Cheat Codes

[DKsDragon]

I saw one of those really long pictures that was "All about nintendo" a bit back. They said that to extend the length of their games, they intentionally made their games insanely hard. So hard that some of the older gamers still referred to really hard games as 'nintendo hard'.

Now that games are on average over 20 hours of main storyline, and probably an average of 40-50 hours to platinum, there is no reason to make games so hard that cheat codes are necessary. The length of games has a strong correlation on the disappearance of cheat codes.

[chrisheadshot]

I thought cheat codes were just left in as tools from game testing and development? i remember reading somewhere that that was the reason so many games included cheat codes, aside from making games fun, they just didnt remove them. However i do question the usefulness in games testing of the 'X has big head' cheats. I dont miss cheats too much however it would be nice if GTA IV included the crazy cheats from the PS2 era.

[joeyc138]

Cheat codes faded out during the last-gen consoles. Rockstar games will always use cheat codes, but I miss the days of buying huge ass cheat books or writing down cheats on paper to use in games. I think they should still have them like they used to, but I definitely understand disabling trophies/achievements when you use them.

[SoaringEagle23]

It's okay to use cheat codes once the game is beaten, but the game is supposed to be played without them first so that you can go and have fun with it. Kindof like the Uncharted games where you can buy single-player codes to have, let's say, an infinite rocket launcher.

[k1ll1ng5pr33]

Seriously hope Rockstar brings back the fun and awesome cheats in GTA V. (Not usable in MP ofcourse. And locks out trophies. However, some sort of cheat server would be pretty awesome.)

[Harry94]

Originally Posted by k1ll1ng5pr33

Seriously hope Rockstar brings back the fun and awesome cheats in GTA V. (Not usable in MP ofcourse. And locks out trophies. However, some sort of cheat server would be pretty awesome.)

I'm sure they will do, every GTA i've played has cheats

[TheViper4Life]

Most people really do have it all wrong. Back in the day, cheats were "accidental"...they were exploits found by other gamers based on coding infractions, they were never INTENTIONALLY developed into a game until GTA3, unless you had a game with a cheat menu. But cheats like level select in Sonic 1, wasn't meant to be found, it was a glitch in debugging process.

Then you have cheat devices, such as Gameshark, Codebreaker or Action Replay, which utilize a whole different method, by FORCING the game to act differently then programmed by changing the Hexidecimal codec so slightly that it modifies your game.

If you can't tell, I was a huge utilizer of cheats...I loved them. They brought so much replay value to a game. It really sucks that the codec infrastructure is so complex now that guys like Pelican Accessories, can't make cheat devices anymore...I really miss them.

The only problem I have with using cheats in games that have them now is trophies being disabled. While it makes sense to do so, it shouldn't STAY that way after I turn my game off. If I come back to the game without using them, I should have my trophies available to me again.

[Etopiax]

Originally Posted by TheViper4Life

Most people really do have it all wrong. Back in the day, cheats were "accidental"...they were exploits found by other gamers based on coding infractions, they were never INTENTIONALLY developed into a game until GTA3, unless you had a game with a cheat menu. But cheats like level select in Sonic 1, wasn't meant to be found, it was a glitch in debugging process.

Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A

You are comparing cheat codes with glitches and game data modifiers. There were plenty old games that had cheat codes. Many of the console games was simply a combination of button presses like the Konami code above. Some games had a password system that could be used as cheating, but can't count that as cheat codes. But cheat codes was quite common on PC games and I think that is was most people are referring to. Anyone remember god mode in Doom?

[Jaytech]

Originally Posted by DKsDragon

Now that games are on average over 20 hours of main storyline, and probably an average of 40-50 hours to platinum, there is no reason to make games so hard that cheat codes are necessary. The length of games has a strong correlation on the disappearance of cheat codes.

the main storylines take much less than 20 hrs today!
average platinum time is much less than 40 hrs, too!

[Rafdog89]

I believe cheat codes haven't been around in a ton of games in the last few years mainly due to them being 'childish.' Video games wanted to grow up, and in the last few years they certainly did. If they still retained cheat codes, it just wouldn't look 'mature.'

The last games I remember playing in the modern systems that still had cheat codes enabled were: Quake 4, Far Cry: Insticts/Predator (fun with codes), and of course GTA IV (even though the codes sucked compared to previous GTA games, but it was nice to beat a GTA game for once in my life without any codes).

I loved cheat codes. They made the games I had so much more fun. Enabling cheat codes just let me fool around and waste time. Sometimes I'd play a game just for the hell of it and didn't want to have to think or concentrate to play it. I just wanted to goof off and do things on purpose. I think that's why people enjoy PC games like WoW because you can just roam around forever and it never ends.

But man, if you knew cheat codes back in the N64 days, you were a legend. If you had codes enabled on GoldenEye 007/64 back in the day -- wh00, forget about it! You had people at your house playing GoldenEye with you when you didn't know who the hell they were lol. And lol I remember the times my buddies and I would always go into the supermarkets and check out the video game books and just go to the end, check out the cheat codes, and jot them down on a piece of paper to test out at home. Lol We thought we were cool/sneaky. Oh how the times have changed.

If there was one game I could enable GTA-like codes (infinite ammo, health, etc., etc.), it would most definitely be the 1st Halo. I would love to just goof around in that game without giving a rats ass lol.

~ Rafdog89