Hello my name is Chris, and I am a cheater. You know they say it is supposed to be a relief once you admit something like that but I don’t feel any better.

Let me clarify the above confession. There are two different types of cheating.

1. Exploiting an unintended game mechanic or situation in order to give you an unfair advantage over the game or other players. Examples: Wall hacking in World of Warcraft Pvp, Controller Manipulation in Halo 3.

2. Using implemented cheat codes to make a game easier or enjoy it in a different way. Examples: GTA Vice City Tank code, the Konami Command.

Now like I said before I am a cheater but I am the latter type of cheater. I use cheat codes. Using cheat codes is a guilty pleasure of mine and many others I am sure. I do not engage in or condone the first type of cheating.

I do have one rule when it comes to using cheat codes though. I will not use cheat codes till after I have beaten a game completely without using them. I do this so I know I am able to beat the game on my own, and then I will go back and play it more and enjoy it with every gun or unlimited life, just for shits and giggles.

The game I think I have used cheat codes on the most was Grand Theft Auto Vice City. That game has so much potential as far as replay-ability goes and adding in cheat codes just makes it exponentially better. You could spawn in any vehicle you want, get all the guns in the game, replenish your health, shake the cops and even blow up all the cars in the city with just a few clicks on the controller.

A group of friends and I used to have this running contest going with GTA. We would take turns with the character, completely load him up with every weapon and as much ammo as we wanted and then unleash him on the city. The rule was you couldn’t use the code to loose the cops. The goal was in inflict as much destruction as possible and stay alive as long as you could with the cops and the FBI chasing you down. Some of the battles and getaways got pretty intense.



I have always wondered about cheat codes. How do people find out about them, how do people discover what precise combination of buttons will achieve a specific result. I am sure that some game developers leak out information, but some times they are discovered by gamers and it always shocks me how fast they can figure it out. And a lot of cheat codes are complex, you know they are not simple up up down down left right left right a b a b codes of ole’.



Speaking of the old codes of the past, I am sure everyone know the infamous Konami code.



This code has appeared in more Konami games than I care to list, but some of the more popular ones were:

The Gradius Series
Contra Series
Castlevania Series
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Series
Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3

It has even appeared in non Konami games such as Half Life 2 and Ratchet and Clank.

References to the code have appeared in other contexts; the web comic Real Life has used the Konami code; Penny Arcade sells a t-shirt that features the code; while social news aggregation website Digg.com allowed users to type the full Konami code into the site to expand and display all comments on a page. In music, the song Anyone Else But You by The Moldy Peaches featured in the movie Juno contains a reference to the code. There is a band called "Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start" who released an album named "Worst Band Name Ever" in 2007. Finally, the alternative metal band Deftones released a song named "U,U,D,D,L,R,L,R,A,B,Select,Start" on the 2006 album Saturday Night Wrist - however, this reference to the code transposes the A and B commands.

Along with inputted codes there are also unlock-able cheats, cheats that become activate-able once complete certain tasks in a game. An example of this is Golden Eye 007 for the N64. Allowing players to ‘unlock” cheats rather than inputting them gives a different challenge to the game. One of the best codes in 007 is unlocked once you beat the second level in a very very short amount of time. I remember attempting this so many times but the code was worth it. I love playing this game with big heads, paintball mode and all guns. Even though I have beaten the game, I still enjoy the fun in using the cheats.



A lot of people have very strong opinions when it comes to using cheat codes. Personally I think they add a lot of variety and entertainment to games as long as they are used correctly. If I was to go and buy GTA IV when it comes out and use cheat codes for the very beginning, and beat the game that way, I would feel like I cheated myself out of experiencing the game the way it was meant to be played. That is why I always beat a game first without any codes before I use them, that way I experience the game the way it was meant to be played, then I get to experience it the way I want it to be played. Its entertaining, and that is what gaming is all about.

What are your opinions on cheat codes?