I concur.

I got into programming because I couldn't complete a level in a game, and I resorted to cheat-codes and hacks.

First it was the missing-no hack in Pokemon, then getting the console for "sv_cheats 1/god/impulse 101/noclip" for Half-Life and then rules.ini for the Red Alert series.

Hand hacking rules.ini for Red-Alert made a massive impression, any of the game's dynamics could be altered, you could spew out units for $1, bolt a tesla-coil on a tank etc...

Cheats and trainers got me to look into the workings of a computer program, plus the midi music from trainers is addictive :)

> I got into programming because I couldn't complete a level in a game, and I resorted to cheat-codes and hacks.

While I programmed long before then, that's certainly the reason I started poking at hex editors, and why I remember off the top of my head that 0x63 is 99 and 0x64 is 100.

Using ResourceFork to give my tiny shuttle Class 6 Plasma Cannons in Escape Velocity...

I spent an inordinate amount of time as a kid using ResEdit to make cheat plugins for EV:Override.

UNIX itself started because Ken Thompson wanted to port his game Space Travel to the PDP-7: http://cm.bell-labs.com/who/dmr/spacetravel.html

Yup. I started programming at 13 because I wanted to make my own better (obviously) StarCraft. Poking around in existing games and trying to make my own during my teens is the sole reason I work as a programmer today.

What do you mean?

Many people who get into programming, do so because they either want to make games, or like computers because of games. This was widely true among my CS class at WashU, and also many of the professionals I currently work with.

If I wanted to get involved with making games, it would probably be in order to design games. Not coding per se.

Up until the mid 90s, designing games generally required that you also program them.

In the 80s, even the musicians had to hack assembler (Martin Galway, for example)