May 04, 8:00 am
For the purist, thoughts of acquiring any help in a game, whether it be console or PC based, would be complete heresy! Why would anyone want to play the game other than the way the creators envisioned it being played? What could possibly motivate a person to seek outside help to complete a game in a different way than it it’s original design was meant? For the most part, the answers lie more at the heart of “why” we play games in the first place, than anything else.
Having the privilege to work in the gaming industry, has given me a lot of opportunities to meet some of the individuals and teams involved with the creation and designing of video games. From character development, game environment, to the story that is presented to the end user; the process is an art form that, when put together, creates an experience that is meant to take people on a journey.
Not necessarily being avid gamers themselves, or out of necessity to get a feel for the flow of the game rather than the challenge, some developers put in codes that allow them to have full access to abilities to complete the game. Enter the “Konami Code,” named for the company that helped introduce the gamer to the world of cheat codes, when Konami released “Gradius” for the NES. The game was allowed to be released without removing the code that the designer, Mr. Hashimoto, inserted to allow him full access to all of the power-ups in the game.
There are gamers who would find it absolutely ridiculous to play a game and not complete it on their own merits. Those who know my naturally patient, and somewhat subdued, personality would classify me as one of those individuals. For those of you who really know me, I have one word for you, “MOTHERLOAD”. I love playing the game Sims on my PC. The ability to create unique environments and controlling how people interact fascinates me. I can play that game for hours on end.
Where I have difficulty though is in waiting for my characters to make enough money for me to create the environments I want to. Here is where the cheat code “motherload” comes in. When I enter that code, I have an unlimited supply of money with which to create the environments I so choose.
Developers have come to understand that, for some gamers, it is more about the destination than the journey itself. Many games have cheat codes that are part of the architecture of the game. Whether it is a screen that allows you to enter various codes for invulnerability or a combination of button presses that give you unlimited lives, developers have allowed gamers to experience games the way they choose.
There are many gamers that don’t have the patience or willingness to take the time to wait for the game to develop or get to new levels. Allowing people the opportunity to choose to use the codes or not, opens the game to a broader audience. It’s this opportunity of a broader audience that will hopefully continue to push developers to develop games that entertain and challenge us. The future of gaming looks bright. “MOTHERLOAD”!!!!!!!
Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A. Every Geek Girl should have this pattern etched into their psyche.
That now famous pattern was originally “patched” into the game Gradius, for the NES, to allow the developers, who found it too difficult to play through the game during development, a way to play through with the compliment of full power-ups. Mr. Hashimoto fortuitously forgot to remove the “patch” when the game was released to the public and the pattern quickly gained the attention of gamers.
When developers realized the popularity of these Cheat Codes, they quickly became not only a development tool, but also a way to add a whole new dimension to the games. These original Cheat Codes have morphed into what we now know as Cheat Codes, Easter Eggs, Unlockables, and even God Mode.
Cheat Codes- A code, whether it is a word or series of button presses, that are entered during some stage of the game to changes a games originally intended behavior.
Easter Egg- Hidden messages, sounds, graphics or other game play modes designed to be searched for, much like an “Easter Egg Hunt”, by the user.
Unlockable- An attribute to either the game itself or the character within a game that is “unlocked” once a user has accomplished certain tasks.
Using Cheat Codes, Unlockables and Easter Eggs
There aren’t many games today that don’t have some kind of cheat code or alternate play as part of the game play no matter the platform that they are played on. Since games and platforms are as unique and diverse as the developers that create them there is no way to list all of them here.
The easiest way for a geek to find out what cheats, unlockables and easter eggs are available for a particular game and how to open or use those cheats is only a few quick clicks away. Here are a few sites that will give you information on what is available for your particular game in alphabetic order.
These sites have games listed by platform to help make the process of locating the appropriate cheats and tips easier to locate. You will find some games have a dedicated page to enter codes. Others make you find all of a particular object, or many other different methods of entry. For those Unlockables or Easter Eggs that require objectives to be completed or specific moves to be accomplished in order to use there are always videos available on YouTube.com.
To use the cheat codes, or not, is really up to the individual. It can change the way game play was designed, and some prefer to experience it without the difficulties that come having to wait for certain attributes or levels. For others, it is the journey in accomplishing tasks necessary to reach new levels or abilities that drives them to play. Some people just love to discover all of the hidden aspects of games and all of the easter eggs. Whatever side of the line you find yourself on, have fun discovering new aspects of your favorite games. How do YOU like to play?
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