Cheating in Vidja Games.

Scoff All You Want, Everyone Cheats

Of course, there are always hardcore gamers who despise cheat devices. They stand firm in the notion that it's a gamer's responsibility to hunker down, roll up his sleeves and attack punishing games with resolute determination. The critique from hardcore types is codes like invincibility and unlimited lives take away from a game by removing the need for skill, timing and effort, thus eliminating the elements of fear and suspense.

But even the most hardcore can't deny using codes for games. I'm convinced most people played Contra using the Konami code, a code so pervasive that it has become an industry and pop culture icon adorning T-shirts and coffee mugs. What the code did was enable gamers to approach and play a wonderful game through to the end, whereas only the most dedicated hardcore gamers with lots of time and patience could beat it with the standard three lives. Stage select codes and secret passwords like the infamous "JUSTIN BAILEY" password in Metroid were other common ways of extending the gameplay experience, adding perks to already beloved games.

The Glory Days of Cheating Have Come and Gone

Truth be told, there hasn't been a maddening, throw-your-controller-and-punch-a-hole-in-the-wall game since before I was born. Software developers, by and large, are now effectively balancing difficulty, or at least providing multiple difficulty levels. Games for current-gen consoles are also getting shorter as budgets reach astronomical levels. As a result, console games get straight to the point and deliver gameplay and narrative in a succinct package. Take a modern game like Gears of War where, in addition to offering three difficulty levels, players can die dozens of times and restart from the most recent checkpoint (of which there are plenty). Gears of War also doesn't require players to find all the optional COG Tags- or in GoW 2, Collectibles- in order to progress through the game, so there is a considerable cut down on tedium.

Furthermore, the actual hardware of current-gen consoles doesn't seem to be as cheat-device friendly as those of years past. Try as you might, you won't find a genuine cheat device for a PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 or Nintendo Wii. And this is a good thing if for one main reason: online gaming.

The Internet Has Changed the World

Just as the proliferation of online multiplayer has drastically changed console gaming, it has also changed the way gamers can (and can't) cheat.

Sure, in-game codes and passwords for unlocking various extra features and abilities are still somewhat common, but anything that could provide an unfair competitive edge online is considered outright heresy. Indeed, the gaming community often equates cheating in online multiplayer games to criminal activity. It's one thing to cheat to overcome what one personally considers a tedious design flaw or unfair gameplay; the opponent is an artificial CPU. Cheating online is like putting your name on another man's doctoral thesis on the, or stealing his car and having sex with his girlfriend. Maybe both on the same weekend.

Does this mean the days of cheating have come to an end? Hardly. Tech savvy gamers will always find a way to exploit games, if only just for kicks. Then there are always the MacGyver hackers whose ultimate goal is not so much finishing a game, but debugging it and discovering all its little hidden secrets. Besides, it's all about game saves these days. Thanks to the standardization of hard drives and high-capacity storage memory on current-gen consoles, downloading a save file that contains unlocked, hard earned content is a snap. Fortunately, game saves won't let a player go online in Call of Duty 4 or Halo 3 with unlimited ammo and invincibility, so the sanctity of social gaming is safe for the time being.

Even if cheating has seen its time come and go, gaming itself might just be better off. When game developers manage to consistently find the sweet spot in balancing difficulty, game content and overall gameplay, gamers will consequently find themselves in a pure state of Zen. Cheating will become obsolete.

~Jason, Because I Can.

I HAVE NO LIFE