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New EA Games will not work on MacBooks

M

MacMan210

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 17, 2007
6
0
Hey everyone. I saw this and decided to register and post this.

I saw that some of the EA games are shipping now. I went to the product page for Battlefield and noticed something shocking. The new games will NOT work on MacBooks. They don't support the GMA950 Graphics card that MacBooks have.

Product Page for Battlefield

Picture I took:
1154094998_c0a7eaa151_b.jpg

(Link)
 
Most of those games on the PC required a graphics card, except for C & C 3 which could run on a GMA 900. But remember that the mac version of these games are just the PC games running off a cider emulator. So they probably need higher specs.

EA probably doesn't want to put money and time into making a proper port.
 
Everyone knew this from the start, integrated graphics has been discussed no end of times as something that will show off photos and movies and some special effects well, but for the most part, wont show off games very well.

It's annoying if you bought your MacBook expecting to play high quality games on it, but it was blatantly obvious that it's not a gaming machine. There's a reason the MBP costs more: it's got a proper graphics card.

If you compare the MacBook product page to the MacBook Pro product page you'll notice the MBP has a section detailing graphics, the MB does not.

MacMan210 said:
Wouldn't Apple want the games to work somewhat on one of their best selling computers? :confused:
Click to expand...

Their best selling computer for college students, a computer that's designed to do your iWork as nicely as possible, and then organise your digital life with iLife.

If you check the product pages, the MacBook is not billed as your gaming machine.

And to be fair, they could of supported the GMA 950, but do you like playing your game at 1FPS with the lowest possible settings on ?
 
As said higher up in the thread, this should be expected. Although, given the fact that EA's Sims 2 and such can run on the MacBook, I see how it can be a little surprising.

Honestly, I really hope that Apple upgrades the video memory in the MacBook. The Integrated Intel is stifling. I understand that they need a difference between the MB and MBP but they have the screen real estate difference and there will always be a processor difference. Even if they put a 64MB card in there, the MBP would have the upper hand with capabilities for a 128MB and 256MB card.
 
I actually find this strange. I have the Windows version of C&C 3, and tried running it on a notebook with 1.83 GHz Core Duo and Intel GMA 950, and it worked almost perfectly on the default Low settings.

(C&C 3 has five default graphical settings: Lowest, Low, Medium, High, and Ultra)
 
Voidness said:
I actually find this strange. I have the Windows version of C&C 3, and tried running it on a notebook with 1.83 GHz Core Duo and Intel GMA 950, and it worked almost perfectly on the default Low settings.

(C&C 3 has five default graphical settings: Lowest, Low, Medium, High, and Ultra)
Click to expand...
Note that this is running in Cider, and thus has higher requirements..
 
madden?

what about madden??? it has been posted elsewhere that madden 07 works on PC with GMA950. I also hear that 07 - 08 are basically the same.

also, if ciderized games require more graphics card quality, then why not play the PC versions using bootcamp?
 
Exactly, the issue here is NOT the GMA950, but the poor port. I have Madden 08 running perfect on my brothers 1.87ghz Core Duo Macbook with only 512mb ram using Bootcamp. Its the drivers and the software thats the issue here and EA havnt made proper ports, and OSX doesnt have optimized drivers id assume.

And for those wondering, by perfect I mean as perfect as you can expect for a consumer line notebook that isnt designed for gaming. It was played using medium texture quality at 1280x800, very smooth gameplay. Perfect for on the move games.

If transgaming and EA get together and further optimize these games there is NO reason why these GMA950s can be supported, you just have to realise you will never have the highest settings.

applemacbook said:
what about madden??? it has been posted elsewhere that madden 07 works on PC with GMA950. I also hear that 07 - 08 are basically the same.

also, if ciderized games require more graphics card quality, then why not play the PC versions using bootcamp?
Click to expand...
 
No GMA950 for windows either

AFAIK, they will not work on GMA950's on any platform including windows. Intel integrated graphics make up the lion's share of laptop chipsets, so most laptops are SOL.

Oh well.

It is beyond me why game vendors, especially RTS game vendors, don't code to the lowest common denominator (LCD). First, it produces better, more efficient code. Every year, Blizzard's games continue to sell well, even the ancient ones. The reason is the code to the LCD and focus on game play. WoW will on integrated graphics, and WoW has 9 million subscribers. Vanguard requires massive hardware to run poorly, and they have less than 400K players. Seems simple to me.

The other factor looming for the game vendors are laptops. They are 50% of systems sold today. They will continue to eat share from desktops in the future. Coding the the LCD gives them a much better shot at reaching the laptop market.
 
EA games DO WORK on WINDOWS using the GMA950. I dual boot into windows xp and play Madden 08 at medium texture settings at 1280x800 resolution with very smooth gameplay. Not bad for an integrated chipset. Ill provide a video if any doubt me.

katorga said:
AFAIK, they will not work on GMA950's on any platform including windows. Intel integrated graphics make up the lion's share of laptop chipsets, so most laptops are SOL.

Oh well.

It is beyond me why game vendors, especially RTS game vendors, don't code to the lowest common denominator (LCD). First, it produces better, more efficient code. Every year, Blizzard's games continue to sell well, even the ancient ones. The reason is the code to the LCD and focus on game play. WoW will on integrated graphics, and WoW has 9 million subscribers. Vanguard requires massive hardware to run poorly, and they have less than 400K players. Seems simple to me.

The other factor looming for the game vendors are laptops. They are 50% of systems sold today. They will continue to eat share from desktops in the future. Coding the the LCD gives them a much better shot at reaching the laptop market.
Click to expand...
 
I personally think its a good idea for them not to try and let it work on the MacBooks. As much as i love them, it would just result in terribly poor gameplay on the new EA games. They want the games to look presentable on Apple Computers without having to turn graphics settings way down. Otherwise it will tend to give EA a bad review even if its a hardware problem.
 
i hope so

grahamtearne said:
EA games DO WORK on WINDOWS using the GMA950. I dual boot into windows xp and play Madden 08 at medium texture settings at 1280x800 resolution with very smooth gameplay. Not bad for an integrated chipset. Ill provide a video if any doubt me.
Click to expand...

I'm counting on you grahamtearne, I ordered Madden for PC and will hopefully run it with Bootcamp.
 
Hello there, I shall make a video in a bit when my brother gets home as its installed on his MacBook. I havnt yet installed it on mine, but I would prefer to take the video on his anyway as mine is the newest Black Macbook whereas my brothers is the White 1.83ghz Core Duo 512mb model, so it would be better to show it running well on the baseline model.

applemacbook said:
I'm counting on you grahamtearne, I ordered Madden for PC and will hopefully run it with Bootcamp.
Click to expand...
 
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