The history of video game cheats
Not so long ago, gamers had to search Nintendo Power and GamePro to find codes that would help them win otherwise impossible games. Who can forget the ubiquitous Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, B, A, starts to dominate with an extra 30 lives in Konami’s classic Contra? Then there were other cheats that required a bit more skill and talent, like the 100 extra lives in the original Super Mario Brothers at level 8-3, where crashing the two turtles on the final ladder multiple times would result in up to 100. free lives.
Then came the next wave of cheats that were facilitated by additional hardware like the Game Genie. These unique hardware adapters would change the codebase of games on systems including the NES, Genesis, GameBoy, SNES, Game Gear, and could do much more than the simple manual codes players previously relied on. Whether it was easing players’ god complexes by giving them invincibility or making them invisible to enemies, Game Genie allowed players to fall in love with their old favorites all over again.
As a second coming of the hardware-based approach to game cheats, we were introduced to Game Shark. This second coming is designed to not only help you find cheats within your games, but also to support your games. Best of all, there’s a Game Shark for just about every system old and new.
Now, in 2008, things have done a complete 360 and video game cheats are returning to their ancient roots. Thanks to the widespread proliferation of the web and the willingness of gamers to share what they know, there are a variety of dedicated websites that can provide you with everything from walkthroughs to classics like Phantasy Star 2 and cheat codes for Super Mario Paper. The future might even have us learning about ways to master our favorite apps from the Apple Store!
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