Long before Mac started producing its idiotic “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” commercials Windows had a smear campaign of its own. In 1992 a shareware Windows game was released entitled “MacBlaster”. Given the context of the sentences above it should be pretty easy to guess what this game is all about.

Rather then putting it into my own words I’ll just take the description right from the word document that comes with the game:

“You are a computer programmer and have developed a truly great graphic user interface (GUI). The Evil Fruit Empire has a monopoly on GUIs and will try to destroy your computer and throw legal hurtles in your path. Destroy as many of the Evil Fruit Empires computers and mice as possible while avoiding contact with the self destructing copyright lawsuits and mice. Beat the empire and give computer users freedom of choice!”

It’s a simple enough premise. The game play is reminiscent of Space Invades but with Mac products taking the place of spaceships. It’s worth noting that your ammo in this game is apple cores, a clever play on the “The Evil Fruit Empire’s” namesake. The game isn’t likely to keep you entertained for hours on end but the gimmick alone gives the game a unique appeal.

Seeing this game brings a nice warm feeling to my heart. I’ve been a Windows user all my life and I still use it to this day. However being a film major I opted to pick up a MacBook Pro at the beginning of this school year. While I may love the Mac I find myself getting aggravated with it every now and again.

I think a lot of my aggravation stems directly from the ever present smug attitude Mac possess. Such an attitude goes right up my ass and any chance I get to see Mac knocked down a peg is nice. Even if it is in a 16 year old shareware game that only a handful of people probably remember.