Halo.
UT3's not out for Mac yet--it's coming, and so is Gears of War. Before that the last was UT2004.
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Biggest thing holding Apple back is the lack of games?
- Thread starter luffytubby
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UT3's not out for Mac yet--it's coming, and so is Gears of War. Before that the last was UT2004.
I think these game developers need to stop complaining and trying to put all the blame on Apple. Of course Apple could do more but if their not crying about Apple's support then it's about the PS3 and how hard it is to program for.
If the PS3 is so hard to program for then explain Metal Gear Solid 4 and it perfect 10 ratings. Apparently it wasn't so hard for someone to program for if they could make a perfect game for it.
If the Mac is so hard to program for then explain Blizzard who will also be releasing Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 on the Mac. Maybe other companies should start putting more focus on gameplay instead of polygon counts as Blizzard does and their games might be more successful.
If they want to ignore probably 12-20% of the market when you just count the home market who are also more likely to buy their product then download a torrent like many Windows users then that's their lose. The problem is that they see how big the Mac is becoming so they have to come up with excuses for why their games aren't on the Mac yet somehow Blizzard is magically able to do what they can't.
If the PS3 is so hard to program for then explain Metal Gear Solid 4 and it perfect 10 ratings. Apparently it wasn't so hard for someone to program for if they could make a perfect game for it.
If the Mac is so hard to program for then explain Blizzard who will also be releasing Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 on the Mac. Maybe other companies should start putting more focus on gameplay instead of polygon counts as Blizzard does and their games might be more successful.
If they want to ignore probably 12-20% of the market when you just count the home market who are also more likely to buy their product then download a torrent like many Windows users then that's their lose. The problem is that they see how big the Mac is becoming so they have to come up with excuses for why their games aren't on the Mac yet somehow Blizzard is magically able to do what they can't.
Microsoft-should form a macGU to develop Mac focused games.
They gave us Office-but all its PC games have to be virtualized on macs.
They gave us Office-but all its PC games have to be virtualized on macs.
Precisely.
Porting, virtualization and emulation has to stop! You dont emulate other programs like text, editing and browsing software. you just install it natively.
get that directX to run natively, and let all windows game be easily compatible and natively compatible with Mac.
That's not quite true because Microsoft has been actively developing Windows as a gaming platform since introduction of DirectX. And quite successfully too. In addition to this the top developers, hardware companies and MS pretty much work together and the developer input gets noticed as well - especially hardware companies (ATI, Nvidia, maybe Creative) pay attention. They especially pay attention to the likes of id and Valve.
Then there's Games for Windows and PC Gaming Alliance. In short whether you like MS or not, Microsoft's role in gaming on Windows is not passive at all (and then there are the MS in-house game developers). Which is something Apple needs to understand as well - just handshakes and non-commital promises do not work at all in an industry where there are several competing platforms and there is no compulsion to develop for the one that is unhelpful.
also the companies like dell and all them who make the actual computers advertise their computers as great with games.
Examples? None of the games whose names we've dropped in this thread operate on a free-with-ads model.
The point I was trying to make (sorry for making it so vague) was that Halo was the last bungie port(MS owned them during 2 and 3) but I was trying to say halo was a little long ago to count as a great considering the series might be over.
DX is a windows exclusive and is one of its selling points, the odds of it getting ported over are the same odds VS, Xna, and other major MS projects will get ported over. Then again office got ported so who knows?
MS did play a role to help get games started on windows as well as does some inhouse stuff like said. If apple wants it to happen they also have to do something instead of hoping that someone else will. Also MGS 4 did not get a perfect rating, metacritic put it somewhere in the 93 percentile range.
One last thing, a lot of mac user on a lot of forums in a rebuttal(other than this one of course) to "Mac has no games" , Usually say "I do not care about games"/"Games are a waste" (Blenderartists/pbnation/hardforums/ect). There should be some pole to see how many mac users want games because if there is enough then someone should start making them or at least set a trend.
A very important reason why Blizzard is able to develop for the two platforms is that they do extensive testing that gives them a lot of overhead for programming for the two platforms since testing for gameplay is long enough to account for development of the two platforms.
It's a good practice and ensures incredible games but if every developed did what Blizzard does then we'd have games every 4-6 years.
And that would be awesome. I rather have quality games come out every few years with years of support then have companies spam half-ass sequels every year.
Macgaming is on life support as has always been the case.
To be a Mac gamer is to eat the crumbs they throw at you. It's not very satisfying unless you just don't care any more about how a game looks or how many years later you play it after its release. I'm not knocking those folks as I care less and less about playing a game asap, but ....
I think Macgaming means owning a console and playing Blizzard games.
DirectX sucks. I want as little proprietary Microsoft BS on my Mac as possible(I'm not even particularly happy about the proprietary Apple stuff). Everyone uses OpenGL but Microsoft(including Sony, and I'm pretty sure Nintendo), there's no justification for this crap.
Windows has support for OpenGL, and always has, what needs to happen is they need to stop writing their games for Microsoft's locked-in framework.
Also, just adding DirectX doesn't exempt you from having to port it; Nor does writing it for OpenGL in the first place. There's more to a game than just the graphics, despite reigning opinion.
The problem is that the current hardware. The Macbook, Mini, and I think the Air (?) all have integrated graphics. The iMac has very mediocre ones. There are far better mobile graphics cards out there than what the MBP offers, and the Mac Pro is the only real gaming machine available.
Why would Valve want to put out a product that pretty much the great majority won't be able to play as smoothly (if at all?) it sucks and the investment isn't worth it.
I wouldn't be surprised if two of the three things were about making a tower geared to gamers and putting better graphic chips in the others.
Well, as for Bungie, we got Halo because why? Because Halo started out as a mac-only game. Perhaps it was in the contract with the original developer group.
As for Halo 2 and 3, they've been under contract to develop for MS and MS didn't want it to happen, so there.
As for future games? I'm excited to see a future Marathon game come from Bungie soon.
Or, MS could stop endorsing and developing a closed, proprietary system (DirectX) and embrace OpenGL and OpenAL.
This reminds me of waaaaay back when Apple kept getting kicked in the teeth for developing proprietary features (QuickDRaw, QuickDraw GX, Apple Desktop Bus (ADB), etc). Now, the shoe's on the other foot and MS gets away with it, simply because they're the big kid in the room.
I agree the reason MS can get away with an exclusive that large is because they own a lions share of the market. The only way to stop this in my opinion is to make OpenGl more powerful(latest shader models) and other tidbits to try to stay above DX. Remember it was not like DX was the definitive choice forever if OpenGL could pull ahead like the beginning, who knows maybe it would pretty convincing. Also we need a new glut, I know it is designed for demonstration and educational purposes but if it was improved it would make cross platform even easier.
That argument doesn't really hold any water. Just because the PS3 is difficult to programme doesn't mean you can't make quality games like MGS4 - it just means it's more difficult and time consuming. It's worth making that investment with the PS3 as MGS4 is a top-tier game title and with Sony's marketing with it, it would recoup the subtantial costs easily.
On the Mac platform, there's no guarantee the sales would cover the extra cost. Since there's nothing Apple can do to increase mac game sales with big name game titles; hence, it's important that Apple does everything possible to reduce the cost/time needed to bring games to the Mac.
Incidentally, I seriously hope Apple have noticed that most of the top iPhone apps sold have been games. If that trend continues, it might spark a change of focus.
I'm assuming it means playing games on OSX because most people hate rebooting.
Though I don't really see what the problem with Bootcamp is, you buy a new Mac and you get the choice of being able to play all your favorite games on Windows, sure it's a hassle restarting but the new Macs are booting faster and faster (my MP boots to a working desktop in like 15 seconds, a bit more on XP).
The only problem is hardware but lately Apple's been doing some small strides in that matter (like offering a capable 8800GS for the iMac) but they need to release a headless tower, the iMac is great, no doubt, but it's very limited.
Could mean either. It's a question my Apple Corps clan will have to address soon I think! I can imagine that being a hotly-debated member vote
For the purposes of this thread, I think we all mean gaming on OS X.
The problem is Windows. Besides the massive amount of hate I have for Windows these days, the cost of Windows and the lack of non-Mac PC games I want to play means I'm better off just going out and buying more games for my Wii.
I guess I should disclose that I'm a jaded former PC gamer: Nearly everything's RTS, MMO, FPS, or crappy Flash/Java webgames. They don't make too many games like Freedom Force, Jagged Alliance 2, Grim Fandango, or Planescape: Torment anymore. I thought that switching to Macs 4 years ago would really hurt, but consoles have largely filled the void.
Hey thanks for saying what I'm feeling too.
I'm digging the Wii because of the some of the new experiences it has offered. Do you have any other consoles as well?