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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

Eggo:

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.

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.

Aries_Split:
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. :P 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?

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

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)

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.

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.

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.

Aries_Split:
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. :P 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:

DeadlyFred:

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.

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.

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.

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

-- Alex

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 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.

Cheats like the urns of power in GoW 2 that need to be earned and are only usable on your second playthrough are somewhat ok i suppose...although i still find the extra challenge more fun than beating everything with no problems....cause that's called the easy mode...and i never play my games on easy lol.

Cheat codes died when games became so easy that there was no need for them. Unless you have some sort of learning disorder.

Oh and GTAIV has cheat codes, never used them but I hear they suck.

I pretty much only play PC games...so I get to cheat whenever I feel like it.

Well this is an interestingly vicious thread.

There have been two answers so far on this thread that have answered the "why you don't see them so often" question.

Cheat codes were originally debugging tools. Because it is clear that a lot of folks don't understand, allow me to elaborate. If you want to test a boss's AI in a platformer, and your boss is at the end of level two, a level jump code and an immortality code saves the debugger the problem of having to play through levels 1 to 4 and replaying level 5 every time they taqke five seconds to jot a note instead of jumping over fireballs.

In the eighties and ninties because a lot of testing had to be done on the actual hardware to make sure the system could handle it, a lot of these codes were built directly into a system produced game. Then testing on the console could be easily managed. Because of the risk of potential bugs caused by removing the cheat code, budgets, and timelines, most developers just left them in the game.

Because of the differences in game development between then and now, this practice is not as common. And because of the potential bugs that could be left in by leaving testing tools in the game, any that may exist are removed (best practices, larger budgets, and the cost of a potential bug make this the new reality) also already pointed out.

Cheats make fantastic easter eggs, I remember them well. And as nifty as beating Contra on 3 lives is and that wonderful sense of achievement you feel for doing it is great. But cheats don't deny that experience to anyone but they do allow you to do things like explore the game world more completely and at your leisure which, for someone who is interested in games as more than a Thursday evening waste of time, is really cool.

But with tighter time-lines and more complex game dynamics it is harder to find appropriate easter eggs like that and fit them in, a good 3/4 of the games out there today are effectively unfinished and easter eggs come last.

Almost all other discussion on this thread is silly because it is unrelated to the question or just wrong. Achievements got rid of cheats? Developers don't want cheats because it messes up the thing they spent so much money on? Ai yai yai...

"Winners never cheat and cheaters never win" that's what guybrush taught me but then again he's a pirate.

I used to use cheats these days... I find using cheats boring games aren't as knuckle grind hard anymore and way too short to breeze trough with godmode.
Cheats mostly still excist in game code. because for testing and de bugging purposes only.

It seems lots of people don't get cheating. It's fun. Simple as that. But that's after beating the game without cheats. That's funnier in "yay me for accomplishing something" way. Cheating is fun in "let's fool around" way.

Then there's some cheats like this:

HelpUsObi 1

g_dismemberment 5

I think everyone who knew about it used it in Jedi Knight 2: Outcast. Is self-explanatory why it was fun and it doesn't even damage balancing or anything.

EDIT: No, wait, it did damage the balancing. But the pros outweigh the cons!

There are still some fun cheats in recent games (though these are last-gen examples as I don't own a current-gen console).
I never really use cheats in order to beat the game, and I'm pretty sure thats not what the author was talking about.
In the ratchet and clank series when you beat the game, and I think unlock certain numbers of skill points you can have access to cheats such as having your wrench replaced with a lightsabre (no additonal damage, just looks cool), have a weapon shoot squid instead of rockets, all characters have big heads... etc.

The timesplitters series also features such unlockable cheats, big heads, rotating heads, cardboard cut-out characters, silly hats, slow motion deaths. None of these make the game easier, and some actually make it harder.

cheats dont seem to of died its more cheaters that have

TommyGun465:
yeah. i did enjoy cheats. it was really fun. dont worry, saints row 2 will have something!

It's a pity it's going to be a terrible game.

hardcore max:
cheats dont seem to of died its more cheaters that have

Yeah I was gonna say, cheats haven't died! We just all grew past it! I used to cheat all the time, and now I prefer to actually TRY the game!! My little brother cheats all the time, on EVERYTHING!

I've only used cheats once in a game without feeling guilty. It was in one of the jedi knight games where you have to jump around inside of air tubes/elevators, which after the first 20 min made me angry enough to use noclip and just skip it. I did it because 1 it was annoying has hell. 2) did nothing to contribute to the story.

Cheats that I do like: Guns on GTA series, where all you want to do is cause some mayhem. and other silly extras that I don't have to unlock by doing something stupid like getting 100 headshots in a row, or beat level XXX in 2:35. Might be a cool looking achivement, but is it really worth replaying the level over 9000 times just to unlock the cheat that makes your bullet holes look like paint balls?
No.

My guess is it would over complicated achievmennts/trophies in any modern console games. There are still some kicking about, but many have lost their power.

Cheating is fun if it's used just to goof-off. In gta my friends don't even bother with the story, they just go ahead, put in some cheats, and have a great time.(gta is just my example)

Cheating for the sake of beating a game in 2 min. is just wrong.

Some games need mods and cheats in order to be fine tuned*cough**cough*oblivion*cough**cough*

Huh...god mode, all/weapons inf. ammo, noclip and level skips. True. These can make the game easier. And, are only really fun for a while. Big Heads, low gravity, extra bloody, these too are cheats, and don't really impact the game in terms of difficulty as much, but are more fun to use.

So, while I won't really miss the former, the loss of the latter is a real shame.

Also, barring multiplayer, the purpose of a game is for one's own -personal- entertainment. Even if the designer has intended it to be challenging and engaging, that means little if you're not having fun. So, it's your's to play in the way -you- see fit. Cheat or don't, only your own enjoyment matters. After all, you paid for it.