so, think EA's new games will be able to play against PC players?

[Aegelward]

pretty simple, it would be great if BF2142 had pc/mac multiplayer

[applekid]

This needs a poll because...?

If EA is going get Mac licenses for middleware like GameSpy and Havok, then yes, I see no problem in PC/Mac network gameplay. If they end up giving us crippled versions that lack the network middleware and physics middleware, we will playing against our Mac friends only.

I have my concerns about how EA will go about producing and marketing Mac games, but it's wait and see for now.

[zap2]

I'm pretty use it will...most other games allow it(be hard pressed to find one that doesn't allow OS X-Windows support)

[Eric5h5]

EA is using Cider for these games. Which means they basically are the PC versions. Draw your own conclusions....

--Eric

[jdechko]

I just hope that the newer games will start to take advantage of the programable GPUs that we're starting to see. From an article I read, the 8M series can be coded in a special language that allows the GPU to be used as a general purpose chip (GPGPU) or more specifically, a physics processor. :D

General purpose GPU
The GeForce 8 series has the capability to use its stream processors for physics rendering, a technique named Quantum Effects Technology by NVIDIA. Additionally, NVIDIA has created the Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) technology. This is an interface for the GeForce 8 cards that provides general purpose functionality for the processors within the GPU, which is a developing technique, known more generically as General Purpose GPU (GPGPU). With regards to performance in the general purpose computing arena, the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX provides up to 197 times the performance of an Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 dual-core processor [4].

[GFLPraxis]

It's virtually guaranteed. The EA games use Cider. They are literally running the Windows code in an optimized version of WINE.

PC multiplayer is virtually guaranteed unless EA deliberately blocks it.

[yoman]

From the Transgaming Website regarding their Cider product:

Cider powered games use the same copy protection, lobbies, game matching and connectivity as the original Windows game

Link (http://www.transgaming.com/products/cider/)

From the above, if game matching and connectivity means online play, I guess Mac vs. PC will be a likely possibility.