which programming extras make the most money?

Video games and apps provide daily royalties on top of the initial payment, so there is quite a bit of money to be earned there but by no means would I say it is huge. That said, video games and apps take forever to make as well. Hacking on the other hand is quick and with the different servers to hack you can make a fair amount of money, though you do have to wait a bit before hacking the same server again. Personally, the best way to make money with the programming skill is in the freelancer career. In particular, the tasks related to testing security systems are huge money-makers and quick jobs to complete.

I usually go with hacking. The payout is pretty good at high skill levels. I never felt like the royalties for apps and games were worth the time it took to complete them, especially compared to the royalties from writing books.

You can also earn quite a bit from video game tournaments, if you do them often enough to win.