Jon Gracey's

Archive for the ‘Mac’ Category

, , , , , , , , , ,

Games That Rocked…Dan Simpson’s World – #43: Faster Than Light

In Mac, PC on July 12, 2013 at 11:56 am

Today’s post is by Dan Simpson…

—

Title: FTL: Faster Than Light

Format: PC, Mac

Released: September 14th, 2012

FTL box art

Videogames are an excellent medium for telling stories and exploring difficult ideas. Jack’s adventure through Rapture in the first Bioshock lets us think about the nature of free will and the dysfunctional politics of Ayn Rand. There’s Tim’s quest in the beautiful Braid, which deals with issues surrounding love, romance and loss. And, of course, the representation of man’s internal struggle between selfishness and society in the highly involved and often misunderstood art-game Pong.

FTL: Faster Than Light is a top-down, real time spaceship simulation rougelike-like. As you are chased across a procedurally generated galaxy you will fight  enemies and have random encounters, and you must micromanage your ship (energy, shields, engines, weapons etc) and crew each time. You can upgrade and repair your ship for scrap, or trade it for better weapons and abilities (eg. teleportation or cloaking devices). Ultimately you are on a quest to defeat the Rebel flagship and restore peace to the Galaxy. Read the rest of this entry »

, , , , , ,

Games That Rocked…Bex Lindsay’s World – #40: Peggle

In DS, iOS, Mac, PC, PS3, PSN, Xbox 360 on June 21, 2013 at 11:26 am

Today’s post is by Bex Lindsay.

—-

Title: Peggle

Format: PC, Mac, iOS, DS, Xbox 360, PS3, PSN

Released: Feb 27th, 2007

Peggle Logo

Let me tell you a love story.

A few years ago, I met a boy. He was handsome, clever, funny…and I was totally smitten. By a stroke of good luck we ended up living together, and I was convinced this was my chance to get to know him better.

I only had one rival for his affections – his absolute fascination with computer games. I tried hard but I just couldn’t distract him from whatever bright and shiny game he was playing, no matter how much my conversation sparkled. Eventually I decided to see what all the fuss was about, and asked to try it out for myself. Immediately, and much to The Boy’s chagrin, I was both hooked and better at it than he was. When he was out I’d open his laptop and not only play the game but also beat his high-scores, then put it back and leave him baffled as to why his settings had changed. It was the ultimate clandestine affair. Read the rest of this entry »

, , , , , ,

Games That Rocked…Bec Hill’s World – #39: Starship Titanic

In Mac, PC on June 13, 2013 at 4:23 pm

Today’s post is by Bec Hill.

—

Title: Starship Titanic

Format: PC, Mac

Released: 10th Feb, 1998

Starship Titanic Box Art

I don’t know how he had heard about it – as most people I know today still haven’t – but my first memory of Starship Titanic is my Dad picking it up at Cash Converters and stating that it was meant to be a brilliant game. When we took home that little bundle of joy that day, I had no knowledge of how it would remain in my heart and mind forever. Read the rest of this entry »

, , , , ,

Games That Rocked…Seb Patrick’s World – #35: XCOM Enemy Unknown

In iOS, Mac, PC, PS3, Xbox 360 on May 17, 2013 at 4:41 pm

Today’s post is by Seb Patrick.

——–

Title: XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Format: PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Mac, IOS

Released: 12th October, 2012

XCOM Box Art

We could have been something, Col. Jessica “Dark Angel” Baker and I. Sure, we had obstacles to overcome, but what relationship doesn’t? Okay, she’s a soldier and I’m her boss; and admittedly, I’m a married man, while she is – let’s be brutally honest here – fictional.

Nevertheless, there was little I could do to stop myself falling in love with this statuesque redhead sniper with sexy black body armour and impressive psychic abilities. And hey, budding relationships have overcome worse. Read the rest of this entry »

, , , , , , ,

Games That Rocked…Jonathon Valenzuela’s World – #33: Half-Life

In Mac, PC, PS2 on May 3, 2013 at 12:00 am

Today’s post is by Jonathon Valenzuela.

———–

Title: Half-Life

Format: PC, Mac, PS2

Released: November 19th, 1998

Half-life Box Art

I grew up a PC gamer. Though I lusted after NES and Sega as a child (my parents considered them a waste of time), we always had a decent desktop in an era when all the big innovations in games were on computers, not consoles. In 1993, I finally stopped being jealous of kids whose parents let them have ‘video games’ (the distinction between ‘video games’ and ‘computer games’ was more defined back then). The reason for this was Doom. The first true FPS* (First-person shooter) was a revelatory experience; an entirely new type of game, something I’d never seen before on my friends’ gaming systems, nor my own PC. It blew my 11-year old mind.** Read the rest of this entry »

%d bloggers like this: