The world of gaming has evolved from being a technological wonder to almost a necessity in everyone’s lives. The number of changes the gaming community has seen is uncountable. The gaming industry is one of the most profitable industries out of all the industries that could ever be. This is so due to the proliferation of games with the advent of mobile devices. A mobile phone has opened the doors to the introduction of gaming to a wide range of generations.
Almost every teenager, to these days, grows up with their fair share of experience in gaming. Considering how popular video gaming is in the present day, there are ways to trick the system to get ahead in the game. These are more popularly known as cheat codes. More precisely, cheat codes act like Easter eggs in a movie. One has to input a combination of letters or numbers, which resembles a password, to unlock a feature that is quite unexpected in that particular game.
There is so much to know regarding cheat codes and their saga that there has to be a separate article on them. Thus, in this article, we talk about cheat codes and how to find them in the case of different games.
Why Do Cheat Codes Exist at All?
Cheat codes have been there ever since video games have been. However, the practice of using them became so widespread only recently. The question stays – ‘How did cheat codes happen to be there all this while, and how come they exist?’
Back in the day, it was not an easy task to find the first lines of a code to change the gaming experience tailored to a particular device. Developers have to overwrite the memory of a game by changing the game’s code, thereby inserting numbers and values in it. The individual lines of codes are called Pokes. However, the process of changing values within the code is more in a trial and error fashion – it is difficult to assume what works.
These alterations ended up being cheats in the game. It must not be mistaken that the cheats were not made to allow gamers to have more fun, but they were there so that the developers could find their way into the codes with ease. Many of the cheats that were inserted into the code became shortcuts so that developers could navigate their way through them.
Eventually, cheat codes gained a lot of importance in the circles of gamers where they did not have to play rigorously to find the cheat codes. All they had to do is subscribe to a magazine or two to know about all these cheats.
Does the Use of Cheat Codes Dilute the Gaming Experience?
The cheat codes surely make the experience far more simple than it would have had had one left it to the natural gameplay. On the same note, cheat codes do not make the wins easy to score. They open up a world of possibilities within the game. Just because one may use cheat codes does not guarantee them their path to a win.
For casino gaming, the cheat codes have a mystical value – all gamblers know that when the money is in question, cheats are not allowed, but everyone wishes to have one. In earlier times, there were rumours and strategies on how to get an advantage in some offline casino games, but mostly those were false.
There are video gamers who wish to keep their experience free of cheat codes, for they think it is far more rewarding that way. Let us take a look at a few cheat codes for popular video games in the industry currently.
The Konami Code
There is no other cheat code that is more popular than this one for the probable reason that it has been used in over a hundred games developed by Konami. Every game that uses the same cheat unlocks a different feature giving rise to the excitement. This started off in the year 1985 when Kazuhisa Hashimoto was in the process of making the video game Gradius. He found it challenging to test the game due to its difficulty level and thus introduced cheats to unlock all the bonuses at once, only to forget to erase them before releasing the game.
The cheat combination is presently used in mobile and desktop applications to bring about changes in the features as well. There have been innumerable pop culture references as well, given the popularity it has achieved in the present day. The Konami Code gets activated using the ‘up up down down left right left right B A Start’ sequence.
Grand Theft Auto Saga
There are two distinct ways in which gamers choose to play this game – either by completing each round at their own pace or by unlocking the levels using the cheats. Since Rockstar is aware of this popular method of using cheats to unlock levels, it does not try to eliminate the cheat codes in the subsequent installations in the series. Some of the most common cheat codes include the following:
- Bring in a different vehicle into the game;
- Change the main character’s clothes;
- Change the weather;
- Alter the traffic conditions and
Some of the top cheat codes that gamers use in the San Andreas version are the following:
- CHITTYCHITTYBANGBANG
This allows gamers to fly their car as if it were a plane. This tactic comes especially handy when one is being chased down by police cars.
- KANGAROO
Jump thrice with the help of this cheat code.
- ROCKETMAN
The cheat allows a player to get a jetpack to fly around and land on a particular spot. With the help of the previous cheat code, one can jump off a tall structure or from one roof of a building to another.
Doom
This first-person shooter video game is one that is full of cheat codes making gaming easy for beginners. Launched in 1993, this video game comes with uncountable cheats that allow a range of activities that the normal gameplay would not.
- ‘idspispopd’
Walkthrough any obstruction such as enemies, walls, and other features within the video game.
- ‘iddqd’
This is the passcode for the God Mode, which enables the player with 100% immunity from all damages. It restores one’s health to 100%, and there can only be damage if the Nightmare difficulty mode has been turned on for the round.
- ‘idmypos’
This cheat is meant for people who are an expert in computer gaming. One can find out their coordinates and direction in hexadecimal script.
The Sims
If you have ever played The Sims, then you will know that the hardest bit about playing this game is saving money. Thus, the primary reason why one would find cheats within the game is to make money. Players on The Sims can easily make a big house with extra features once they can cheat their way into making money. The combination of ‘Control + Shift + C + typing ‘klapaucius’’ offers 1000 simoleons. Using this, players can get their way inside the simulation.
Concluding Thoughts
Even though cheat codes are a huge hit on video games, they have no effect on eSports sessions – when one is playing to gamble. The servers control the video game and the gameplay. Thus, a win may not seem so easy on gambling platforms.
However, players can make full use of the cheat codes at home to work their way around the video game with ease.