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What do I gain by gaming on a Mac?
- Thread starter harveypooka
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Without reading the article (don't have the time right this second).... but what were your expectations for Gaming on a Mac?
I haven't read the article either, but it does seem that over the last 15 years very few good games have been produced for Mac. In fact, all the best games are ports from other platforms and are often not very well done, with many important features missing or faulty.
I did read the article and think it is well written. Sadly, yes I agree with you about feeling at "home" with a mac. I've grown up with Macs (and through the workplace-Windows), but I've always been a mac fan and supporter.
I also grew up in the age of video games beginning with the Atari 2600 at age 7. Ive owned at least one console in each generation including the current one.
I too would much rather game on my $2000 iMac with the semi decent nvidia 8800gs than having to boot into windows to play PC versions of games like Fallout 3 and Batman: Arkham Asylum.
But sadly Apple has made it clear that gaming on the mac is NOT a priority...I guess they figure that those who really want to game WILL bootcamp.
I could have bought a cheaper, more powerful windows box for gaming as suggested in the article. But it's just not something I want to do...I guess I like the convenience of being able to do all my routine tasks (web surfing, mail, etc.) on the mac side, then be able to game with the simplicity of a restart.
I too purchase the mac versions when possible (meaning availability and financially). For instance: I recently read that Assault on Dark Athena is being ported to Mac. Direct2Drive has it on sale for $5 (a steal) but I am waiting for the Mac version just to throw in my support. But I did find Prince of Persia (PC version) for $5 and picked that up...GOOD game by the way!
Yes it could be argued that I am stupid for doing this (although most people don't need THAT reason to call me an idiot
but it is in my own little way feeling like I am rewarding those few companies that feel it is worth porting games to mac.
Also..I hear there iD is working on a Mac version of their upcoming post apocalyptic sandbox game...the name of which escapes me right now...
I also grew up in the age of video games beginning with the Atari 2600 at age 7. Ive owned at least one console in each generation including the current one.
I too would much rather game on my $2000 iMac with the semi decent nvidia 8800gs than having to boot into windows to play PC versions of games like Fallout 3 and Batman: Arkham Asylum.
But sadly Apple has made it clear that gaming on the mac is NOT a priority...I guess they figure that those who really want to game WILL bootcamp.
I could have bought a cheaper, more powerful windows box for gaming as suggested in the article. But it's just not something I want to do...I guess I like the convenience of being able to do all my routine tasks (web surfing, mail, etc.) on the mac side, then be able to game with the simplicity of a restart.
I too purchase the mac versions when possible (meaning availability and financially). For instance: I recently read that Assault on Dark Athena is being ported to Mac. Direct2Drive has it on sale for $5 (a steal) but I am waiting for the Mac version just to throw in my support. But I did find Prince of Persia (PC version) for $5 and picked that up...GOOD game by the way!
Yes it could be argued that I am stupid for doing this (although most people don't need THAT reason to call me an idiot
but it is in my own little way feeling like I am rewarding those few companies that feel it is worth porting games to mac.Also..I hear there iD is working on a Mac version of their upcoming post apocalyptic sandbox game...the name of which escapes me right now...
Just registered, and liked the forums...
I just read the article and found it really interesting and well written.
Sadly enough, i just entered the mac world last year when i saved my allowance and bday presents to buy myself a mac, changing from a lifetime of pc and hard gaming. I could've bought an alien hardware wish are awesome for gaming but when i though of a mac i wasnt thinking on gaming, that's one of the main reasons of why i chose a mac and not a pc, cause if i would've wanted to game i would've bought a pc.
Macs are way down below from pcs in gaming, and it simply because is not oriented to it. You gain a lot thoug... Mac are more stable, have better photoediting softwares, music editing sfotwares, etc...
so i say... what do i gain by gaming on a mac? well my anwser is nothing, but some companies are trying to change that. I take blizzard for an instance. All of blizzard games are alredy mac compatible (run perfectly fine for me) and the next ones will be co-released like SC2 and D3
I say if u want to game dont buy a mac, but if u want an stable and firendly computer get a mac.
I just read the article and found it really interesting and well written.
Sadly enough, i just entered the mac world last year when i saved my allowance and bday presents to buy myself a mac, changing from a lifetime of pc and hard gaming. I could've bought an alien hardware wish are awesome for gaming but when i though of a mac i wasnt thinking on gaming, that's one of the main reasons of why i chose a mac and not a pc, cause if i would've wanted to game i would've bought a pc.
Macs are way down below from pcs in gaming, and it simply because is not oriented to it. You gain a lot thoug... Mac are more stable, have better photoediting softwares, music editing sfotwares, etc...
so i say... what do i gain by gaming on a mac? well my anwser is nothing, but some companies are trying to change that. I take blizzard for an instance. All of blizzard games are alredy mac compatible (run perfectly fine for me) and the next ones will be co-released like SC2 and D3
I say if u want to game dont buy a mac, but if u want an stable and firendly computer get a mac.
to be honest, you don't gain much by gaming on a Mac if you're comparing it to a PC.. most are usually ports w/ higher requirements for the same framerate and settings... best option is always to dual boot into windows to get better compatibility or higher settings..
I figured pretty much any machine with a 9400m was alright for casual gaming in non-graphic intensive games. I had the aluminum Macbook when it came out last year and played WoW on it. That was it. Everything else was on my consoles. I know I would never buy the 24" iMac with the better cards. I'd rather build a stronger gaming machine for half the price.
Gaming on a Mac playing only native Mac games is a huge limitation imo, a negative if you're anything other than a very casual gamer. The attraction to the Mac is the MacOS and highly controlled hardware, so you/me, we have both a superior OS and standardized hardware for a minimum of problems. When the "native" qualifer is removed, and you are gaming on the road, a Mac laptop is the absolute best because you can play all of your favorite games, most likely PC, by way of bootcamp and still do all the important stuff you do with the MacOS, and just lug one computer. At home, it allows you to keep one computer on your desk. So the advantage of gaming on a Mac natively is neutral or negative, but for overall gaming, the Mac is a great choice for everyone.
Is a PC cheaper? Most are, some are not. You can easily match a gaming PC laptop in price with a MBP. In most cases you are paying a premium to use the MacOS, but it is worth it.
With their extremely limited hardware, no. It's primary use is for basic tasks and a bit of video/audio editing, playing back hi-def video etc, but definitely not 3d gaming.
Just decent graphics and game play is fine for me.
Just decent graphics and game play is fine for me.
As Nintendo have proved, you don't need to have a graphics powerhouse to have a compelling gaming platform - you just need to tailor your marketing to the device. Nintendo don't try to pitch the Wii to hardcore FPS gamers; they're selling to a much wider, casual gamer market.
Trouble is, Apple aren't interested in gaming, so very little developer support or marketing.
IMO, a Mac App Store would do wonders for the casual Mac gaming scene.
Trouble is, Apple aren't interested in gaming, so very little developer support or marketing.
IMO, a Mac App Store would do wonders for the casual Mac gaming scene.
Remember, Vista was also supposed to be the next best thing to sliced bread. And it was a mess especially for gamers. Does W7 still have the dreaded registry? If it does, then bets are still on.
Remember, Vista was also supposed to be the next best thing to sliced bread. And it was a mess especially for gamers. Does W7 still have the dreaded registry? If it does, then bets are still on.
Yes, yes it does.
...You mean after we've had our best game developers (read: Bungie) literally bought out from under us by Microsoft?
You know, that one HUGE Xbox-based game called Halo?
You're aware it was around in various incarnations since around the time DOOM was big, and was initially a Mac-only series of games that was so successful it was ported to the PC platform, right?
Halo was planned for Windows and Mac OS.
Are you talking about Marathon, also by Bungie? Marathon was Mac only I believe.
An empty feeling where your heart once was and frustration.
Edit:
By the way... please don't take that as a negative on your work. Just how I feel after having tried to game on the Mac from time to time since 2003.
Edit:
By the way... please don't take that as a negative on your work. Just how I feel after having tried to game on the Mac from time to time since 2003.
guy above started to talk about this, but from what I gathered, was clueless as to what actually happened...
Mac Gaming in one word:
HALO
I think that would sum up how Apple feels about gaming.
If you are too young to recall...apple was pushing OpenGL...and at that time Bungie was a MAC ONLY producer (Marathon FTW!)...Jobs himself showcased some early Halo footage which was to usher in the new gaming era on macs with OpenGL at the forefront.
M$ jacked Bungie and Halo came out much later...on the xbox...mac...much...much...later.
Im not a Halo junkie, i dont even play it except Halo1 on my mac when it came out, because I liked Marathon/Bungie. But M$ truly effed over mac gaming with that move, you cant deny it.
so, in closing...Halo was not on the mac for a LONG time until Halo had made its mark on the XBOX. And the rest is history.
Mac Gaming in one word:
HALO
I think that would sum up how Apple feels about gaming.
If you are too young to recall...apple was pushing OpenGL...and at that time Bungie was a MAC ONLY producer (Marathon FTW!)...Jobs himself showcased some early Halo footage which was to usher in the new gaming era on macs with OpenGL at the forefront.
M$ jacked Bungie and Halo came out much later...on the xbox...mac...much...much...later.
Im not a Halo junkie, i dont even play it except Halo1 on my mac when it came out, because I liked Marathon/Bungie. But M$ truly effed over mac gaming with that move, you cant deny it.
so, in closing...Halo was not on the mac for a LONG time until Halo had made its mark on the XBOX. And the rest is history.
I would have to agree with this statement. WIndows 7 works wonders - performance wise as good as XP and for gaming it's great.
I just bought the Cider port of PoP and it runs OK on my 9600m GT. In windows it screams though.
I am going to do my own cider ports and support Blizzard and the indies. In some cases - like Bioshock - I have finished the game on the 360 and PC already (a year ago).
A good game to port was Mass Effect. Tremendous replay (I have replayed it over tens times as different types of characters). Plus the final DLC just came out so a $29 complete edition would have done well on the Mac.
I have been using w7 since the first beta. It is nothing special. But lots of ads have people brainwashed that it is awesome. It is simply what Vista should have been. A good improvement over XP.
guy above started to talk about this, but from what I gathered, was clueless as to what actually happened...
Mac Gaming in one word:
HALO
I think that would sum up how Apple feels about gaming.
If you are too young to recall...apple was pushing OpenGL...and at that time Bungie was a MAC ONLY producer (Marathon FTW!)...Jobs himself showcased some early Halo footage which was to usher in the new gaming era on macs with OpenGL at the forefront.
M$ jacked Bungie and Halo came out much later...on the xbox...mac...much...much...later.
Im not a Halo junkie, i dont even play it except Halo1 on my mac when it came out, because I liked Marathon/Bungie. But M$ truly effed over mac gaming with that move, you cant deny it.
so, in closing...Halo was not on the mac for a LONG time until Halo had made its mark on the XBOX. And the rest is history.
without MS behind it, Halo would have been NOTHING 100k unit sales tops.
As an avid gamer I can say with no uncertainty that gaming on the Mac is a pain in the ass, unless you enjoy constantly rebooting into Windows and being limited in your upgrade paths.
I maintain a Windows box for the sole purpose of playing online shooters. No hassle and I can upgrade to the latest video card when the price falls after the bleeding edge tech comes out.
I maintain a Windows box for the sole purpose of playing online shooters. No hassle and I can upgrade to the latest video card when the price falls after the bleeding edge tech comes out.