I’ve been playing a lot of Bayonetta lately, a game that’s freaking awesome by the way, and the ridiculously overpriced items available in the game store got me thinking about cheating in video games.
I think cheating is the kind of thing we’ve all done at least once in our gaming careers, but are a bit embarassed to talk about. It could be anything from a quick level skip, enganing noclip, pulling amazing weapons out of your ass to just plain old invulnerability.
So our topic for tonight is good old fashioned cheating.
- Do cheat codes, or cheating in general, make a game more or less fun?
- Have you ever cheated in a game? In what way?
- Is it cheating to exploit something within the game to, say, net you extra gold or lives?
It’s funny you should mention Bayonetta, as it technically has a cheat code of its own, that allows you other means you gain access to really rare items. The catch? They’ll cost 1,000,000 each…
- Do cheat codes, or cheating in general, make a game more or less fun?
No. People should play fair. I think cheat codes at this point in the game are a bit of a thing of the past. Achievements and Trophies have gone a long way to eliminate them from games, which is a good thing.
“Have you ever cheated in a game? In what way?”
Rarely, but hey… who hasn’t done the sound test cheats to get Super Sonic? =P
“Is it cheating to exploit something within the game to, say, net you extra gold or lives?”
Cheating is cheating. Unless you get something by valid means, it’s always cheating. Whether that’s acceptable or not is up to the player, but I’ll always respect someone who got something legitimately more than someone who didn’t.
Generally these are my thoughts:
Bug cheats – fair enough, part of the game.
Cheat codes – in single player, no problems. In multiplayer, if all parties agree, then no problem.
- Do cheat codes, or cheating in general, make a game more or less fun?
More fun; absolutely. As long as it’s not done in secret and everyone’s okay with it. It can bring in a new dimension to the game.
- Have you ever cheated in a game? In what way?
Play in mode “X” (e.g. Big head mode). Unlimited Ammo. Infinite Health. Skip to level X. That sort of thing. I have never, and will never use cheat software to get better stats in an FPS for instance.
- Is it cheating to exploit something within the game to, say, net you extra gold or lives?
No if it’s a bug or design decision. Depends on the game and the exploit obviously, but for most part, fair game.
The way I figure it, if the designers actually put the cheat in the game, it was there to be used. Like the Konami Code for Contra back in the day. Sure, not using it allowed one to test their mettle through the game with three lives, but for inexperienced players, it was a godsend so that they could maybe make it past the Jungle Level and into Base 1 and get the awesome music that accompanied.
Other games like Goldeneye had a great set of cheats where you could use the cheats, but you couldn’t use cheats like All Guns or Infinite Ammo to complete levels–you had to do those without cheats. Some cheats were fun, like Paintball Mode or DK Mode and made the main game or Multiplayer a lot more interesting or fun.
As games have gotten more sophisticated, I think programmers are more aware of how the system works and can put cheats in and take them out at their leisure, unlike games of old where exploiting the system meant getting a turtle shell just in the right spot and jumping on it for an insane number of lives.
I think now that people are more aware of cheating, it’s getting a lot harder to do unless the programmers deliberately put a cheat in the game. Getting more money in some way or extra lives becomes something the players has to discover because the programer wanted them to, not because the player is beating the system.
However, things like Action Replay and GameShark are full-blown cheating, actually messing with game coding to give the player an advantage rather than putting them on an even playing field (or a disadvantage).
Some cheat codes can make games fun, while others can very much detract from the fun experience itself.
And of course, there’s always the classic “real life” cheating of such items like unplugging your opponent’s controller and things like that. :P
But cheating, no matter how you look at it, is cheating.
I remember the game I cheated the most at…
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter. That game had so many cheats…