A Humble Reminder

[geldonyetich]

Sometimes I run across something (usually made by an indy developer) that reminds me of the essense of pure computer gaming.

It's not in extravagent content.
It's not in well done voice overs.
It's not in massive production budgets or massively multiplayer archetextures.

The essense of pure computer gaming probably can't be put into words, but:
It goes something like this.

[Signe]

I  Sparkly!

[schild]

You found a poor man's Geomtry Wars. Welcome to 2005.

Edit: Though, you might be right. The essence of PC gaming probably is ripping off other people's ideas for a quick buck. I suspect that's not what you meant.

[geldonyetich]

I could probably find something that predates Geometry War and looks similar.  Also, I think this game plays better on a mouse than a gamepad.

I wasn't saying here's a new thing so much as here's something that embodies pure computer gaming.  Before RPGs came along that taught us that we need to grind for fun.  Before adventure games had us pixel hunting to progress a story.  This was the kind of pixel magic that spawned the genre.

I am I saying that a lot of modern genres aren't as pure?  Am I calling their fans posers of true gamerkind?  Am I calling their developers as having lost the way?

Maybe a little.  But I suppose that isn't entirely fair what with fun being subjective and all.

[schild]

What a crock of shit. It's busier AND less pure than Geometry Wars.

Look, it's cool, you like the game. But don't try to make it up to be anything more than a (less than exciting - as per the video) Geometry Wars.

[Margalis]

I liked this game better when it was called Crystal Quest for the Mac Plus.

[Big Gulp]

Exactly.  As soon as I opened up the link I said, "Oh, a Geometry Wars knock-off".  What's next?  A link to Frozen Bubble?  Hey, I heard there are Flash-based Pac-Man games out there!

[geldonyetich]

I was just trying to share a cheap-as-free game that I thought was pretty fun.  But, like many things, I overthought it and ended up ruining the fun.  In this case, the method of delivery was overhyping, which can kill any game.

[Strazos]

Entirely unrelated, but....


lol @ Geldon's title.

[geldonyetich]

I'm really more of a Spanish inquisition of MMO punditry.

[Signe]

I  Sparkly!

[geldonyetich]

With those three words, Signe described this game than I have.

I just broke 814k.  This game p0wnz me.

[Tale]

own => mimic typing error => pwn

p0wnz

not whit teh program (lawlz!)

[geldonyetich]

When I was kid the elite crowd illegally used telephone testing codes to make long distance calls at 300-2400 baud in order to distribute pirated Commadore 64 games.  They thought elite speak was replacing all their s's with z's.  After seeing the early pioneers at work, I'm reminded that l33t dialect never had any integrity whatsoever.

[Tale]

Don't worry, I was a kid then too, but the file sharing and leetspeak (which amounted to people having names like Psymon and Kernal, and a demo scene involving bleepy music and bitmaps with no animation) was on Compunet.

[CmdrSlack]

Aww, hell.  I had to solder a 300 baud modem into my Apple ][e.  Uphill.  Both ways.  In the snow.

[Big Gulp]

Aww, hell.  I had to solder a 300 baud modem into my Apple ][e.  Uphill.  Both ways.  In the snow.

I used my l33t hole punching skills to h4x0r ENIAC.

[schild]

Instead of hacking a Gibson. I stole one. I built a shack behind my house and played the most epic game of minesweeper known to man. 50,000 blocks, 31,935 mines. It took me 17 years to finish. In the last 4x4 square, I managed to lose. Up until now, everyone who knew about my failure has turned up dead.

[Big Gulp]

Up until now, everyone who knew about my failure has turned up dead.

Who do you think you are?  Putin?

[Nija]

You found a poor man's Geomtry Wars. Welcome to 2005.

Edit: Though, you might be right. The essence of PC gaming probably is ripping off other people's ideas for a quick buck. I suspect that's not what you meant.

If you want to be SUPER condescending, you'd say "Welcome to 2003" because Geometry Wars first appeared in PGR2.

[Jain Zar]

You found a poor man's Geomtry Wars. Welcome to 2005.

Edit: Though, you might be right. The essence of PC gaming probably is ripping off other people's ideas for a quick buck. I suspect that's not what you meant.

No, that's the essence of Mac gaming, except its more puzzle game based than action game.
PC Gaming is..  ahh...  sad and generally the home version of the arcade?  You know the same 2 or 3 genres done over and over again in some sad hope because one game did well in the genre 20 me too games of the genre per year will also do well.

(Also see: Electronic Arts except they pay for the companies that make the original or get exclusivity rights so they can cut down the competition.)

[stray]

You found a poor man's Geomtry Wars. Welcome to 2005.

Edit: Though, you might be right. The essence of PC gaming probably is ripping off other people's ideas for a quick buck. I suspect that's not what you meant.

No, that's the essence of Mac gaming

There were some notable Mac games with "original ideas" back in the day. Myst, Myth, Journeyman Project, and I believe, the original Warlords series. The biggest title though would be the first SimCity.

[edited to stay relevant]

[Jain Zar]

Sim City was originally designed on the C64.  Warlords I am pretty sure was PC or Amiga. 
Myst and Journeyman project aren't anything to be proud of.

I'll give you Myth though. 
Would have accepted Marathon as well though I would have countered with Ultima Underworld being loads better earlier.

[stray]

Ah, but I said SimCity was originally released on the Mac first. 

[EDIT] Crap, no I didn't. I think I did in a previous edit though.... Oh well.



Myst and Journeyman are definitely things to be proud of. If you don't like adventure games at all though, then it's not any specific game's flaws. It's just a matter of taste.

Either way, the point was that they were fairly innovative games for their time and genre. At least Myst was.

I liked Marathon, but I knew better than to mention it.

The world could use a couple dozen Myth clones.

[Jain Zar]

Im surprised you didn't mention Marathon.  It is to Macs what Halo is to Xboxes, what Zelda and Mario are to Nintendo, and Sonic was to Sega.
At least according to the fanboy faithful.

My Xbox games of glory are KOTOR 1&2, and Dead Rising, Nintendo is 2d Metroids and Advance Wars, and Sega was Phantasy Star.

But again, I am wierd and rage against the videogame machine.  Cept I don't write stuff like Rodeo Drive or Ghost of Tom Jode..  :-(

[stray]

Well, like I said, I liked Marathon, but I don't think it did a lot of new things. It was just another FPS, albeit a great one (it might have been innovative on a storytelling level though).

Since you mention Halo, the funny thing is that it was originally developed on the Mac as well. But I dislike Halo. Bungie or not.

[KapcomS]

$20 is not cheap as free. And your idea of gaming purity is shiny objects. Perhaps we've finally pegged you as having a serious case of ADD, ADHD, or perhaps English Major.

If you ask me the pinnacle of Mac gaming would be The Fool's Errand, because I'm a sucker for puzzles and the PC version sucked. Not for everybody, but I worked through this game with a roomate from College one year, and it was solid puzzle solving mayhem. A sequel is coming out soonish, but I am loathe to pre-order any game entitled "A Fool and his money", for obvious reasons.

Explanation for Geld: You see, the old saying goes "A Fool and his money are soon parted", which makes it sound like a scam, even though it is probably a real game.

[schild]

The pinnacle of Mac gaming is Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego. No other answer is acceptable. You'll find this clause on page 134-b, fig. C. in the Guide to Gaming In The Years before Windows Became the Only Viable PC Gaming Platform. Or GGYBWBOVPGP to people "In The Know."

[Furiously]

She's in 1947 Argentina shacked up with a Nazi.

[geldonyetich]

Oh Carmen, you could have done so much better than that.