Tap into GameTap!
Despite ranting about not even having time to play current releases, I have been sneaking in little bits of various old and new games on GameTap on both the Mac & PC recently. This week they have also updated the client software – this isn’t such a huge deal on the PC, but on the Mac it is like an entirely new experience! Either way, if you haven’t tried the free version, it is time to crawl out from under that rock and tap into the classic fun!
GameTap is simply amazing, and goes so far beyond what is offered through the console ‘arcade’ systems that it isn’t really fair to compare. Imagine getting to play all of the arcade classics as well as games for Commodore 64, Atari 2600, Intellivision, SEGA Genesis and Master System and Game Gear, NEO-GEO, Saturn, and more. Then imagine being able to also tap into games like Infernal or Clive Barker’s Jericho or Colin McCrea’s DiRT that would still cost you up to $50 in stores. And of course don’t forget that every new episode of Sam & Max launches on GameTap a week before the rest of the world can have at it.
And all of this for no more than $10 a month!
Over the Thanksgiving Holiday we visited my wife’s sister and her family – including her two kids home from college. We had loads of Wii fun (more on that later), but also had a blast with GameTap. We played almost exclusively arcade games – Xevious, Zaxxon, Tetris, 1941, Asteroids, Centipede, Contra, Defender, Dig Dug, and many, many more. It was one of those great connections across the generations – these were games that us ’40-somethings’ were playing in our teens, that their kids might have seen in some arcades when they were younger, and that our kids knew from handheld and console collections as well as … GameTap.
Do you have a favorite arcade game? Chances are it is available on GameTap! Grab the free version, your family and have a blast!
December 6th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
Good advice for harried parents during the holidays!
December 6th, 2007 at 6:42 pm
GameTap would *destroy* me. I sometimes think I have something like mild OCD, so I have a hard time putting down a game without finishing it. I’m already “drowning” in holiday releases; if I added several thousand older games to the mix, I’d have to quit my job and leave my family.
It sure does look like an excellent value, though…
December 6th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
Yeah, if I had more time in my day, I’d try GameTap. I heard Hopping Mappy is on it. If they put Libble Rabble on GameTap, I’d definitely get it. –Cary
December 6th, 2007 at 8:15 pm
I know there is no Sony / Nintendo stuff because of … well, obvious reasons. I dunno about the rest. But if you do any amount of PC gaming, the amount you can save is insane …
I just got a press release saying the one of my fave little Euro budget publishers – Meridian4 – is putting stuff on GameTap. WooHoo! More goodies for me. Oh wait, I already have all of their fall releases … oh well, try again in the spring 😉
December 7th, 2007 at 12:55 pm
I had it for a year for $60. It’s a great service. Very well done. I mostly played the old arcade games and some old pick up and play console/handheld games. I didn’t renew because I just didn’t use it alot. Too many games out there as it is. PLus now they have the free player. I had some problems with that on my Mac tho.
I may enroll again one day.
December 7th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
The new version of the Mac player brings it to parity with the PC version in almost every way – except for playing Windows games, of course. …