It's like yin and yang, light and darkness, vanilla and chocolate: wherever there are rules directing life, there is a means of going against those rules. Since video games' conception, enthusiasts have proved themselves champions of cheating and game-breaking.
But it's not as if cheating at video games is as simple as being cheap about tag-backs or peeking during hide-and-seek.
I wrote an article for 1UP that looks at the long, twisted history behind game breaking. I'm putting the link up here because I'm a pimp, but also because I find the subject matter pretty fascinating. It's very difficult to draw a line between "Cheating" and "Okey-Dokey" with video games because there are so many variables to consider. Is it "cheating" if you use an in-game trick like the exhalted Konami Code? Or is the term reserved for third-party peripherals like the Game Genie and Gameshark?
How about the exploitation of game mechanics? Put Mario Kart DS and "snaking" in the same sentence on any game-related message board to launch a war.
Gamers are often rewarded when they (to quote Miss Frizzle) take chances, make mistakes and get messy. Consider Adventure, the grandfather of console RPGs. By meeting certain requirements and going off the game's beaten path, players revealed the text "Warren Robinett", the name of Adventure's lead programmer. Not an impressive trick by today's standards, but it was an early indication that there was more to games than meets the eye...and that contrary to what Atari wanted people to believe back then, video games were programmed by human beings, not robots.
Players began to wonder: "What else do games have in store for those of us who think outside the box?" Thus began the sport of banging on buttons and keys to see what kinds of rewards would be yielded. Most of the time it was a trip to the return counter with a busted game, but as games became more complex, efforts became more fruitful.
My favourite Game Genie memory is finally taking down the wretched Thunderbird that lorded over the Great Palace in Zelda II: The Adventure Of Link. Zelda II not a forgiving game; the path to the Great Palace was hell, but it was a trek through Eden compared to the Palace itself. So what if I cheated a titch and employed the Genie? In the end, Hyrule was saved and I got a kiss from the original, somehow-not-mummified Princess Zelda. That's what counts, right?
...Right?
Psht, if Ganon had a Game Genie, you know he wouldn't hesitate to give himself eternal life and totally wreck Link.
