The God Mode: In Defense of Cheat Codes

Infinite lives. No gravity. Endless ammo. Playing as Spiderman in a dress. These are all things you can have with cheat codes. Cheating in video games is almost as old as the industry itself. The first cheat codes were completely accidental, left in by game designers after testing and later revealed to the public. The idea caught on quick and Nintendo's popular subscription magazine, Nintendo Power, cashed in on the craze. They turned cheating into a market, branching out from cheat codes to hints and walk-throughs. Players made cheating popular because it was fun! Now, new generation video games feature fewer and fewer cheat codes and...

Read more »

Posted in: 90s,cheat codes,cheating,contra,creativity,game design,gamers,konami code,sandbox,video games

Can Saving the World be Fun?

Friday, September 21st is a day that means nothing to a good portion of the world. To many, it’s the end of the work week and the start of the weekend. But most don’t know that Jeremy Gilley put forth immense effort to have September 21st recognized by the United Nations as Peace Day. And succeeded. September 21st is officially Peace Day! This isn’t news, though. Peace Day has been around for over a decade, but the news hasn’t reached our ears yet. How can there be peace if no one knows it exists? Part of the problem is spreading the word, but the other half of the problem is that awareness can only go so far, and that distance is about...

Read more »

Posted in: advocacy,community,ermahgerd,Facebook,food force,genres,jeremy gilley,peace,peace day,reality,social issues,social media,statistics,united nations,video games,water.org,WFP

The Baseline is: Video Game Writers Suck

On September 12, The Atlantic interviewed Junot Diaz on his new book, but what came out was probably the most sought after explanation for tawdry, scantily-clad video game females this world over. Plainly said: Guys, you suck. In Mr.Diaz’s own delicate, refined prose, he states: “The one thing about being a dude and writing from a female perspective is that the baseline is, you suck. The baseline is it takes so long for you to work those atrophied muscles—for you to get on parity with what women's representations of men are. For me, I always want to do better. I wish I had another 10 years to work those muscles so that I can write...

Read more »

Posted in: characters,feminism,Hennig,junot diaz,stereotypes,Uncharted,video games,women,writing

You Should Read This #1

“What we’re seeing in games is art at a world-class stage design that is almost unmatched anywhere else. It has been very exciting to me to see so many ideas that integrate social good and efforts to make the world a better place into games.”  -Al gore Source: 1. Entertainment Software Associatio...

Read more »

Posted in: al gore,quotes,video games,you should read this

The Average Gamer

“The Princess is in another castle!” If you recognize that line (don’t you dare google it), then welcome to the exclusive, super-secret world of video gamers! Membership is selective and offers a lifetime of good times. A lifetime! That’s a lot of time. But wait! Why dedicate your life to videogames? Well, everyone else is doing it. Over 50% of American households enjoy some kind of console, ranging from the family friendly Wii to the hard brick of Xbox. You might be thinking to yourself “Wow, that’s over half of the population!” Yeah, it is, you smart cookie.* Credit: Entertainment Software Association Video games are...

Read more »

Posted in: players,reality,statistics,video games,why play