Why does Apple ignore gamers?

[trebblekicked]

i dealt with this problem the way most mac users did...i bought a ps2.

when i was shopping around, i talked to a guy at Game Stop (electornics boutique, babbages, etc.) about the mac platform. he litterally laughed at me, said mac accounted for less than 1% of their business across the nation. this may just be the fact. if retailers won't carry it, that hurts an already small market, and there isn't much that can be done on a national scale. I think the one way we can help out is to support companies like aspyr that do all the porting. if half the people who pirate games would just cough up the $50.00, maybe they'd be able to port more games for us.

 

[macktheknife]

Originally posted by trebblekicked
i dealt with this problem the way most mac users did...i bought a ps2.

when i was shopping around, i talked to a guy at Game Stop (electornics boutique, babbages, etc.) about the mac platform. he litterally laughed at me, said mac accounted for less than 1% of their business across the nation. this may just be the fact. if retailers won't carry it, that hurts an already small market, and there isn't much that can be done on a national scale. I think the one way we can help out is to support companies like aspyr that do all the porting. if half the people who pirate games would just cough up the $50.00, maybe they'd be able to port more games for us.

Yeah, I think Apple will have to make a direct equity investment in some projects some companies are working on. That is, if they believe enough Mac gamers will buy a certain game, they should approach the developer and offer to invest some resources to bringing out a Mac version. Apple will help with the promotion and share the risk (i.e. if the game sells as well as Apple hopes, Apple will make money, otherwise . . . ). If Apple went through this route, they would essentially be putting their money where their mouth is.

As everyone knows, gaming is a very big industry. True, most people don't buy a Mac for games, but it is one of the things many customers consider when they purchase a new computer. Gaming should not be limited to just consoles, just as music and videos are not limited to boomboxes and DVD players, respectively.

 

[trebblekicked]

Originally posted by macktheknife
Gaming should not be limited to just consoles, just as music and videos are not limited to boomboxes and DVD players, respectively.

very well put.

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

Apple should have a small game division that kicks out a game that makes total use of mac OSX and makes everyone say WOW! sort of like the rest of the software they make! not a full fledge thing but maybe once a year or so. Halo would have been that game for mac, to bad they let microsoft buy bungie.

 

[macktheknife]

Originally posted by trebblekicked
very well put.

Thanks. I keep reading "Get a console for games" or "Macs aren't gaming machines" types of posts, and I think people miss a simple point. Computers are machines without any predefined limits per se--they can do almost whatever we want them to do, whether it is writing code, playing music, editing videos, organizing our schedules, and, yes, playing a few good games. Thus, IMHO, division between consoles and personal computers is an artificial one.

The gaming industry is growing quite rapidly and, as many of you already know, generates more revenues than Hollywood movies. This is why Microsoft decided to jump into the gaming business. With its $40 billion cash hoard, Microsoft can also find ways for Windows to interface with the Xbox, potentially pushing the realm of possibility in the gaming industry. Apple doesn't necessarily need to create its own games or introduce its own gaming consoles, but it cannot afford to ignore this growing industry.

 

[yadmonkey]

I am thrilled about all the replies, but I think some of you are missing the point entirely. Spefically, I am tlaking to those of you who say that developers are not bothering with Apple because their market share is too small. I disagree. I think that developers ignore Apple because they don't have the porting experience and it doesn't look worth it for them to do it themselves.

My point is that developers are developing games for consoles and PCs anyway - all the Mac needs is good ports of some of the better games. It is not something that should have to be too expensive for developers. My idea was for Apple to start a division to help developers port their games to the Mac. They could provide porting developer kits and support or even do the ports themselves. It would make the most sense for this to be an OS X-only thing, since it would make for easier porting and people with OS X are more likely to have more current hardware.

Again, if Apple wants to stay in the game, they are going to have to compete on every level.

 

[iJon]

Originally posted by yadmonkey
I am thrilled about all the replies, but I think some of you are missing the point entirely. Spefically, I am tlaking to those of you who say that developers are not bothering with Apple because their market share is too small. I disagree. I think that developers ignore Apple because they don't have the porting experience and it doesn't look worth it for them to do it themselves.

My point is that developers are developing games for consoles and PCs anyway - all the Mac needs is good ports of some of the better games. It is not something that should have to be too expensive for developers. My idea was for Apple to start a division to help developers port their games to the Mac. They could provide porting developer kits and support or even do the ports themselves. It would make the most sense for this to be an OS X-only thing, since it would make for easier porting and people with OS X are more likely to have more current hardware.

Again, if Apple wants to stay in the game, they are going to have to compete on every level.

well apple is kind of helping out. i remember reading teamspeaks web page and they said apple sent them all the necessary hardware and software to port team speak to mac.

iJon

 

[Mr. MacPhisto]

Originally posted by macktheknife
Yeah, I think Apple will have to make a direct equity investment in some projects some companies are working on. That is, if they believe enough Mac gamers will buy a certain game, they should approach the developer and offer to invest some resources to bringing out a Mac version. Apple will help with the promotion and share the risk (i.e. if the game sells as well as Apple hopes, Apple will make money, otherwise . . . ). If Apple went through this route, they would essentially be putting their money where their mouth is.

As everyone knows, gaming is a very big industry. True, most people don't buy a Mac for games, but it is one of the things many customers consider when they purchase a new computer. Gaming should not be limited to just consoles, just as music and videos are not limited to boomboxes and DVD players, respectively.

This is part of what we're trying to do. I actually have three direct routes I can use to get something right in Steve Jobs's hands after we've done some development. My hope is that Apple will see the necessity and be willing to throw some real support behind it. The best thing would be for them to be willing to distribute some games on the Mac - that would give them a definite advantage. And Apple could be careful what they distribute, ensuring quality.

 

[Das]

Porting isn't that difficult for developers. They simply don't want to because it takes time and resources. It's more trouble than it's worth. When they have the choice of making a new game when one is finished or spend time porting the source to a system that will sell only a small amount of copies, they will choose to develop a new game or center on the PC version for expansions and patches.

If you want a practical solution, simply support macplay and Aspyr. Make them big and they will gain influence and the weight needed to pull in lager franchises. If they start posting high numbers, then publishers and developers will take a second look at the market. Of course, any hand offered by Apple to developers cannot hurt, but I don't think that it would help matters much.

 

[macphoria]

I have to ask this. When was the last time any of you purchased a Mac game? How many in last year?

 

[mattmack]

Originally posted by macphoria
I have to ask this. When was the last time any of you purchased a Mac game? How many in last year?

Lets see
the most recent I bought was
Stronghold
RTCW
Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone
Star Trek Elite Force
Vampire: The Masquerade
Black and White
Diablo II
D II Lord of destruction
Unreal Tournament
UT Game of the Year edition
Thats about it for bought games Last year
If you count mods I've probably tried half a dozen more in the last year

 

[Hawthorne]

Originally posted by macphoria
I have to ask this. When was the last time any of you purchased a Mac game? How many in last year?

Last time? 2 days ago, bought Combat Missions: Beyond Overlord from here .

How many in the past year? Collapse, Ghost Recon, SOF II and Rogue Spear, and the above mentioned Combat Missions.

 

[mattmack]

Originally posted by Hawthorne
Last time? 2 days ago, bought Combat Missions: Beyond Overlord from here .

How many in the past year? Collapse, Ghost Recon, SOF II and Rogue Spear, and the above mentioned Combat Missions.

Combat missions looks pretty cool how is it

 

[yadmonkey]

MS was really smart to buy Bungie. Halo is the greatest game in years, and I normally don't get into FPS's. Insanely fun, this game is!

 

[shadowfax]

Originally posted by yadmonkey
I am thrilled about all the replies, but I think some of you are missing the point entirely. Spefically, I am tlaking to those of you who say that developers are not bothering with Apple because their market share is too small. I disagree. I think that developers ignore Apple because they don't have the porting experience and it doesn't look worth it for them to do it themselves.

My point is that developers are developing games for consoles and PCs anyway - all the Mac needs is good ports of some of the better games. It is not something that should have to be too expensive for developers. My idea was for Apple to start a division to help developers port their games to the Mac. They could provide porting developer kits and support or even do the ports themselves. It would make the most sense for this to be an OS X-only thing, since it would make for easier porting and people with OS X are more likely to have more current hardware.

Again, if Apple wants to stay in the game, they are going to have to compete on every level.

www.appple.com/developer

i don't get where you're coming from either. there's no way you can ask a company strapped as apple to port your games for you. they have enough on their hands, i think, with productivity apps. as for developer kits and stuff... i think ADC is a pretty cool community + resource for programmers, ranging from an OS X programming intro to sample code and info about carbon &c classes. i am still pretty sure that this is a lack of respect for apple. bad ports, i understand, are easy as pie to make, and still there even many of those.

and about competing, i think it's really petty to buy a computer for games. that's what windows users do . i mean, sure, it's nice to run games on OS X, but my gaming experience has been pretty pleasant. if you are disappointed about some specific games, get over it, i say. PC users don't have Halo either. it's a screwed up market, the gaming one is, and as long as we have a good array of playable games, i'm pretty content. my Baldur's Gate II is not great like on my slower PC, but very playable.