pont

games are curious in that it's a kind of media where you're expected to have to "get good at it" if you plan to consume it in its entirety. heck, even the act of making progress along a game itself is gamified via achievement systems.

cheat codes let everybody engage with more of a game's content, rather than keeping it just for those who are good at the game.

i guess cheat codes to fix when something doesnt work (whether thats game balance or an actual bug like getting stuck in bad geometry) is kind of like right-to-repair, the devs give you the tools to fix the game yourself if a small problem occurs

..."sprint debugging"

People seem to have forgotten that the warp zones in Super Mario Bros weren't originally there as a speedrunning tech or part of the "intended" route, they were little hidden things that were there as developer tools while testing the game which also make for a convenient continuing-where-you-left-off in the times before save games.

Of course because everyone and their dog knows the warp zones, everyone and their dog ends up just playing the shortest route and then gets rapidly discouraged when they hit world 8 and aren't able to actually complete it, and miss out on some damned fine levels.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this ramble.