Finding Games for System 6/7?

[whatastupid]

Hi!

I remember playing tons of great games on my old Mac SE and, later, my Centris 610. What are some good sources today (online or mail-order) for finding games for either system?

I've found a handful of websites like M68kG and MacGarden, but they really don't seem to have all that many, relative to the thousands that I recall playing (public domain, shareware, commercial, etc.)

Also, what the heck to do about all those great shareware games? If you can't contact the authors now - a decade or more later - how can you ever get the full version?

Thanks!

 

[tomlee59]

There are many sites with games. To your list, I would add Le Grenier du Mac (The Mac Attic). There are many classic games there, as well as apps and utilities galore.

And as an additional source of URLs to check out, see Gamba's site, home.earthlink.net/~gamba2. He provides an extensive set of links to other sites. It hasn't been updated in a couple of years (Gamba is sadly no longer with us), but many of the links are still good.

 

[Scott Baret]

Find a copy of the book "Macintosh Revelations". There were a ton of shareware and freeware classics on the disc that came with it.

Another book to look for is Cameron Crotty's "Cool Mac Games Plus". It had two disks full of games included with it.

Don't forget to check out Michael Casteel's Klondike, he still offers a version for the Plus on up as well as an OS X version.

Speaking of Gamba, when did he die? I know he passed on but don't know any specifics.

 

[wally]

...Speaking of Gamba, when did he die? I know he passed on but don't know any specifics.

Gamba died sometime between November 1 and November 3, 2003, in his home in Los Altos, California. His death at age 65 was judged to be a suicide. Professionally he worked as an electronics designer specializing in telecommunications within the defense industry of Silicon Valley, and his private passion was old Macs. He also loved working on his automobile himself, played clarinet and piano, did volunteer restoration of church pipe organs thruout California, and had served as a volunteer powerboat mechanical engineer for a Bay Area Sea Scout troop. For most of his life he had struggled with depression, and found focus and comfort in trying to develop encyclopedic knowledge of old Macs and sharing it with others who also loved Macs. I have come to know about him only earlier this year thru computer volunteer work I am doing for his sister. Gamba, RIP.

 

[LCGuy]

Poor guy. All i knew is that he had passed away back in 2003...nothing else. I had no idea about any of this...its always a shame to lose someone like that...poor guy

 

[CaryMG]

What are some good sources today -- online ....

Just click the names !

ONLINE

"InfoMac"

"Kaboose"

"Pagan SoftWare"

"Lamprey Systems"

"System 6 Heaven"

"Le Greniers Du Mac"

"The Missions Of StarShip Reliant II"

"The Church Of The SubGenius" Collection

"Macintosh Garden" -- Give It A Chance ....

... or mail-order ....

MAILORDER

"Retro SoftWare"

"Old SoftWare.Com"

"Jag's House ShareWare GamePak" CD

"MacTreasures" -- CLICK > "Category" ScrollBox > Games > Search

MISCELLANEOUS

"Cool Mac Games Plus !

"Cool Mac Games Plus ! Vol. 2"

Thanks for the headsup on that, Scott ! -- I'd never heard of that book !

And although I did not have the pleasure & privilege of Gamba's aquaintance, I wish him RIP.

:b&w:

 

[FerazelX]

Just keep in mind that the SPAMMER owns Macintosh Garden.

 

[Scott Baret]

A few more book sources besides the ones I mentioned...

Mac Secrets used to come with some games. The second edition included MacMan Classic Pro. The third edition had Apieron on the CD-ROM, I think it also had Maelstrom.

The Macintosh Bible, I believe, had Klondike on the disk sets. Keep in mind the disks were extra, you didn't get them with the book.

Don't forget to look at your library to see if they have any old MacAddict or MacWorld CDs in stock. Some of the stuff on the early ones would run on System 7.

Old Diskworld and Educorp floppies are very hard to find but are good sources of games. There was a disk called "Best of Educorp" that Macworld presented sometime around 1990 and it included Cairo Shoot Out, Klondike, Billiard Parlour, and Video Poker. (CSO was actually the first shareware program I ever registered and I got it from this disk, so I've got lots of personal memories from this one).

I looked at the links for Cool Mac Games; didn't know there was a second book as well. I should point out a few of the titles that are on the first book's disks...

-Solarian II (a classic)

-Glyphia II

-Bachman

-Mille Bornes (this one's really good)

-Icon Quest (sort of like Darwin's Dillemma but shorter)

-Mac Sokoban

-Robo War

-Cribbage

-Euchre

-Susan

-Spacestation Pheta (there are extra screens included but you have to register it to use them)

-A few more in addition to this

Check your libraries and used book stores. Or, even better, if your library has a used book sale where anyone can contribute, look there. (They used to have a deal at my library, you got a bag for like $5 and could put anything you wanted in it--I got all the library's old Mac Bibles for next to nothing!)

 

[whatastupid]

Thanks for the tips!

Unfortunately most of the online sources provided in this thread have only very "select" content (from a single developer or on a single subject for example), and others are filled with broken links. The French website provides me with files that seem not to work - I have to download them on my PC first and then transfer over either to my real SE or into the VMac emulator, and all these weird "cpt" and "hqx" and "bin" file extensions seem confusing - System 6 through VMac returns errors when I try to use them. Even "sea" files won't "read" as self-extracting-archives...

 

[CaryMG]

... others are filled with broken links.

Sorry sorry for the mixup!

Please tell me which ones so I can fix 'em!

The French website provides me with files that seem not to work

I have to download them on my PC first ....

... all these weird "cpt" and "hqx" and "bin" file extensions seem confusing

System 6 through VMac returns errors when I try to use them. Even "sea" files won't "read" as self-extracting-archives...

Man oh man did you bring up a very salient point lol

As a matter of fact I was just about to restart a topic on this very matter !

Click here ta see it > "Using PC DownLoads On A Macintosh SE/30 Computer"

:b&w:

 

[Scott Baret]

I thought of something else...

Look through those budget-priced CDs in your computer store. Something on there may run on something older...maybe not a Mac Classic but perhaps a high-end II or Quadra.

Also, ask an old computer store if they have old stock. I've seen a ton of shrinkwrapped stuff from these places...games, Claris stuff, even MIB comps and parts. Saw a new Apple IIe not long ago that was sitting in a closet in a store since 1993. This is the ultimate for software--you get unused disks, your own personal and legal serial number (and a card to register it...that will probably get returned if you mail it...I tried doing that once), manuals, and my favorite--all those little coupons for other products with expiration dates of 1990. (They should honor them based on that alone!)

 

[Scott Baret]

I posted this in another thread, but since this is similar, I thought I'd put it here too.

I recently bought from B&R and let me tell you, they are first-rate. Service is excellent, shipping is reasonable, and the products are all tested before they are sent. I will definitely buy from them again whenever I feel the need to acquire new software.

Also, look for some of the newer stuff on Amazon. I know SimCity 2000 and Battle Chess are both there if you look hard enough in the new and used section. Floppy-based games and anything before 1990 are tough to find there, but newer CD-ROM games are relatively easy to hunt down for a reasonable cost.

 

[benjgvps]

http://68kmacwin.googlepages.com/winmac

I had the same problem when I got my powerbook 150. Though I eventually got downloads working on it. I found that many of the sites were lacking on how to get downloads on a Mac from a PC so I made a site and I hope I help so people with it.

 

[Bunsen]

Gamba ... suicide ... For most of his life he had struggled with depression, and found focus and comfort in trying to develop encyclopedic knowledge of old Macs and sharing it with others ...

Yeeeouwch. That sounds like me, only not 65.