'Bioshock 2 Remastered' Launches on macOS

[Richdmoore]

I purchased these on the Mac App Store. I would think that they could just update that app to the remastered version (incompatible macOS/systems would automatically download the last compatible version), but for some reason only steam gets the free upgrade I guess.

Oh, and I got burned with the iOS version several years ago, hopefully at some point it will be revisited as well.

 

[NathanWind]

Cool, but.... isn't this game like 10 years old?

And isn't chess like 1500 years old? Yet I saw someone playing it once.

 

[Homy]

And isn't chess like 1500 years old? Yet I saw someone playing it once.

LOL! Best comment!

 

[smallcoffee]

And isn't chess like 1500 years old? Yet I saw someone playing it once.

Funny comment, but obviously wildly missing the point.

 

[Homy]

Funny comment, but obviously wildly missing the point.

Not just funny but also very relevant! And the point was? I never judge games buy their age, but by their quality and story. I haven't played BS2 and just started to play Infinite and love the atmosphere and story. So just because this is 10 years old it doesn't mean everyone has played it and nobody wants it. It's a classic people love. Feral has been busy with other newer projects and done this as a side hobby I would guess since it took 2,5 years. Mac gamers are glad Feral does such ports and doesn't forget the Mac communty like Aspyr has.

 

[Homy]

I bought BioShock 1 and 2 remastered on Steam a while ago, when they were on sale. I noticed the Mac version is available on Steam as well. Are they the same version? Or is the Mac App store version more enhanced with Metal support etc?

Good to see more classic Games coming to the Mac. I hope Apple makes an effort to have their ARM chips have desktop class GPU performance. We may see more games be ported to the Mac in that case.

I got confirmation from Feral that BS2 on MAS includes the DLC Minerva's Den while you have to buy it separately on Steam. So it's cheaper to buy it on MAS. There is also a bundle with BS1 and BS2 on MAS that makes it even cheaper: https://apps.apple.com/app-bundle/bioshock-remastered-bundle/id1536906255?l=en&mt=12

 

[Solomani]

And, in less than a month, Apple Silicon!

Wait, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is a game Apple showed off at WWDC, right?

I wonder if Feral and/or Aspyr have made any announcement how they would convert their older Intel-Mac ports to Apple Silicon. Is it even possible? Difficult? Not so?

 

[Unregistered 4U]

I wonder if Feral and/or Aspyr have made any announcement how they would convert their older Intel-Mac ports to Apple Silicon. Is it even possible? Difficult? Not so?

They haven’t. However, as we now know, companies that are working with Apple during their Events seem to be getting extra help from Apple. So, because they were a part of the WWDC event, I wouldn’t doubt that they have something interesting to present for the November event.

 

[AxiomaticRubric]

And people from Apple Silicon group believing AS Mac will bring a new era of gaming lol.

Exactly. In fact it will be quite the opposite because many games currently available for macOS from services like Steam and GoG may not work on the ARM architecture through Rosetta.

 

[sosumilee]

Exactly. In fact it will be quite the opposite because many games currently available for macOS from services like Steam and GoG may not work on the ARM architecture through Rosetta.

All 32 bit games are un-supported already.

 

[smallcoffee]

Not just funny but also very relevant! And the point was? I never judge games buy their age, but by their quality and story. I haven't played BS2 and just started to play Infinite and love the atmosphere and story. So just because this is 10 years old it doesn't mean everyone has played it and nobody wants it. It's a classic people love. Feral has been busy with other newer projects and done this as a side hobby I would guess since it took 2,5 years. Mac gamers are glad Feral does such ports and doesn't forget the Mac communty like Aspyr has.

The point is this is an indictment on the lack of availability of games on Mac. Bioshock has been out for awhile, even. And even then that was late to the party. It's more like when Nintendo takes games that have been out for a decade, like Dark Souls or something, and the community celebrates paying $59.99 for an old game. You're getting ripped off.

 

[Homy]

The point is this is an indictment on the lack of availability of games on Mac. Bioshock has been out for awhile, even. And even then that was late to the party. It's more like when Nintendo takes games that have been out for a decade, like Dark Souls or something, and the community celebrates paying $59.99 for an old game. You're getting ripped off.

So they decide to port a remastered version of a classic popular game that people want and you see it as a foolish act? You're entitled to your opinion but you shouldn't worry about other people's wallets. People do what they want with their money. In this case the game costs only $20. You get even the DLC for free on Mac App Store. On Steam the DLC costs $10 extra. You can even buy BS1, BS2 and the DLC Minerva's Den for only $40. I myself got all those three for $15 on Steam sale. Nobody's getting ripped off.

Again for me it doesn't matter how long a game's been out as long as I haven't played it and it has good quality and story. You do realise that there are always new generations that haven't played older games and would want to play them on new hardware, hence remastered versions? You do as you wish and can refuse to buy and play old games. It's all about supply and demand. Obviously you're not the target for the game and if you want to say that Mac lacks new games do so but stop saying it's been out for a while. Every sport and hobby has been out for hundreds or thousands of years. We don't stop playing them. Or do you demand new form of sports and hobbies every new year? And almost every computer/TV game is a remake of old games, just with better graphics and new names.

 

[smallcoffee]

So they decide to port a remastered version of a classic popular game that people want and you see it as a foolish act? You're entitled to your opinion but you shouldn't worry about other people's wallets. People do what they want with their money. In this case the game costs only $20. You get even the DLC for free on Mac App Store. On Steam the DLC costs $10 extra. You can even buy BS1, BS2 and the DLC Minerva's Den for only $40. I myself got all those three for $15 on Steam sale. Nobody's getting ripped off.

Again for me it doesn't matter how long a game's been out as long as I haven't played it and it has good quality and story. You do realise that there are always new generations that haven't played older games and would want to play them on new hardware, hence remastered versions? You do as you wish and can refuse to buy and play old games. It's all about supply and demand. Obviously you're not the target for the game but stop saying it's been out for a while. Every sport and hobby has been out for hundreds or thousands of years. We don't stop playing them. Or do you demand new form of sports and hobbies every new year? And almost every computer/TV game is a remake of old games, just with better graphics and new names.

I'm not really sure what you're trying to argue here. Remastering a game and selling it is ok, but it's not really worth celebrating. Generally these releases or even remastering attempts are just a way to grab money from people. Dark Souls is the example you should look at. $59.99 (or something thereabouts) and the Nintendo community celebrated it as if it was something great. It's not. Availability is only part of the value, not the entire value.

It's like going to Wal-Mart and buying something that costs twice as much because you only decided to shop at Wal-Mart, versus buying it at Target down the street where it's been in stock for 15 years.

 

[Homy]

I'm not really sure what you're trying to argue here. Remastering a game and selling it is ok, but it's not really worth celebrating. Generally these releases or even remastering attempts are just a way to grab money from people. Dark Souls is the example you should look at. $59.99 (or something thereabouts) and the Nintendo community celebrated it as if it was something great. It's not. Availability is only part of the value, not the entire value.

It's like going to Wal-Mart and buying something that costs twice as much because you only decided to shop at Wal-Mart, versus buying it at Target down the street where it's been in stock for 15 years.

I'm not sure either why you keep mentioning Dark Souls as example. We're not discussing Dark Souls or Nintendo Switch. We're in a thread about Bioshock 2 Remastered ported to Mac. Dark Souls doesn't even exist for Mac and BS2 Remastered for Mac doesn't cost $60. So your repeating arguments about price and age is not relevant here. If you don't want to celebrate don't, but don't tell others what to do or not. You're problematizing something non-existent. BS2 Remastered Mac doesn't costs twice as much as the one you played on your pc years ago. Both cost the same on Steam so your Wal-Mart argument is also out of place.

So go ahead and keep saying that there are no games for Mac, Macs get old games, it's nothing to celebrate and it's expensive. It's the same old tiresome argument in every Mac thread from pc guys. I don't know what you're trying to achieve but I hope it's worth it. It's not good enough for you to be happy about your latest new pc games and how awesome they are. You're not satisfied until you also tell every Mac gamer how bad their hardware and old games are. Well done!

 

[smallcoffee]

I'm not sure either why you keep mentioning Dark Souls as example. We're not discussing Dark Souls or Nintendo Switch. We're in a thread about Bioshock 2 Remastered ported to Mac. Dark Souls doesn't even exist for Mac and BS2 Remastered for Mac doesn't cost $60.

I'm showing you additional examples of how game developers are making money off of people. That's why it's being mentioned. Is that unclear? Do you need further explanation?

So your repeating arguments about price and age is not relevant here.

Sure they are.

If you don't want to celebrate don't, but don't tell others what to do or not. You're problematizing something non-existent. BS2 Remastered Mac doesn't costs twice as much as the one you played on your pc years ago. Both cost the same on Steam so your Wal-Mart argument is also out of place.

So go ahead and keep saying that there are no games for Mac, Macs get old games, it's nothing to celebrate and it's expensive. It's the same old tiresome argument in every Mac thread from pc guys. I don't know what you're trying to achieve but I hope it's worth it. It's not good enough for you to be happy about your latest new pc games and how awesome they are. You're not satisfied until you also tell every Mac gamer how bad their hardware and old games are. Well done!

I'm not a PC guy. I don't own a PC. But it's no secret that Mac lags far behind when it comes to game availability. Developers know this. Once they've exhausted the PC cash cow they can turn games over to cheap development teams to remaster to sell to desperate Mac users. It doesn't deserve any more than a ho-hum when a remastered 10 year old game is release.

You're not satisfied until you also tell every Mac gamer how bad their hardware and old games are.

Mac hardware is great. Game availability is extremely poor.

 

[Homy]

I'm showing you additional examples of how game developers are making money off of people. That's why it's being mentioned. Is that unclear? Do you need further explanation?

I'm not a PC guy. I don't own a PC. But it's no secret that Mac lags far behind when it comes to game availability. Developers know this. Once they've exhausted the PC cash cow they can turn games over to cheap development teams to remaster to sell to desperate Mac users. It doesn't deserve any more than a ho-hum when a remastered 10 year old game is release.

Well, it's no secret that there are more games for other platforms. It's something all Mac users known for years. That's why it's even worse and stranger that you, if you're a Mac user, complain about a classical popular game being remastered for its 10th anniversary. We need less games, right?

The discussion from the beginning wasn't about the state of the Mac gaming, but people complaining and mocking those who cheered for this title saying it's old and other stuff. What you seem to fail to understand over and over again is that there are people like me that want this game remastered. We haven't had the chance to play it and the old game looks dated on new hardware and by today's standards. To complain about it when you're not the target audience is just stupid and irrational, specially considering the fact mentioned above about Macs lacking games. Feral doesn't put a gun on people's head making them to buy it. You don't, I do. Problem solved, right?

Your example about Dark Souls is still irrelevant about BS2 Remastered. You're basing your argument against BS2 Remastered on facts that don't apply to the game. Companies may be ripping people off by selling expensive remakes not worth celebrating but in this case your argument fails because as I said before this title doesn't cost three times more like Dark Souls ($20 vs. $60) and you can even get the DLC for free or even get everything in an even cheaper bundle. It's not even more expensive than the pc version.

You keep talking about how pc game companies behave and want to milk the cash cow by letting cheap Mac developers bringing old games to Mac. Well, first of all Feral is the best and most dedicated Mac game developer, if not the only one left, in the Mac gaming community with excellent customer service, not a cheap greedy game developer. Although you have a point it's a problem as long as you want to play the latest pc games on Mac for much higher price. Personally I have still many games in my backlog and don't mind at all new old games being ported to Mac for much cheaper price tag. In the end none of this matters. Companies do what they want and customers react how they want.

 

[smallcoffee]

Well, it's no secret that there are more games for other platforms. It's something all Mac users known for years. That's why it's even worse and stranger that you, if you're a Mac user, complain about a classical popular game being remastered for its 10th anniversary. We need less games, right?

The discussion from the beginning wasn't about the state of the Mac gaming, but people complaining and mocking those who cheered for this title saying it's old and other stuff. What you seem to fail to understand over and over again is that there are people like me that want this game remastered. We haven't had the chance to play it and the old game looks dated on new hardware and by today's standards. To complain about it when you're not the target audience is just stupid and irrational, specially considering the fact mentioned above about Macs lacking games. Feral doesn't put a gun on people's head making them to buy it. You don't, I do. Problem solved, right?

Your example about Dark Souls is still irrelevant about BS2 Remastered. You're basing your argument against BS2 Remastered on facts that don't apply to the game. Companies may be ripping people off by selling expensive remakes not worth celebrating but in this case your argument fails because as I said before this title doesn't cost three times more like Dark Souls ($20 vs. $60) and you can even get the DLC for free or even get everything in an even cheaper bundle. It's not even more expensive than the pc version.

You keep talking about how pc game companies behave and want to milk the cash cow by letting cheap Mac developers bringing old games to Mac. Well, first of all Feral is the best and most dedicated Mac game developer, if not the only one left, in the Mac gaming community with excellent customer service, not a cheap greedy game developer. Although you have a point it's a problem as long as you want to play the latest pc games on Mac for much higher price. Personally I have still many games in my backlog and don't mind at all new old games being ported to Mac for much cheaper price tag. In the end none of this matters. Companies do what they want and customers react how they want.

This is what Stockholm syndrome looks like. If the developers were smarter they'd have sold it for $40. People like you would have bought this great new game!

What you seem to fail to understand over and over again is that there are people like me that want this game remastered.

Yea sure. It doesn't need to be celebrated. It isn't an occasion for celebrating at all. "Ho-hum" is an appropriate reaction here. Not glee.

 

[Homy]

This is what Stockholm syndrome looks like. If the developers were smarter they'd have sold it for $40. People like you would have bought this great new game!

Yea sure. It doesn't need to be celebrated. It isn't an occasion for celebrating at all. "Ho-hum" is an appropriate reaction here. Not glee.

Now you're just provoking, because again you refuse to see that this game is not just about you and your demands. I guess you react like this when they remaster old classic movies for fans or a new audience that haven't seen them or make covers of old songs for a new generation that haven't heard them.

So if the developers sell old expensive games like Dark Souls they're ripping people off and if they sell them cheap like BS2 and give you extra stuff for free they're dumb? Man, you're a tuff customer, never pleased and only complaining about things that you don't even buy.

And if you weren't trying to provoke you would see that I wrote that I almost always buy my games on sale, including this one. Stay safe and keep not getting ripped off!

I myself got all those three for $15 on Steam sale. Nobody's getting ripped off.

 

[smallcoffee]

Now you're just trolling, because again you refuse to see that this game is not just about you and your demands. I guess you react like this when they remaster old classic movies for fans or a new audience that haven't seen them or make covers of old songs for a new generation that haven't heard them.

So if the developers sell old expensive games like Dark Souls they're ripping people off and if they sell them cheap like BS2 and give you extra stuff for free they're dumb? Man, you're a tuff customer, never pleased and only complaining about things that you don't even buy.

And if you weren't trolling you would see that I wrote that I almost always buy my games on sale, including this one. Stay safe and keep not getting ripped off!

"someone has a different view than me, they must be trolling!"

 

[Solomani]

"someone has a different view than me, they must be trolling!"

You are a troll. You have zero interest in this game remaster/release, and yet you keep trolling and insulting the people here that do have interest. Even when they tell you it's not your business how they purchase their games, you continue with your trolling and insults. That makes you a troll.

 

[Homy]

"someone has a different view than me, they must be trolling!"

Of course people can have a different opinion, but when they keep claiming the same opinion and ignoring other opinions when even facts are presented to them they become trolls. Trolls also avoid to address such facts just to be able to continue with their claims. They also try to change focus by making a simple discussion turn into "Stockholm syndrome" and a conspiracy about big game companies ripping people off and deceiving them like they are dumb sheeps with no will, instead of seeing them as a different target audience with other needs than themselves. In the process they also forget about their contradicting statements and faulty facts.

Some examples:

- Feral is ripping people off like when Nintendo sold Dark Souls for $60 (when BS2 Remastered is sold for $20 or less).

- Feral is ripping people off for selling BS2 for $20 or less (meaning they should sell it for like $5?). They're also dumb and should sell it for $40 (they're greedy for $20 but should be greedier and rip off people even more because people buying BS2 Remastered for less than $20 are dumb anyway).

- You suffer from "Stockholm syndrome". You're a hostage under Feral's influence and has developed a psychological alliance with your captors. People like you would buy this game for $40 (when the game actually costs less than $20 and I already told I've got all three games for $15 on Steam sale proving I'm not the kind paying $40 for old games).

I hope you find some new games for your computer soon so you can be happier and not feeling you've been ripped off all the time. It can't be fun.

 

[smallcoffee]

You are a troll. You have zero interest in this game remaster/release, and yet you keep trolling and insulting the people here that do have interest. Even when they tell you it's not your business how they purchase their games, you continue with your trolling and insults. That makes you a troll.

Wrong. I do have an interest in this game (oh BTW when I used to game I played it around, well, 10 years ago), and my interest in in meta details about the game. It’s ok to see remasters. It’s not ok to celebrate them in as an asset to the Mac when the amount of games released is beyond abysmal.

 

[smallcoffee]

Of course people can have a different opinion, but when they keep claiming the same opinion and ignoring other opinions when even facts are presented to them they become trolls. Trolls also avoid to address such facts just to be able to continue with their claims. They also try to change focus by making a simple discussion turn into "Stockholm syndrome" and a conspiracy about big game companies ripping people off and deceiving them like they are dumb sheeps with no will, instead of seeing them as a different target audience with other needs than trolls themselves. In the process trolls also forget about their contradicting statements and faulty facts.

Some examples:

- Feral is ripping people off like when Nintendo sold Dark Souls for $60 (when BS2 Remastered is sold for $20 or less).

- Feral is ripping people off for selling BS2 for $20 or less (meaning they should sell it for like $5?). They're also dumb and should sell it for $40 (they're greedy for $20 but should be greedier and rip off people even more because people buying BS2 Remastered for less than $20 are dumb anyway).

- You suffer from "Stockholm syndrome". You're a hostage under Feral's influence and has developed a psychological alliance with your captors. People like you would buy this game for $40 (when the game actually costs less than $20 and I already told I've got all three games for $15 on Steam sale proving I'm not the kind paying $40 for old games).

I hope you find some new games for your computer soon so you can be happier and not feeling you've been ripped off all the time. It can't be fun.

Good lord. I don’t really play games anymore so I’m not looking for new games for my Mac. I spend time doing other things. But you’re certainly free to your opinion, but I’m just not going to agree that remastered old Windows games are anything to celebrate. By all means enjoy it. I just think it’s a rip off. It’s like buying the name brand of Tums or something instead of the store bought brand. I’ve given you a few analogies that work great, you just have a dog in this fight and are unwilling to acknowledge them. It’s easy to see by the strong emotional reaction and how you take everything so personal. Relax.

 

[Homy]

Good lord. I don’t really play games anymore so I’m not looking for new games for my Mac. I spend time doing other things. But you’re certainly free to your opinion, but I’m just not going to agree that remastered old Windows games are anything to celebrate. By all means enjoy it. I just think it’s a rip off. It’s like buying the name brand of Tums or something instead of the store bought brand. I’ve given you a few analogies that work great, you just have a dog in this fight and are unwilling to acknowledge them. It’s easy to see by the strong emotional reaction and how you take everything so personal. Relax.

Yet in all your talk you have avoided to directly answer to any of my opposing facts about your contradicting statements, strange comparisons and those "few great analogies" that you mention, just to be able to keep the discussion going.

Good lord indeed! I just gave you some examples AGAIN why those analogies don't work in this case and you just pretend like you didn't see them and keep talking about how great they are like Trump does about himself. Maybe you realized you made some strange conclusions when someone actually took some time to point them out, but are too proud to admit it. Still you call others unwilling to acknowledge their mistakes. It's easy to see by how you keep dodging and circling around the subject without actually addressing the direct questions and how you instead turn the discussion into a psychological evaluation about your opponents being caught in ”Stockholm syndrome” and being very emotional and personal. Well, what you interpret as emotional and personal I call direct and honest. Call it European if you want. Maybe you're not so used to criticism that you take it personally when facts are presented to you.

You may IRL be a nice person who loves puppies and rescues animals but whether you like it or not here you have shown some trollish behavior. Of course you have no reason to be happy and think it’s a rip-off. You’ve already bought and played it. You didn’t think it was a rip-off then. Just the fact that you claim to be a Mac owner, one that doesn’t play anymore and couldn’t care less for Mac gaming, who played the game ten years ago but thinks new players are fools to buy the game and still thinks this remastered game is a rip-off for everyone else for the price of only $6.59 on sale makes this even more trollish. Well, did you expect them to give it away for free? Sounds like you haven’t played so long that you’ve lost touch with reality. It's all right. We don't know each other, we'll never meet in the real life sitting on opposite sides of the Atlantic ocean and none of this matters in our lives. Maybe that's what is wrong, you're relaxing too much without reflecting. Rethink.

 

[smallcoffee]

Yet in all your talk you have avoided to directly answer to any of my opposing facts about your contradicting statements, strange comparisons and those "few great analogies" that you mention, just to be able to keep the discussion going.

Good lord indeed! I just gave you some examples AGAIN why those analogies don't work in this case and you just pretend like you didn't see them and keep talking about how great they are like Trump does about himself. Maybe you realized you made some strange conclusions when someone actually took some time to point them out, but are too proud to admit it. Still you call others unwilling to acknowledge their mistakes. It's easy to see by how you keep dodging and circling around the subject without actually addressing the direct questions and how you instead turn the discussion into a psychological evaluation about your opponents being caught in ”Stockholm syndrome” and being very emotional and personal. Well, what you interpret as emotional and personal I call direct and honest. Call it European if you want. Maybe you're not so used to criticism that you take it personally when facts are presented to you.

You may IRL be a nice person who loves puppies and rescues animals but whether you like it or not here you have shown some trollish behavior. Of course you have no reason to be happy and think it’s a rip-off. You’ve already bought and played it. You didn’t think it was a rip-off then. Just the fact that you claim to be a Mac owner, one that doesn’t play anymore and couldn’t care less for Mac gaming, who played the game ten years ago but thinks new players are fools to buy the game and still thinks this remastered game is a rip-off for everyone else for the price of only $6.59 on sale makes this even more trollish. Well, did you expect them to give it away for free? Sounds like you haven’t played so long that you’ve lost touch with reality. It's all right. We don't know each other, we'll never meet in the real life sitting on opposite sides of the Atlantic ocean and none of this matters in our lives. Maybe that's what is wrong, you're relaxing too much without reflecting. Rethink.

A few things:

• I reject your notion that my analogies don't work. They do. Clearly. Particularly Dark Souls. It's an overpriced "remaster" to a captive audience. That's not a personal indictment on you, but I think if you take a step back you can see that quite clearly. You can pay for the game, enjoy it, and also think that it's overpriced and old. It's ok.
• Let's avoid brining Trump into this, since I'm not sure how it's relevant.
• I stand by my assertion that Mac users who think remastered games are a great thing are suffering from Stockholm syndrome. You can disagree, but characterizing that as emotional and personal simply highlights that you are taking it personal.
• You're missing the point. There's nothing wrong with remastering games or buying games that are remastered. The issue is thinking that it is something to be celebrated. I disagree. It's a ho-hum event. That's it. I'm not sure why you're so interested in saying that I "claim" to be a Mac owner. Want to elaborate on that?
• I've lost touch with reality?
• I didn't think the game was a ripoff 10 years ago when it was $15 or whatever. Yes. That's correct. I think it's overpriced and borderline rip off today.

Uh also I guess you should relax, reflect, and rethink?