Microsoft games on a mac???

[GlowingElite]

Why cant microsoft and mac come together as one and publish a lot more games cause i have only ever played unreal tournament on a mac and some weird marble game but on my microsoft laptop i have over 15 different games from halo to zeena so why cant we have windows games for a mac

 

[wyatt23]

yea, that bugs me too. i'd really like to have seen freelancer come to the mac. a very, very awesome space fighter game.

 

[GlowingElite]

Just a question is halo 1 or 2 on a mac? Or even Half life cause they are my 2 fave x-box games....

 

[Eraserhead]

Halo 1 is available for Macs (though it isn't Universal).

EDIT: look at http://guides.macrumors.com/Universal_Binary_Games

 

[GlowingElite]

What do you mean universal and does it have an online multiplayer option??

 

[Eraserhead]

What do you mean universal and does it have an online multiplayer option??

See my edit, I'm wrong it is Universal, Universal means PPC and Intel native.

 

[GlowingElite]

See my edit, I'm wrong it is Universal, Universal means PPC and Intel native.

Thanks for that

 

[Kosh66]

Why cant microsoft and mac come together as one and publish a lot more games cause i have only ever played unreal tournament on a mac and some weird marble game but on my microsoft laptop i have over 15 different games from halo to zeena so why cant we have windows games for a mac

Not all games are Microsoft games... games are published and created by many other companies. And second, talk to Peter Tamte and Destineer, he made a quote a few years ago that he would be bringing alot more Microsoft games to the Mac, it happened for a couple of years and then it's been quiet. Third, the Mac market is small so the porting companies only bring over to the Mac what they think will sell alot, so they can make some profit off the game.

Also, if you only have UT on your Mac, your missing ALOT of other good Mac games. Go to www.aspyr.com www.macsoftgames.com and www.insidemacgames.com to see some of the good games your missing on playing.

 

[yellow]

Why cant microsoft and mac come together as one and publish a lot more games cause i have only ever played unreal tournament on a mac and some weird marble game but on my microsoft laptop i have over 15 different games from halo to zeena so why cant we have windows games for a mac

One word: ActiveX

 

[Sijmen]

One word: ActiveX

I honestly don't know any ActiveX games. Well there are Flash games of course, but on the Mac Flash needs no ActiveX

You probably mean DirectX.

 

[metgear723]

as for future games we may or may not see more ports of games to the mac because of a little tool called boot camp or parallels. The game companies can be more like Blizzard and offer amazing games for both platforms at the same time. I want the latter, but that probably won't happen.

 

[Sijmen]

as for future games we may or may not see more ports of games to the mac because of a little tool called boot camp or parallels. The game companies can be more like Blizzard and offer amazing games for both platforms at the same time. I want the latter, but that probably won't happen.

Boot Camp allows you to dual-boot to Windows. While this allows native Windows for full-speed gaming, there's a catch: you need to reboot to play a Windows game. I don't think this will threaten the market for Mac games too much.

That new Parallels feature however, for 3D games, might be. However, this still requires a Parallels and a Windows license and I think it's more hassle than it's worth for most people.

I too am hoping for more Mac-native games. It would also be great if the Macs come with somewhat better graphics cards.

 

[BornAgainMac]

I hope 10.5 changes people thoughts on Mac gaming. Hopefully some of the improvements will make it more attractive for gaming.

Tip: Retail stores are not the best place to find a wide selection of Mac games. Usually your best bet is the Online Apple store or Amazon.


More information on DirectX and ActiveX:
DirectX
ActiveX

 

[dpaanlka]

Why cant microsoft and mac come together as one and publish a lot more games cause i have only ever played unreal tournament on a mac and some weird marble game but on my microsoft laptop i have over 15 different games from halo to zeena so why cant we have windows games for a mac

A: Mac is not a company.
B: Apple does not inhibit third parties from developing software for their platform in any way.
C: Apple does not develop games, and Microsoft does not develop all games (not even a majority of games). It's entirely up to third parties to port their own games. Apple has absolutely nothing to do with it.

As a side note, yes Halo for Mac is fully online playable and everything.

Go to http://www.insidemacgames.com/ for lots of Mac gaming crap.

 

[Sijmen]

Yeah, I'm also anxiously awaiting 10.5, it might bring some nice things (at least, that's what I'm hoping for )

By the way, I love how Blizzard and Cyan do things - a Mac version bundled with the Windows version on the same CD. But most Mac games are sold separately at a much, much higher price, often months after the original release, and some are not even net compatible with their Windows counterparts. That's why I don't any Mac-exclusive games (yet).

 

[yellow]

You probably mean DirectX.

Yeah, sorry. DirectX. I have ActiveX on the brain today at work.

 

[Kosh66]

Yeah, sorry. DirectX.

DirectX isn't an issue nowadays. Every porting company I know of has a library of DirectX to OpenGL conversions. It's not an issue. Heck, there are even a few companies selling these conversion libraries.

 

[charmin]

B: Apple does not inhibit third parties from developing software for their platform in any way.

That would depend on your definition of inhibit.

 

[dpaanlka]

That would depend on your definition of inhibit.

Well, what is your definition of inhibit?

 

[twistedlegato]

If you would like to buy Halo.....

Here you go


It even has online multiplayer!

If you get it be sure to check out the MR Halo group thread/game times thread.

 

[Sijmen]

Too bad it's 75% more expensive than the PC version.

 

[iTim314]

Just a question is halo 1 or 2 on a mac? Or even Half life cause they are my 2 fave x-box games....

Halo 1 is available for the Mac. I play it regularly.
Halo 2 isn't even out for PC Yet, much less Mac. Plus it'll require Vista they say for DirectX Support.
Half Life is available for the Mac.
So is WOW surprisingly.

A: Mac is not a company.

Gosh, thank you. I hate it when people do that. Same thing with iPod. "Why won't the people at iPod make a radio function?" Get's on my last nerve.

Too bad it's 75% more expensive than the PC version.

That, I agree, totally blows.
I wouldn't be surprised if they made us cough up $100 for Halo 2:Mac even IF it came out. They claim they have no intention of ever making Halo 2 available for the Mac.

 

[yellow]

DirectX isn't an issue nowadays. Every porting company I know of has a library of DirectX to OpenGL conversions. It's not an issue. Heck, there are even a few companies selling these conversion libraries.

Except that porting is a very expensive process. As is licensing, with a very high possibility of failure and ending up in the red.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

So is WOW surprisingly.

Surprisingly? I hope that was meant in jest! Blizzard is one of the few game developers that has excellent Mac support, with most of their games having both Mac and PC installs on the one disc; no separate, six-months-later, release.

As for Halo, it was a disappointment. The developer, Bungie, said that it was going to be on the Mac first, at a MacWorld keynote! Then Microsoft bought Bungie, and turned it into an Xbox title, only to be released for PC later, then for Mac MUCH later.

 

[charmin]

Well, what is your definition of inhibit?

All I'm saying is that you can passively slow someone's progress by not actively helping them.

Blizzard are possibly THE best cross-platform game developers. I don't actually follow their games because I don't like them ( ), but all the ones I can think of were simultaneously released on Mac and PC, and only a few other companies manage the same feat.