But what is the big deal about cheating in video games anyway? After all, to use a cliché, the only person you are cheating is yourself. It must be noted, however, that if you do cheat yourself you truly are missing out on the gaming experience you paid for. You are missing out on the challenge inherent in the game. Would God of War been as intense a game if all you had to do was input a cheat code for invincibility? Absolutely not, because a sizable portion of that game’s fun came from those adrenaline-pushing moments when the player-character was almost dead and you just barely beat that last bad guy and snagged a health power-up. Would it have been as fun if a few simple button presses instantly gave you all the powers that Kratos could amass during the course of the game? Again no, due to the fact that building Kratos from a strong warrior with a few awesome combos into an unstoppable juggernaut helped fuel the sense of accomplishment (and the addictive quality) that God of War served up to the gamer. God of War has some intriguing special features as well, most of which are unlocked via game play. If a secret code unlocked all of these features, why would you want to play the game anymore, if in fact all you are concerned about are the special features? And if you are one of those gamers that could care less about the journey and only see the destination (in other words, you want to beat the game for the sake of beating the game), let me just remind you that unless you receive a game as a gift or otherwise have it come into your possession without departing with some of your cash then you paid for the game. Do you really want it to be over in an hour or two? Do you really want all of the hidden secrets and Easter eggs revealed to you, leaving you nothing to work for?

While I’ve already made it clear that cheating on a video game is not sensible, I sadly know people who play video games that use cheat codes almost exclusively. I honestly don’t know why these people play video games, and notice I didn’t call them “gamers.” With that being said, I do use cheat codes from time to time, but only as a diversion and never as a means to an end. Say for example I get bored or frustrated with a certain part of a game. I’ll save it, then either start a new game or continue my old one with cheat codes in place, just to have some fun and vent some steam. But I’ll never let the cheat-code-enhanced session taint my main game. I’m also more forgiving on gamers that (and do not hesitate myself to) use walkthroughs and strategy guides; way too many games out there are not forgiving at all, and you can have the most thorough guide ever written but you’ve still got to do the ugly part yourself. My feelings are the same for games that use cheats that the game itself rewarded you with. You’ve worked hard for those Silver Weapons; use them!

Of course all of this is a matter of personal choice. Are you comfortable not having any respect from your peers as long you get to see the final cut scene of a game? If the answer is yes, then cheat away. But please refrain from bragging about how you beat Ninja Gaiden for the X-Box on the hardest difficulty level but oh so conveniently forget to mention the fact that you used some kind of game enhancing device to do. I’d rather hear a gamer say “Yeah, I couldn’t beat Ninja Gaiden. It was too hard.” That’s probably because that’s what I always say when discussing that cursed game.

But when a gamer’s personal choices start interfering with the enjoyment of other gamers’ experiences, that’s when cheating should be out and out disallowed. I am speaking of multi-player experiences.

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