What Makes People to Use Cheat Codes Playing Video Games

The computer and video gaming industry has been big business since the early 1980's when the first games consoles were created - and ever since those days, games players have often required a helping hand during tough stages of games of all kinds. Those players turned to cheating, and cheats have been ever-present in video games ever since.

Cheats are a way of gaining an advantage within a computer or video game which would not typically be easily achieved when playing the game as it was meant to be played. The effect of cheats varies from game to game, and the ultimate possibilities of cheats results are virtually limitless given the depth of some video games around nowadays.

Cheats have become such an essential part of computer and video games, that gamers now expect new titles to contain a wide range of cheats which will allow them to extend their gameplay, speed up their progress through a game, or even to enhance the gameplay itself. The gaming industry has always responded to these expections, and there are very few games released today with no available cheats built into them.

Game cheats is now big business in itself, with several magazines being published on a monthly basis dedicated to the so-called art of cheating, or winning at all costs as they prefer to see it. This is despite the countless number of video games cheats websites freely available on the internet, one of the most popular and longest running being Cheat Masters - established in 1994.

Why do gamers feel the need to cheat? Cheats can extend the replayability factor of games which rely heavily on a single player game mode. Many gamers also struggle for time with lifestyles becoming increasingly busy, so cheats act as a way of accessible the more appealing areas of games which would otherwise take a long time to reach.

The benefits of cheats to a game player are vast. With the most common cheats effects being general things such as character invulnerability allowing you to play for as long as you wish without dying or receiving damage, invisibility to mask your character from the enemies or opponents which is particularly effective in first person shooter titles, and unlimited resources giving you the means to buy huge amounts of in-game weapons, create expensive buildings, buy armor, purchase vehicle upgrades or whatever else you can purchase in the game you happen to be playing at the time.

Other general cheat codes effects include flying ability - even if your character is a car or something else that typically can not possibly fly - the unlocking of additional characters or costumes and the instant unlocking of weapons or items that usually have to be discovered or are unavailable until certain points of a game are reached.

Cheats come in a range of forms. The most common are standard cheat codes which you enter into a cheats menu in the game which in turn will bring in the cheat effect instantly. Other cheat codes are entered during live gameplay by pressing a sequence of buttons in a certain order. Cheats can also be achieved by modifying the actual code that runs a game through a hex editor.

Another popular form of cheats for computer and video games are trainers. These are small (usually) files which you can download and run behind the scenes at the same time as you run your game. The trainer interacts with the game and picks up your actions within it and when certain buttons are pressed, the trainer kicks in and will grant you certain effects, abilities or resources within the game itself instantly. Trainers are popular for simulation games where a lot of quick money can come in handy.

It isn't just button sequences and and software that can help you use cheats in games today - there are even pieces of hardware created especially for cheating. The most popular cheats hardware include Action Replay and Gameshark cartridges which connect directly to games systems and will automatically bring in a number of cheats for the game you happen to be playing, providing the game has cheats that the cartridge supports. Most recent versions of these cartridges can be modified and brought upto date by gamers themselves, allowing them to add new cheats which are then remembered by the cartridge to be used in games at a later date.

Whether or not you agree with using cheats in video games, they are here to stay and they are a valuable asset to any computer or video game released today, bring unrivalled replayability to any title and allowing games to be a fun-only experience for gamers who choose to treat them that way.