Switching to Intel chips is the best thing that could have ever happened to the few Mac gamers out there. But now, Mac gaming is a considerably bigger aspect for the users — and it keeps growing.
Wha–? Macs are starting to take a bigger bite out of the computer market — and companies are noticing this. Big games are known to end up on the Mac eventually, but some still don’t (*cough* Half-Life 2 *cough*). This is mainly because of the troublesome process of porting games to the Mac — but that’s now mostly part of the past, because of the architecture of Intel chips also found in PCs. Now Mac gamers are in for a treat as things will change.
How? You can now boot Windows on the newest Macs, for starters. Just grab a copy of this expensive OS, your game of choice, install them, and you’re all set. Still, that’s quite inconvenient, since the games aren’t really meant for your Mac — and should be considered as a last alternative for those must-have games that are pledged to Windows. Because now, there are technologies like Transgaming’s Cider offering almost painless ports of PC games for the Mac. At the very least, you won’t have to wait a long time for some big games to become available on the Mac. Or even better — games will follow Blizzard’s example and be playable on both platforms out of the box!
Improvements? First, Apple should dump the integrated graphics chip on the Mac minis and MacBooks, then replace them with independent ones, like they did on the past with the iBook. There are plenty of cheap chips that are actually decent, so it’s no excuse. Also, Apple should at the very least offer a gaming-enhanced Mac that’s cheaper than a Mac Pro, or at least is upgraded quite easily.
What’s down the road? Apple is definitely eyeing this gaming opportunity very thoroughly. Expect to see some graphic improvements on all systems — especially the Mac Pro. Now they’re even developing games for the iPod! And AppleInsider is claiming that the latest version of iTunes with AppleTV compatibility shows some interesting code, which suggests that you’ll be able to stream games to it, eventually.
Also, visit Apple’s dedicated page for games so that you can see the current state of Mac gaming.
Now I’m off to play World of Warcraft, which runs perfectly on my MacBook Pro. Cheers!
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[tags]Apple,Mac,Hardware,Software,Gaming,Games[/tags]
Galley on March 7th, 2007 at 9:39 am says:
Kitty Spangles Solitaire is great game to show off your Mac.
fcodc on March 7th, 2007 at 9:52 am says:
That game mentioned above certainly looks interesting — it’s the premise of taking something and redesigning it for the Mac. But it doesn’t seem to be quite the thing to make Macs be taken more seriously as a gaming platform.