This is a Geek blog. I admit it. I like Star Trek (the Next Generation still reigns supreme), Star Wars (the original Star Wars) and even though I am against violence, I occasionally do wish that I had a lightsaber.
I'm also part of a generation that's just beginning to be old enough to wax nostalgic. You may recall my first article in which I relived some of the good old days of BBS gaming. (And curiously, I ran across this Trade Wars remake yesterday.)
Ok, getting to the point... Computer games used to be fun. But ever since the FPS (first person shooter) killed the industry, I've been a much more productive person that wastes far less time on gaming, which is a real shame.
When my wife and I first got together, one of the activities we enjoyed was playing adventure games. We beat Myst, got pretty far in Riven before losing interest, started playing The Dig (before she went away to college and I beat it without her... whoops!), and then there was the fabulous Monkey Island series. We had a great time. It was something that we could do together and in my opinion, it beats vegging out in front of the TV.
So when my wife suggested that I find a game for us to play again, I was fully motivated in the task. Unfortunately, Lucas Arts and Sierra Games, the former titans of the adventure game, have decided that the genre is dead and have left their classic titles to rot. Fortunately for me, their fans have not.
If you want to find a classic Lucas Arts adventure game (Monkey Island, The Dig, Full Throttle, Sam and Max, Maniac Mansion), you're probably going to have to check eBay. Lucas Arts no longer sells any of these titles in their online store. Softpedia has the first 2 Monkey Island adventures (The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: Le Chuck's Revenge) available as a free Mac Classic download, but I am left wondering if the publisher is aware of this since this is the only place I have seen the game listed as "freeware".
Once you've obtained one of these timeless classics, however, the real adventure begins. Most of them are DOS games and will not run on your ultra-modern operating system. ...That is unless you use the very simple and free DOSBox application. (Yes it works for Mac and Linux users too! Plus Mac users get to use the slick frontend Boxer.)
DOSBox should work with just about any of your classic DOS titles. But Lucas Arts fans who have secured an adventure title also get the option of ScummVM, which allows for better graphics scaling, sound, etc. Also, it will allow you to play those Mac versions of Monkey Island even if you are on an Intel Mac or PC (as well as Linux, PS2, PSP, Nintendo DS, iPhone, etc.)
If you're a fan of the Sierra adventure games, your prospects for finding the games are a little less bleak. Sierra is currently selling the collections for Space Quest, King's Quest, and Police Quest from their online store. They are PC only, but from what I hear, they simply packaged DOSBox with the original DOS versions in order to get them to run on Windows. If that is the case, it should be just as simple to get them up and running on a Mac. I'll let you know once I purchase the Space Quest collection. (I played Space Quest V years ago, and I was blown away.)
So what happens once you've beat all the classics? Never fear, there are literally hundreds of NEW amateur adventure games available for free thanks to the Adventure Game Studio. Heck, you can even build your own. If you can never get tired of Monkey Island, there are many great (and many not-so-great) fan-made games, but get 'em while they're hot. Lucas Arts might not want to play with their toy, but like my three-year-old, they don't want anyone else to either.
Like this tip? Pay the monkey. 
