WING COMMANDER: PRIVATEER.

• Author: Ciaramella, C.J.
• Position: VIDEO GAME

The 1993 computer game Wing Commander: Privateer wasn't the first to merge free market trading with exciting space combat, but it was the first to combine them in a lovingly rendered sandbox where your ethics and goals are up to you.

Set in the larger Wing Commander universe, the game takes players out of a military cockpit and puts them in the shoes of a civilian pilot trying to make a living in the gritty Gemini Sector. You start off in a jalopy and can earn money for ship upgrades through trading, mercenary work, piracy, or smuggling. You face factions to please or enrage, distinct bases and planets to visit, and a...