To cheat or not to cheat, that is the question

Cheat: –verb (definition on Dictionary.com)

To practice fraud or deceit or to violate rules or regulations

I dunno about you but when it comes to game cheats, I’m not a fan. I’ve never understood the term ‘game cheat’ because I was brought up to believe that the word ‘cheat’ had only one meaning. That was before they invented the ‘cheat code’ or game cheat as it’s commonly referred to.

I mean I understand why there are game cheats. I’ve just never been one to use them. Surely there must be a reason why the developers make the games the way they do. If they wanted things to be easy, I’m sure the game sales not to mention the popularity of the games they make would suffer. Nobody wants a game they can just cruise on through. People want challenges, they want to feel like there is a reason to be doing what they do and they want to feel accomplishment in a game. How can you achieve any of that if you use cheats?

And then there’s the walk-through. I’ve never been able to properly determine the difference between a ‘cheat’ and a ‘walk-through’. Are they one and the same? Afterall, they pretty much exist for the same reason – to pass a portion of a game that you would otherwise not be able to pass without help.

I think walk-throughs might be slightly different to a ‘cheat’ because some walk-through guides are sometimes created by official companies associated to the game. I remember receiving a guide similar to a walkthrough for one of the Star Wars games I was playing at the time. I never used it but it was sent to me all the same.

I suppose there are pros and cons to this argument. Without cheat codes/walk-throughs and the like, many gamers would not be able to successfully finish the game they love. And finishing a game is paramount to alot of gamers. Remove the cheat codes etc and there would be a whole group of unsatisfied gamers out there. There’s also the ‘value for money’ aspect. People want to get the most out of a game they buy and if they can’t do it using their own mental faculties, they should be able to do it somehow, right? But there’s still the moral thing there. If you need help finishing a game, you’re not doing it on your own… so you’re not really achieving something on your own merit.

Do you use game cheats and if so why? Do you think it’s right to use a cheat in a game or do you think it’s better to work things out yourself, even when the game seems impossible to beat?