I've been reminiscing about mac games I played in the 90s, as that was the most gaming I ever really did in that era. Sure, I might go to a friend's house and play SNES or Goldeneye (some of my favorite childhood memories), but there are a lot of games that I really enjoyed that simply aren't talked about anymore, although when I bring them up, people say to me, "Oh, yeah, I remember that."

Firstly, I'd like to bring up The Dig. This game was done by Lucasarts, and was apparently one of the better point and click adventure games out there. I played the crap out of it, although a few of the puzzles defeated me thoroughly. It followed a team of three astronauts as they seek to blow an asteroid away from Earth, but said asteroid turns out to be an alien craft that takes them to a point and click beautiful, but sinister alien world. The three astronauts are Low, the typical gruff white guy with brown hair and stubble that every videogame is required to have as a protagonist, Brink, the snooty academic German scientist who I identified with immensely, especially after he dies and gets resurrected by a life crystal, turning him into a maniac, and Maggie, an annoying reporter who nobody likes, but exists only to be the female on the mission, even though she really doesn't do much. They end up solving the problems and bringing back the lost race of the planet, and finding their way home. All in all, it's a well written game, as Orson Scott Card and Steven Spielburg both worked on it. The soundtrack is phenomenal as well. The truly sad thing about this game is it really does seem to be buried in time, as people rarely talk about it, despite it being a pretty solid game- its one fault being the difficulty curve on some of the puzzles.

Another interesting game is Gadget. While not being so much a game as a superlinear myst clone, this game had style and messed with your head like none other. It has a deep plot, although you need to read the artbook to fully understand what is happening. It follows a military agent in a eastern european facist country that combines 1920s retro style with futuristic technology as he investigates several scientists who worked on a brainwashing project, and are now trying to build a spaceship to escape a comet that is headed towards the planet. Psychadelic, nightmarish, and overall great, it lacks a challenge, and thus few people really remember it.

The next game I want to talk about is the Journeyman project. This game was a myst clone, but set in the future, past, and other timelines. You play a temporal agent assigned to stop an alien ambassador from being killed by re-rewriting history after a crazy person tampered with it, triggering an interstellar war. Great story, weird gameplay. Good graphics for its time, and a very good soundtrack, although it's impossible to find these days. There were sequels to this game, but I never played them. Still, the idea of being a temporal agent has stuck with me for a long time, and I would love to get apparel for this series, if there is any.

I would talk about Marathon here, but I talk about Marathon too much. Marathon was good, blah blah, Bungie should remake it, blah blah, Master Chief is the marathon guy, blah blah.

Going a bit simpler, I really enjoyed the game Bolo. This simple tank game could be played over the earlynet, and it involves a tank, an island, a little guy that could build things, gather things, and randomly die, and pillboxes. It was simple, fun, and easy to play. Dustin mentioned remaking it, perhaps on flash, and I think that's a good game.

A game that nobody seems to remember is Mantra. It is somewhat of a Zelda clone for mac, but it had great music, decent graphics for what it was, and was just a solid, fun game. It follows Saric, a shipwrecked traveler who washes up on this land controlled by an evil wizard. You must find the mantras, which are elemental spells, and collect them to kill the evil wizard and free the land of tyranny. It's a simple adventure game, but it is genuinely entertaining, and the cute graphics and good music really make it work.

Exile is a rather plot heavy game that seems to also be lost in the sands of time, despite several sequels. It is a very complicated rpg, despite the graphics being fairly simple. The plot is you, and some friends, commit some defiant act in a tyrannical kingdom and are sent through a dimensional portal to a cave world, where other criminals and the like have already created settlements. Overall, this game was very frustrating, with a very high difficulty curve thanks to random monster groups that would occasionally spawn after you slept. Most of the time you could handle the monster groups, but one monster group in particular, called the slith, came in massive hoardes with wizards and archers, and could waste an entire party in no time. Even better, these enemies could spawn at any time, screwing you over right after you leave the first town. Even so, the rich characters and interesting plot kept me playing this game, despite leaving me screaming and swearing at my computer every now and then if I forgot to save.

A similar game was Realmz, although this game had a much better difficulty curve. You could genuinely survive most encounters, and loot was easy to come by- every enemy you killed would usually have chest armor, a helmet, and a weapon. If you could identify these, you could become rich very quickly. The general plot was akin to a dungeons and dragon game, and there were multiple scenarios you could buy. I only played the shareware version, so I got one scenario, but the level of detail and craftsmanship that went into it was really amazing. The one fault I would give to this game was a lack of music and awkward graphics at times. Even so, it was a fun RPG for what it was.

Finally, there was my favorite RPG, Taskmaker. This game followed the path of a young warrior as he did 10 tasks for the Taskmaker, the king. It was a decent rpg with no real music, sub-par graphics, and lots of little things you could do to get epic level weapons before completing the first task, but it was fun. Furthermore, it had a lot of humor, and didn't take itself too seriously- Lord British is one of the NPCs, and you can fight evil macintosh computers. The real appeal of this game, however, was after you defeat the final boss, you gain the 'master's menu' which allows you to control the game- you can rebuild levels, create npcs and monsters, and pretty much recreate any of the levels to your own desire. I spent more time doing this than actually playing the games, and in one of my saved games, ended up making most of the levels into completely different levels. Even so, this game is relatively unknown, and despite it being fun to rebuild the levels, doesn't hold much value these days. Storm impact, the company that made this, is also known for Skifree, which was far more popular, but I will always hold Taskmaker in very high regard. There was a sequel, Tomb of the Taskmaker, but I really didn't care for it as much- it lost a lot of the humor of the original, and became a bit too complicated.

Anyway, those are my favorite unknown mac games from the 90s. If you have heard of these, then props to you. I really would like for some of these games to resurface, as it would be tragic for them to be lost to history. Furthermore, once I get a decent webcam and a mac emulator, I would like to possibly do reviews of these games.

So, I read on /. about this guy, an Australian senatorial candidate who gets it about gaming. I quote,

"Censorship is odious because it removes community choice. Censorship says that the thought is the action; that the common person can't distinguish between depiction and actuality... Censorship says, "Let me decide who talks. And games are talking. They're talking very loudly, to a great many people, in strong and clear voices. They're speaking in places that have never read a newspaper and in houses which have never listened to politicians. It's okay to be worried by what games are saying. It's okay to disagree. But it's not okay to stifle those voices. It's not okay to kill the game."

This guy truly gets it, and I couldn't say it better myself. Furthermore, it's nice to see a gamer going political. I've long chastised gamers for not being politically involved and people have long condemned me for seeing gaming as a valid political issue, but I really believe that it is tied with the first amendment. And it's nice to see a self proclaimed gamer running for public office. Hopefully he'll set an example for other gamers who want their voices heard.

I read on slashdot a while back about a political convention on electronic media, chiefly videogames. Only one guy from the gaming industry showed up- a game journalist from some gaming website, I believe. And surprisingly enough, senators were very interested in what he had to say, and actually wanted to know more about videogames. We hear all about the Joe Liebermans and Jack Thompsons of politics, but I think most senators don't really know enough about videogames to have a valid position or feel any sort of way aside from knowing that their grandson loves Halo 3. But hopefully things will start to change with this guy.

Now, I know gaming isn't nearly as important as international issues such as the situation in the middle east or Internet Neutrality, but I will support it as a viable political issue, as there are a great number of Americans and people around the world spending many hours playing these games, and it's a multibillion dollar industry. It needs to be addressed correctly, and just like I feel senate should understand what exactly the internet is (Not a dump truck) they should know a little bit about videogames, if they are to pass legislation about them.

I am a case worker, who specializes in the messed up youth in foster care. I see all sorts of messed up kids, but one thing I've realized is that videogames are the ultimate anti drug. This revelation occurred to me while I was working with a particularly high risk kid who already had a criminal record, and had been bounced around from home to home. When I took up his case again, I began talking to him about life in general, and the conversation gradually turned to videogames. He told me he'd been playing a lot of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Now, one of the older generation of social workers would get on his case for this, and ask that the foster parents take this game away. I didn't, I just talked to him about it. He told me about how he likes it because it's a game he can connect with and vent his anger on. He told me that if he didn't game, he'd be getting into a lot worse stuff. He told me that ever since he got out of jail, videogames had saved him. He can kill as many people as he wants on GTA, and he knows he can go play that when he's angry, and it stops him from resorting to physical violence. He just plays his games, and he's cool again. To him, it's anger therapy, it's a drug, it's more effective than all the medications they've put him on.

From Doom to GTA, games have been demonized thanks to events like Columbine and idiots like Jack Thompson, but in the end, videogames have always had a benign, if not even helpful effect on youth. I can remember growing up in the Columbine generation, constantly having to listen to people demonizing videogames, but gasp: For a kid who grew up playing Doom, I have yet to participate in any satanic rituals, murder any small animals, and I even graduated high school without shooting up the school!* Games are not to blame for the violence and problems of this generation, and despite the idiocy of parents and the like, they have continued being played, giving youth a chance to vent their rage in a socially acceptable fashion.

All this isn't to say gaming is perfect. I've seen domestic violence erupt over who gets to play computer games next. I've witnessed a kid that puts the angry German kid to shame. I've even been physically assaulted by a psychotic pokemon kid. But I've also been able to calm down a kid who was really dangerous with videogames. I've been able to connect with really difficult youth by discussing gaming. I've been able to stabilize and bond with youth thanks to gaming. It's a real mixed blessing, but in the end, I don't think it deserves a shred of the demonization it receives from the media. Hell, with gaming and my clients, it's just an activity. It's something that keeps kids occupied in a harmless fashion. If a kid is calmed down because of a game, that's not the game's doing, it's the kid choosing to calm him down over a videogame. If a kid hits his older sister because she won't let him play computer games, that isn't the game's fault, it's the kid's fault. The media demonizes videogames for human choices.

If games are so horrible and violent, then explain PAX. Explain thousands and thousands of gamers coexisting, being social, gaming, and all around getting along in a really cool fashion. These aren't basement dwelling nerds either. And that's the reality- the Doom generation has grown up, and the GTA generation is growing up. I'm not worried about either generation- not really. If anything, I'm worried about the world that's been left to them by the previous generations. Gaming should be the least of parents worries, with the type of world they're leaving their kids.

But thankfully, gaming isn't going away. Instead, it's going mainstream. And all the issues I'm seeing with gaming are slipping away as more and more, parents are learning to game with their kids, and finding it to be a bonding experience. More and more of the older generation are getting into gaming, ranging from my 50 year old dad playing Ace Combat to the old lady on the bus talking about how much fun she has playing the Wii. Hopefully people will realize that it is just an activity, and it should be left at that.

*I did see a gun in school, but the guy who was holding it probably wasn't a gamer. There was also a shooting at my school, totally unrelated to gaming.

I've been writing some reviews on games lately. Check em out.

Also, been working with a friend on an idea- creating a sort of game oriented social networking page, sort of like this, but with a more local feel to it, centering in our hometown of Tacoma. The idea I have in my head is a sort of craigslist meets gamespot, but it's still in it's foetal stages. Any thoughts?

Nothing too new lately. Trying to get into grad school so I can get a masters of social work degree.

Currently torn on which new game I want to get. I've heard Crysis is amazing, everybody and their mom wants me to get Halo 3 so I can play it online with them, I wanna get Orange box for the PC so I can play TF2 with all my PC gamer buds, and I'm just giddy over Condemned 2. Gah, too many good options.

Peace.

This con was immense. Possibly 40k people. I still can't talk, as my voice is so damn weak, and I thought I would develop a knee problem from the pain I was in yesterday from walking and jumping around during concerts. Thanks to **** free caffeinated mints, bawls, and other energy sources, my caffeine intake has reached nearly critical levels- while my meaningful nutrient levels are pitifully low.

But the con was the most amazing con I have been to. The first PAX had a grassroots feeling, it was all about gaming, Penny Arcade, and gamers. But this monstrosity, this gigantic behemoth of gaming, was an entity all in its own. I met with Gabe and Tycho and talked with them two on one for a short while, and they seemed in the state that they have always been when I've ran into them at PAX- passive observers of PAX, seemingly unaware of the massive event bearing the name of their brainchild. And this time around, it seemed that this con was not about them at all.

It was about gaming.

I think that's the way they want. Sure, there are Penny Arcade strips all over the walls, but the people are all fans of gaming. Sure, most of them read Penny Arcade, but are they here for the comics? The comics, without gaming, make no sense. It's gaming that gives their comics meaning, and this con is their way of giving the gamers a place where they can have their gaming utopia for a while.

At least, that's my take on it.

And thank you, Gabe and Tycho. Thank you. I gave you some mints at the concert, it's not much, but it's all I had.

But imagine, a place where you can play games at will. People on pictochat drawing penises everywhere. Everybody is really friendly and talkative, and most people get the weird gaming references you make. You can talk to developers of games, and other fans of games, about the latest releases, and listen to concerts of the music that defines your geeky passion, whether it be Coulton (HE IS A GEEKY GOD), MC Frontalot (who indeed fronts quite a tidy bit), or the Minibosses (Best way to fry your eardrums). You are among friends at PAX, and never once did I feel lonely or alone, there were always people willing to talk and on occasion wanting to hang out and get food. People go there to meet new geeks, to go to events, to see reviews at the expo hall, and mostly, to pay homage to gaming, and game.

And there are free t-shirts.

In any case, I probably have done some major damage to my body from eating so much **** but this has been one of the most amazing events of my life. Throughout the con, I began to accumulate more and more things on my person until I looked like some sort of crazed penetant cultist of sorts- I had three lanyards around my neck over my NVIDIA t-shirt, including one bearing a piece of paper with my NVIDIA number (NVIDIA had this thing where you had to match button numbers with other people to get free NVIDIA **** I didn't get any.), and multiple bracelets on each arm. My hair was dishevelled, my face unshaven, and later on I got temporary tattoos, making me look like some psycho gamer cultist. This con was where I could be free, I could be in my element, and I could really free my mind and be happy. This was my trip to mecca. This was my vacation.

Next PAX, Mark, Chris, and I cosplay as **** Hammerites. **** yes. If any of you have any skill with costume design **** please tell us, we'll need it.

I mean, seriously. What the **** is the deal with shy guys? They're like these little shy ****ers who wear these dumbass masks, then come after you with mother ****ing stilts and maces and **** What the **** I mean, come on Mario, you should be able to take them out with your mother****ing ability to shoot fire and **** that you get from eating flowers or riding your donkey dinosaur or whatever the **** Yoshi is. **** you, shy guys. Get a ****ing life, leave Mario alone. At least the Goombas have an excuse- they're mushrooms. But what do you guys do? You just wander around, doing nothing but trying to stop some plumber from plumbing his girlfriend. In the butt. Yeah. You ****ing cockblockers. Get a ****ing job.

This PSA has been brought to you by cough syrup. Thank you.

So, PAX. I know a ton of people are going, as am I. But the real question I'm wondering is what's the main attraction? I personally am hyped about the expo hall (free t-shirts ftw!) and the concerts (Frontalot owns my soul). That aside, there's almost too much, and a lot of things overlap, frustratingly. The Wizard, Tron, and the concert are all at the same time, which I think is a serious mistake.

Also, about that whole Jack Thompson thing- where Jerry and Mike asked JT to come to PAX and do a Q&A session unannounced, and he blew it, that was... Well, predictable, but at least they're giving him a chance to talk to gamers. Honestly the guy doesn't really stand a chance. There are probably enough people at PAX who have a fair amount of legal knowledge (from playing Phoenix Wright) to make him very uncomfortable. Even so, it would have been nice to see him squirm.

Also, sadly, MC Chris won't be there. This frustrates me a lot, as he pretty much made geeksta rap happen. I asked Tycho about it personally, and he said that MC Chris was really hard to book, but I really do think that if he made the effort to contact the guy, he'd come. I wonder if there's any bad blood there, honestly.

Also, I was having a discussion with a friend about gamers in general. We're both casual gamers, we enjoy gaming as a hobby. We get some of the obscure references, we spend about 5-10 hours a week gaming, but we also have significant others, jobs, and other **** we like to do. We're not the hardcore gaming junkies. We were trying to figure out what made a more hardcore gamer, and I sort of came up with several stereotypes that I've picked up on. The casual gamers can be anyone who plays video games as a hobby, but these stereotypes were the people you thought of when you thought gamer.

The first is the creepy gamer person. This is the kid in the cafeteria of some high school with his DS playing pokemon or something, not talking to anyone except his gamer friends, and probably smells a little weird. Long hair, glasses, socially awkward, lanky or fat, whatever. Just... Your typical image of an awkward gamer whose lack of balance in reality is irrelevant, as in the game, they've got legendary pokemon coming out of every pore. A few examples of this come to mind in people I know, as well as individuals like Comic book guy, and practically every other nerd portrayed by the media.

Then I came up with your generic cool gamer geek person. This occured to me when I was watching an anime boxed set with one of my friends, and it had this stupid advertisement for the anime network, and it showed this guy all militaristically and intensely organizing a campaign to get the anime network. This guy looked like he was in his mid 20s to mid 30s, had a baseball hat, short hair, a bit of stubble, black t-shirt with an icon, and cargo pants. This guy looks like he could get laid if he wanted. He looks like he has a job, maybe a bit of education, and while being a pretty hardcore fan, is also awesome- the type of guy you go to his apartment, have a few beers with, and play Halo. I have a few friends like this, and the biggest public example of this would probably be MC Chris.

Then I started thinking of your girl gamers. This is where it gets tricky- gaming is pretty damn gendered towards males, but there are a ton of girl gamers out there. Sadly, they're kind of invisible, as they fade into areas where male gamers really don't look. They're into stuff like Gaia, Phoenix Wright, Pokemon, The Sims, stuff like that. I actually know a lot of these girls, but the odd reality is they're usually more into anime than gaming. I've met a lot of gamer girls at anime cons, but they're only into select games, but really into them. It's just... Sort of a different language, I guess. Plus, gamer culture seems pretty male oriented I'd think- At PAX, the only girls I saw were being drug there by their boyfriends.

Last stereotype would be my dad, one of my ex bosses, and an old co-worker- your adult gamer. Has a life, kids, all that **** but still plays games once his kids are in bed. He's your software engineer who after work gets in a raid on WoW or your store manager who, once he's put his 5 year old to bed, plays a 2 year old game on his PS2 that he's been trying to work through for a while. These are your mid 30-40s types who have discovered gaming, but are balancing it with a life. And honestly, seeing my dad struggle with trying to play these games with his schedule, I've realized what a total **** it can be- finding save points and all that. Plus, it can be pretty alien at times, but it's still fun. There was a time there where my dad, my brother, and myself would have Half Life deathmatch night, which was just amazing.

But the reality of it is... Well, those are gamer stereotypes I've just observed, but at PAX, and the larger world in general, there is no real defining characteristic of gamers, save that they play videogames. In that respect it's a pretty interesting fandom, and I think ever since gaming has really hit the mainstream, it's hard to really define it. I've met body builder types that gripe about Counter Strike, snowboarder dudes who have level 70 characters in WoW, ex marines who think Taurens are boss, and cheerful christian girls who *love* Silent Hill. Gaming has grown to a state where it has something for everybody, and thus, it's hard to pin down.

It's a good thing.

Alright.

Just read http://www.livejournal.com/~germboy

That's my real blog.

Read. Enjoy. Live.