The Mac as a Gaming Platform, the New Era

[LORD_ORION]

So, will PC and Mac users be able to play one another?

 

[jgiron]

The Mac will not be a gaming platform like a PC, why
pay $2500 to play a $50 to $60 game? You can build a PC with less ca$h to play the same game and you don't have to throw it away and get a new one every 5 years, just upgrade!

 

[gwolfman]

Future news article:
"Apple buys Steam, discontinues Mac game downloads, and rolls 10% of the available games into iGame/iTunes via its prohibitive approval process." lol

 

[reklatsa]

[citation][nom]LORD_ORION[/nom]So, will PC and Mac users be able to play one another?[/citation] Yes. Though some Mac users may find it's quite a distressing experience. Fortunately, Steam has an anti-cheat system (don't know how good it is). In my experience many PC gamers like to play with cheat codes enabled. With supercharged cars they can do driving tricks and go faster on private roads (land) but have to abide by Highway codes everywhere else.

 

[BulkZerker]

[citation][nom]Hilarion[/nom]No it is not.[/citation]

Correct, it's a PC with a gender change.

Still Intel on the inside, same chips that Windows users have in their $300 dells.

As for anyone worrying about cheaters, yeesh, VAC is the IMHO best system for takign care of people who Wallhack, Aimbot, Hitscan, SpeedHack, Nospread, ect. They may not be banned instantly, but they are banned. Vac delays bans so Hackers don't know what it is they did, hopefully, to get banned.

 

[Guest]

I switched from windows to Mac a couple years ago and I balance graphic / 3D / video production with my interest in gaming and I realized something ... as a PC gamer I made the same argument that "I can upgrade my PCs components" as an attack on Macs, but then I realized ... I don't really do that. How often do you rip a component out of your PC and upgrade it without that new component working better on an entirely new system architecture?

By the time you needed to upgrade your processor, you were going to use a different socket anyways. So you take your hard drive and you replace the memory, mobo, CPU and GPU every ... what? year? 18 months?

That's how I look at computers now. I need to set aside about 100-125 a month as a system upgrade service. Because every year or so I need new hardware. Whether that's a Mac or a PC ... you're going to end up doing the same thing.

I bought a 24" iMac a couple years ago and just sold it for 900 bucks. That's half of what I need for my brand new imac - you can't do that with a PC and that 24" mac played games pretty well under a windows Boot up until recently.

No - it's not the most powerful hardware - but you're not really 'saving' much money one way or the other. That's my point.

 

[tommysch]

[citation][nom]jasonmanak[/nom]I switched from windows to Mac a couple years ago and I balance graphic / 3D / video production with my interest in gaming and I realized something ... as a PC gamer I made the same argument that "I can upgrade my PCs components" as an attack on Macs, but then I realized ... I don't really do that. How often do you rip a component out of your PC and upgrade it without that new component working better on an entirely new system architecture?By the time you needed to upgrade your processor, you were going to use a different socket anyways. So you take your hard drive and you replace the memory, mobo, CPU and GPU every ... what? year? 18 months?That's how I look at computers now. I need to set aside about 100-125 a month as a system upgrade service. Because every year or so I need new hardware. Whether that's a Mac or a PC ... you're going to end up doing the same thing.I bought a 24" iMac a couple years ago and just sold it for 900 bucks. That's half of what I need for my brand new imac - you can't do that with a PC and that 24" mac played games pretty well under a windows Boot up until recently.No - it's not the most powerful hardware - but you're not really 'saving' much money one way or the other. That's my point.[/citation]

I swapped my CPU 2 times and my GPU 3 times and added more RAM over the last 2 years on my nForce 680i socket775 MoBo.

And my Q6600 is liquid cooled and runs at 3.6GHZ.

I ditching it for a i7 this summer. No need to wait for Apple to refresh the lineup with already obsolete underclocked pieces.

MACs are good at somethings, like handbags design.

 

[jasonmanak]

and you'd say you qualify as one of the normal average gamers just like everyone else-type of gamers, right, Tommy? Like 98% of gamers who use the PC as a platform are just like you? Because you're an enthusiast you perfectly made my point. Thank you.

Why do people like you insist on shooting down positive steps in different directions just because it doesn't square with your hardware or operating system preferences? What you spend on your hardware far exceeds my limited budget as well as most people's budget for computer / gaming. You're an exception as in atypical. But ... you've striven to be that haven't you.

 

[ottozero]

[citation][nom]TommySch[/nom]I swapped my weak ass-CPU 2 times and my flakey-GPU 3 times and added more slow-RAM over the last 2 years(because I actually poor and I am a POSER) on my nForce 680i socket775 MoBo (I think...ohahh). And my Q6600 is liquid cooled and runs at 3.6mHZ. I ditching it for a i7 this summer (even though Summer hasn't arrived YET). I need to learnto wait for Apple to refresh the lineup, rather than stick with my all already obsolete underclocked piece of something.MACs are good at Many things, like design.[/citation]

Wow.... TommySch said it all.. What Can I say to top that

 

[ottozero]

[citation][nom]Reklatsa[/nom]Yes. Though some Mac users may find it's quite different experience because they will NOW play at a higher Resolution 2560 x 1440. Fortunately, Steam has an anti-cheat system for PC gamers like ME who love to cheat while playing online . With a supercharged Mac Pro they can do tricks and go faster on private networks (lan) but have to abide by internet speeds elsewhere .[/citation]




WOW what Can I say, Rklatsa Said it BEST...Nice JOB

 

[BulkZerker]

[citation][nom]jasonmanak[/nom]and you'd say you qualify as one of the normal average gamers just like everyone else-type of gamers, right, Tommy? Like 98% of gamers who use the PC as a platform are just like you? Because you're an enthusiast you perfectly made my point. Thank you.Why do people like you insist on shooting down positive steps in different directions just because it doesn't square with your hardware or operating system preferences? What you spend on your hardware far exceeds my limited budget as well as most people's budget for computer / gaming. You're an exception as in atypical. But ... you've striven to be that haven't you.[/citation]

Well gathering fro your previous comment as Annon... you must use an Intel PC. See... unlike you. I run AMD, who hasn't FORCED me into changing a CPU socket for quite a while. . . 3 years in fact. I've gone from a 2.7 dual core to a 3.6 quad, and it can be Overclocked to 4.2 on air cooling if need be. Also I spent $180 on a graphics card to replace the aging one in computer. Overall the computer, from a legal copy of Win 7 ,to the two monitors, everything! Has cost $2000 about the price you'd pay for just a i5 iMac (Lets not get into laptops, that's apples to oranges) but can you even upgrade the iMac if you WANTED to? Past memory doubtful. That's just the way it is. I'm not bashing Apple as a company, I am bashing their hardware. Why buy the cow when you can get the milk (software) for a lot cheaper? That's my point.

 

[Bruceification73]

wtf? -5 for hacking on a Linux and PS3 +1? This is a hardware site! Not a gay pride show! PS3 is better than a computer for playing games, as is xbox 360. And hacking on a Linux? Why vote that down? What do you care? I'm not hacking you (or anyone, really, I just write scripts, don't do a whole lot of hacking these days). Chill, and only mark something down if it's offensive, inappropriate, or just plain spam.

 

[belardo]

[citation][nom]Reklatsa[/nom]A PC with Windows is not a Mac
A PC with Linux is not a Mac
An Apple computer without an OS is a PC. But with OS X it is most decidedly a Mac.If you can't comprehend the difference, go away.[/citation]

er... An Apple computer with OS-X is still.. a PC = Personal Computer. Same as the Commodore 64 or the Apple II, Atari ST, Amiga, etc etc. Its just that "PC" is one of those words that covers two different things. Some people may say "give me a coke or cola", but it doesn't need to be coca cola.

All coke-cola is soda pop.
Not all soda pop is coke.

Oh... and a NON-APPLE hardware computer running OS-X... is STILL a Macintosh (okay Hackintosh). I used to run a MAC emulator on my Amiga... I could pop-in MAC formatted discs, install and run software at full MAC speed (actually faster that a real Mac). The MAC emulator was about 84k of code + MAC ROM... Yep, it doesn't take much at all, well back then in 1990 anyways.

So we have little $300~400 netbook computers running OS-X. The hardware in an MacPro notebook is nothing special (talking about the electronics), Apple gets its parts from the same guys as anyone else.

Is an iPhone is still an iPhone, even if its running as a Commodore 64?

 

[reklatsa]

[citation][nom]ottozero[/nom]WOW what Can I say, Rklatsa Said it BEST...Nice JOB[/citation] [citation][nom]ottozero[/nom]What Can I say.. you have said it all.[/citation] [citation][nom]ottozero[/nom]What can I say.. SteveLoard... has said it all.[/citation] [citation][nom]ottozero[/nom]Wow.... TommySch said it all.. What Can I say to top that[/citation]
What does it feel like to be a one-track pony?

 

[reklatsa]

[citation][nom]Belardo[/nom]er... An Apple computer with OS-X is still.. a PC = Personal Computer.[/citation] Obtusity only serves to compound the atrocious ignorance found here at Tom's Hardware.
Although I would love for a Hackintosh to be a Macintosh, it never will be.
I can run AmigaOS on Mac OS but that does not make it an Amiga PC.
Just as a Windows PC is only a PC running Windows, when I run Widows in Bootcamp my Apple PC becomes a WIndows PC. If I then run a MacOS emulator inside Windows running in Bootcamp it doesn't suddenly become a Macintosh again.
In answer to your final question: An iPhone is only an iPhone when it is running iPhone OS. Like all the above products it is just a pile of electronic commodities until it obtains reason and identity.

 

[gm0n3y]

The big news here for me is that (hopefully) this means that games will be made for Linux. That is the last straw for many, many people holding onto Windows. If I could use Linux as my sole OS, I would switch in a heartbeat. I don't use any apps that I couldn't find for Linux. Please let that be the sound of the floodgates opening as a rush of developers start multi-platform releases.

 

[etrom]

How can you use the scope of a sniper rifle in a mac machine having the one-button mouse?

 

[jasonmanak]

[citation][nom]etrom[/nom]How can you use the scope of a sniper rifle in a mac machine having the one-button mouse?[/citation]

Hehe!! I've setup up my magic mouse to have as many buttons as I want in whatever application I want. But when I play games, I boot into windows and use a Logitech G5. There's a free app called BetterTouchTool which allows for absurd amounts of customization on a magic mouse... truth is I have a hard time using non-magic mice anymore ... It's soooo darn neat to have space switching, volume control zooming, multiple mouse buttons, etc all through the touch surface.

 

[jasonmanak]

[citation][nom]BulkZerker[/nom]Well gathering fro your previous comment as Annon... you must use an Intel PC. See... unlike you. I run AMD, who hasn't FORCED me into changing a CPU socket for quite a while. . . 3 years in fact. I've gone from a 2.7 dual core to a 3.6 quad, and it can be Overclocked to 4.2 on air cooling if need be. Also I spent $180 on a graphics card to replace the aging one in computer. Overall the computer, from a legal copy of Win 7 ,to the two monitors, everything! Has cost $2000 about the price you'd pay for just a i5 iMac (Lets not get into laptops, that's apples to oranges) but can you even upgrade the iMac if you WANTED to? Past memory doubtful. That's just the way it is. I'm not bashing Apple as a company, I am bashing their hardware. Why buy the cow when you can get the milk (software) for a lot cheaper? That's my point.[/citation]

That is really interesting ... genuinely interesting. I haven't really looked at AMDs for a while and I know their strategy for performance has been quite different than Intel's upgrades. Intel sells motherboards as well so you're quite right - there's a financial reason for intel to upgrade the socket.

My counter point from above is simply that playing on a mac (even in windows) doesn't actually cost that much more than a PC. It could possibly be argued that it costs less as I said above, I sold a 2 year old imac 24" for 900 dollars. If I put that towards a brand new i7 mac, it cuts the cost in half and I've got a brand new machine that I could use for a couple more years.

I won't argue that Mac's have the highest performance hardware - especially iMacs. That's not been my position at all. But can you use a mac for gaming? Do the current standard macs play pretty much everything at high resolutions with reasonably good settings? Certainly. The hardware is there for decent performance and from the consumer perspective - resell value is extremely good which takes the a painful edge out of upgrading to newer hardware.

I think I'll check into AMD sockets thanks to you!

 

[etrom]

Interesting enough, jasonmanak! As a pc-user only, I'm really dumb about apps and such features for Mac, the only software coming from Apple I ever used is the iTunes, thanks to my iTouch, hehehe.

 

[jasonmanak]

[citation][nom]etrom[/nom]Interesting enough, jasonmanak! As a pc-user only, I'm really dumb about apps and such features for Mac, the only software coming from Apple I ever used is the iTunes, thanks to my iTouch, hehehe.[/citation]

I made the switch to Mac after I lost a pair of hard drives in a raid under vista and I was a total mac newbie but I was so pissed off that I forced myself to give them a chance. Now ... I don't think I'd ever go back to Windows except for gaming. So I'm contemplating a new iMac (resale value is + but weaker hardware is -) vs getting a new windows7 (very happy with win7 OS) for gaming.

I think the new iMac releases will be out in June so if they're sporting 5850's I may just have to bite the bullet and grab one.

Y'know - back to what we were talking about - I haven't gotten my magic mouse to work in windows ... seriously once you get used to using one ... traditional mice feel pretty clunky. I'm not sure how well it would perform in games though. It is snappy, customizable and accurate though.

 

[joe gamer]

"The Mac as a Gaming Platform, the New Era"

Seriously? I don't hate Mac's or OS X, but I do hate Apple so that probably makes me biased. All of their products just seem designed to limit and restrict the user, just thinking about it makes me feel claustrophobic. There is no way I'll ever do my gaming on an Apple appliance and I don't really see many others doing it either, there's just no "value" to it. Twice the cost for half the hardware and a quarter of the freedom? Much like the IPad, I just don't get it. But hey, I'm no millionaire and Jobsy boy is, so whatever. I guess if everyone was capable of using a windows machine I'd be unemployed so...thank god for dumb people?

 

[SamhainKnight]

hahaha! Mac's... That's cute.

Why would anyone use an overpriced, underpowered, appless, POS like a Mac? And to game?! lol.

www.typicalmacintoshuser.com

 

[Guest]

The market exists. Blizzard is shipping an OSX version of Starcraft 2. They know the numbers from previous titles (think WoW). Maintaining two different code path for all these years must have cost them a few millions, but they keep the OSX version alive. Hence, there's a market.

Porting a two years old title to a POSIX/OpenGL OS is something any big software publisher can do when they already support 4 different platforms. This kind of work is usually outsourced. It's a matter of return on investment.

Any game that can run on the chipset GeForce9400M will find a big enough market.

BTW the 9400M chipset supports has 16 shaders, the Wii has none.

 

[ottozero]

[citation][nom]reklatsa[/nom]What does it feel like to be a Mac OWNER, I want one, I am a tacky pony?[/citation]

What can I say ..you have said it all Reklatsa