Cheat Codes - Whatever happened to Cheat Codes

[scotland]

I was following a discussion the other day on the death of the cheat code. The prevailing theories were
1) That they are just not on the retail version. Cheat codes like invulnerability are useful in development, but then are walled off by a flag in the retail version.
2) That the rise of online multiplayer required removing them from retail versions
3) That things like trophies and achievements required removing them from retail versions
4) That the games are constantly being updated and patched, so any cheat might be 'fixed' at any time anyway
5) Games have gotten easier, so cheats are no longer such an attraction

Cheats are closely related to 'bugs' in the code, or ways to exploit the game AI or environment, but I think of a cheat as actually changing the code of the game. Bugs are certainly still with us, as are those exploits, but the days of select "Y" to have infinite lives seems to have gone.

Who knows when the first cheat happened. The people putting Space War or other mainframe games together probably tweaked parameters and cheated that way. I certainly changed parameters when typing in games like Star Trek to give me more time, or fewer enemies or something. I'm sure students cheated by looking at the code of Colossal Cave Adventure may have changed something, although just looking at the code is cheating too.

The first cheats I knowingly used on code I could not directly change was on the Commodore C64. When people 'cracked' a game and made copies, those smart people sometimes added in options for cheats like infinite lives or infinite ammo or something.

Any favorite cheat memories?

[Sut]

I would add another reason:

6). Save states.

If you get really frustrated you can save the game and come back to the same point (more or less) and have another go. Back in the day you'd have to fight from the start everytime.

Whilst games are certainly more beatable today, I do feel this is by design. The developers want you to see all the game and their work. But are games easier ? Not necessarily Shinobi (PS2), Dark Souls, Ninja Gaiden Sigma, etc are examples of 8-bit hard on newer systems.

The original release of Jet Set Willy had a bug in it meaning you couldn't complete a certain room and you would go in a 'death loop'. The programmer just never expected people to get that far in the game. In fact most games of that era suffered the further you got as the programmers just made them that difficult you wouldn't get to the later stages.

Sometimes you needed a cheat just to see all of a game. Take Gryzor on the Spectrum (UK version of the original Contra) just as balls hard as the NES version but all you get are 6 lives and no continues. The last level is practically impossible (and no, it's nowhere near as good as the NES version).

Favourite cheats codes ?
Definitely the one that made Jet Set Willy beatable and fixed the aforementioned 'death loop' - perhaps the first 'patch' ever released ?

And like with your C64 Scotland, the ST had a brilliant cracking scene who took great pride in adding 'trainers' to the games they cracked along with some great menus. Happy days.

[scotland]

And like with your C64 Scotland, the ST had a brilliant cracking scene who took great pride in adding 'trainers' to the games they cracked along with some great menus. Happy days.

I had not heard they were called "trainers" until very recently. That makes sense. Its apparently just stopping a counter from counting, which is why it has infinite lives or infinite ammo or infinite time, but not other options. I was reading about them, and the early "don't copy that floppy" campaigns of the day. Piracy - it was there when we were kids, and we were having the same discussions.

[VideoGameCritic]

Cheat codes are really extra features tucked into games that used to add mystique to them and generate buzz.
I think modern developers would rather include them as customization options (or DLC) but I do miss them.

[eneuman96]

One of the most unusual cheat codes of all time is in Battlezone 2000 for the Lynx.

If you were to play this game with no knowledge of the code, you'd be playing what is essentially little more than the original Battlezone arcade game with a few things added in to justify calling it a sequel. You might play it for a little while before putting it away and forgetting it ever existed...

...unless you happened to press the Option 1 button three times at the tank select screen and then reset the game, in which case you'll unlock the REAL Battlezone 2000, which is a much more complex tank sim consisting of two thousand different levels. Holy crap.

[Rev]

I miss all the game codes for titles like GTA III. I'm not sure if the newer games have them but I used to have them all memorized and would rain tanks upon the city, maximizing weapons, etc. Now that I think about it, I haven't seen many cheats since the start of the 7th generation which is kind of disappointing. Those were always fun...

[CaptainCruch]

6). Save states.

Yes, I think that's one of the main reason for the disappearance of cheat codes too... You don't need more lives when you can save everywhere...

However, sometimes modern games still have nice cheat codes. I like it when you can unlock older games. Like you can play Zork in Activision's Call of Duty: Black Ops by entering ZORK on a computer. Or how you can play the first level of the original Wolfenstein 3D in Wolfensten: The New Order (if you find an easter egg like that the same as a cheat code).

[Tron]

I miss all the game codes for titles like GTA III. I'm not sure if the newer games have them but I used to have them all memorized and would rain tanks upon the city, maximizing weapons, etc. Now that I think about it, I haven't seen many cheats since the start of the 7th generation which is kind of disappointing. Those were always fun...

They do. GTA is about the only game that I even think of using cheat codes for. I think it's gotta be one of the last games that really uses them.

With Internet gaming cheating still goes on, but instead of being fun mischievous it's getting people banned and accounts frozen.

[Rookie1]

Like others have said, GTA has carried this forward but I think its more of and irony type of thing than anything else. One of many "throwbacks" to old school gaming they add in.

I will say that modern games (to me) feel super easy, and the other good point I read were save states. A lot of modern console games I have played through I have been able to beet on my first run through, many times without even dying. Everything is pretty linear as well, and I dont even need to consult a strategy guide even to find all the secret a lot of time.

I still to this day cant beet Metroid without a strategy guide, I have never beet Mike Tyson or any of the Ninja Gaiden games, and I have never made it past the first level of Kid Icarus lol. If it wasnt for the movie "The Wizard" I probably wouldnt have known where to get the warp whistles in SMB3 until the internet came out.

[Rev]

I miss all the game codes for titles like GTA III. I'm not sure if the newer games have them but I used to have them all memorized and would rain tanks upon the city, maximizing weapons, etc. Now that I think about it, I haven't seen many cheats since the start of the 7th generation which is kind of disappointing. Those were always fun...

They do. GTA is about the only game that I even think of using cheat codes for. I think it's gotta be one of the last games that really uses them.

With Internet gaming cheating still goes on, but instead of being fun mischievous it's getting people banned and accounts frozen.

That is good to know. I haven't played any of the GTA games after III...