So, just what does constitute cheating in video games?

Most purists would tell you that it's cheating to use so-called game enhancers to "beat the system" into giving you things you shouldn't have. Some people say that even using a strategy guide, FAQ, or Walkthrough is cheating. But doesn't cheating involve dishonesty? If you cheat in a game, are you being dishonest to the game, or are you just fooling yourself? Most players will admit to using a Game Genie, or Game Shark, or Pro Action Replay, etc — but I know very few who'll take credit for the "accomplishments" they acquired with said cheat.

Personally, I'm somewhere in the middle ground. I always try to go as far as I can in a game without enhancements, and I've beaten a great many games on my own, but sometimes, there's a point that I just can't pass, because I'm not good enough and no amount of practice will make me good enough — and rather than drive myself to tears hoping for a miracle, I just make my own as it were. Don't get me wrong — I consider it cheating to, say, give myself infinite lives or invincibility. I don't try and tell myself that if I beat the game with this help, that I "earned" it... I just take a more pratical look at the situation. If I paid money for a game, I want to see it all the way through; I wouldn't buy a video or a DVD and only watch it halfway. But, I'll never be the type to just use a Game Shark to access all the secrets and cinemas of a game; it's not in my nature. I'm the sort of person who wants to see events in the order they play out. Sure, I'll use codes to be invincible... but I'll play the game from start to finish that way, not just skip to the end. Most people I know play games for the challenge, and the stories in the games, and hell, just for fun. But to advance the story, what happens if the challenges are too much? It becomes no longer fun.

I know a lot of "clean" gamers; players who never use cheats, codes, enhancements, or passwords, because they say if they used those, they wouldn't be "earning" the rewards the game gives them. While I may not agree with the extremity of the view, I do think it's true, if you cheat, you're forcing the game to give you something you shouldn't have. Mostly though, I see this as trivial at best; it's a game, and most games are designed to be harder than they actually need to be (take ol' Phantasy Star 2, for the Sega Genesis).

I don't believe that morality has much to do with gaming. People just take it all too seriously. The clean gamers call the cheaters weak; the cheaters call the clean gamers elitists. When did video games become a war of the facists? Aren't we're all entitled to play as we like, to cheat as we see fit, or to practice until our fingers bleed to pass that one tough boss on our own?

Ain't it, after all, just fun and games?

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