For this section, I read an article entitled “What Type of Game Cheater Are You?” by Clive Thompson.  The premise of his article was about individuals who use ‘cheats’ in various video games in order to accomplish a task that they have not been able to overcome (which he claims himself to be). He found it interesting that after hours of play in a specific game, not being able to defeat a creature that would grant him access to the next level, he gained access to a FAQ page to find some help. A die hard gamer friend of his told him “that’s cheating”. Clive did not agree be decided to contemplate the idea and look into it a little further; what exactly ischeating in games? He quotes a definition decided by Johann Huizinga calling cheating – when you pretend to obey the rules of the game but secretly subvert them to gain advantage over another player. But even beyond this, as according to Mia Consalvo, there are three different types of cheaters. First the purists who will never touch, look at, discuss etc. an kind of cheat, hint, help, yada yada yada. They find that part of the game is the mystery in what you can never figure out or never attain. Second are the “walk-throughs” who will follow the rules of the game, but when a level or a battle just gets too difficult, will turn for some help. Lastly are the “by any means necessary” gamers who feel that the whole point of the game is to have all the stuff, power, etc. For them they need to posses the biggest guns, the strongest members, the fastest automobiles. If not, then there is no point to the game.  In applying this to violence (because i am not so sure I find cheating violent) I would say that in the third group, the take all bear all group, we would find the most violent players and interactions. They (these individuals) seem as if they would be the ones to feed off the power (that is the whole point for them) that having weapons, killing, fighting, etc. can have.

Like Clive said at one point in his article, ’self-imposed limits are what make a game a game.” I agree with him in the fact that what is the point of playing something if you don’t use your creativity and imagination to defeat/accomplish tasks set before you. Are you really still gaming? Weren’t games created to encourage creativity, spur the imagination, make you think critically and strive to accomplish a goal? If you are just having those things done for you and handed to you, can you really still call yourself a gamer?