The term "game trainer"?

[Lazy Bastard]

This has always bothered me, and somehow I've never gotten around to actually finding it out.

Does anyone know the etymology (meaning/origin of the words) of the term "game trainer"? Obviously, what I'm curious about is the use of the word "trainer".

Is it because using cheats could make games very easy, thus allowing a gamer to 'train' on the game while not worrying about dying? Or because they're easier than disassembly/debugging/etc, thus a hacker can 'train' on general game hacking/reverse-engineering? Neither sound very reasonable, and I can't come up with anything else...maybe it results from a loose translation of a better term?

[BigBossman]

I'm not sure of the origin. I just know that "trainer" is a term used on the PAR2. When I had the Gameshark Pro (for PS1), the term they used was "code generator". To me, that would be a better term to use on any device that can hack a game while you play it. The term "trainer" is misleading, unless you're training a person to hack a game. Which is what I believe they mean by that.

[kh2k4]

I think it just means train it do what you want, ie: teach a dog new tricks.
Term has been around since 8-bit era that's as far back as I can remember they used to print peek / poke values in the games mags. My friend maybe you've heard the name Richard Vickers made some for the Atari ST's.

[Hacc]

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheatin...iting_software

Game trainers are a special type of memory editor, in which the program comes with predefined functions to modify the run time memory of a specific computer game.[8] When distributed, trainers often have a single + and a number appended to their title, representing the number of modifications the trainer has available.[8]

In the 1980s and 1990s, trainers were generally integrated straight into the actual game by cracking groups. When the game was first started, the trainer would typically show a splash screen of its own, sometimes allowing modifications of options related to the trainer, and then proceed to the actual game. In the cracker group release lists and intros, trained games were marked with one or more plus signs after them, one for each option in the trainer, for example: "the Mega Krew presents: Ms. Astro Chicken++".

[8] http://vgstrategies.about.com/od/str...g/Trainers.htm

I also didn't see the word mentioned in any of the "Hacker Jargon" articles I came across.

[rimsky82]

I think it just means train it do what you want, ie: teach a dog new tricks.

This is the impression I've always had from the word, as in training the code or memory to the way you want it.

[misfire]

As far as my understanding goes, "game training" is the process of comparing RAM dumps in order to find cheat codes for a game. A hacker actively trains a game; it's an intellectual challenge that is, in my opinion, poorly described by the term "code generator".

I don't know the origin of it though.

[Lazy Bastard]

I get all that, but I'm simply concerned with the word "trainer", and whether you're training the game to perform new tricks, being trained as a hacker by using a game trainer, or something else.

[bfoos]

Something else. You're training the game to do you what you want. Misfire's explanation has always been my understanding of it as well.

[Pugsy]

To me a trainer is something that is bolted on to the original game and allows you select various options.

POKE - first form of cheat code. Allows you to alter the program code often entered by RESETTING the computer entering the poke and using a SYSTEM CALL to restart the game, though can sometimes be entered before the game starts by means of stopping the auto-start of the game after loading. Later it was possible with the first 'cheat' cartridges to enter the pokes whilst the game was running. Used for systems that load program code into RAM (used extensively during the 8-bit computer era - Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Atari 800XL etc)

CHEAT LISTING - cheat listings are the next progression from POKEs. A small program is written that will take care of loading the game and will enter the cheats (pokes) before the game starts thus getting past problems of lack of reset switches/cartridges or losing important memory on reset. Although the cheat listing is normally written in BASIC it actually just poked and ran a small assembler program. Used for systems that load program code into RAM (used extensively during the 8-bit computer era - Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Atari 800XL etc)

TRAINERS - invented by pirates. The game is cracked and packed and a crack intro is often added, along with loading screens, docs, pal/ntsc fixing and of course a trainer - again used extensively in the 8-bit era particularly on the Commodore64. Trainers now seem to me more like Cheat Listings in that they are small execute-able programs that load and poke cheats into the main game and do not come attached to the game code itself.

[ReyVGM]

I think trainer means that the cheats allow you to train/practice the levels before you tackle them without cheats. Sort of like how some 16 bit games gave you "training" stages, which were just easier versions of the normal stages.