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Cheating in computer games - Printable Version

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Cheating in computer games - bigsharn - 07-06-2010

We’ve all done it at some point, we’ve got stuck at a part of the game and gone to the internet for a solution. (admittedly I did it in Portal), but is it right to do this? I mean, computer games as we know them have been out for coming up to 40 years now, is it right to shortcut our way through the games?

Let’s go back to 1992. Super Mario World’s just been released on the SNES and the internet’s not out yet. I spent many an hour trying to get through the Forest of Illusion and managed to complete it after around 150 hours of game play. It was a hell of a feeling and all the way through school that was the way it was, never used a cheat or a game guide.
Out comes Command And Conquer for the PS1 and I start buying a magazine for it, which came with a cheat book, with Command And Conquer cheats in it. Being 9 at the time (I got it late… ok?) I figure there’s nothing wrong with cheating a little bit… but eventually it gets to the point where I complete the game wholly on cheats, and I don’t get that same sense of accomplishment because it’s so easy. Eventually I figured out why it was so easy and started playing properly, but the point is, why cheat?

Fair enough if you’re doing it for the laughs (hello Big Head mode from Goldeneye) or if you’ve finished a game (see also: all weapons and spawning tanks in Grand Theft Auto), but do any of us have a right to cheat just because we can? If you think about it, all those man-hours invested in creating those games and we’ve cheated our way past it, we’ve cheated those programmers and designers out of their creation. If a game’s made you resort to cheat because there are no ideas (or even subtle hints) where to go next and you look at a game guide just to fathom that then fair enough, that’s the programmers being stupid and they deserve to be cheated out of that.

There are hundreds of videos on how to get through a game on sites like Youtube and walkthroughs on various Google sites. Why? Because we, as a society, like the easy way out. People are seeing games more as a way to relax in current society but they’re not, they’re tools to challenge the mind and give you that feeling that something you’ve done is right.

But wait, why do game developers put cheats into their games? Well how else do they test? They don’t have time to go through and complete the game 100% before release and they just don’t take the codes out because it saves time. That doesn’t give us the right to exploit them just because they’re there.

I openly admit to cheating because I’m not ashamed to say I’m not as good as most other genuine gamers, but I still think it’s wrong to do.

What are your opinions on it?


RE: Cheating in computer games - T3hRogue - 07-06-2010

I don't mind cheating if it keeps fun in the game. The cheats for KotOR I posted don't have to be used. I've completed it three times to see every ending. If I want to speed up a game to get to the better parts I will. If it stops me getting bored and makes me fell like I've got my moneys worth then meh
Of course, there are times cheats aren't worth it
But still, who didn't summon a big fucking tank on GTA?


RE: Cheating in computer games - bigsharn - 07-06-2010

That's what I mean, IF you do it for fun rather than to complete the game before anyone else then it's fair enough, but if it's the other way around you're just... wrong :p


RE: Cheating in computer games - T3hRogue - 07-06-2010

Sometimes I don't complete games without cheats because I get bored or I find them annoyingly repetitive with crap weapons. So I'll cheat to get ahead


RE: Cheating in computer games - Mark - 07-06-2010

I only "cheat" if i'm stuck or if i've completed the game then it just makes it more fun. I'm too good to need to cheat. :roll


RE: Cheating in computer games - T3hRogue - 08-06-2010

Bah, try RA1. That had no cheats and was excessively hard.


RE: Cheating in computer games - bigsharn - 08-06-2010

Wait, WHAT?

You had Instant Nuke and 10,000 credits cheats 0.o


RE: Cheating in computer games - T3hRogue - 08-06-2010

Yeah, but I never used them because I wasn't sad, plus I couldn't be arsed Big Grin


RE: Cheating in computer games - WARLORDTF - 12-06-2010

I've only used negative cheats: cheats where it makes the game harder to nigh impossible XD THAT makes my games fun.
Then again. I'm a physicist. So I'm wierd XD


RE: Cheating in computer games - bigsharn - 12-06-2010

Ah, now that IS fun, agreed unlocking harder difficulty levels is acceptable cheating (again, I do it)