Remember When Video Games had Cheat Codes?
Ah yes, those olde days.
It wasn’t actually that long ago.
You’d turn on a game, dig for a forum, enter in a strangely specific code or button punch, and then have something like… double the money or a silly little hat. Your character could get a special vehicle or a sound effect- something just super fun like that. Maybe even a rare crossover type of thing would happen!
Nowadays?
You log onto a game, wait for the server to let you in, get blasted with their LATEST NEWS, click off of three different pages trying to get you to buy BATTLEPASSES, LIMITED TIME DOUBLE CASH, GET THIS SKIN TODAY ONLY-
Cut it out!
This is all especially prevalent in online/multiplayer games, but it’s actually… everywhere now.
You play the game and you need to level up in some form to progress. It’s going to take hours to grind to that status. You know how that could happen faster..?
BUY THIS EXPERIENCE BOOSTER THAT LASTS ONE HOUR FOR $9.99! GET THIS LIMITED EDITION WEAPON TO OUTPERFORM YOUR PEERS FOR $5.99! RANK UP IMMEDIATELY FOR $19.99!!!
SLOW DOWN!
Can you believe we’re dealing with this and they’re trying to make it okay? Can you believe that companies like EA are trying to put ADVERTISEMENTS in their video games???
Don’t even get me started on “gacha” or “spin/pull” type of games where people will genuinely go into debt over the malicious gambling employed in these games.
Sure, I know that game devs need money and compensation, especially when running these online servers. But there has got to be better ways than throwing all of this in our faces.
I really, sincerely miss the days when I could enter in a silly code and my characters head would become huge or something.
I do enjoy modern online games from time to time, but when they employ these purposefully malicious tactics, I’m immediately out, and I’m back to my old games.
If a micro-transaction gets thrown in my face, I’m put off. If I see “1.1% chance to get” on some kind of item, I’m extremely likely to quit. And if I start seeing ads on my video games? I think I’m done.
I see enough ads as it is.
There is no way these video game companies are mismanaging their funds and needing this many funds to run something pathetic and full of gross business practices. Video games used to be immensely coherent on a tiny fraction of the budget- ever compared Assassins Creed 2 to literally any of the sequels released after around 2015? Yeah…
It’s just another part of our doomed reality, I guess. Everything is faced with this nowadays- everything is about money. As always.
Ever compared Halo 2, to Halo Infinite? Ew… the care put into these games is EXTREMELY different.
(No hate to any of these games, the developers have just become pretty… Yeah…)
I miss cheat codes and game booklets and manuals you could buy about the games secrets. Sure, I love the internets convenience and the fact that I don’t have to buy those things, but I miss them all the same.
I miss that physicality. I miss all the fun it would be! I guess it’s all nostalgic.
I love a lot of modern games still, and I plan to continue on playing them because I love them, while I also keep playing my old ones too because I miss them.
Regardless of what we’re playing or not playing, let’s all hope these developers see reason someday!
