
3.5inch	O
disk	B-Device
drive	I-Device
)	O
or	O
Technology	O
Research	O
Beta	B-Device
(	O
an	O
interface	O
that	O
allowed	O
5.25inch	O
and	O
3.5inch	O
drives	O
to	O
be	O
connected	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Multiface	B-Device
Two	O
was	O
released	O
for	O
the	O
Amstrad	B-Device
CPC	I-Device
range	O
of	O
computers	O
and	O
had	O
similar	O
features	O
to	O
the	O
Multiface	B-Device
One	O
,	O
but	O
added	O
a	O
button	O
to	O
reset	O
the	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Control	O
of	O
the	O
visibility	O
of	O
the	O
device	O
was	O
at	O
a	O
software	O
level	O
rather	O
than	O
the	O
hardware	O
switch	O
found	O
on	O
the	O
Multiface	B-Device
One	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Multiface	B-Device
128	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
April	O
1987	O
for	O
the	O
128K	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
Spectrum	O
,	O
including	O
the	O
original	O
+2	O
model	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
worked	O
in	O
128K	O
or	O
48K	O
mode	O
and	O
it	O
existed	O
in	O
two	O
versions	O
;	O
initially	O
without	O
a	O
'	O
thru-port	O
'	O
and	O
later	O
,	O
with	O
one	O
,	O
both	O
of	O
which	O
originally	O
cost	O
the	O
same	O
£44.95	O
,	O
but	O
were	O
later	O
reduced	O
to	O
the	O
same	O
price	O
as	O
the	O
Multiface	B-Device
One	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
128	O
introduced	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
save	O
to	O
the	O
+D	B-Device
and	O
DISCiPLE	B-Device
disk	B-Device
systems	O
,	O
but	O
lost	O
its	O
joystick	O
port	O
(	O
the	O
Spectrum	O
+2	O
already	O
had	O
built-in	O
joystick	O
ports	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Multiface	B-Device
3	O
,	O
released	O
in	O
November	O
1987	O
,	O
was	O
designed	O
for	O
the	O
later	O
Amstrad-made	O
models	O
of	O
Spectrum	O
that	O
the	O
128	O
did	O
not	O
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
main	O
feature	O
of	O
the	O
Multiface	B-Device
3	O
was	O
its	O
ability	O
to	O
save	O
to	O
+3	O
disk	B-Device
,	O
a	O
useful	O
feature	O
for	O
+3	O
owners	O
who	O
wanted	O
to	O
avoid	O
the	O
long	O
loading	O
times	O
of	O
tapes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Multiface	B-Device
ST	O
and	O
Multiface	B-Device
ST	O
II	O
were	O
released	O
for	O
Atari	O
's	O
ST	O
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Anti-Multiface	O
was	O
a	O
public	O
domain	O
program	O
for	O
the	O
Amstrad	B-Device
CPC	I-Device
which	O
allowed	O
the	O
restoring	O
of	O
saved	O
memory	B-Error_Name
dumps	I-Error_Name
without	O
the	O
need	O
for	O
a	O
Multiface	B-Device
to	O
be	O
present	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Competing	O
devices	O
included	O
the	O
Mirage	O
Imager	O
,	O
Disk	B-Device
Wizard	O
,	O
and	O
Action	B-Device
Replay	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
none	O
of	O
these	O
could	O
save	O
as	O
many	O
games	O
,	O
or	O
offered	O
the	O
opportunities	O
for	O
cheating	O
that	O
Multiface	B-Device
did	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Action	B-Device
Replays	I-Device
for	O
cheating	O
have	O
since	O
been	O
released	O
on	O
newer	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
game	O
consoles	O
of	O
the	O
1990s	O
there	O
was	O
the	O
Game	B-Device
Genie	I-Device
,	O
which	O
served	O
a	O
similar	O
purpose	O
in	O
allowing	O
memory	B-General_Concept
values	O
to	O
be	O
edited	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
cheat	O
at	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
