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Will you spend more for Mac native games vs cheaper Windows versions?

doh123 said:
It's just not there by default. If you try to run something that needs X11 then it prompts you to go to the XQuartz site and get it and install.
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Awesome, thanks for the quick reply!

And I'm really digging Legend of Grimrock, thanks for helping. 🙂
 
I used to buy Mac versions of games that I already had, or that I missed when they first came out. But the ports have been generally so poor that I just skip Mac versions of games from EA and Ubi.

Feral seems to be the only outfit doing good ports. But they port games that (as a life long gamer) I played and finished way before being announced on Mac.

I'll get indie games (non WINE) and iOS ports from the App Store.
 
I have a self-built desktop PC for all my power needs (photo editing/games) so I've never bought a game for my MBA.
 
Usually I pay a little more if I have a prefered platform.

Example: I had PS3 before I also had 360, so even if the PS3-version was more expensive thats what I bought.

If there's no difference between the versions I always go with what platform makes me happy.
 
I only buy games from the Mac App Store. I can always redownload them, they have ALWAYS worked perfectly (except for Splinter Cell Conviction, for which I got a refund). They are no more expensive than the games were when they were originally released on other platforms. The prices do go down after time and they often go on sale. I only regret a few games (Tropico 3, Splinter Cell, Doom 3) but all the others are excellent.

When you take into account that the devs only make 70% and that they have an agreement with the original publisher, it makes a lot of sense to support them.
 
No... I'll buy the console or windows version.

I went out of my way to buy mac versions of games (Neverwinter Nights, Civilization, etc) in the past but a lot of them won't run on Lion/Mountain Lion. Sometimes I enjoy playing old games. Why go out of my way to purchase games that won't run on a new Mac in a few years?
 
janil said:
No... I'll buy the console or windows version.

I went out of my way to buy mac versions of games (Neverwinter Nights, Civilization, etc) in the past but a lot of them won't run on Lion/Mountain Lion. Sometimes I enjoy playing old games. Why go out of my way to purchase games that won't run on a new Mac in a few years?
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I remember a time back in the 90's when games would play over several major Mac revisions. That seemed to happen a lot less after OSX came along, as if game compatibility requirements tightened way up.

This is one reason why Windows is better for gaming. You can find a game like Vampire:The Masquerade on Windows Steam that ran on WindowsXP, but I could not get it to run on Vista, but via Windows Steam, it is running. And you'll see a lot of Windows games re-released as classic games.

(Yes I bitch a lot about Steam. I do think it is onerous. But I play games on it, if that is the only means.)

But when a game is ported to a Mac what you see is what you get. If it is not updated, in some cases a minor MacOS update could break it. I'm sure Edde will correct me on this. 😉

This does not mean, I don't support Mac gaming, but practically all of the gaming I do on the Mac is via Steam. Now Portal, if it had not required Steam authentication, I would have stayed far away from it (Steam). You see I resent having to register a game to my account so I can't resell it when I'm tired of playing it. In this aspect, console gaming is far superior.
 
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Huntn said:
But when a game is ported to a Mac what you see is what you get. If it is not updated, in some cases a minor MacOS update could break it. I'm sure Edde will correct me on this. 😉
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You called? 🙂

The main reason for things breaking is Apple are a lot more aggressive with their library development compared to Microsoft. This means things like the Graphics API's, Quicktime API, the core libraries have all undertaken massive shifts in the last few years where Windows has stayed mostly the same.

DX9 is a good example, it has been solid and the defacto graphics library for years now.

Anyway in terms of support Feral tend to maintain our games for as long as we can before dropping support. Everything released since 2006 by Feral still runs on the Mountain Lion OS. Patching can be tricky sometimes as the amount of work to get an old game with old tools running on a new OS is a lot more than you think as everything from the version of Xcode to the compiler used will have changed. Often before you patch the bug you have to spend a few days at least getting it to build again using the newer tools. With the App Store rules you need to use the new tools so it is not like we can do a quick patch using the older APIs and tools.

Huntn said:
This does not mean, I don't support Mac gaming, but practically all of the gaming I do on the Mac is via Steam. Now Portal, if it had not required Steam authentication, I would have stayed far away from it (Steam). You see I resent having to register a game to my account so I can't resell it when I'm tired of playing it. In this aspect, console gaming is far superior.
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If you buy a Feral game outside of the App Store (DRM or DVD) you can deregister (then uninstall) the game from your machines and resell it if you want. As you noted the App Store ties the game to your account so it's not possible to do this with the App Store versions.

Edwin
 
edddeduck said:
You called? 🙂

The main reason for things breaking is Apple are a lot more aggressive with their library development compared to Microsoft. This means things like the Graphics API's, Quicktime API, the core libraries have all undertaken massive shifts in the last few years where Windows has stayed mostly the same.

DX9 is a good example, it has been solid and the defacto graphics library for years now.

Anyway in terms of support Feral tend to maintain our games for as long as we can before dropping support. Everything released since 2006 by Feral still runs on the Mountain Lion OS. Patching can be tricky sometimes as the amount of work to get an old game with old tools running on a new OS is a lot more than you think as everything from the version of Xcode to the compiler used will have changed. Often before you patch the bug you have to spend a few days at least getting it to build again using the newer tools. With the App Store rules you need to use the new tools so it is not like we can do a quick patch using the older APIs and tools.



If you buy a Feral game outside of the App Store (DRM or DVD) you can deregister (then uninstall) the game from your machines and resell it if you want. As you noted the App Store ties the game to your account so it's not possible to do this with the App Store versions.

Edwin
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This is a huge plus for Feral. I did not know. 🙂
 
Just coming back to this topic with something I noticed:

I've participated in several of the Humble Bundles that have been offered. I've always donated above the average to get all the goods. The stats show, consistently, that Mac owners voluntarily pay more (up to 20% more) than their Windows counterparts for the same games.

The Linux guys pay up to 40% more.

Keep in mind, this is in a totally voluntary 'set your own price' model. Why do the Mac and Linux people pay more?
 
iMacFarlane said:
Just coming back to this topic with something I noticed:

I've participated in several of the Humble Bundles that have been offered. I've always donated above the average to get all the goods. The stats show, consistently, that Mac owners voluntarily pay more (up to 20% more) than their Windows counterparts for the same games.

The Linux guys pay up to 40% more.

Keep in mind, this is in a totally voluntary 'set your own price' model. Why do the Mac and Linux people pay more?
Click to expand...

It's hard to tell really here are a things that might help influence the stats but these are guesses based on commentary every time this question appears in forums and articles.

  • If you buy your computer with price being your number one priority then you are less likely to want to pay for software on it. This trend exists for Windows vs Mac/Linux and iOS & Microsoft Windows Phones compared to Android.
  • When you have a smaller pool of software to pick from you are more likely to pay a bit more (or pay at all) so you will get more choice in the future. If you don't pay now you might not have the opportunity later.
  • Philosophy of the userbase, Linux people tend to have a specific reason for using Linux and the principles behind Open Source and code ownership means they might be more inclined to pay a fair price instead of demanding a low one or pirating. Mac users are kind of in-between Linux and Windows in this regard.
 
edddeduck said:
It's hard to tell really here are a things that might help influence the stats but these are guesses based on commentary every time this question appears in forums and articles.

  • If you buy your computer with price being your number one priority then you are less likely to want to pay for software on it. This trend exists for Windows vs Mac/Linux and iOS & Microsoft Windows Phones compared to Android.
  • When you have a smaller pool of software to pick from you are more likely to pay a bit more (or pay at all) so you will get more choice in the future. If you don't pay now you might not have the opportunity later.
  • Philosophy of the userbase, Linux people tend to have a specific reason for using Linux and the principles behind Open Source and code ownership means they might be more inclined to pay a fair price instead of demanding a low one or pirating. Mac users are kind of in-between Linux and Windows in this regard.
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For me its always been about goodwill to the developer.

Like when I bought Borderlands for Mac. 🙂
 
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