I currently work as an Evangelist at Apple Computer. The question of platform comes up every day of my life and I am constantly having to make compelling arguements as to the merits of what I still think is the best personal computing platform in existence. When it comes to games, though, I've been forced to make some compromises... or rather, I've refused to.

The Mac platform clearly does not lead the market in games; but, there are a great collection of titles which take full adavantage of the Mac's superior multimedia capabilities and keep gamers satisfied with their choice of the alternative in desktop computing. How many Doom clones does one market need, anyway? The major titles are here and offer the cream of the crop in gaming. Sure, the Windows-Intel platform is the choice to make for hard-core gamers, but for those of us who chose a Macintosh, there are more than enough excellent titles to keep our addiction strong and weekends booked.

I, however, seem to qualify as a hard-core gamer. Green with envy of all the titles in Electronics Boutique, I bought a Pentium 100 Mhz PCI daughter board for my Mac. (Yes, you can do that on a Mac.) It's worked flawlessly. (Yes, that's the way Mac stuff works.) The board has its own RAM but then relies on the rest of my Mac hardware -- hardrives, CD ROM drive, monitor, keyboard, modem, etc. It's a tribute to Apple engineering that the card has worked perfectly for about a year now. I've upgraded the Mac system a few times, installed countless games on the PC side, can connect through my ISP to the Internet, and am gently working my way around Windows 95. I get solid performance, output SoundBlaster 16bit sound, and have played now a slew of PC games. Two computers in one. Amazing. It's a shame that the Mac's consumer market share has dwindled to the point that a fair amount of interesting games probably won't make it to the platform, but I'm glad I can straddle the fence without getting splinters.

In addition to my Mac/PC, I've picked up a Sony PlayStation (Yes, I'm e), and a Nintendo64. After living in home for awhile now with almost every platform I need for games, I'm never going back. Sure, it took some paychecks. But I love being able to buy whatever damn game I please.

So my answer to the big platform question: buy 'em all. The hell with making a choice. I wanna choose games, not hardware.

For those of you who don't necessarily want to commit the resources I have to games (my wife and I share different views on my priorities for our discretionary income and have been forced to negotiate at times) I suggest buying one of the two consoles. I had a Nintendo (the old 8-bit original) but then never made the transition to the 16-bit era. Ever since I picked up a PlayStation, I've loved playing games with my friends in my living room. Nothing beats playing a game on a couch. (Not that kind of game, Phil!) Go with a console. They're far cheaper than a PC, don't require upgrading your hardware every six months, last forever, can be played with friends, and you'll never have to install anything.

As far as which console I'd recommend, you're on your own. Mario64 is the single most amazing game I've ever played. Period. But I'd hate to live in a world without Final Fantasy VII. I still say that since a PlayStation or a Nintendo64 run the cost of two of their games, you'd be best off buying both. As far as the Sega Saturn is concerned, I've not missed playing any of its games. When I do, if I do, maybe... but don't tell my wife I said that.

-- Scott
September 12, 1997.

"Scott's Addictions" are postings about the games I play as I play them. When a game captures my interest and becomes a front-burner favorite, I'll post a tidbit or two here for you fellow gamers to enjoy. I'll only post the best games of my crop. No ratings, just ravings. And I'm semi-agnostic: I love the Mac, tolerate my PC, and split time on the PlayStation and Nintendo 64.

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