Video Games and Cheat Codes

One thing that I have noticed about video games is that they normally do have a way for the player to cheat. For consoles, this could be punching in a key combination and for PCs, it could be by entering a cheat code in a chat window or being able to modify the game. Other ways of cheating come from flaws in the original programming itself that a player can exploit (aka a glitch).

The first video game I ever owned was Pokemon Yellow for the Gameboy Colour. Mine was a special gameboy that had pokemon on the cover. Although I do not still own it outside of a VBA/VBC emulator, I have managed to exploit a lot of the glitches that was in the original game. Some examples include the Mew glitch, and Missingno.

Most- if not all - cheat codes can be easily found online. Websites such as gamefaqs provide a page that gives a player access to the cheat codes. I have found that cheat codes come in numerous different categories:

Key Combination
This type of cheat is common to a lot of console games. This type of cheat requires you to punch in a certain order of keys on the game controller in order for the cheat to be activated. This cheat, I find, is becoming more common. It is also used on handheld consoles too such as the Nintendo DS. An example of it would be Lego Star Wars where on the beginning menu you can punch in cheat codes in order to increase your money or unlock stuff.

Glitches

Everyone who has played the original Pokemon games knows what a glitch is! In video games, glitches are when there is a flaw in the programming that allows for something to happen that should not. People who still play Pokemon Blue/Red/Yellow probably have done this to get Mew, gone through the Viridian City/Cinnabar Island routine to get Missingno, and all other things in order to exploit the glitches of Pokemon Blue, Red and Yellow.

I think this is probably one of the first RPG to be for a handheld console. Therefore those games were tempermental and was full of glitches and crashed a lot. I should know- I played all three in the Pokémon Blue/Red series. Numerous websites are devoted to these glitches, it is not even funny! I think people still play those games for the sole purpose of exploiting glitches!! Can't say I blame them because they do save people the time of getting 99 of a certain item or going to a Nintendo thing to catch Mew.

Because of that, I will not give anyone instructions on how to get the glitch! I am sure they can find it easily. However, from the online encyclopedia that knows everything I did find the cause for it on the Pokémon Wiki:

Missingno is the Glitch Pokémon that appears after viewing the Old Man's tutorial in Viridian City on how to catch Pokémon, then immediately Flying to Cinnabar Island and Surfing along the right hand side of the island, near the Gym, until one is encountered.
When you talk to the old man in Viridian City, the game needs to change the player's name to "OLD MAN" so that it will display the "OLD MAN" sprite instead of the original character. Because of this, the programmers needed a place to store the player's information and name while the "OLD MAN" data replaced it, so they decided to store it in the area where wild Pokémon information is. This was done because of the lack of memory on an original Game Boy. This normally wouldn't cause any glitches because the correct data for wild Pokémon available is written to this area in memory whenever the player travels to an area where it is possible to catch wild Pokémon.
Cinnabar Island's coast has no data for indicating which wild Pokémon are available because no pokemon can be caught in the general area. The same is true for both Viridian City and Cinnabar Island itself. The game uses whatever data was already in the nearby area, or whatever area the player was in last, when determining which wild Pokémon are encountered and what their levels are. This is seen when exiting the Safari Zone and flying directly to a place with no available pokemon memory such as Cinnibar Island. When this is done, Safari Zone Pokemon can be encountered along the right side of the island because Cinnibar Island is using the Safari Zone's available Pokémon data.
Normally this memory space ,found on the side of Cinnibar Island, would hold the data of the last area visited where wild Pokémon were catchable and their level data. But since the player's last visited area had no Pokémon and instead the player's temporarily stored name (Viridian City), this leaves the game placing in the temporarily stored data in the available Pokémon data's place. This is what causes Missingno's. availability.
The name of the player has much to do with the level and appearance of MissingNo.. As stated earlier, MissingNo. appears due to a lack of Pokemon data in Cinnibar and the use of the player's info (which has been stored in the pokemon info data in Viridian City) inserted into this empty space. The type of Pokémon or MissingNo. the player encounters is determined by the characters used in the 3rd, 5th, and 7th characters of the player's name. The level of the Pokémon or MissingNo. is based on the 2nd, 4th, and 6th characters.

Few! Talk about an explanation, huh? Yeah I've exploited these glitches before and there are numerous others on all the Pokémon games. You think Nintendo would have weeded glitches out by now! But no, missingno and its variances will always be to Pokémon as...huh, actually I do not think Missingno has an equivalent yet! Btw, Missingno is not the only glitch. There is LM4, 'M, A, a, Chiisai-u, PokéWTrainer, _4, Charizard M' and h POKé for Pokémon Red/Blue. For Pokémon Yellow there is Missingno, 3TrainterPoké, ♀, X-x, Q, 7g, Glitchy Charizard, and 44 Hy.

Game Modifications

This form of cheating is probably most common to computer games, and the occasional X-Box game. Game modifications allow the player to get at the programming of a game, for PCs it is usally XML files, in order to change things about the game. One game that I play and enjoy to modify is Star Wars: Empire at War and its expansion Star Wars: Empire At War Forces of Corruption.

A positive thing about Game Modifications (Mods) are that they areone of the most sneakiest and evil ways of cheating. This is because you can do whatever you want with the XML files. For example, in Empire at War I prefer playing the Empire as my faction. So, if I want to modify the game I would make it in such a way that the Empire would win such as making my troops immortal, make the intervals between their special abilitites shorter and stuff. Like, I was able t give myself two Darth Vaders and two special AT-ATs in the game from modifiying the XML files. I am posting a picture as evidence.

The problem with modifications is that if they are done wrong they do screw up the game. Therefore, they are limitted at first to people experienced with computer programming and not released to the general public until someone is willing to educate, like RC1162 on GameFAQs.

GameSharks and Other Cheating Devices

Well, if glitching your way through to becoming a Pokémon Master won't work there is always your trusty GameShark! GameSharks have to be bought separately, unless you use VBA, of course, but they are the next best thing to game modifications.

Gamesharks can allow you to do anything on a game console. They are available for all kinds of games and can either make a video game harder or easier with the entering of a code. Other than Pokémon, I am not familiar with the codes for other games. Although, since I am starting to broaden my hand-held horizon beyond Pokémon, I am sure I'll find a few!

Conclusion

I prefer to play the game without cheats a couple of times first. That way I am completely familiar with it and I will know what would be nice about the game if it had this or that. For example, I always want the Mewtwo Gameshark Code when I play my VBA games because what is the point of capturing Mewtwo at level 70 after you have beaten the game? Like, what good is a reward if I can't use it?

But I do not agree with people going crazy with cheats! Atleast catching a Mewtwo with a gameshark does not damage my game like flying to Cinnabar in search of Missingno! Just like I would much rather play Empire at War where my AT-AT can die then using a cheat and not get to play it all. Therefore, discretion should be used when using cheats because a game without challenge is no fun.

So, to all my fellow gamers out there, use cheats if you wish. But you should probably beat the game first and enjoy the challenge while it lasts. Then, by all means, go get Missingno and his other glitch pokemon brothers. Punch in the key combinations for Grand Theft Auto and ride around in an army tank. Program your XML files to give your Civilization in Sid Meier's game the best, undefeatable army in the game and this list could go on. But, just don't go crazy or do anything stupid that messes up you game!!!

Happy gaming.

A New Perspective on the Simpsons Part I

The Simpsons Part I: Satire

I have never really cared for the Simpsons. Before, I usually watched it when I had nothing else better to watch. . It did not help that the adults surrounding me continuously slammed the cartoon and its deemed "inappropriate and stupid" content. However, these same adults also had absolutely no problem watching Seinfeld, which to some extent is no better than the Simpsons.

OK, one thing some people need to understand is that The Simpsons, first and foremost, is satire.

*Satire

sat⋅ire [sat-ahyuhr]

-noun
1. the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc.
2. a literary composition, in verse or prose, in which human folly and vice are held up to scorn, derision, or ridicule.
3. a literary genre comprising such compositions.

Satire is designed to make fun of anything and everything. In the Simpsons's case, American family life and the stereotypes people make about others in small-town America. This includes looking at the stereotypes that the American family life holds, stereotypes of immigrants, and even stereotypes about movies and religion.

From watching the episodes I have, I think the Simpsons are funny! The satire is very well done in a way that portrays the message the episode wants to get across with the humor that comes with that genre. Man, the people who make them clearly know how to make fun of stuff with tact. A lot of cartoons a part of this genre do not.

Family Guy

Family Guy, is similar to the Simpsons. Both shows use satire in order to spread a message about family life, political issues, and religious issues. However I found it blatantly insulting when it made fun of certain issues. For example, both shows make fun of the stereotypical Christian family. What Family Guy does is completely denounce and dismiss the Christian faith altogether without a thought of respect to the people who follow it. I should know, because I have watched some episodes of it. So...Yeah, that show has definitely not earned my respect or fanatasism!

The Simpsons, however, makes fun of the stereotypical Christian family and people who choose to hold to it. However, there is a "but" to it. I heard of a book that did come out that revealed lines from the Simpsons that were God-honoring lines.

I remember one episode where Bart Simpson (see left picture) needs to get a certain mark on a test in order to avoid a failing grade. Now he failed to study up until the night before the test. He asked God to make it snow in order for their to be a snow day and he would have an extra day to study. God apparently answers Bart's prayer.

Now when Bart heard that school was out, his automatic impulse was to run out and play with all the other people. Lisa, however, heard Bart's prayer the previous night and confronted Bart. God had abolutely no reason to send a snow storm and it would have served Bart right if it hadn't of happened. But, God. Did it. Anyway.

Looking back on that episode, I think I saw a hint of God's grace coming out in that episode. Lisa also continues her speal by saying that Bart OWED God for it. Now, we can never pay God back for His grace and grace, by definition, is supposed to be free. However, that does not mean we can use it to do whatever we want. Bart had a choice: to abuse God's grace by playing in the snow with everyone else or go and study for the test he had that was now postponed...

Lesson from The Simpsons: We have a choice with God's grace, to respect it or abuse it. Talk about GOOD insight.

Romans 6:1-3

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

... WOA a lesson from the Simpsons...

DON'T HAVE A HEART ATTACK BECAUSE I AM NOT FINISHED YET!!!!!!!!!!

Makes me wish I had of watched the show before to make up my own mind instead copying somebody elses. Shows that TV is not just mindless entertainment and can teach people something. Unfortunately too many people watch TV and shows like the Simpsons FOR mindless entertainment. Then there is the other end of the spectrum is people who judge as a show with bad messages.

Well, OK, I would not place one of my nieces in front of TV set with the Simpsons on. But that is because it is not designed for young children. Like Family Guy and King of the Hill, the Simpsons really had the Teen and adult audiences in mind. The fact that young kids watch it anyway says that perhaps parents don't get that it is not for younger children or they are too busy to monitor what their children watch. The first part makes sense to me because traditionally cartoons are designed for younger audiences. Although, some that are designed for 8-12 year olds put jokes in that a Teen audience would get but are cleverly designed so that the original target does not. Examples are Sponge Bob Square Pants and Fairly Odd Parents.

The Simpson, however, is for the older audience. Therefore, KIDS SHOULD NOT BE WATCHING IT!!!!!!! However, that does not mean that it should be thrown out the window. A lot of movies are not designed for a young audience but are good movies and are worth watching, like Avatar. I think that The Simpsons fall under that category. Not for kids, but cab carry a good message. You just need to really dig through it and take it a part. I can think of a lot of Bible books that are not for children, such as the Song of Solomon, yet I would not toss the thing out all together.

WARNING: Some of the jokes on the show are potentionally insulting. But that is more to heighten what that particular episode wants to educate about. And if TV pisses you off that easily, perhaps it's you who needs to lighten up instead of always jumping at it and attacking it. Like Homer being a poor excuse for a father--> Well, he is a lot better than a lot of fathers I know. He is loyal, loving, and faithful to his wife and children. True he can be lazy and get drunk some times. However, I find that his positive qualities are what father's (and people in general) should have and not the above negative characteristics. What I see in Homer is a small problem with American families: Faithfulness, love, and loyality with laziness and an intoxicating consumption of alcohol in the same individual. See how one side over powers the other side? And just like on the Simpsons, the negative side is all people see. Makes me glad that Jesus wants to erode that from me!!!!!

Conclusion

I am glad I started watching the Simpsons. It made me realize that I was becoming more of a Ned Flanders (the Christian/Pharisee guy) and not enough of what God wanted me to be. Hence, why I am starting to watch shows like the Simpsons that may have more intelligience than what surrounding people have said about it. However, I will be discussing the Simpsons more as I begin to watch more episodes and soak this show up a little bit more.

Blessings!

*Definition taken from Dictionary.com on May 5, 2009: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/satire

Spiritual Insights I learned from Watching the Movie: Catch me If you Can

You know, it is amazing what Hollywood can teach us, even if it is not the point of a movie. I discovered this from watching the movie, "Catch me If you Can." If you want an overall plotline on the movie wikipedia's article on it is the best place to go.: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch_Me_if_You_Can

My little take on the movie will assume that you either read the synopsis there or you actually watched the movie. Overall, I found the movie excellent and the protagonists very cunning and clever. So here are the two insights I dicovered from watching that movie:

First, a Rule I learned for people who are considering marriage or are married,
Do not be alone with a member of the opposite sex in your house behind a closed door.
Especially when your spouse is not aroun and with a person who you have potentially more than juust a professional relationship with. This can lead to the temptation to interact with one another inappropriately or inappropriate thoughts.

In one scene Frank's mother requested that he not say anything to his father, she said that he didn’t have to because there was nothing to tell. She even bribes him with money in order to keep him quiet. This “nothing to tell” is the code name for him catching her with another man behind a closed door, which probably lead to her and her husband’s bedroom.

Sorry girlfriend, but that is not nothing to tell. A member of the opposite sex does not belong in your house in your bedroom with the door shut when your husband is not around . The “nothing to tell” is really you having an affair that lead to your divorce with your husband and your child running away.

It is unfortunate because if she had of chosen to stick with her marriage and kept her marriage vows, perhaps her son would not have run away to become, someone who cashed, "$2.5 million in fraudulent checks in every state and 26 foreign "1. True, he probably wouldn’t have become the multi-billion dollar man in making security protocols for checks but it could have spared spending a couple of years in an isolation cell in one of America’s prisons and all the millions of dollars he stole and the heartache that he experience and all the heart ache he caused other people.

Man it is amazing what a simple rule of not being alone with a member of the opposite sex behind a closed door can do, unless they are like your brother or something. However, I am sure the affair was going on for awhile for Frank's mother in this movie but I can clearly see what the implication was in that scene. That nothing was something and it would be best for all Christians and non-Christians to heed the warning.

Second: Sin is only great for a season.
When Frank gives himself up to his love interest, he has suitcases and suitcases full of money. Some people probably would look at it and ask for someone to sign them up for that. However, it seems to show that a life of ease built because the person was a common criminal comes to an end. That sure was the case for Frank Abegnale Junior.

Yeah... Forging checks might bring huge bucks but I think God would prefer if I skipped life in prison. Even better, He'd prefer if I did not steal money in the first place!!!!! Since, He would probably be the first to toss me in jail if that is the life I chose to live. Nah! No criminal activity for me, but...

I think that applies to sin in general. For example, an affair can have nothing to with wealth but is still fun...For a season then it leaves a trail of heartache behind! Yeah, sin can be nasty business, even though it can be fun for awhile. I saw that throughout the movie and even the real Frank Abegnale admitted that , " [I] consider my past immoral, unethical and illegal. It is something I am not proud of. I am proud that I have been able to turn my life around and in the past 25 years [I have] helped my government ... deal with the problems of white collar crime and fraud."

Another example is something from my life. Darth Vader was fun. I collected everything from the books and movies to action figures. My Star Wars games had to have Darth Vader in them or else I would not be interested. Now? I realized that he was the culprit behind my dry spiritual life.

For a time I noticed my spiritual life kept hitting a see-through brick wall. I wanted to go to God but I something, or someone was blocking the way. Sorry, Darth, but you werer the person and you had to go. Yeah, obessions can be sinful and can keep you from God. Great for a season, but in the end it was in my way and in God's way!!! Yep, you guys will never see Darth Vader on my accounts or in my topics again. I love God too much to do that.

Verses for thought:
1. "Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and the sexually immporal" (Hebrews 13:4 NIV).
2. "Food gained by fraud tastes sweet to a man, but he ends up with a mouth full of gravel" (Proverbes 20:17...Man, that was advice Frank could have used!).

Notes:
1. Abagnale and Associates, "About Frank Abagnale: FRANK W. ABAGNALE (Ab'-big-nail)Author, Lecturer and Consultant", http://www.abagnale.com/aboutfrank.htm (accessed May 3, 2009).
2. Loren Eaton, "Catch Me if You Can," Plugged in Online Movie Reviews, http://www.pluggedinonline.com/movies/movies/a0000102.cfm (accessed May 3, 2009).