Basic gaming question

sma1001 said:

I confess i'm trying to avoid replicating a PC on the mac if i can - as to do otherwise does beg the question: why not simply go for the PC in the first place.

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I recently switched my main computer from a Windows PC to a Mac Mini. It seemed to make sense, since I mainly make iPhone / iPad apps. Plus, I save about $30 a month on electricity. Heh!

However, I noticed that gaming is a problem. For example, Halo is like an ultra-rare item on the Mac. Halo and Adobe Creative Suite are the only programs I haven't replaced yet.

For now, if you're interested in gaming, you could try boot camp. In the search icon at the top right of the Mac Desktop, type the word "Boot". You should see the "Boot Camp Assistant" application. If you have a copy of Windows, Windows XP Service Pack 2 or greater, you should be able to install it. You'll probably need some drivers too. That should be included on a disk that came with your Mac.

You could also try Virtualization - like Fusion or Parallels. That might help you run the slower Windows PC games, without having to boot into Windows. A program like that needs a lot of RAM, as it's basically running two operating systems at once.

Lack of games has been a problem for a long time. It's been that way since I started using Macs 18 years ago. Maybe things will get better with the Mac App Store. It worked for the iPhone.

Games are better on a PC, but some of those games are available for mac, they are just harder to find. Try looking at online stores rather than physical stores.

i thought they made steam for mac... http://store.steampowered.com/browse/mac

Gaming on Macs is done via bootcamp. It allows you to dual boot your system OSX/Windows.

Microsoft make DirectX, which basically means they own 3D gaming in general until there is a competitor.

sma1001 said:

Hi there. As an ancillary use to the macbook pro i plan to buy i'm likley to play some games. However, when in a games shop the other day (buying for my son's console) i noticed that there is a section for PC games but I could see nothing for Macs. Are the main games (whatever they might be - i've seen Call of Duty and Crysis referred to elsewhere) available for the mac or do you have to install windows in some way (i've seen Bootcamp referred to here but also don't know what that is...) and play the game through that.

I confess i'm trying to avoid replicating a PC on the mac if i can - as to do otherwise does beg the question: why not simply go for the PC in the first place.

Thanks!

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Some games like Starcraft 2 are available for Mac & Windows. Also, as mentioned earlier there are Mac sections on Steam and direct2pc.com for digital download. Generally Windows dedicated gaming systems are better. I have a Windows gaming laptop for gaming only. It has nothing else on it.

Cheers,

Hey, i use my xbox 360 for gaming, but i do like certain computer games, most games are only in PC format like Call of duty and crysis, the only company that has been mac friendly since forever is Blizzard, so World of warcraft, Diablo 1, 2, 3, and Starcraft etc. Those in my opinion are the only reason to game a computer also, i like the community on xbox 360.

Boot camp is an option, which basically just allows you to run 2 operating systems at once so u can run windows. I agree i also don;t like the idea of installing windows on a mac, so i keep my gaming on a console which is designed for it and i keep my computer all to myself =D haha

AdamRock said:

i thought they made steam for mac... http://store.steampowered.com/browse/mac

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This. If it's available on Mac and worth playing, it's probably on Steam.

Its not like windows is better for gaming. Ther'e just no games aviable for mac

iPhoneCollector said:

Its not like windows is better for gaming. Ther'e just no games aviable for mac

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Well, over the last 20 years, anything worth playing on a PC has made it to Mac. Mac has also picked up a few of the awful Windows / DOS game titles too. When I've been looking in-store (and on-web for the last 13-14 years) the quality of PC gaming software has been overwhelmingly awful.

Start with Inside Mac Games (use google), reviews and previews of a thousand Mac games.

Mac games can also have an extra-ordinary lifespan, Stuff original released for Mac OS 8.6 (yes, 7 operating system upgrades ago) has patches available to let it run on current Macs and OS's.

Perhaps the OP can give us a clue as to the kind of games they are after, FPS ? Adventure ? Puzzle ? Arcade ? RTS ? Turn-based Strategy ? RPG ?
And then there's many more thousands of abandonware games playable through emulation.

iPhoneCollector said:

Its not like windows is better for gaming. Ther'e just no games aviable for mac

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No windows usually yields better framerate and performance because it has way higher support for drivers and updates.