David Allison, who has written books on how to win X-Box and PlayStation games, runs a Web site called Cheat Code Central. He has filed a lawsuit in federal court in Denver, accusing a California company of purloining his cheats.

But it also opens a window on the world of gaming, where cheating has a unique meaning and quality cheats are the currency of conversation among those in the Gamer Generation, estimated to be some 90 million strong.

"There's a certain pride associated with finding something secret, which immediately goes on the Internet," said Trevor Fencott, president of Groove Games, a Toronto-based game publisher. "Cheat sites are very popular because people don't have the time to figure out the whole game."

Allison's Web site, Cheat Code Central, tells gamers how to access hidden game features with instructions gamers can't find in standard-issue manuals. Allison started www.cheatcc.com as a hobby while he was a student at a suburban Denver high school.

His lawsuit accuses Crave Online Media of lifting his cheats verbatim and posting them on the company's Web site, www.craveonline.com. Attached to the lawsuit are numerous examples of directions -- or cheats -- that were allegedly copied from Cheat Code Central and posted on Crave Online.

One example cited in the suit refers to Arctic Thunder, an X-Box game, in which the cheat code tells you how to engage "All Atomic Snowballs mode." At the startup screen, before choosing a player, press Square(3), L1, Circle, start.

Many gamers beat the game in the traditional way first, and then use cheats to explore the intricacies of the game they didn't or couldn't find the first time.

Sometimes, they use cheats to find hidden features, also called Easter eggs, such as the notorious virtual sex scene in the game Grand Theft Auto.

"They beat the game and they go through the game a second time," Allison said. "This time, they're able to go through the game and have infinite health and weapons and blow things up for fun."

In pleadings filed in U.S. District Court, Crave Online's lawyer, Gregg Anderson, contends that game cheats are embedded in the games by their authors and cannot be copyrighted by someone like Allison.

But game authors acknowledge and encourage the use of cheats by gamers who are trying to get through all the levels and aspects of a game. Sometimes authors will post cheats in chat rooms or message boards to ignite interest in a game, said Manifesto Games chief executive Greg Costikyan.

"It's a way of extending the life of a game," he said. "It's also a way of getting people through obstacles they otherwise might not be able to get through."

Randy Picker, a University of Chicago law professor who specializes in intellectual property issues, says the facts can't be copyrightable -- unless they are expressed in an original and creative way.

This is cache, read story here