As the year 2000 approaches, we find ourselves increasingly open to the idea that the world is coming to an end. We're typically pretty skeptical of all the "End Is Nigh" rhetoric, but sometimes you just can't ignore the signs. Our anxiety about the end of the world has been rising steadily over the past year, as Apple managed to generate a sustainable profit, crank out an effective advertising campaign, produce the best-selling computer in the consumer market, and demonstrate year-over-year growth. Those are all some scary indicators. But this whole "we want to be the best games platform" thing really gives us a wiggins.

Not that we don't like games-- we do. In fact, we love them. It's just that, traditionally, Apple has myopically tried to stifle games development on the Mac platform, in fear that good games would only reinforce the attitude that the Mac is only a toy. These days, however, the new Apple is welcoming games developers with open arms, and making such game-friendly moves as announcing support for the industry standard OpenGL 3D programming interface and putting 3D hardware acceleration in every Macintosh made. That's spooky. But we didn't start stockpiling canned goods and bottled water until we heard about Apple's presence at the cross-platform Game Developers Conference. It wasn't just that they went at all-- though that alone is certainly enough to give longtime Mac watchers the heebie-jeebies. No, it's the fact that even Mac haters at the conference were starting to warm up to Apple's hardware. Time to move into the fallout shelter.

The Mac Gamer's Ledge notes a frightening phenomenon; the heavily PC-biased Game Wire's report from the conference includes comments from two correspondents who remark upon Apple's presence. One guy notes that the "icebox" G3 was "the biggest hyped product in the computer show," and while he concedes that the G3 might beat out a Pentium II system in some tests, he "seriously doubts" it could trounce any "heavily equipped PC systems out there." Okay, not the biggest compliment in the world, but at least it's an acknowledgement that Apple was in full hype mode at the conference. Then the other correspondent, an admitted "Mac hater," truly confirms that the world is coming to an end by stating that he or she is "really impressed with the speed and graphic quality" of the new G3's, which "were EVERYWHERE... by the time [he or she] got home everything looked iMac blue." Now that's a strong show presence-- and at a games conference! Duck and cover!