The Start and State of Video Game Cheats - "Sometimes people just plain forgot to take codes out"
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BY @Donmochino
The Konami Code
While cheat codes may have been popular among players, they weren’t initially programmed for the player’s use. At first, cheat codes were inserted into games as a way for the developers (who aren’t always masters of their own games) to quickly get through games to test them for bugs. Sometimes a game’s difficulty proved to be too much for developers. They needed a way around this without altering the difficulty. For that reason, developers added cheat codes which granted them additional lives and power-ups for easier testing. These codes were usually removed before the game shipped but in one case, a code was left in the final release. It lead to the origin of the most well-known cheat code—The Konami Code.
The so-called Konami Code first appeared in the 1986 NES port of Gradius. The developer, Kazuhisa Hashimoto, had trouble with the game’s difficulty. Hashimoto programmed a code (up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A) that granted the player all of the power-ups to balance the difficulty while testing. The code made its way into other Konami games before players soon found out about the elusive code. It gathered wide recognition after the North American release of Contra for the NES where it notably granted the player 30 extra lives. The code even appeared in non-Konami games and is referenced in various other media. Its lasting impact could be attributed to the memorable inputs, Contra’s popularity, and its constant usage.
Extensive Use of Codes
Cheat codes saw other purposes besides giving the player advantages. Developers used the same workarounds with codes to provide a way to save game progress. Classic games such as Mega Man, Metal Gear, and Metroid on the NES didn’t have a way to save progress. Passcodes were used to start the player at a certain stage or area within the game. This allowed players to turn off their game and return to their saved progress at any time. Codes were also used to bypass censorship in the case of Mortal Kombat’s “blood code.” Some codes even unlocked hidden content, such as Bill Clinton and the Fresh Prince in NBA Jam.
The developers behind games weren’t the only ones making cheat codes. Third-party developers also joined in by making cheat devices such as the Game Genie, Action Replay, and GameShark, which were usually marketed as “game enhancers.” These devices provided the user with a list of preloaded codes for multiple games. The cheat code industry had several books and magazines sold on the premise of ultimate cheat sources but the spread of codes peaked with the Internet. People could now easily make their own codes for devices like the Action Replay and share them to code sites.
Cheating — Is It Bad?
Many games often included a cheat codes section in the options for players to input various codes. Developers knew people enjoyed cheats and left them in for players to find. A lot of codes gave the player instant vehicles, armor, or money, but there were a lot of novelty codes too. A few examples include codes that gave you slow-motion, low gravity, paintball mode, and big heads to spice up gameplay. Despite what the term may imply, the use of codes doesn’t make the user a cheater. Cheat codes are just a different way to experience a game or revisit an old favorite with explosive punches.
As fun as cheat codes may be, their inclusion in games has declined over the years. Advancements in game development no longer forces developers to come up with workarounds when they have better tools for debugging. These same tools allow players to make their own mods and share them with others. Games have also moved in a different direction—more story driven, microtransactions/downloadable content, and online.
That’s not to say cheat codes are no longer found in video games though. Blockbuster video games like Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption continue to allow the player to input cheats for helicopters and horses. The Uncharted series actually rewarded the player with cheats or “tweaks“ to alter the game with infinite ammo, one-shot kills, or a mirrored world upon completion. Although cheat codes may not be as trendy as before, they continue to make their way into games for the player’s amusement or as a simple homage to the past.
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