CheatCodes.com

CheatCodes.com

URL	http://www.cheatcodes.com/
Commercial?	Yes
Type of site	Video Games
Registration	Optional
Content license	Copyrighted
Owner	gamerID Network LLC.
Created by	CheatCodes.com LLC.
Launched	October 31, 1996
Alexa rank	43,468 (November 2011[update])[1]
Revenue	Private
Current status	Online

CheatCodes.com is a gaming website that has published video game cheat codes, FAQs, and walkthroughs since 1996. The website currently publishes content for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PlayStation, Xbox 360, Xbox, Wii, GameCube, Nintendo 64, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance, Game Boy, N-Gage, Dreamcast, and PC games.

History

The original idea for CheatCodes.com was conceived in 1996, when the domain name was initially registered and a simple home page with a small amount of video game content was put in place.^[2] At the time, site co-founder Steve Jenkins envisioned a more interactive video game cheat site that would allow visitors to customize their view of the content based on the specific games they owned. Jenkins was busy with other projects at the time, including managing WinFiles, a software download site he had started in 1995. After selling WinFiles to CNET in 1999,^[3] Steve saw that the need for a "filtered" view of this type of content was still unmet, and decided to turn his primary focus to CheatCodes.com.^[2]

In October 2000, Jenkins was joined by programmer Steve Cook and brother Harlyn Jenkins (who had worked with his brother managing content on WinFiles), and began to build the database infrastructure required to provide extended functionality for the site."^[4]

The site was re-launched as a database-driven content site on August 5, 2001. The re-launch was covered in InfoWorld by contributing editor Brian Livingston, who wrote "A new e-business site will launch today with more than 198,000 subscribers already registered via e-mail. The story of how this was accomplished tells a lot about viral marketing on the Web.^[5]

By 2002, CheatCodes.com' strategy of providing fresh content to a niche audience was paying off, and they were growing quickly.^[6] To handle the extra bandwidth required, they moved hosts from their provider in Albuquerque, New Mexico to Digital Forest just outside Seattle, Washington.

In early 2005, Digital Forest informed their customers that they were expanding to a new and improved hosting facility, about 30 miles from their old facility, requiring another server move.^[7]

On November 8, 2006, CheatCodes.com launched a major update of the site and termed it "Version 2." In addition to functionality updates, the site was completely re-designed to be XHTML compliant, and made full use of Cascading Style Sheets.

In 2008, the company was granted a United States Trademark for the term "cheat code."^[8]

See also

• Cheating in video games

Notes and references

1. ^ "Cheatcodes.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/cheatcodes.com. Retrieved 2011-11-02. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Madsen, Grant R. (2003-12-20). "Taking Healthy Risks: Experiences of Four Marriott School Entreprenuers". http://marriottschool.byu.edu/marriottmag/winter03/features/spfeature4.cfm?loc=feature. Retrieved 2008-12-18. 
3. ^ internetnews.com Staff (1999-02-24). "CNET Purchases Software Site". http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/72871. Retrieved 2008-12-18. 
4. ^ Panero, Vince (2006-10-25). "Featured Publisher: Cheatcodes.com". http://blog.rightmedia.com/2006/09/25/rmx-direct-featured-publisher-3-cheatcodescom/. Retrieved 2008-12-28. ^{[dead link]}
5. ^ Livingston, Brian (2001-07-01). "New site launches with more than 198,000 subscribers". Archived from the original on 2007-03-19. http://web.archive.org/web/20070319035136/http://www.infoworld.com/articles/op/xml/01/07/30/010730opsecrets.html. Retrieved 2006-11-04. 
6. ^ Jackson, Lisa Ann (2003-03-01). "Growing Entrepreneurs". http://magazine.byu.edu/g/?act=view&a=1230. Retrieved 2006-11-04. 
7. ^ Gooldbee, Chuck (2005-03-18). "Digital Forest Tech Support Blog". http://www.forest.net/support/archives/2005/03/000553.php. Retrieved 2006-11-04. 
8. ^ "USPTO Registration Certificate for "cheat code"". 2009-04-03. http://tmportal.uspto.gov/external/PA_TOWUserInterface/OpenServletWindow?serialNumber=77074309&scanDate=2008092300651&DocDesc=Registration+Certificate&docType=ORC&currentPage=1&rowNum=3&rowCount=18&formattedDate=23-Sep-2008. 

External links

• CheatCodes.com
• RMX Featured Publisher -- A Q&A formation article with CheatCodes.com co-founder Steve Jenkins
• gamerID Network