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Cheat code

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A cheat code (also referred to as a cheat or code) is a key sequence, password, or series of steps to be entered within a video game that will provide the player some object, ability, or access to a level or location within the game that is secret, hidden, or that would have otherwise been unobtainable or unavailable to the player.

Activation methods for cheat codes include inputting a code at a password promt or a pressing a combination of game controller buttons.[1] Effects might include unlocking a character or improving a character's performance (providing a car with greater acceleration, for example.)[1]

History

Initially, cheats were built into games by the developers as shortcuts, allowing them the ability to test functions and/or levels of their games without having to complete all prior levels. One of the earliest known examples of this type of cheat is the Konami Code, created in 1986 by Konami developer Kazuhisa Hashimoto as he worked on porting the 1985 arcade game Gradius for use on the Nintendo Entertainment System. Hashimoto is quoted as saying "The arcade version of Gradius is really difficult, right? I never played it that much, and there was no way I could finish the game, so I inserted the so-called Konami code."[2]

Cheat devices

Cheats that were not originally included by a game's developers can also be "created" by manipulating the contents of the memory address for a video game. Users of some early home computers called these codes pokes, named after the command used to input them. On video game consoles, this method of "cheating" is accomplished through the use of a cheat device.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Stevens, Reed, Tom Satwicz, and Laurie McCarthy. “In-Game, In-Room, In-World: Reconnecting Video Game Play to the Rest of Kids’ Lives." The Ecology of Games: Connecting Youth, Games, and Learning. Edited by Katie Salen. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2008. 41–66. doi: 10.1162/dmal.9780262693646.041
  2. ^ "Cracking the Code: The Konami Code". 1up.com.
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