Best games for 27" iMac

[Jameshrcairns]

So imac is on its way, just wondering what games you guys play and would recommend on an iMac, it's maxed out but it's 3tb fusion, and so can't use bootcamp (and don't really want to).
Not really a fan of strategy games like CIV 5 though.

Any recommendations appreciated

[forty2j]

Start looking through Steam..

So far all we have to go on is not Windows, no strategy/sim. RPG? Action? Shooter? MMO? Lots of options.

I'm gonna go ahead and recommend Borderlands and Borderlands 2.. Something for just about everyone in that franchise.

[jmpage2]

Originally Posted by Jameshrcairns

So imac is on its way, just wondering what games you guys play and would recommend on an iMac, it's maxed out but it's 3tb fusion, and so can't use bootcamp (and don't really want to).
Not really a fan of strategy games like CIV 5 though.

Any recommendations appreciated

Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 are both available as native Mac apps and will push the graphics card.

Also, there are some games on Steam platform for OS X, like portal, Team Fortress 2, etc, that aren't exactly taxing but will run much faster with the 680MX than would be possible with lesser graphics cards.

[Jameshrcairns]

Originally Posted by forty2j

Start looking through Steam..

So far all we have to go on is not Windows, no strategy/sim. RPG? Action? Shooter? MMO? Lots of options.

I'm gonna go ahead and recommend Borderlands and Borderlands 2.. Something for just about everyone in that franchise.

Yeah was thinking of picking up borderlands 2.. I don't really understand this steam thing? I know it's where you buy games but is it just similar to the Mac App Store?

RPGs action and shooter are kinda what I'm going for.. What's counterstrike like? And apparently people are playing skyrim on mac? How is that done?

[ImaWizard]

Originally Posted by Jameshrcairns

Yeah was thinking of picking up borderlands 2.. I don't really understand this steam thing? I know it's where you buy games but is it just similar to the Mac App Store?

First go here and click on install Steam --> http://store.steampowered.com/

Then open it up and browse away. As long as it has the little Apple by the title it is Mac compatible. It is very similar to the Mac App Store in that you download everything inside the program and can redownload whenever you want.

[Alterin]

Guild Wars 2 is a bit of entertainment. Or if you don't mind being a guinea pig, the League of Legends Mac client is currently in testing on their public test server.

[forty2j]

Originally Posted by Jameshrcairns

Yeah was thinking of picking up borderlands 2.. I don't really understand this steam thing? I know it's where you buy games but is it just similar to the Mac App Store?

RPGs action and shooter are kinda what I'm going for.. What's counterstrike like? And apparently people are playing skyrim on mac? How is that done?

Steam is similar to the Mac App Store in that you log in and buy digital copies of games and download them, and have rights to them forever. It's different in that it has a fully functioning community, and that if a game has a multiplayer component, often that is cross-platform - e.g. you can play Borderlands 2 Co-op with PC players, so long as the PC version hasn't had a more recent patch than the Mac version. It's also different in that there are really ridiculous sales (50-75% off) on most games twice a year.

Anyone playing Skyrim on a Mac is doing so via Bootcamp.

Other games you might look in to - Assassin's Creed franchise, Rage, Left 4 Dead 2.

I never got into the Counterstrike franchise so I can't answer that. People that like it love it to death though. For pure shooters, Call of Duty: Black Ops came out on OS X recently. (Black Ops 2 is currently on consoles and PCs.. this franchise gets ported slowly sometimes.) But Blops was a very good game..

[Jameshrcairns]

Originally Posted by forty2j

Steam is similar to the Mac App Store in that you log in and buy digital copies of games and download them, and have rights to them forever. It's different in that it has a fully functioning community, and that if a game has a multiplayer component, often that is cross-platform - e.g. you can play Borderlands 2 Co-op with PC players, so long as the PC version hasn't had a more recent patch than the Mac version. It's also different in that there are really ridiculous sales (50-75% off) on most games twice a year.

Anyone playing Skyrim on a Mac is doing so via Bootcamp.

Other games you might look in to - Assassin's Creed franchise, Rage, Left 4 Dead 2.

I never got into the Counterstrike franchise so I can't answer that. People that like it love it to death though. For pure shooters, Call of Duty: Black Ops came out on OS X recently. (Black Ops 2 is currently on consoles and PCs.. this franchise gets ported slowly sometimes.) But Blops was a very good game..

About the skyrim thing.. I read on a post something about wine skin? Or an app that basically means you can use it on Mac OS X.. I shall look further into it..

So when you use steam.. Is there an application for the mac that has the games in it? Or do you download the game and its in your applications folder like you would download something from the Mac App Store?

[forty2j]

Originally Posted by Jameshrcairns

About the skyrim thing.. I read on a post something about wine skin? Or an app that basically means you can use it on Mac OS X.. I shall look further into it..

It's possible it was Crossover .. that's the most common Mac implementation of Wine. (Quick side note - Wine is short for "Windows Emulator"; it's also short for "Wine Is Not an Emulator".) The performance still won't be great.. it's trying to translate Windows API calls to OS X API calls on the fly.

So when you use steam.. Is there an application for the mac that has the games in it? Or do you download the game and its in your applications folder like you would download something from the Mac App Store?

There's a Steam client where you browse, buy, download, visit forums, check in on your friends, give gifts, etc. There's a "Library" section in the client with all your games. You can get any or all of the games to appear on your desktop and/or your Launchpad, but they won't be in your Applications folder. (I suppose if you really wanted you could drag the Desktop link into your Applications folder; I haven't tried. Now that I have the Magic Trackpad I find myself actually using Launchpad.)

[large farva]

Minecraft!

[Czicks]

You're honestly better off clearing space on your drive for a separate Windows installation or booting from an external Thunderbolt HDD. Although many Windows games are also OSX compatable the performance is often not on par. I see an average 20% improvment in all Source Engine games under windows.

Regardless of what you do, I echo what others said about installing Steam. It's single handedly the best digital distribution platform for games, far better than the App Store even.

[Jameshrcairns]

Originally Posted by Czicks

You're honestly better off clearing space on your drive for a separate Windows installation or booting from an external Thunderbolt HDD. Although many Windows games are also OSX compatable the performance is often not on par. I see an average 20% improvment in all Source Engine games under windows.

Regardless of what you do, I echo what others said about installing Steam. It's single handedly the best digital distribution platform for games, far better than the App Store even.

That leads on to my other question which is.. Can you boot windows 7 off an external thunderbolt ssd?

[niuniu]

Diablo 3 is fun, but small and short lived. It doesn't push the graphics card, of even the base model 27inch iMac (I would know I've been testing it). I played a Bioshock demo last weekend, that looked fun until it crashed on VMware Fusion. To be fair it's probably a Steam/Bioshock problem more than a VMware problem.

If you get Parallels then your options increase a lot. The reviews for the latest version are fantastic. I only installed VMware because I got it free, but may consider Parrallels later when I have more time for gaming.

I used to Bootcamp but won't any longer because all my work is in OS X and all my downloads running are in OS X. I just like to slack off and game in the background when I'm waiting or got nothing to do for a bit.

[hfg]

Originally Posted by Jameshrcairns

That leads on to my other question which is.. Can you boot windows 7 off an external thunderbolt ssd?

Installing Windows 8 on an External SSD Guide

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1508618

[KrasHr]

Originally Posted by Jameshrcairns

Yeah was thinking of picking up borderlands 2.. I don't really understand this steam thing? I know it's where you buy games but is it just similar to the Mac App Store?

RPGs action and shooter are kinda what I'm going for.. What's counterstrike like? And apparently people are playing skyrim on mac? How is that done?

Steam is like the mac App store. I've used Steam on my PC gaming rigs for years and the thing I loved the most is when Steam became available on the Mac, any mac compatible games (all/most valve games are PC/MAC) I had were playable on my Mac at no extra cost.

edit: Also had to add, that the ISP I'm with in Australia mirrors Steam content, and selecting the ISP's server for downloading games means that my downloads don't get counted toward my monthly data cap (yer, data caps suck).

@niuniu

Bioshock is a great game, but it's as buggy as hell on the PC. It doesn't even work on Windows 7 at all.

[ihuman:D]

Originally Posted by forty2j

It's possible it was Crossover .. that's the most common Mac implementation of Wine. (Quick side note - Wine is short for "Windows Emulator"; it's also short for "Wine Is Not an Emulator".) The performance still won't be great.. it's trying to translate Windows API calls to OS X API calls on the fly.



There's a Steam client where you browse, buy, download, visit forums, check in on your friends, give gifts, etc. There's a "Library" section in the client with all your games. You can get any or all of the games to appear on your desktop and/or your Launchpad, but they won't be in your Applications folder. (I suppose if you really wanted you could drag the Desktop link into your Applications folder; I haven't tried. Now that I have the Magic Trackpad I find myself actually using Launchpad.)

Actually the performance can be equal or nearly equal to the Windows version if it's the right game like TS3 - and you'd have less bugs with that than the official 'Mac' version.