You've gotta love the cheats! Cheat
codes, easter eggs, passwords, secrets,
extras - whatever you call them, gamers
have loved getting a little bit more
out of their games for almost 30 years
now. Since this IS Cheat Code Central
- the best place in the world for the
aforementioned videogame goodies - we
thought it would be cool (and pertinent)
to finally label the Top Ten Best Cheats
EVER!
There
have been thousands of games released
over the last three decades, so how
does one go about deciding on the best
10 cheats or secrets of all time? If
you're me, you start with weeks of heavy
drinking, followed immediately by panic
due to the sobering realization that
you only have ten minutes to write an
article you were given six weeks to
research. Such is life on the interweb.
Critieria
The
cheats found on our list had to have
meaning. They couldn't just be cheats
we thought were cool. They had to be
influential to the further advancement
of cheats or the culture of cheating
as we now know them. Certainly you'll
have your own list in your mind and
may question our choices (I'm pretending
there is more than one loser writing
this article - just go with me on that)
- If this is the case, may I suggest
getting a job with a website and writing
your own article instead of e-mailing
me to argue about something as meaningless
as the Top 10 Best Cheats Ever? Thanks
in advance.
Without
further ado, let's dive right in.
#10
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Grand
Theft Auto (Series)
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Some
of you may not know that the Grand Theft
Auto series actually began on the PSone.
If you didn't, can I ask why you never
questioned why the PS2 game was called
Grand Theft Auto 3? Hmmm?
Anyway,
the GTA series has been known for it's
plethora of game altering cheat codes
since the first codes appeared for the
PSone version. If you can believe it,
the passwords to activate the cheat
codes for the first GTA were almost
X-Rated, due in part to the adult nature
of the gameplay. If you don't believe
me, click
here. The expansion pack GTA: London
1969 featured UK porno mag titles as
cheat codes. Ummm....I think someone
I know told me that. Yeah. I've never
even seen those mags before and if I
did, they were someone elses.
Of
course we wouldn't give out an award
just for having naughty words and phrases
as codes. Anyone could do that. The
GTA series earns our tenth spot for
consistently expanding on the cheat
codes found within the franchise. Rockstar
North (originally DMA) gets our recognition
for going above and beyond the call
of duty for jamming their GTA games
full of cool cheats that allow hours
of experimentation and replay value
and we hope that other developers take
notice. Gamers just want to have fun
and the ability to spawn a plethora
of vehicles, change into another character,
jump high into the air, fly a car and
drive on water (to name a fraction of
the codes found in the latest GTA game
San Andreas) is appreciated by code
hungry fans everywhere.
#9
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Twisted
Metal - PlayStation
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When
the PlayStation system launched in the
Fall of 1995, there were only two games
available for it in North America: Battle
Arena Toshinden and Ridge Racer. Both
games featured codes - BAT had push
button codes while the clever Namco
developers rewarded players who destroyed
all of the space ships (during the loading
screen version of Galaga) with 8 additional
vehicles.
By
1995, cheat codes in videogames weren't
exactly unexpected, but thanks to the
Internet which was already getting into
fullswing, word travelled quickly. This
created a buzz for the PlayStation among
gamers and Sony was quick to capitalize
on the fever. Sony soon launched a clever
advertising campaign centered around
their upcoming titles such as Warhawk
and Twisted Metal which featured hidden
codes within the ads.
It
was the first time that a company had
acknowledged the existence of codes
within their games and used them to
whet the appetites of consumers through
advertising. Twisted Metal takes the
9th spot over Battle Arena Toshinden,
Ridge Racer and Warhawk for the simple
fact that this was the game that created
the most buzz in regards to the cheats.
Observant Twisted Metal players would
eventually discover cheats hidden within
the levels.
While
it wasn't one single action or game
that propelled the PlayStation into
videogame superstardom, the existence
of hidden codes taunting excited gamers
certainly played an instrumental role
in it's success while the growing need
for an archive of these exciting codes
led the way for sites such as Cheat
Code Central.
#8
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Tomb
Raider - PlayStation
|
In
terms of legendary videogame characters,
you can't get more iconic or pop cultured
than Core Design and Eidos' tomb raiding
aventuress, Lara Croft. From the moment
adolescent gamers got a glimpse of her
polygonal assets, it was love at first
byte. Sorry, couldn't resist.
Unfortunately
for Lara, her controlling masters on
the other side of the TV screen weren't
content with seeing her parade around
in that tight aqua t-shirt or those
"nothing left to the imagination"
khaki shorts. They wanted more. They
wanted Lara to "take it ALL off".
And they were pretty damn sure that
Core Design had left a code within the
game to allow them that one simple pleasure
known as The Lara Croft Nude Code.
In fact they knew it was true: they
had read about it on the internet.
Back
in 1996, the internet wasn't really
used for evil. There weren't a billion
popups, SPAM wasn't a major problem
and unrequested emails didn't arrive
in your inbox pre-loaded with hardcore
photos. But rumors could certainly take
on a life of their own and the Lara
Croft Nude Code was a living breathing
entity by mid-1997.
It
certainly didn't help matters that two
genuine push button cheat codes actually
existed for Tomb Raider; these just
gave credence to the notion that the
Nude Code was real.
All
sorts of ridiculous instructions created
by giggling pranksters were tried and
tested - some taking hours to complete.
Every so often, just when the furor
would die down, someone would appear
on a message board announcing that they
had found it and the millions of gamers
would be off wasting their time, chasing
down Lara's naughty bits.
Even
when the ability to hex PlayStation
games came into existence and hackers
explained that they had been through
every inch of game code and found no
such evidence of the Lara Croft Nude
Code, conspiracy theorists assumed they
were just keeping the code to themselves.
You can't win on the internet.
So
why would we give the 8th position to
a cheat code that never existed? Simple.
The Lara Croft Nude Code was a phenomenon.
Seemingly normal people (on the outside)
who were never interested in cheats
prior to Tomb Raider, became obsessed
with seeing a videogame character drop
her pants. Considering this rabid curiousity
took place on the Internet, where nude
pictures of real women are only a click
away, the LCNC is a sociological mystery
that will forever shroud our society
in shame - simply because it makes absolutely
no sense, sexually or psychologically.
But it did manage to get the average
everyday gamer interested in cheat codes
for other games, and therefore, it's
influence on the culture of cheating
cannot be ignored.
Click
Here For The Top 10 Best Cheats Ever:
Part II
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