2012 Apple Design Award Winners Announced

[Naaaaak]

It also has the standard Feral Mac features like supporting cmd tab, setting your iChat to away when in full screen, reduced CPU usage when in the background etc. Many big games don't act like a Mac citizen when launched. We think a Mac game needs to act like a Mac application not a console/pc app with a Mac app icon.

That's awesome. Thanks for doing things right and congrats.

 

[ZipZap]

DM1 is not on sale.

 

[Moonjumper]

I can't stop playing Jetpack Joyride. Nice to see it win.

 

[junkster]

The game awards are disappointing.

Deus Ex and Limbo were already popular and critically acclaimed before being ported to the Mac. There's nothing truly Mac-specific about the ports (just adding videos and DLC and following some UI standards doesn't change that). Feels like Apple giving an award to a game for Microsoft platforms.

Jetpack Joyride is digital crack and well-implemented, but it's bathed in an amateurish and juvenile spirit (both in terms of design elements and humor) that rubs me the wrong way and keeps me from enjoying it.

 

[edddeduck]

The game awards are disappointing.

Deus Ex and Limbo were already popular and critically acclaimed before being ported to the Mac. There's nothing truly Mac-specific about the ports (just adding videos and DLC and following some UI standards doesn't change that). Feels like Apple giving an award to a game for Microsoft platforms.

I know I am biased (see my signature) but I have spent the last decade since I left university making sure that games brought to the Mac felt like Mac games and not an afterthought after the main event. Let me explain why I think we might have won and why I think DX:HR is way more than your " award to a game for Microsoft platforms" comment.

To us making a Mac game from the console version includes adding in things like support for Apple standards, spending time polishing the title, we believe it's the small details that add up to make the difference between a good product and a great one. Sure we could have just ported the game but instead we always aim to add lots of small things that add up to make the game feel just right. They might be small but we feel overall they add up making the experience "insanely great" .

Here is a list off the top of my head of the things we did* although given time I am sure I can think of a few more...

*We do things like this for all our games Deus Ex just happens to be our latest release and also very high profile.

• High definition icons compared to the PC release
• Automatic default settings based on your specification
• Automatic notification of Mac specific controls if you are using certain Apple hardware (like an Apple mouse) when you first run the game.
• iTunes intergration which will pause and unpause your music when you start and quit (or tab out)
• iChat status updates with Playing Deus Ex (or your own custom setting). Disabled by default
• Built in support system, we don't want bugs but when they happen you can send us all the info you need in one simple automated file.
• Gamepad support, many games on the PC just support the XBox 360 pad. We support over 50 pads including the PS3 and XBox pads on the Mac. Every pad is pre-defined so the layout of the buttons will be in the same location even if you swap pad models.
• In some games the in-game prompts will update depending on the gamepad you have installed.
• Screenshots taken in game imbedded meta data about the spec of your computer and the version of the game as well as the usual date and time. (No user identifiable info is recorded just basic spec)
• Exclusive version of the game - Mac edition right now is the only version of the game containing all of the DLC and extra content in a single box.
• Built in automatic updater (for non AppStore versions).
• Soundtrack produced in high quality audio with full meta data information.
• Trailers and Documentary in HD with soft subtitles and full iTunes meta data
• Full language support in 7 languages, game, read me, faq, manuals. It might not mean much to English users but if you are in Poland or Russia having all the documentation in your native language and full support is very useful.
• Low CPU usage in background.

Sure as you pointed out it would be feasible if you bought the pre-order bonus content and all the DLC have a game on the PC with the same in game content but we focused on the attention to detail to make that same experience shine on the Mac.

Everything we did to the port was to make the experience better for Mac users, sure it is not a Mac exclusive game (even if the Ultimate Edition is) but this is the Apple "Design Awards" and I hope to think that one of the reasons we got this prize was not just for the game (which is great) but also for all the design work we did for the Mac version specifically. As I said none of the Mac features are a killer feature in themselves but added up I think the game has the kind of attention to detail and polish that Apple look for in their own designs.

I suspect it is this combination of all the little bits of polish combined with a great game that put us over the top this time. I have to say after a decade of entering and hoping I am pretty proud to be part of the team who won. It motivates us make our future titles even better so we can aim for another award next year. Win or lose I know we will still always be proud that our games are never "just a port", they are always a Macintosh release of a product available on other platforms. Sure the difference sounds a little but it means a lot.

Edwin

[Edit] Just noticed the category was OS X not Games specifically.

 

[twoodcc]

cool, i'll have to check these apps out