Tech

Bank of Canada is using an old video game cheat code to mark the country's 150th anniversary

Canada is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year, and Bank of Canada is celebrating by going old school.

If you head over to Bank of Canada's webpage on the new Canadian commemorative bank note and enter the famed Konami Code, you'll get a rousing 8-bit rendition of "O Canada" accompanied by a downpour of the new $10 bills.

"The Bank of Canada's web team thought the Konami code was a fun way to celebrate Canada's 150th anniversary of Confederation," a spokesperson for Bank of Canada told CNBC via email. "The response so far has been really positive."

The Konami Code is a cheat code used in many Konami video game titles which would give players an easier way to defeat the game. People enter up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, b, a, start combination on their controllers to access the bonus.

In more recent times, the code has been hidden on many websites to unlock "easter eggs" or hidden features. Digg, for example, "rickrolls" users if you type the sequence. Gamestop redirects to its Contra page, the Konami game known for making the code popular. Dinosaur fans should try it out on GQ's U.K. site, as well as the U.K. House and Garden site.