Whatever happened to Cheats?

PostRe: Whatever happened to Cheats? by **jawa_** » Sun Aug 07, 2022 8:55 am

OrangeRKN wrote:I think monetisation is a big factor.

Then: Cheat code unlocks special weapon
Now: Special weapon is exclusive pre-order bonus

Then: Cheat code unlocks alternate costume
Now: Alternate costume DLC included with Gold edition

Then: Cheat code unlocks all of the characters
Now: Earn or buy in game currency to get new characters

Then: Cheat code unlocks all of the levels in the game
Now: Buy an XP booster so you can get through the game quicker

Then: Cheat code unlocks all of the hats
Now: Buy the battle pass to unlock earning exclusive hats this season

Multiplayer moving online too has changed how unlocks work so that using a cheat code to immediately unlock all of the content goes against the core design goal of keeping you playing with constant unlocks. Less maliciously a game that in the past might have made you unlock all of the characters (or enter a cheat) now might nmake them available from the start so that everyone online is on a level playing field.

I miss cheats and I personally like the growing trend of accessibility options not just because they obviously make games more accessible, but because options like "take no damage" are functionally equivalent to an invincibility cheat of old.

^Yes!
I do agree that achievements are a factor, too; their arrival meant that methods of changing the game were usually omitted (albeit I do recognise that in some cases achievements won't happen if cheats are being used).

I wish new games had more codes/options that do fun things. Things like big head mode in GoldenEye was great!

I know this is centuries ago, but I also miss the "Poke"-type commands that could be done on computers back in the 80s. For folk who don't know, this was a way of directly changing the program code and so there were loads of things that could be done; unlimited lives, go through walls, unlimited ammo, different coloured player or whatever. You had to be pretty adept at understanding machine code to develop such changes; but the codes were then hugely popular in the games mags of the time.

PostRe: Whatever happened to Cheats? by **Sprouty** » Tue Aug 09, 2022 11:20 pm

The closest I can think of is the Uncharted unlocks once you complete the game. Unlimited ammo, special visual modes, it's pretty neat.

Jenuall wrote:Sonic still has cheat codes

19921124 for life yo

Up down left right A+start
Up down left right ABC ABC ABC ABC

Last edited by Cumberdanes on Wed Aug 10, 2022 11:30 am, edited 1 time in total.

Infernax has a built in Game Genie equivalent called the Game Wizard that lets you unlock some wild extra features using codes. One of them being extra gory mode which given that for an 8 bit style game it’s already pretty gory gets a bit ridiculous.

PostRe: Whatever happened to Cheats? by **Rubix** » Wed Aug 10, 2022 11:14 am

Most cheats were used because games were a lot harder back in the day! I don’t feel the need for them anymore.

Drumstick wrote:Gonna be looking to 100% GoldenEye and Perfect Dark when I get my N64 tomorrow, including the cheats.

Some of these Perfect Dark target times are really challenging!

Beating Carrington Villa in under 2:30 on Special Agent took me almost 4 hours! Taking out the snipers quickly is tough and even then you regularly end up getting bottlenecked by guards and die almost instantly.

Infiltration took me close to 2 hours last night, mostly because I kept getting clowned by grenades, TWICE in the final hangar mere seconds away from the finishing well under the target!

PostRe: Whatever happened to Cheats? by **Carlos** » Wed Aug 10, 2022 6:10 pm

Drumstick wrote:
Drumstick wrote:Gonna be looking to 100% GoldenEye and Perfect Dark when I get my N64 tomorrow, including the cheats.

Some of these Perfect Dark target times are really challenging!

Beating Carrington Villa in under 2:30 on Special Agent took me almost 4 hours! Taking out the snipers quickly is tough and even then you regularly end up getting bottlenecked by guards and die almost instantly.

Infiltration took me close to 2 hours last night, mostly because I kept getting clowned by grenades, TWICE in the final hangar mere seconds away from the finishing well under the target!

The worst part was there was supposed to be push button cheats in Perfect Dark but they forgot to put them in!

OrangeRKN wrote:I think monetisation is a big factor.

Huge factor. Great examples as well.

Sandbox mode, or Creative mode or whatever you want to call it is another factor.

Whatever happened to Cheats?

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