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Good quality Mac games are seriously lacking.

9K views 44 replies 34 participants last post by  DoNotPokeTheScreen 
#1 ·
How many of you are Mac gamers?

Back 10 years ago from today, there were plenty of Mac games. In direct comparison to the PC side of the gaming world, there were few games available for the Mac, but the games that were available for high-quality, enjoyable ones, like Quake, Unreal, Unreal Tournament, Warcraft series, Starcraft, Diablo series, etc. I've been itching to play a new game for a while now, yet on my search, all I find are lousy, flat-out lame games for the Mac. What the heck? As far as I'm concerned, the few games available for the Mac 10 years ago were GOOD games because developers didn't want to waste money creating or coding a game for the Mac also if it was a lousy, lame game. Now, though - and in the past 3 years - fewer games are coming to the Mac, and at least half of them suck. Blame consoles, blame Windows, - whatever. I'm pissed that the gaming market on the Mac is drowning. Granted, if money isn't to be made porting games to the Mac, then I can understand why it isn't happening.

I just played Rainbox Six: Raven Shield (FPS) - it's from 2003-2004. A killer game, yet almost 3 years old. One of the few, GOOD games that were ported to the Mac in that time frame. Still enjoyable to this day, just like Warcraft 3.

Intel users might argue that you can install Windows and play Windows games, but I don't own an Intel Mac, and even if I did, wouldn't install Windows on it, because I wouldn't pay for a copy. Consoles are even worse, because first-person shooters are my choice of game genre, and playing those with a controller is a joke. (though I hear that you can buy mice for consoles now?)

What are your thoughts on gaming on the Mac?
 
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#2 ·
Well, I remember when I was in elementary school...like 10-12 years ago and we had Macs to learn on. And the coolest game was Oregon Trail!!! I loved that game so much!! I've always wanted a mac since then... :love2:

But I finally got the chance to purchase my macbook this summer and I love it. As for games I also like FPS games. I've been playing Halo UB and Call of Duty 2 on my macbook, and it plays quite well. Although, I know I could install bootcamp and windows I don't want to risk getting nasty adware and viruses. But yeah, I wish they had more games for mac!! :-(
 
#4 ·
Yeah, all of Blizzard's stuff is Mac native. They dual-stream program. And their stuff is hardly sub-par. Also, for very good quality downloadable games, see Ambrosia. It is a different class, of course, but if you want to give your brain a work and not just kill stuff, several of their games are wonderful. I don't know their newest stuff, but the Escape Velocity series is legendary, and they are the distributors for Uplink.
 
#5 ·
Pay for a copy of Windows? What a novel concept! I did pay for my copy of Ship Simulator, tho'!
 
#6 ·
As one Mac gaming said, it's been a slow year. I did buy Quake 4 this and it's a good game. Other than that, I tend to play UT2004 and look forward to the release of UT2007. It would be cool if Hellgate: London made it to the Mac too.
 
#8 ·
Oh, and for those that want to play World Annihilation, Ambrosia will be coming out with Defcon. You can play the US or Russia and destroy the whole world.

Redline looks interesting...
 
#10 ·
just give it some time, this year has been the BIG transition year to the intel chip.

No games will be made for PPC, it just doesn't run the way game designers want it to.

Everything will be Intel (maybe they will make it also PPC compatible, but I think the move is a step forward, not backwards to PPC).

So give it time and games will be made with Mac in mind now that it is:
1. gaining more market share
2. developers taking more advantage of the Intel Processor.

Just Patience... something us gamers have very little of.
 
#11 ·
I went out and bought a used Xbox for a hundred bucks, along with a couple of games I wanted to try. I need a gaming fix now & then, but it doesn't have to be on my Mac.

If I had more time for games, I'd either buy a Mac Pro/Boot Camp, or get a dedicated console like the new Sony PS, or Xbox 360. :cool:
 
#12 ·
Any or all of the Journeyman Project series:
http://www.thejourneymanproject.com/

Any or all of the Myst series:
http://www.mystworlds.com/us/

Warcraft series, Diablo series, Indiana Jones, Lara Croft...
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/index.xml
http://www.blizzard.com/diablo2/
http://www.lucasarts.com/products/indiana/
http://www.tombraider.com/

Also I've been playing some of the latest iPod games on my Video iPod.

If I could play Zelda on my Mac I would,
I'm still waiting for the final Zelda release for GameCube in December 2006.

Dave :)
 
#14 ·
CubaMark said:
Two games I'd like to see return, in Intel-format: <a href="http://www.eidosgames.com/games/info.html?gmid=109">Deus X</a> and <a href="http://games.sci.co.uk/games/basic.asp?version_id=28">Carmaggedon</a>.

I recently purchased <a href="http://www.ambrosiasw.com/games/redline/">Redline</a> - it's somewhat entertaining, with an ok online multiplayer feature, but the debauchery of Carmaggedon keeps coming back to mind...

M
I can finally finish Deus Ex with the help of bootcamp! I had the mac version but lost it along time ago and it wasn't OSX comaptible. I bought the PC version at Value village for 3 bucks and am finally past the place I was 4 years ago! I do wish they had more Awesome mac games....but I am not crying...as thats all I use windows for:clap:
 
#15 ·
OREGON TRAIL!!!!!!

I LOVED THAT GAME... Anyone know where I can get a copy?????
lol

Personally, i've fallen in love with Call of Duty and it IS available on a mac

Oh...anyone know if the arcade games..classic ones like ghost and ghouls is available?

I just downloaded pacman awhile ago and i really like it.

Worms is also a game available on mac..(some of them only)
 
#16 ·
I believe computer games have gone as far they could in terms of quality. The simple fact of the matter is, console games have surpassed computer games in all areas. So I think we'll see fewer computer games (both Mac and PC) as high-end console games become ubiquitous. Consider Sony will have true HD gaming with the PS3, nothing compares to that level of quality in PC games.
Lars said:
Back 10 years ago from today, there were plenty of Mac games.
Ten years ago? What did we have then? The SNES, Sega Genesis and Windows '95.
 
#18 ·
Bjornbro said:
I believe computer games have gone as far they could in terms of quality. The simple fact of the matter is, console games have surpassed computer games in all areas. So I think we'll see fewer computer games (both Mac and PC) as high-end console games become ubiquitous. Consider Sony will have true HD gaming with the PS3, nothing compares to that level of quality in PC games.
A PS3 or Xbox 360 or Wii can't compete with a ever evolving gaming PC. Have you played Half-Life 2? That games blows xbox/ps3 graphics out of the water.
 
#19 ·
If you were a Diablo fan, I'd get Balder's Gate and better still for graphics is Neverwinter Nights. My gf and I had great fun playing Neverwinter.

I also enjoy first person shooters and really enjoyed Doom 3 and Quake 4 (both use the same Graphics engines).

I really liked Max Payne and also XIII for animated story driven games.
 
#23 ·
What are your thoughts on gaming on the Mac?
My thoughts are that Mac gaming is in a pretty poor spot right now and I don't know when it will improve.

Also, with Direct3D 10 (aka DirectX10 or DirectX Next) on the horizon with Vista, if you plan to game through Boot Camp you are going to have to go with a MacPro or, iirc, a 24" iMac, so that you can upgrade the graphics card once game developers start using this API.

After reviewing my options in September, I went with a PC with a PCI-E motherboard so I can make this transition once most of the bugs in Vista have been cleared up (ie. SP1).

Lastly, console games will never beat PC games in the graphics department. It always looks like they will when they are released but by late 2007 and early 2008, when the DirectX10 native games start showing up for the PC, the Xbox 360 ain't going to be looking so pretty.

Keeping on top of PC gaming is certainly more expensive than buying a console every 4 - 5 years, but if graphics are what you want, PC's will always come out ahead.
 
#25 ·
zoziw said:
My thoughts are that Mac gaming is in a pretty poor spot right now and I don't know when it will improve.

Also, with Direct3D 10 (aka DirectX10 or DirectX Next) on the horizon with Vista, if you plan to game through Boot Camp you are going to have to go with a MacPro or, iirc, a 24" iMac, so that you can upgrade the graphics card once game developers start using this API.

After reviewing my options in September, I went with a PC with a PCI-E motherboard so I can make this transition once most of the bugs in Vista have been cleared up (ie. SP1).

Lastly, console games will never beat PC games in the graphics department. It always looks like they will when they are released but by late 2007 and early 2008, when the DirectX10 native games start showing up for the PC, the Xbox 360 ain't going to be looking so pretty.

Keeping on top of PC gaming is certainly more expensive than buying a console every 4 - 5 years, but if graphics are what you want, PC's will always come out ahead.
The PC gaming market is a shrinking (note I didn't say dying) market. The industry shot itself in the foot by constantly bringing out new versions of games that required hardware upgrades. I'm not a gamer myself but I do follow the industry trends and I talk with sales reps, etc. who supply games to retail stores.

Perhaps console games will never beat PC games in the graphics department, but for most 'average' gamers, when they look at the price for a decent gaming PC compared to the price of a gaming console, they will probably go with the gaming console. Especially when they factor in that until that console is replaced by a new model, ALL games for it will run without any hardware upgrades.

In come cases, the prices for graphic cards required to play some new games have almost equalled the entire price of a console. Do the math, what makes more sense for Mom and Dad who have a couple of teenagers in the house?

"... by late 2007 and early 2008, when the DirectX10 native games start showing up for the PC ..." there will be a replacement for the XBOX 360 either announced or available.

There will be games available for Windows and possibly ports to Mac but if you look at the number of titles available even for Windows, it has dropped substantially in recent years.
 
#26 ·
I loved Deus Ex, so much fun and you can try out different tactics for each level (sneak around and hide in the shadows, got out blasting, etc). After I got my eMac, I went out and bought Medal of Honor: Allied Attack and Spearhead. Can't finish Spearhead because of my limited video card. Got hooked on Call of Duty. As mentioned earlier, Escape Velocity series, is very good. Purchased a license through them. Just finished playing the demo Nova.
 
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