What happened to cheat codes?

[Evildeathpie]

I was thinking of this and i was wondering what some of your opinions were.

Why don't games have cheats anymore? Some of the most fun I've ever had with games was throwing on god mode and infinite ammo and just messing around. These days it seems hardly any console games have cheats and I feel like I'm missing out on some of the fun.

 

[Aries_Split]

Yeah. I wonder why game makers that spend billions of dollars and thousands of hours glitch proofing and balancing there game doesn't throw in things that wash all that work down the toilet.

Go Figure.

 

[DeadlyFred]

I'd love to try and yank you down off that horse but I'm afraid its just a bit too high.

Though enlighten me, if you will, how cheat codes "break" a game? They're not generally allowed in multiplayer game types so I don't really see the problem.

I don't recall any time I've ever had cheat codes ruin a gaming experience for me. In fact, one of the big things I love about PC gaming over console gaming is that (ironically) the access to the in game console and all the "tweaks" (which, lets face it, are basically just cheating) you can toy with.

 

[Captin Planet]

cheats usual stemmed from developers tools so they could test the game or stuff similarly along those lines its then usual was leaked to the public. games are probably made differently now so there not as common as during the 90's but they are still around gta4 is a good example. The most famous of these codes i think is from contra can any 1 remember it?

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Cheats were pathetic, i always hated people with this mindset. It's funner to be constricted since winning means more that way.


Nowadays games are easy enough to not need em anyways as long as you don't play em on max difficulty.

 

[poleboy]

Because most games today don't need them. Most games let you save whenever you want, and some (like Half-life 2) even auto-save constantly, so you only lose a couple of minutes at worst.

 

[Aries_Split]

Yeah. I wonder why game makers that spend billions of dollars and thousands of hours glitch proofing and balancing there game doesn't throw in things that wash all that work down the toilet.

Go Figure.

...Errr, what? He asked about cheat codes, not debug crash codes.

Because of course, precise placement of med kits and ammo still means something when you can punch in a code and not need any of it. Or strategic enemy placement that is just the right difficulty still counts when it doesn't matter how much damage the player soaks up.

 

[DeadlyFred]

I didn't gleen anything from the original post to suggest it being about the necessity of cheats as a crutch in order to beat a game. Rather simply their existence, or lack thereof, in many modern games.

If you don't recall the joy of flipping through a major gaming publication and stumbling upon some cheat codes for your favorite game, you haven't been gaming long enough.

Though I can't argue the fact that most game are indeed easy (not to mention short enough) that cheat codes are mostly pointless anyhow in any sense of real necessity.

Because of course, precise placement of med kits and ammo still means something when you can punch in a code and not need any of it. Or strategic enemy placement that is just the right difficulty still counts when it doesn't matter how much damage the player soaks up.

Tell me you never booted up Contra and punched in up up down down left right left right b a start.

Tell me you never booted up Doom and punched in: idkfa or iddqd

Tell me either of these, and then get back up on your soapbox. If you don't know what those codes do, your opinion doesn't count anyhow. Seriously, make a capital issue of it. If someone wants to cheat its hardly hurting YOU and definitely not the developers; they already got paid. If someone wants to buy a piece of expensive artwork and piss all over it who's to say they can't?

 

[TommyGun465]

yeah. i did enjoy cheats. it was really fun. dont worry, saints row 2 will have something!

 

[Evildeathpie]

Hmmm well I didn't really mean cheats to help you win, I just meant to have fun and fool around. Stuff like low gravity in Tony Hawk, or cars floating away when you hit them in GTA. Just using cheats to lengthen the life of the game for a few hours.

 

[The Iron Ninja]

I would say (for 360s at least) that acheivements is what happened to cheat codes. You don't really deserve the acheivement if you cheated to get it. (Of course acheivements are still pretty pointless)

 

[DeadlyFred]

I would say (for 360s at least) that acheivements is what happened to cheat codes. You don't really deserve the acheivement if you cheated to get it. (Of course acheivements are still pretty pointless)

To wit, pretty much any game I've seen on the 360 which did have cheat codes will disable gaining achievements while said codes are active.

 

[Imitation Saccharin]

Good cheats let you overcome bone-headed or annoying moves by the developer in otherwise great games. For instance in VtmB, I cheated it so my Auspex power lasted 20 minutes and cost no blood.

Some games also require cheats. In the aforementioned Vtmb the player needs cheats (noclipping specifically) to get through a particular sewer section. Oblivion's idiotic leveling system all but demands it from those of us with a life.

 

[Aries_Split]

I didn't gleen anything from the original post to suggest it being about the necessity of cheats as a crutch in order to beat a game. Rather simply their existence, or lack thereof, in many modern games.

If you don't recall the joy of flipping through a major gaming publication and stumbling upon some cheat codes for your favorite game, you haven't been gaming long enough.

Though I can't argue the fact that most game are indeed easy (not to mention short enough) that cheat codes are mostly pointless anyhow in any sense of real necessity.

Because of course, precise placement of med kits and ammo still means something when you can punch in a code and not need any of it. Or strategic enemy placement that is just the right difficulty still counts when it doesn't matter how much damage the player soaks up.

Tell me you never booted up Contra and punched in up up down down left right left right b a start.

Tell me you never booted up Doom and punched in: idkfa or iddqd

Tell me either of these, and then get back up on your soapbox. If you don't know what those codes do, your opinion doesn't count anyhow. Seriously, make a capital issue of it. If someone wants to cheat its hardly hurting YOU and definitely not the developers; they already got paid. If someone wants to buy a piece of expensive artwork and piss all over it who's to say they can't?

First of all, the Konami code with contra doesn't apply to what I was saying you dolt. Half the gamer population couldn't beat Contra with thirty lives, let alone 3. Also, doom isn't exactly my idea of a multi billion dollar project, but what ever.
Did I ever say it hurts me? I was giving my idea why Developers aren't including cheats on their enormous sacks of cash.

 

[The Iron Ninja]

I would say (for 360s at least) that acheivements is what happened to cheat codes. You don't really deserve the acheivement if you cheated to get it. (Of course acheivements are still pretty pointless)

To wit, pretty much any game I've seen on the 360 which did have cheat codes will disable gaining achievements while said codes are active.

Really? Oh that's good then. I'll admit I'm not an expert when it comes to cheating. I figure the fun in most games is the challenge of beating it without cheats.

 

[Shabubu]

I would say (for 360s at least) that acheivements is what happened to cheat codes. You don't really deserve the acheivement if you cheated to get it. (Of course acheivements are still pretty pointless)

To wit, pretty much any game I've seen on the 360 which did have cheat codes will disable gaining achievements while said codes are active.

Really? Oh that's good then. I'll admit I'm not an expert when it comes to cheating. I figure the fun in most games is the challenge of beating it without cheats.

Coming up from a childhood of cheating on every video game possible, it's to bring more fun. Some people like the challenge, some people just want to have fun. Those that buy strategy guides, now that's cheating.

As far as I know, most publishers make developers remove these, easter eggs, and debug stuff. Security is a big issue and if it wasn't thoroughly tested publishers don't want it in the hands of the public. It might also probably come down to something along the lines of not wanting to support joe-blow-game when it keeps crashing because the end-user is just cheating a lot.

 

[Alex_P]

Hmmm well I didn't really mean cheats to help you win, I just meant to have fun and fool around. Stuff like low gravity in Tony Hawk, or cars floating away when you hit them in GTA. Just using cheats to lengthen the life of the game for a few hours.

There are some games that I just wouldn't enjoy at all if it wasn't for the ability to tweak them.

-- Alex

 

[GyroCaptain]

Re: Cheat codes and achievements, I think the best use of "cheats" is to have them unlocked by gameplay milestones (often achievements).

See Lego Star Wars, which featured invincibility and score multipliers, etc, for finding power bricks; and other games such as Dead Rising giving you "that gun" for completing a difficult task. (Real Mega-Buster for killing 53594 zombies/Dead Rising, Nock gun/Gun, HOUND parts of increasing power for 'S' Ranks/Chromehounds...)

In other words, I prefer a cheating effect to come from unlockables, rather than something along the lines of the Konami Code, although a younger brother of mine used to love sandboxing in Jedi Knight II and III with overamped (cheat) Force powers.

 

[The_Deleted]

The last time I put a cheat code in a game (Far Cry: Predator. Level Skip) I felt like I'd cheated myself and lost interest in the game and felt like I should start again. Cheats are pointless, but fun stuff like the aforementioned floating cars can be interesting for about 15 seconds. I prefer the Capcom method of having to earn silly stuff like Panda Costumes.
Although, I'd step over my own mum for an invincible cheat in Shadow of Rome.