Just out of curiosity, did anyone else besides me use a cheat device while gaming such as a Game Shark, Game Genie or Action Replay?

Just as a small disclaimer, I never have and never will use a cheat in an online game, because you're cheating other people. In a single player game though, it's not hurting anyone.

For me personally, I didn't have a Game Genie back in the day. I did have a Game Shark for my PS1 and later an Action Replay Max for DS.

The Game Shark was lots of fun, as you could do things like access all sorts of characters you weren't intended to play with in Final Fantasy Tactics. I usually liked starting out the game with two of my starter characters changed. One to Orlandu, who has all the special sword skills other characters have, another to his son Durai, whose "Galaxy Stop" skill had a chance of casting Stop, Don't Move and Don't Act to each enemy one by one.

Metal Gear Solid was a lot of fun too, as starting with invulnerability, all weapons, unlimited ammo and the stealth changed the game from "tactical espionage ammo" to "Rambo fantasy". Somewhere Kojima is frowning at me.

With the Action Replay Max, I actually found a code that made all Pokemon I encountered in Pokemon Pearl shiny (not to be confused with a code that just made all Pokemon appear shiny. These stayed shiny even after the game was saved and the ARM removed.) I didn't trade any of these hacked shinies though.

I didn't have a Game Genie growing up, but I had a friend that did and I remember having a bit of fun with it. And of course, there's also the great commercials haha: https://youtu.be/kiu4DymYjX8

I bought a Game Shark for the Saturn at Funco Land back in the late 90s, but I don't recall ever really using it. It seems like I picked it up just before I bought a PS1 or something and started neglecting my Saturn (something I would later rectify by giving it oodles of love). Interestingly enough, I STILL don't think I've ever used that Game Shark for codes, but I did use it for a while to play imports hehe.

Now I did end up getting a Game Shark for my N64 and used it a bit. The only thing I remember for sure is using it on Goldeneye so you could unlock the rest of the Facility level in multiplayer. It was glitchy, but interesting, I suppose.

These days, the only thing I use is the Action Pro Replay for my Saturn. But once again, I don't actually use it for codes or anything, I use it to play the many awesome import games that system has :) Now that I think about it though, I should probably scroll through the codes it has and find some wacky stuff to play around with.

Oh and haha @ having Orlandu at the beginning of Final Fantasy Tactics!!

My family rented a game genie back in the NES days. We used it to see World 7 & 8 in Mario Bros 3 since we couldn't beat it back then (ha ha).
A year or so ago I bought an action replay that I plan to use on Gameboy Advance games and maybe some DS games sometime. Not going to risk using it on a 3DS, though...

Game Genie all the way.

@moho_00 Yeah, as is in the unaltered game, once you get Orlandu, that pretty much eliminates all the challenge from the rest of the game. Starting with a level 1 him from the beginning is almost not fair.

Game Genie for both NES and SNES growing up, haha. I LOVED just messing around with the code input on the NES GG because I was (am) a dork.

Orlandu was a beast! Still not as broken as a pair of Calculators in your party basically wiping out the enemy en masse while healing all your characters. Insanity.

I totally loved FFT... once you finished the actual game, it was almost a sandbox to goof around with.

Before they released it on PSN (and the remake later), original discs of it were going for beaucoup bucks on eBay.

Only playing arcade emulation for unlimited time on fighting games with no practice mode to train the special and super moves.

I didn't play with cheat devices while I was growing up... To be fair, my parents very rarely agreed to spend money on video games/accessories when my brothers and I were kids so we were grateful to be gaming with the console and one or two titles we did have, lol. I remember getting into emulation when I was in middle school and GameShark/Game Genie were built in but I had no idea what they were or how to use them xD

I have to nowadays, because too many games, too little times. if a game is a drag for me, i will use it. if i enjoyed the game, no way i am gonna use cheat

I didn't have a cheating device until my DS's Action Replay, and I used it for most every game I had. Not really to cheat, but to make the game do weird and crazy things that you otherwise couldn't do normally playing

The only cheating device I've ever owned was an Action Replay for my DS. I used to cheat in DS games like crazy when I was younger. I regret some of the cheats I activated like completing the entire pokedex in Pokemon Diamond and Black 2.

Apart from that, whenever I emulate arcade games, I always have an infinite amount of "coins" or activate free play. I honestly don't consider either of those cheating.

I got (still have) a Gameshark Pro for Gameboy and the N64 and an unopened Action Replay Max for PS2 which has been sitting on my shelf for a couple of years. I didn't get them to beat games but rather to extend the replay value of my games by opening up a world of crazy new stuff you could do in them. I remember using the Gameboy one to get Mew in Pokemon Red after attempting a dozen BS early internet methods like moving the truck. I modified wild pokemon to be pokemon that I didn't have until I caught them all and got a certificate from Bill. Whoop dee do.

The N64 Gameshark Pro was a total bust. As far as I'm concerned it's useless outside of Mario 64. Everything else crashes or the cheats are super lame. My greatest feat in any other game was I got Ocarina of Time to run for like five seconds in game with a single cheat on and then it froze. I'd never be able to make Link levitate until like fifteen years later with an emulator. I remember being super excited about getting this device too. I saw codes on the internet like "Play as Link" in Mario 64 or "Fireflower Mario" and it just ended up being a stupid color modifier that changes Mario's clothes and that's it. It's kind of embarrassing to admit that the N64 Gameshark Pro was kind of a pivotal moment of disillusionment and the dying gasp of my middle school naivete. And of course I learned the important lesson of being skeptical about everything.

Used my friends Game Shark as a kid to get a Mew and infinite rare candies in Pokemon Gold, lol. Made all my Pokemon level 100 and beat the Pokemon League with a level 100 Meowth using mostly just Payday. It was pretty funny

I still have my NES Game Genie and N64 Game Shark.