Do You Think Infinite Lives is Cheating?

[DeadPark]

Sorry if this was a recent topic. I'm new to the forums and i didn't expect it to have been talked about.

Another thing.... is it cheating to use savestates for a particular boss or section you're having trouble with to practice, then when you finally have it down in your muscle memory to start the game over from the beginning and play it legit with no savestates/continues?

Save states i try to avoid completely.

If I lose all my lives and have to start over from the beginning of a level, or even the beginning of the game, I'll eventually play it enough times to get past the part I keep dying at. But I'm adult. I have a job and other responsibilities. I use infinite lives or infinite continues to save me time, not necessarily cheat. A lot of times, I don't have the time in the day to keep replaying a level because I keep dying at one point near the end of the level. Infinite lives is used just to save me the time it takes to replay an entire level, the parts that I've already mastered. So in that context, I don't consider it cheating.

This is exactly my thinking. I just don't have time to be replaying the early levels over and over again. but i try to play as legit as possible otherwise.

i know it's technically cheating though, so a lot of the games i played i don't have any bragging rights for beating.

[Exhuminator]

If you play through a game using any capabilities outside the normal gameplay the developers intended, you are cheating. That means cheat codes, software hacks, or using something like a Game Genie or Pro Action Replay to modify live memory addresses. Honestly I think over-reliance on walkthroughs or strategy guides is a form of cheating too.

That said, some cheats are less shameless than others. Savestates are barely cheating IMO, whereas invincibility is mega cheating. Depending on the way a game reacts to losing a life, infinite lives may be mild cheating or extreme cheating. But either way, it's cheating.

[Ziggy]

I much prefer not to cheat at all, but personally, I'd rather cheat then never finish a game. Like let's say I'm more than halfway through and the game starts giving me a lot of difficulty. Instead of getting fed up and abandoning the game, I'd rather cheat to finish. If I do cheat, it'll be as minimal as possible. It's usually just infinite lives or continues. Very rarely do I cheat with something more extreme than that (in fact, I can't even remember the last time I did).

For example, I prefer using infinite continues over infinite lives if possible. Usually, when a game has continues, losing all your lives and using a continue means you start back at the beginning of a level, while losing a life starts you at a check point mid level. So I look at using infinite continues as cheating a little less than infinite lives.

[fastbilly1]

I view it a bit like Ziggy. Though I hold that the live system is an antiquated holdover from the arcade days.

[Luke]

Any manipulation of the original game is cheating.

For me, cheating sucks all the fun out of a game and makes beating a game pointless. There is no pay off. Took me years to beat Blaster Master and Ninja Gaiden, but when I finally beat those games the sense of elation of tremendous. So proud of myself I was to beat such difficult games, and I earned it.

[Exhuminator]

sucks all the fun out of a game and makes beating a game pointless. There is no pay off.

Some people enjoy content tourism of a game as much (or more than) they do its inherent challenge. Hence the tremendous success of the Let's Play format.

[Snatch1414]

You can call it cheating and that's certainly fair but for a vast number of games all it is is a time saver. Take Castlevania III in my case. I keep dying at the mummy boss(es). Even if I use the password system it doesn't take me close enough to that part without having to replay a nice little chunk over again. If I use infinite lives I don't really see the problem. In this case you're not really depriving yourself of any payoff, you're just not pointlessly playing the first few levels again that you've already seen and heard 100 times already.

Batman for the NES is another example. I can't get past the square robot boss thingies and can't figure out the pattern/weakness. I refuse to use GameFAQs, but if I used infinite lives all I'm doing is fast forwarding to my next session where I get to that part again. I'm not my 8 year old self anymore, who could go back the very next day trying and failing all day.

It's a case by case basis overall though. If you use a Game Genie to get infinite lives in Contra that's taking advantage. In that situation you can technically just mash buttons with your eyes closed and beat the game.

[Luke]

Batman for the NES is another example. I can't get past the square robot boss thingies and can't figure out the pattern/weakness.

Stay on the floor, punch the square facing it (right), and turn (left) and keep punching as soon as it passes halfway through you. Jump and dodge the lazers, and repeat.

sucks all the fun out of a game and makes beating a game pointless. There is no pay off.

Some people enjoy content tourism of a game as much (or more than) they do its inherent challenge. Hence the tremendous success of the Let's Play format.

"You play to win the game. You play to win the game. Hello!?!" - Herm Edwards


I'll never understand why people watch other people playing games to only watch people play video games.

Everyone is different, and I guess I'm very different. I'm also very competitive. I play games to beat the game, not to dick around. Not that I don't ever dick around (GTA series), but I play a game to win, fair and square. I gain zero, zip, nada satisfaction if I cheat. Like cheating on a test and getting an A+, you didn't earn it, and you know it.

You suck at a game? Suck it up and keep playing. Practice makes perfect. And face it, you can't say "I beat a game with a code" as the code and you beat a game.

[Exhuminator]

I'll never understand why people watch other people playing games to only watch people play video games.

I don't fully understand the format's appeal myself, but it does thrive. I suppose some people enjoy the person playing the game's personality more than the game itself.

I'm with you on the legit effort front. I abide by the "git gud" philosophy. If I truly love a game, I will beat it fair and square, no matter how hard it gets.

As for cheating... I believe if you have to cheat to finish a game, it's your choice. Maybe you aren't that invested in the experience and you just want to see how it pans out overall. That's understandable. But don't think in your head you actually beat it. Not for a second. If you reached the credits by any artificial means, that game beat you son.

[Luke]

I don't fully understand the format's appeal myself, but it does thrive. I suppose some people enjoy the person playing the game's personality more than the game itself.

I'm with you on the legit effort front. I abide by the "git gud" philosophy. If I truly love a game, I will beat it fair and square, no matter how hard it gets.

As for cheating... I believe if you have to cheat to finish a game, it's your choice. Maybe you aren't that invested in the experience and you just want to see how it pans out overall. That's understandable. But don't think in your head you actually beat it. Not for a second. If you reached the credits by any artificial means, that game beat you son.

A pal of mine has a fifteen year old Sister who always wants me to watch videos of other people playing Minecraft. She thinks those videos are high-larious, and I don't get it.

Today, you don't have to cheat to see how a game ends. YouTube it, and done. From the NES on, almost every game was created to be beaten without cheats. And the games you remember most are the ones that you finally kicked ass at. I had a great friend in college (he got married and excommunicated) and we spent so many hanged-over mornings spending hours on MGS. We threw our own little personal party when we finally beat the game.

It could be argues that Bad Dudes has one of the best endings of all time. I cheated to beat it, and it sucked all the fun out of the game for me. Not that I felt like I needed to shower, but I didn't feel good with the fact that I cheated. I could already get to the final boss, but not beat him. So why cheat in the first place? I honestly still regret doing that. Making a game a cakewalk is no fun...for me.