Number 312 - May 2009

PC's Are For Fun
by Vinny La Bash, Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc.
This column made its first appearance a little over ten years ago. You have read about getting more performance out of your machine, getting rid of Trojan horses, viruses, and other assorted junk. You've read explanations on how to fix, reconfigure, improve or otherwise enhance your system. This month, I'm taking a radical departure by pointing out some of the programs that I like in order to have FUN with the system. I'm tired of productivity. I want to blast aliens predators, crash cars, blow up things, and have a blast doing it.    Here are several totally unproductive, time-wasting, non-educational, fun programs that everyone should at least try. Get with it folks, work is for the nerds. Who needs boring spreadsheets?    One of the best time-wasters on the planet is from Pop-Cap Games. It's a gem called Bejeweled 2, a vast improvement on the original. Bejeweled 2 is the king of gem matching games. The graphics, animations, and sounds are amazing for the genre, and the game play is addictive. The game can be played in a variety of ways, but the basics of the game haven't changed. Swap two adjacent pieces to make matching chains of identical gems.    Play leisurely in the non-timed mode or you can speed things up by switching to the Action mode and turning the clock on. Problem solvers can go into Puzzle mode for Pop-Cap's brain teasers. New Power Gems and Hyper Cubes help you get to the next level faster and with more points. If you want to play casually, you can quit, save the game at any point, and resume play whenever the urge overcomes you.    At the other end of the game spectrum is Fallout 3, a role-playing adventure game that takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting in and around Washington D.C. The game was released in October 2008, and immediately attracted my attention because I was intrigued at the idea of nuking Washington. Why not? Nothing else seems to be working.    As the main character, you can play either as a man or a woman. You spend the first 19 years	of your life in Vault 101, an underground shelter built to withstand the ravages of nuclear war. One day your father flees the vault with no explanation. You decide to follow Dad to find out why he left, and you find yourself in the midst of a desolated landscape called the Capital Wasteland.    This is the beginning of an extraordinary journey where you encounter various human factions all jockeying for supremacy. You will come across wild mutated creatures, and complex situations demanding thought-out strategic solutions. The game can go in a multitude of directions depending upon the choices you make, and you can play as a good or an evil character. The choice is yours. Choose the good part, and you can almost see the halo forming above your head. Choose evil, and you unleash unprovoked havoc assisting slave holders, murderers, and other assorted human vermin. The real attraction of the game is twofold. There is a lot to do, and the game is open-ended. Go in any direction you want.    Also from Pop-Cap games is Insaniquarium, a strangely off-beat game. Your mission is to feed a number of fish that have a tendency to multiply. These virtual fish excrete coins which you must collect in order to purchase the food they require to grow and multiply.    Each fish requires its own special food. Deny them and they turn belly up. Hostile aliens appear from time-to-time to wreak havoc among your fish. Fortunately, you can buy weapons that will repel the aliens. There are over 20 levels of play, with four variations that include up to four fish tanks, all with unlimited play time.    Using a computer for business and utility operations is great, but work without play is unsatisfying, and basically unfinished business.    Copyright 2009. This article is from the April 2009 issue of the Sarasota PC Monitor, the official monthly publication of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc., P.O. Box 15889, Sarasota, FL 34277-1889. Permission to reprint is granted only to other non-profit computer user groups, provided proper credit is given to the author and our publication.
Number 312 - May 2009