<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Paul "The Game Master" Hyman was the editor-in-chief of CMP Media's GamePower. He's covered the games industry for over a dozen years. His columns for The Reporter run exclusively on the Web site.</font>

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Jon`C:
uh... that's great matrixhacker. Really.


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<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Jin:
Paul "The Game Master" Hyman</font>

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Freyr:
That is insane if they don't want people to modify the games don't release the Source Development Kit. Simple enough.</font>

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by SG1_129:

I'm sorry, did I miss it when LEC released a SDK for Jedi Knights? </font>

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Avenger:
I fail to see where he connects hacking to modding

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<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by GBK:
Thats ok, LEC's JK tools sucked.

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<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by GBK:
Thats ok, LEC's JK tools sucked.

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<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">hacker n. [originally, someone who makes furniture with an axe] 1. A
person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems and how
to stretch their capabilities, as opposed to most users, who prefer to
learn only the minimum necessary. 2. One who programs enthusiastically
(even obsessively) or who enjoys programming rather than just theorizing
about programming. 3. A person capable of appreciating hack value. 4.
A person who is good at programming quickly. 5. An expert at a
particular program, or one who frequently does work using it or on it;
as in `a Unix hacker'. (Definitions 1 through 5 are correlated, and
people who fit them congregate.) 6. An expert or enthusiast of any kind.
One might be an astronomy hacker, for example. 7. One who enjoys the
intellectual challenge of creatively overcoming or circumventing
limitations. 8. [deprecated] A malicious meddler who tries to discover
sensitive information by poking around. Hence `password hacker',
`network hacker'. The correct term for this sense is cracker.

The term `hacker' also tends to connote membership in the global
community defined by the net (see the network and Internet address).
For discussion of some of the basics of this culture, see the How To
Become A Hacker (http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html) FAQ.
It also implies that the person described is seen to subscribe to some
version of the hacker ethic (see hacker ethic).

It is better to be described as a hacker by others than to describe
oneself that way. Hackers consider themselves something of an elite (a
meritocracy based on ability), though one to which new members are
gladly welcome. There is thus a certain ego satisfaction to be had in
identifying yourself as a hacker (but if you claim to be one and are
not, you'll quickly be labeled bogus). See also geek, wannabee.

This term seems to have been first adopted as a badge in the 1960s by
the hacker culture surrounding TMRC and the MIT AI Lab. We have a report
that it was used in a sense close to this entry's by teenage radio hams
and electronics tinkerers in the mid-1950s.</font>

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Jedi Legend:
Of course EA is going to make more money; they mass produce crappy games.</font>

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by JediHunter_X:
...sure, "hacking" isn't the most acurate description, but is it really necessary to lash out at him? It's not like he's condemning it.</font>

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by SwedishBorgie:
You're completely correct, the common image of a hacker is the second definition. The article is refering the first definition.</font>

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">From the article:
What's going on here? When did hacking suddenly become legit and, in fact, a big part of the marketing strategy of video game publishers and developers?

The answer is that some -- but not all -- video game companies are actively encouraging a form of hacking called "modding" (for modifying), in which gamers change parts or all of a game by altering its code, sometimes with tools supplied by the game's developer.</font>

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">"Yes, modding extends the life of our games and it helps build community around our games," Rein said. "But it also helps us find terrific talent which we hire from the modding community. At one time, half the people who worked for us were chosen because of their modding work -- level designers, artists, programmers, everything."
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