Gaming in OSX versus gaming in Windows Boot Camp

[bryguy393]

Hi guys, when I get my new MBP (when they release them *sigh*), I intend on doing some moderate gaming on it. Things like MW2, Starcraft, Sims 3, Battlefield BC2, and some others I can't think of right now.

My question is, if a game is available for both OSX and Windows, would it be better to get it for OSX, or Windows? I was wondering if I should have like all my games in the windows partition, or have ones that I can get for OSX separate.

Thanks all in advance.

 

[Feng Shui]

Windows because all the games I know of for OSX are ported from the windoze version.

 

[scienide09]

Generally speaking, gaming through Boot Camp and Windows will be your best option. Performance differences aside, most game software is written primarily for a Windows audience (compared to a Mac one), since it's a much larger user-base.

 

[bryguy393]

ah, i figured there would be a difference in performance. I'll probably need a decently sized boot camp partition then is suppose, correct?

 

[secretanchitman]

ah, i figured there would be a difference in performance. I'll probably need a decently sized boot camp partition then is suppose, correct?

yep, you're absolutely right.

unless you play all blizzard games (like me ), then you'll need boot camp. i used to have boot camp, but realized that i always went to my pc desktop and consoles for games. my mbp just has all blizzard games, which is good enough for me.

 

[elpmas]

I'd go with Windows for this.

 

[Cali3350]

Windows drivers and system calls are FAR more optimized than OSX. If at all possible game in Windows, even if the game has native OSX support.

 

[Dozerrox]

Someone once suggested to me that I use macdrive to make the mac partition accessible, then install the games there. You can have a relatively small Windows partition then.

Good luck!

 

[ozreth]

I am an avid gamer (mostly MMORPG's) and have to say that it really comes down to the game and developer. For example, as stated above, Blizzard games run flawlessly in OSX, although they are also designed with this in mind and the discs that these games come with are dual OS.

EVE Online runs great on OSX, as do some older RPG's like Baldurs Gate II.

For the most part though, I find myself booting up windows when I game, and this isn't a problem for me. Bootcamp works great and I just install AIM and Firefox on the windows side and I am good to go.

As far as "having to have a large bootcamp partition", well this depends on the size of your games, and in the end you will only be using as much space for the bootcamp partition as you would be using in OSX to install your games (plus a few gigs for windows of course), so the space is lost to your games no matter what.

 

[Tesseract]

Yep, good advice that everyone has given. Blizzard really does make flawless ports of their games to OS X. In general though, you'll see better compatibility, better performance, quicker patches, and bigger mod options through the Windoze side. For the best performance, just make sure you download and install the latest graphics card drivers from either NVIDIA or ATI after your Boot Camp partition is all set up. The ones included in the Boot Camp install aren't generally up to par.

 

[psingh01]

If it's a Blizzard game then I would get it for OS X.

 

[macuserx86]

Windows no question.
The Cod4 Mac port was an example of the sad state of Mac gaming. Even at max settings, it looked like Duke Nukem 3D compared to its PC and console counterparts.
Go with Windows 7, they copied enough OS X features so you'll feel more comfortable using it; I know I do

 

[maflynn]

Unless things have changed dramatically since the last time I looked at a game on OSX, they tend to be more expensive and take at least 6 months to be released. That is new games being released on windows require at least 6months maybe more to get onto the osx platform and when they do you're paying a premium.

Personally, if you want to play games, windows is a better option. Better yet a console, like PS3/Wii/Xbox

 

[iLog.Genius]

Personally, I've had a much better experience on Windows than OS X. Specifically, World of Warcraft/Warcraft III: Frozen Throne. The gameplay is fine, both are about the same but my annoyance is with multiplayer. In Windows, my PING is in the 20ms while in OS X PING is usually 80ms+ for the same game. The only thing I could think of is that the game isn't "tweaked" on the OS X port but I would like to think otherwise since it is Blizzard and they've been developing Windows+Mac games for a while now.

 

[bryguy393]

Someone once suggested to me that I use macdrive to make the mac partition accessible, then install the games there. You can have a relatively small Windows partition then.

Good luck!

Thanks all. I also read about macdrive, would it offer the same performance as an ntfs partition? I also read about a program that can resize your boot camp partition if you need it bigger or smaller. anyone tried either of these?

 

[Nano2k]

I am an avid gamer (mostly MMORPG's) and have to say that it really comes down to the game and developer. For example, as stated above, Blizzard games run flawlessly in OSX, although they are also designed with this in mind and the discs that these games come with are dual OS.

I think that all the people who have WOW crashing in OSX because of OpenGL update in the latest patch won't agree with you...

Try running WOW on the same hardware in Windows and OSX and check how it looks better and runs smoother in OSX it's not even funny...