GameShark Backs Away From Online Cheat Codes 39
Thanks to GameSpot for its article noting that the GameShark and Xploder-branded console cheating devices will no longer release codes for online games. According to the piece, creators Fire International "...felt that some of its cheats for games such as SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs [for PS2] were ruining the experience for other online players." We've previously covered Fire International's boasts as "the first source of cheats" for SOCOM, but now a spokesperson for the company says: "We feel that the game enhancements we create are generally used to help individual users complete or get the most out of their games... We want to protect the integrity of online gaming for all who want to play in this environment cheat-free."
Re:It's about time (Score:3, Informative)
No PS2 cheat device has code-finding features.
Independent hackers generally use PS2Dis to disassemble the ELF files from commercial games and make codes that way.
I used it to make some excellent codes for Soul Reaver 2 and Legacy of Kain: Defiance that enable use of debugging menus from when the games were being tested.
Hopefully when PS2 emulation is a little further along, that software will be able to be used to do things like scan active memory while the game is running.
I say kudos to Gameshark for doing this. Sadly other sites will still post codes, but it's a good start to killing off cheating for the most part.
AFAIK, Gameshark (by which I mean the new, MadCatz-owned company, not the old Interact-owned company) is the *last* one to make this kind of pledge. Try finding online cheating codes on Pelican's site for the Codebreaker, or Datel's site for the Action Replay (formerly sold in the US as the Gameshark), and you will come up empty.
IMO, MadCatz probably only did it after pressure from Sony.