When i was about 9 or 10 i cheat coded games because it was the most fun. I would buy a magazine with a free a-z of cheats and for some reason the ones with the most cheats appealed to me more, to the point where i might buy a game because it had interesting cheat codes.
I think i felt like it was empowering or getting more fun out of the game than intended? Im talking weapon cheats, infinate ammo, etc but also games like Tenchu on the psone had a "debug" menu cheat that allowed you to amongst other things play two players! You could also spawn spells/ enemies and all sorts of fun stuff that the game made no effort to present to the player...
When i got a bit older i sought challenge over fun, i remember playing san andreas and never using cheats which really pulled in allot of challenge, which led to infinitely more fun. Resource management is a huge component for me now. I cant play games if they hold my hand, but when i was younger i didn't have that need, nor the wherewithal to know i was shortening the games impact. All i could see was how cool an ak was in gta3 and i wanted one NOW.
tldr
So what im wondering is whether these hackers are just 9 or 10 old kids who haven't learned to personally challenge themselves or are they dysfunctional adults? Or are they casual computer whizzes whizzing on this delicate game for kicks? Have you guys ever hacked a game and why or why not?