Raise your hand if you’ve ever cheated at a video game.
Now raise it even higher if you still remember the Konami Code.
Seriously. Put your hand in the air. I’m pretty sure you’re halfway to the ceiling by now, and I’m even more sure that you’re not the only one reading this that’s waving their arm around like an idiot.
This is because cheating has become such an ingrained part of video gaming culture that you’ll find most gamers cut corners in some way or another. Back in the day (we’re talking over 20 years here, kids) the famed Konami Code was the only thing separating complete Contra domination from hours of endless frustration on the paltry amount of lives the game dished out.
Nowadays, though, cheating has expanded from innocent in-game favourites like God Mode and no-clip into online scourges like aimbots, gold farming and macros; quite a step up from the U, U, D, D, L, R, L, R, B, A, START we grew up on.
My question, though, is why in-game cheats have almost completely died out? I mean, when was the last time you skipped a level in a current title, or unlocked stuff you probably shouldn’t without doing it properly first?
Now, I’m all for a quick glance at a walkthrough when the going gets uber-tough, or ‘cheating’ to modify the game to get some more playtime out of it (personal use only, of course), but why are the traditional subversive manoeuvres now almost completely absent? What happened to the harmless cheating of yesteryear?
We could always blame the scale on which these activities occur; after all, money in online games is linked to real world cash in some instances, so discouraging players to pull a sneaky one is definitely a smart move. I also thought to argue good moral values and a wagging finger from the ESRB and co., although we all know that horrific abominations like Grand Theft Auto are responsible for dishonesty/corruption/mass murders amongst our youth (*cough*), and not the evil infinite lives cheat.
It could also be argued that perhaps it’s just games that have changed, considering that we’ve come a long way from the good ol’ Contra days of running around, collecting new weapons, dispensing ammo into bad guys, fighting bosses… hmmm, or maybe not.
I’m still stuck as to why things have turned out this way. Sure, we can point the finger at shameless greed and Internet anonymity when someone asks why cheating has become what it is, but there’s still no valid explanation why gems like the Konami Code are no longer giving us that extra edge or milking every ounce of fun from our new titles. (Discounting Quake 4 of course. Bless you for treasuring our memories, iD Software.)
So what does the gaming community think? Are traditional cheats a thing of the past, or are they set to make a comeback? Or is blatant online cheating the only way forward? As I cast my mind back to jumping from 3 lives to 30 with that famous code, I hope it’s the former.
Oh, and if you’re wondering what the inspiration was for this discussion piece, fire up track 6 on ‘Saturday Night Wrist’ by Deftones. It may not even be the original code we all know and love, but it’s good to see that some people still remember a time when cheating was good, honest fun.
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