Reading 03: PC Games

Early PC games had a lot of similarities to arcade games. The joystick was replaced with either the arrow keys or w,a,s,d. The other buttons that a remote would have would be replaced by the space bar or various other keys on the keyboard. The article from The Atlantic illustrated how PC games encouraged more consumers to place their fear of these strange machines aside and learn how to interact with them. I remember first interacting with computers by playing Pinball or Frogger on our old Dell PC. The cardinal difference between PC and consoles is that you can toggle back and forth between business and pleasure. PCs offered word processors, spreadsheets, and electronic mail that could be used to accomplish every day activities. I think the early games that needed more complex movement dynamics than cardinal directions were better on consoles with tangible joysticks. For games like Pac Man and text based games it was probably better to invest in a PC because it could be used for other purposes.

Reviews of games:

Oregon Trail

This game brought back a significant amount of nostalgia. I remember playing this game in the library at my elementary school. Oregon Trail is a clever text based adventure game. You have to optimize inputs and tolerate the random mishaps to get your crew from Independence to Oregon. I'm not sure how historically accurate the game is but the difficulty at least mirrors the challenges faced by our nation's early settlers. It was especially sad when my virtual teammate Nick Carroll died of tuberculosis. I would say this is one of the best text based games that I've ever played. It is in the league of Zork but a little more accessible to the plebeians.


Pac-Man

This game is another classic brought to PC. I played this with the DosBox emulator but I felt like I was in an arcade again. The gameplay is simple: avoid the ghosts and eat all the dots you can before you die three times. I was only able to make it to the second level because I'm a newb. The pace of the game coupled with the nerve wracking music make it addictive. You instinctively think that you should be able to outsmart the AI but it's pretty clever and hones in on your position very quickly. The recording of high scores keeps the game competitive between sessions. With games like this I probably would not have bought an Atari back in the day.

 Donkey Kong

This was the most fun and challenging of the games I played for this assignment. I had not played it before so the first few times I attempted it were pretty disastrous. I only figured out on the third attempt that you could jump over the barrels. I liked the numerous surfaces and items and objects that were interacting with you. There was also a decent storyline in this game. You are trying to save a princess from a malevolent gorilla. The game requires a lot more situational awareness then the two aforementioned. This game launched an incredible franchise and was a pleasure to play the PC version of it.