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About The Mac Gamer

“N. Evan Van Zelfden expects great things for the future of games. Games are the greatest art form to date, he asserts. This is why he plays games, writes about them, and continues to work in the industry of games.” 

This wonderful quote from the wonderfully named N. Evan Zan Zelfden is from The Escapist; as gaming sites go, quite a high brow one. While I agree with his statement, I would change it a little:

”Games have the potential to be the greatest art form to date.”

My grandfather was a painter. He died before I was born but his art lives on. Through his art his actions, his intent and his mind live on. Hearing his close friend, Fenwick Lawson, talk about my grandfather’s art, opened my eyes to how traditional art inspires, challenges, educates and informs. Although it can be claimed that games are a transcendental Art form, only a few reach that distant place where intelligent storytelling, technology and meaningful interactivity join. 

So what makes games the greatest, or potentially greatest, Art form to date? Interactivity? Mass appeal? Escapism? Emotional response? Entertainment value? Simulation of reality? A combination of previously separate elements: sound, vision, interactivity and narrative? This is a question that deserves its own dissertation, not just a smidgen of a blurb.

Evidence of the ubiquity of games is incredibly apparent, even to the causal viewer. Games are now the industry to be in. There are vast sums of money involved both in production and in sales, rivaling even film budgets. It is no longer for geeks in the dark but adults and children sitting in their front rooms. Just as the TV replaced the fireplace as the centre of the living room, now the games console or PC is gunning for your attention (gunning being the operative word for most titles).

In a way, being a Mac gamer is totally irrelevant. I am interested in games as an Art form, as a method of entertainment or digital enlightenment. I’m as much a high brow gamer as I am a caveman gamer. I enjoy picking up a toilet with my gravity powered gun in Half Life 2 and launching it at an enemy. I also feel sad when my faithful canine companion Dogmeat is butchered by a mutant in Fallout (thank God for quicksave). Games can capture imaginations, crack open minds with beauty or with a sledgehammer. They are immature with hints of class, they are angst-ridden teenagers with a moment of originality. 

Games can be the spectrum of human interaction and emotion, only if we give them the chance. Of course there will be murder and explosion, just as there will be happiness and understanding. Games have the potential to be the ultimate medium for understanding, entertainment and exploration. 

Quite simply I’d love the Mac to be a part of that.

About the Site

My name is Alex McLarty and I am the Editor of The Mac Gamer. I have been a Mac user and a Mac gamer for over 13 years.

The Mac Gamer runs on WordPress and K2. NextGEN gallery and All-in-one SEO Pack also work behind the scenes to make it a nicer place to be.

I am indebted to the people that put in ridiculous hours to make these applications for us, the hungry masses, for no pay and little recognition. If you want to donate to The Mac Gamer, donate to one of these projects first!

The Mac monster logo was designed by David Lanham, all round great guy and talented artist. I encourage you to visit his site and marvel at his art. And then buy it. David took time out of his schedule to design this melancholy monster just for The Mac Gamer, so a big thank you to him.

Writing for The Mac Gamer

If you’d like to write for The Mac Gamer, drop me an email. I’m always on the look out for talented people who can string together words to make sentences who enjoy talking about games on Mac OS X.