Game Cheats have a Long History

Cheat codes for video games have a colorful history. Hardly a game ever manufactured even dating back to early Atari and the first computer games has not had cheats either built in or a had way to be reprogrammed. True, cheating sort of came about accidentally, but today there is a whole game cheat culture with its own share of the publishing industry.

At first, cheating was practiced only by the technically proficient gamers. It was sophisticated, and the every day gamer couldn’t hack it. Cheating back in the day meant literally reprogramming a game before it was loaded into the computer’s memory. These kinds of cheats were called pokes and could be used to get much the same effects that cheats produce in today’s games—make a character invincible, get unlimited ammo, etc.

Game manufacturers from the beginning built cheats into their games. These were not intended for the use of players, however, but for the game testers. It made the pre-production testing process more efficient. Usually, the cheats were not removed before the games went on sale, and gamers found them. Accessing these cheats became so ubiquitous that game designers took note. Players began to expect them, and designers obliged, rewarding the faithful with cool, wacky, or interesting cheats and unlock ables.

Some players howled that cheats were dishonest, bad, wrong, and un-American. Even some of the gaming magazines took up the outcry, but it was soon squashed. The cheats were just too cool. They could bypass levels and speed up play for the time-crunched. They could take you to hidden places and unlock stuff. They definitely made game replay way more amusing. And they could make eighteen wheelers fly and dinosaurs appear undead—how wack is that?

So cheat all you want! Cheats make gaming more creative, letting you make the game do what you want it to do. Be as dedicated or as clever as you like! Game Cheats are the best way to get the most out of your games.

Game Cheats have a Long History
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By Jessicka Thomson

Video Game Tester Jobs- Can You Get Them From Home?

We all know that anyone can become a video game tester. The question is: can you be one from the comfort of your own home?

Many people would have you believe that you can't get video game tester jobs at home. Some would say that the only way to be a tester is to apply for a job with a game developer and hope that you get assigned to a "testing" position. Others will say that you have to go specifically to testing centers in order to get a testing job. Which group is right? Well, they are both right and they are both wrong. Although those two methods will work in getting a video game tester job, they are not the "only" methods of getting one. The other method is, of course, being a game tester from home.

Yes, contrary to what you may have heard, you can actually be a video game tester from the comfort of your home. However, the downside is that there aren't as many options for a home tester as there are for other testers. Though the job market may be plentiful for many game testers, it is a bit more barren for home testers. Is that to say a home video game tester will have great difficulty finding a job? No, not at all. It only means that they must try harder and look for gaming companies and developers that are actually open to home testing.

The differences between an at-home video game tester and a regular tester are few. However, those few are significant to say the least. Aside from the obvious convenience factor that comes from working at home, there is also the work & "gift" factor.

Generally speaking, home testers are prone to getting a bit more work than the average tester; work being filling out more reports, questionnaires, and other things like that. Is this the case for each & every home game tester? No. It really just depends on the developer or company that hired them.

The other difference is the "gift" factor, which will usually leave the tester with a new video game after each job is completed. Testing centers won't usually give out free copies of a video game, nor will most developers. Although, for an at-home tester, receiving a free copy of a game is expected.

There are two ways an at-home video game tester can receive a game: he will either just keep the copy he was given to test or he will receive a complimentary copy when the game is completely finished. Either way though, he will still get a copy to keep. Game developers are very busy, which means they don't bother with requests for testers to send back each tested game. Therefore, when you are done testing a game, you just send your reports to them and then add the game to your collection. So basically, the more tester jobs you get, the more video games you will get to keep; sounds great, doesn't it?

There may be some "cons" to being a home video game tester, but the "pros" outweigh them in a big way. Being able to play video games and get paid for it, at home no less, is a beautiful thing. As a matter of fact, it's a dream job for most gamers. Unfortunately for most of them, though, a dream job is all it will ever be.

Sean Saunders Spends Most of His Time Playing Video Games And He Now Has A Very Successful Career as a Professional Video Game Tester. If You Too Would Like To Get Started With Paid Video Game Testing, Visit Gamer-Testing-Ground.com, The Number One Resource For Video Game Testers Everywhere.

By Sean Saunders