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And actually Mac the Knife was a very popular gossip column in MacWeek magazine in the 90s which was a reference to the song and probably not the video game. That column was most likely in mind as much as the song when this was written.

The Weill/Brecht opera featuring the Mac the Knife song was a heavily modified adaptation of an 18th century opera itself [0]!

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beggar%27s_Opera

Yeah, reading my response now, it kind of did sound as if I was implying that the video game character was original "Mac".

I wanted to mention the game as a possible inspiration because of who the author of the article is, and the website. Still doesn't rule out multiple references, as you said.

Actually I wasn't aware of the songs, so TIL, thanks!