Whether you are a new gamer, a gamer or yore, we can all unanimously agree that video games have come a long way from what they once were. Not only have video games changed, but the industry as a whole, the gamer, as well as the technology has completely changed. Simply put, gaming is just not what it once was. In fact, most of today’s long-term gamers probably remember when multiplayer gaming meant that you have to pack up your $300 or $400 console and take it over to your friend’s home so that you could connect and play via a party line.

What was even worse is that everything took place on one screen, so you could literally see the other players and what they were doing at all times. Needless to say, this didn’t do much for strategy and stealth. All that aside, this is certainly no the case. The only problem is that as the sophistication of gaming increased so did the prevalence of hacking and cheating. Why is this the case?

A Brief History Of Video Games Cheating

As long as games have been available for play, there have been players that were more than willing to bend the rules just to get ahead. It could have been something as simple as hip checking a pinball machine or something as sophisticated as counting cards, but players were willing to do it. Unfortunately, it is no different in today’s technology-filled gaming world. The only difference is that cheating and hacking is much different. Do you want to know the most interesting part of video game cheating? Some of the very first cheats were put there by the creators. Perhaps, you remember the Konami Codes that gave players power up and extra lives.

Supposedly, these codes were put here for testing purposes, which does make sense. Some codes were supposedly put in place as a means of recognition to developers. Others were put in place to allow developers to run to certain parts of the game. By the time Nintendo had established dominance on the market, players from all around the world were privy to these codes and taking advantage of them. This was about the time that cheating in8-bit became a proper commercial enterprise. Manufacturers were soon releasing entire cheating systems that would grant players access to a wide range of cheats. Perhaps, you remember the first Codemasters’ Game Genie? There were other iterations for the other systems as well, but this was one of the first.

From here, cheating just spread like wildfire and only grew more and more popular as time went on. When you really sit down and look at it, it only makes sense that it is still such a popular proclivity in gaming today. However, it may be that hacking and cheating are done for entirely different reasons today. What is the reasoning behind hacking and cheating today?

Unlocking Pay To Play Items

Have you heard the term pay to play? You likely have and it is usually associated with free games. For instance, today, there are a lot of games that are free for download and online play. The way that developers try to make money on these games is by designing in-game items that players need in order to get ahead. They’ll take out money at 1APCapital.sg and try to pay back the loan with in-game purchases from customers. These in-game items usually consist of more powerful attacks, resources, better armor, and boatloads of cosmetics. Whatever the situation, most players still aren’t willing to spend this money so they just hack and cheat to obtain such items.

Eliminates The Grinding

The ultimate goal of video games today is to get players to play your games as much as possible. One of the ways they do this is by implementing grinding techniques. Whether it is random algorithms spitting out random gear or the need to get more experience to get your characters to a higher level, manufacturers implement all kinds of obstacles so that players have to spend countless hours in their game. The only problem is that the average, casual gamer has less available time than what they used to. This is just another reason for cheating and hacking. It gives players access to higher levels and pertinent gear that would otherwise take hours and days to grind for.