Cheat Codes: What happened to them?

[Z of the Na'vi]

(Search bar approved)

I remember a time, mainly back in my N64 days, when after I beat a game there was a series of cheat codes that you could activate. (Ie Big Head mode, invincibility, etc) I know its considering cheating to use them, but I would always try to beat the game on my own without cheat codes before using them. My question is:

What games can you think of today that have honest CHEAT CODES?
and
Has anybody else noticed the decline in cheat codes such as stated above?

Seriously the only one I can remember recently at least is Guitar Hero 3.....

 

[El Poncho]

GTA and saints row are the obvious ones.

 

[The Rockerfly]

There are a few games I can think of
Dead Space
Red Faction
and probably saints row 2 (knowing how silly the game is)

They are much rarer now though which is a shame, they ued to make games so much fun

 

[IxionIndustries]

There isn't a lot of games that have cheats nowadays... Most of the "cheats" that I see on GameFAQS or GameSpy are just fucking achievements!

 

[Z of the Na'vi]

GTA and saints row are the obvious ones.

Ah GTA of course!

I was just having a nostalgic moment where I remember big head mode and stuff like that

 

[Dusty Donuts]

Some people still fail to realize that there are very fine lines between exploits (which can harm other people's experience *hand to mouth* *fanning face*) and cheat.

 

[halfeclipse]

Wish I knew, it was always fun jumping into a game, throwing up a bunch of cheats and picking on the enemies for half an hour. Always gameshark though

Some people still fail to realize that there are very fine lines between exploits (which can harm other people's experience *hand to mouth* *fanning face*) and cheat.

Fine lines? Theres a huge difference between up up down down left right left right b a start to get 5 extra lives in the single player campaign, and making use of bugs too screw over other players online.

 

[Daedalus1942]

(Search bar approved)

I remember a time, mainly back in my N64 days, when after I beat a game there was a series of cheat codes that you could activate. (Ie Big Head mode, invincibility, etc) I know its considering cheating to use them, but I would always try to beat the game on my own without cheat codes before using them. My question is:

What games can you think of today that have honest CHEAT CODES?
and
Has anybody else noticed the decline in cheat codes such as stated above?

Seriously the only one I can remember recently at least is Guitar Hero 3.....

I certainly have. You go on gamefaqs.com for cheats these days (after finishing a game) and all you get are "finish the game in under 3 hours" or beat "said minigame with a perfect score".
How are those cheats? They are unlocks, not cheats!

 

[Daedalus1942]

There are a few games I can think of
Dead Space
Red Faction
and probably saints row 2 (knowing how silly the game is)

They are much rarer now though which is a shame, they ued to make games so much fun

Wait... Dead Space has cheats?
For what platform? I didn't know there were cheats for it.

 

[Megacherv]

Games became more about bragging rights than fun.

 

[ae86gamer]

A lot of games nowadays will block achievements or trophies if you use them. Maybe thats the reason less and less people use them

The most obvious one I can think of is GTA.

 

[Megacherv]

Games became more about bragging rights than fun.

I agree!

I also remember when games had so much challenge to them that (in some cases) you needed a cheat to get through them.

remember the "sky-walker" cheat in Mario 3?

No I do not, but I remember always using cheats in Destruction Derby on the PS1 (and still do, it's a ritual to use !DAMAGE! whenever I play)

 

[Thaius]

Personally, I don't mind it. Video games are artistic experiences that are designed to be experienced in a certain way: to use cheat codes on your first time through a game is to ruin that experience. I'm fine with messing around with cheats after you've played through a game, but I've had too much of the kids in my life bragging about how they beat a game while they were invincible.

 

[Sporky111]

A lot of games nowadays will block achievements or trophies if you use them. Maybe thats the reason less and less people use them

The most obvious one I can think of is GTA.

Yeah, I think the achievement killed the cheat code. At least we still have GameShark for the handhelds (well, I use Action Replay. But still. . .)

I know Ratchet and Clank used to have really cool cheats. The last one I played was Deadlocked, so I don't know about the Future titles though.

 

[squid5580]

There are a few games I can think of
Dead Space
Red Faction
and probably saints row 2 (knowing how silly the game is)

They are much rarer now though which is a shame, they ued to make games so much fun

Wait... Dead Space has cheats?
For what platform? I didn't know there were cheats for it.

The 360 had a few cheats for it. A couple 1 time extra credit and node cheats. Refill your oxygen and statis (you could reuse them forever). Nothing spectacular really. No big head cheats or anything like that.

Far Cry has a few cheats. They are annoying as hell to put in though. The Orange Box also had cheats for everything but TF2 (for obvious reasons)

 

[FURY_007]

I remember Gauntlet Legacy had some pretty awesome ones, then of course GTA

 

[azncutthroat]

I'm not really in a position to say whether cheat codes have declined, but I do notice that the popularity of multiplayer kind of makes cheat codes obsolete in the face of mods and hacks.

 

[Contun]

Fallout 3....

God Mode, Flight, Infinite items, free caps, and the list goes on, you just have to know the codes for it...