For the past eight years, we have consistently expressed concern about a subset of ultra-violent games. Last year we focused attention on the top selling Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, in which gratuitous violence toward women and police is rewarded and discrimination against the Haitian community is encouraged.

Oh, I disagree. The violence in Vice City is completely tuitous.

8th Annual MediaWise Video Game Report Card

Project: Space Station was one of my favorite titles for the Commodore 64. It was an extremely multi-faceted game, especially for its time, but, for me, the most challenging tasks were 1) getting into the proper orbit on launch; and 2) safely returning to Earth (always to Edwards AFB at the time) following a Shuttle mission.

Yesterday's events brought back many fond memories of playing this game during the 1980's.

I've linked here to the ROM file; you'll also need an emulator, such as CCS64 (ccs64.com), to play.

(Description clipped from "The Underdogs" web site): "Before he developed a string of venerable flight sims for LucasArts, Larry Holland designed this exceptional NASA mission simulator that gives you the chance to build a space station. This gargantuan task requires astute planning of shuttle launches over the next 15 years to carry the necessary components for the station. NASA's help in the game shows in the excellent realistic factors, from budgetary concerns to R&D projects you can take in hopes of making discoveries that will save lives and time. An excellent simulation."

Project: Space Station | A C64 Classic

] "The most mundane tasks -- the ones that actually bore
] the hell out of you in reality -- come at you in the
] computer game with relentless insistence, and if you are
] going to be a happy Sim, master of your tract home, lord
] of your lawn, sultan of your suburb, you have to get
] organized. You have to impose order on chaos. You have to
] stay cool and go with the flow. In this way you can
] achieve split-level greatness."

David Brooks, of the Weekly Standard, writes about The Sims in the November 24 issue of the New York Times Magazine.

Oversimulated Suburbia