Nothing or Nostalgia: How Old Mac Games Still Stack Up

By
Hong Le
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What were the differences between old PC games and old Mac games?

Back in the computer lab days, there were a lot of PC games, but not many for the Mac. It once took great effort to find stores with a few Mac titles. There was also a lot of pointing and laughing at the kid with the Mac since he or she couldn’t play “the good games,” even though the Mac was good at a lot of other things.

Well, the Mac gamer now has the last laugh since modern Mac games take full advantage of the computer’s excellent graphics and processing power. Today’s titles are rich and the list is extensive, and even exceeds the most fully optimized gaming PC or consoles. Multiplatform titles also have helped bridge the once-extensive gap between the PC and Mac worlds. A disc may include both versions, or if it’s downloadable content, you can choose which version to install. Many games come with online options or are fully integrated with networking capabilities.

It’s an exciting time for fans of Apple fanboys, but it wasn’t always this way. VentureBeat.com, published an article discussing the “Rocky History of Gaming on a Mac,” which explained how the original Macintosh computer was marketed to business professionals, so games were thought of as purely kid stuff. The few early games lacked things like color and dynamic game play. As more Mac owners demanded games, the titles were few and far between, since most of the publishers focused on Windows first, and perhaps a Mac version later.

Today, popular titles like Civilization, Bioshock, Call of Duty and Batman: Arkham Asylum can all be enjoyed on a Mac. Even Tomb Raider, initially available only on PlayStation, is now getting a Mac version, as ComputerandVideoGames.com notes.

It’s fun to get nostalgic about good ol’ days, even if the technology was slow as a turtle. Here is a list of some classic titles you can still enjoy playing today:

  • Dark Castle. Early Macs lacked color, but made up for it in detailed graphics. Players navigate a variety of obstacles to escape from a castle. Each room has at least one challenge, from shooting spikes to swinging blades. It also was the first game to include actual voice samples rather than electronic noises, according to GiantBomb.com.
  • Oregon Trail. Today’s RPGs owe much to this game, and so do many adults who learned American history from it. This early adventure game/classroom tool lets you choose your route, your provisions and your activities, but there are also random elements to painfully thwart quests, as Mac Life highlights.
  • Sims. Any Electronic Arts title with a Sim in the name was a hit, from the original Sim City to the newer The Sims — yes, even Sim Copter and Sim Ant. These detailed customizable worlds nicely showed off the computing power of a Mac, and allowed people of all ages to play games that weren’t necessarily violent or over the top.
  • Hidden Objects: A hidden object game by iWin can occupy a lot of time and brain cells. iWin offers a large selection of truly addictive games that can be played online.

 

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hong le gnn
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