On MacOS Gaming

I will always remember the late 90s / early 00s as a period where I still had some free time, some disposable income, and a Mac. To the extent that games could be played on those Macs, turn-based and retro/arcade-style games were the ones I gravitated toward.

Let’s revisit this a bit…

I remember Deimos Rising very well. I finished the demo levels and considered spending money on the full version. I played that game all the time.

There wasn’t a concept of ‘social’ in games back then. I think developers make the mistake of ‘social’ implying a social network (posting scores on Facebook or Game Center). I don’t see it like that.

Having a game on your phone is inherently social.

Mobile games can be used in any social situation. Your kids can play them or watch you play them, and your friends can play them or watch you play them. Online gaming or integration with social media can be more immersive, but it’s not the same.

It’s a shame that Mac games from the early days of OSX were either perfected versions of MacOS9 games never ported or games ported but too costly to maintain. It’s worth it to keep an old Mac around to play these games or try to run them under Sheepshaver, but it won’t ever feel the same.