Cheating devices were never really looked at as cool, because they were always frowned upon by the purists. However, as individuals, I'm sure we all found cheating devices fun to use at one time or another. Who wouldn't find it even a little satisfying to bulldoze through seemingly unbeatable games? It makes you feel above the game. In my opinion, as long as a cheater doesn't directly affect another player (e.g. multiplayer, online multiplayer), cheating is no big deal. There's nothing wrong with me generating an infinite amount of money to save myself a little time. Don't judge me!

There's a funny little story about the first cheating device I ever purchased. It was a GameShark for Nintendo 64, and my dad bought it for me during a trip to Blockbuster. It came with some instructional video, but I ignored that completely. What did you expect? I was 10 years old. I swiftly popped the device into my Nintendo 64, and then I placed my copy of Bomberman 64 right on top of that. Again, I was 10 years old, so I wasn't very internet savvy just yet. I went online and found codes, but they weren't GameShark codes, they were Code Breaker codes. I accidentally entered Code Breaker codes into a GameShark device, and it ruined my GameShark and almost ruined my copy of Bomberman 64. However, at the time I had no idea what had happened. I wrote it off as the device being faulty and got my money back from Blockbuster.

About 5 years later, I eventually did get another GameShark for Nintendo 64. The first one cost $50, and this one was $5 used from GameStop. In between the GameSharks for Nintendo 64, I also got a GameShark for Game Boy Advance. I was a bit older and a bit smarter, so I was able to use it to its full potential. I was able to catch every Pokémon in Sapphire Version and became the envy of all my friends, which was really just my one cousin. None of my friends were really into video games.

The best use of a cheating device in my illustrious cheating career has to be my Action Replay for Nintendo GameCube. Sure, I used it for games like Viewtiful Joe (infinite meter) and Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (infinite star power), but there was one game that no one can blame me for using the cheating device. That game was Animal Crossing. And it wasn’t to generate bells (money). In the world of Animal Crossing, you are able to collect playable NES games. I believe that the only way to obtain some of the rarest NES games required a code generated by imputing your name and town name into promotional websites or generators. These rare games included The Legend of Zelda, Punch-Out, Super Mario Bros., and Donkey Kong 3. The codes for these games were never generated, and that’s why the use of an Action Replay was ideal. I paid for the game and the game included these NES games, so why not? My copy of Animal Crossing now serves as one of the greatest NES compilation discs of all time. It's pretty awesome.

No, but seriously...cheating is not cool. No one likes a pumpkin eater.