what is this thing?
in the Merc:

SALES OF TOY HALTED: A federal court on Friday temporarily halted sales
of S. S.F's Lewis Galoob Toys Inc.'s GAME GENIE until a copyright suit by
video game giant Nintendo of America seeking a permanent ban can be heard.
GAME GENIE is a device that allows video game players to give unlimited
free 'lives' to game characters, increase the firepower of game weapons or
increase the jumping ability of characters.