The 10 most expensive Apple II games

October 21st, 2013 5:22 PM
by
Filed under Game trail;
1 comment.

Brian Picchi: I’m your biggest fan. You were a great guest on Open Apple; your Apple II videos on YouTube are informative and entertaining; your Deadly Orbs game is killer; and your website runs WordPress.

But where have you been all my life — or at least, the last month? I haven’t heard so much as a peep out of you, so I went digging through your YouTube channel to find the latest. Uploaded on September 14, your rundown of the most expensive Apple II games on eBay was a fun watch:

For your fans in a rush, here is a summary of your findings:

GameValue
Wings Out of Shadow$0709
Labyrinth of Crete$1000
Cranston Manor$1525
Mystery House$1691.66
Ultima I+II$1775
Time Zone$1825
Softporn Adventure$1999
Zork$2495
Starcross$2495
Akalabeth$4900

I’m not much of an eBay user, having taken 14.5 years to earn my 100-star rating this month. The only Apple II software I’ve bought on eBay is Microzines; I’ve never paid more than $20 or so for anything Apple II-related on the auction site. That anyone has so much money to spend on these games is a little baffling to me. I understand the appeal of collecting items of historical significance — no one is buying Akalabeth to play it — but that’s a lot of dough to drop on something of esoteric interest. A framed Akalabeth over your mantle won’t engage many house guests.

But hey, I know you’re not just trawling eBay to pick up some games, Brian Picchi; you’re one of those hawkers of rare goods, with a copy of Akalabeth all your own. I’m sure your wife will be happy when you cash in those chips.

So keep up the good work, Brian Picchi — just don’t go a whole month between videos, if you can help it.

Classic gaming inspirations, part deux

August 12th, 2010 9:38 AM
by
Filed under Game trail, Software showcase;
4 comments.

Last month I blogged about classic gaming inspirations, a session I presented at KansasFest 2009. It’s a pretty simple setup: I present to the audience a self-running YouTube video of an Apple II game, after which they watch me play a few minutes of a Mac game that’s similar, with my narration consisting of comparisons and contrasts. Each year, I prepare to draw far more parallels than the time allows, which is great, because it gives me fodder to revisit the topic next year.

This year gave me the opportunity to address many of the games I’d planned for 2009 as well as add several new ones that have been released since then. I still focused on Macintosh gaming, but this year also listed at least one PC-exclusive game and presented no online Flash equivalents. Click the checkmark to visit the Web site that offers that game for download.

Apple IIEquivalentMacPCiOS
Lemonade StandLemonade Stand✓✓✓
ArkanoidPhoenix Ball✓
ArkanoidRicochet Infinity✓
AsteroidsMaelstrom✓✓
AsteroidsArgonaut 2149✓
RampartCastle Combat✓✓
Ultima IIIUltima III✓
Ultima IVxu4✓✓
Ultima VUltima V: Lazarus✓✓
AkalabethAkalabethApp✓
AdventureAdventure✓✓✓
Bubble BobbleBub & Bob✓
Dark CastleReturn to Dark Castle✓
King's QuestThe Silver Lining✓

As before, I ran the session without Internet connectivity or emulation; all Apple II games were represented using previously downloaded YouTube .FLV video files. Those files are compiled into this playlist:

I also captured a video of the session itself. It’s available on Vimeo, but the sound isn’t great — especially when the audience’s enthusiasm for my topic requires me to ask if I can have my session back!


I still have more games to present next year, if anyone is interested. If you enjoy these sessions or have titles you’d like to see demonstrated, please comment here!