How to Use Cheat Codes in 2010

In 1987, almost every video game player in the U.S. knew how to activate the Contra 30 lives cheat code. When the title screen came up, you simply needed to press up, up, down, down, left, right, right, B, A, and finally start before the screen changed. This cheat code, famously referred to as the Konami Code, was relatively easy to accomplish and could be used on every single NES Contra game in existence, as well as many other Konami published games.

During the 3^rd and 4^th generation of video games consoles (NES, Genesis, Super Nintendo, etc.), video game cheat codes were commonly programmed into games and activating them usually required a relatively simple button combination on a specific screen. These cheat codes would often give extra lives, full inventories, or even invulnerability. Usually, the publisher of the game actually intended players to be able to use the cheat codes and would publicly distribute the codes.

Starting with the 5^th generation of console video games, console cheat codes became much less common. Devices similar to the GameShark continued to exist that could be purchased to hack a game state, but many of these devices invalidated warranties and risked damaging the game, console, or save information. As the current generation, console cheat codes have basically become a thing of the past.

Unlike consoles, PC games continue to have cheat codes, though just like consoles, these are less commonly built into the game by programmers. Back when ID originally released Wolfenstein 3D, knowledge of IDKFA, the cheat code that gave you every item in the game, was nearly as widespread as knowledge of the Konami Code. To enter this cheat code, you simply needed to press enter to activate the command line and type those five letters.

Current PC games are rarely as easy to enter cheat codes. Most cheat codes require changing the state of the game either by manipulating developer toolkits or changing values in the game's lookup tables. While there is risk of losing save data with these techniques, the original game files are generally safely write protected on a disc or re-downloadable from where the game was purchased. Thus, using a cheat code usually requires little more than following online instructions that require a few changes to some text files.

The internet is filled with sites, like gamefaqs.com, that provide cheat codes and gaming magazines continue to give cheat instructions. Furthermore, there is actually a TV show called "Cheat" on G4TV that airs nothing but cheat codes and tricks for various currently released games. Any of these sources are excellent for finding current cheat codes for PC games and instructions are usually explicit enough that even the computer illiterate can follow them.

For console games, a few cheat codes still exist, but for the majority of them, the only form of cheating involves finding hidden objects or completing the game. Many games will allow you to play in invulnerable mode or with every weapon in the game after you defeat the game for the first time. And, usually defeating the game in easy mode is enough to gain these benefits, so you can quickly play through a game and then enjoy the so-called cheats. But, in truth, the vast majority of console games, and notably almost every one released within the last year, while having unlockable content, do not have any true cheat codes.

Commonly, the modern cheat code is actually nothing more than having a very skilled player play the game on the hardest difficulty and unlock every feature of the game. These skilled players then distribute save files with the completed game around the internet, which can be downloaded by others who own the game. Because all modern gaming consoles are internet active, this form of the cheat code even works on consoles video games and shows how the standard of the cheat code has changed so significantly in the last 20 years.