Who plays games on Mac?

[Venga]

Was just wondering if anyone here is a gamer on a mac? Im aware of something called Bootcamp / Crossover, letting you play windows games on mac but wasnt sure if its free or any good?

Also is it true that mac versions are often released a few months after windows / consoles release?

Finally, if i have the windows versions of a game does that mean if i use Bootcamp / Crossover then i dont need to buy a new copy?

Thanks for the help.

[Kaslo]

Bootcamp lets you install windows onto your Mac, you then can reboot your mac into windows and play any windows game because, well, you are running windows. This requires you to buy windows. Bootcamp is included in Mac OS X 10.5+

[Mayareira]

I do play games on mac frequently. I've got 2 partitions, OS X Snow Leopard and Vista 64bit, both working without any problems(sadly, Vista works better on my mac than on my desktop). I have WoW and Football Manager on OS X partition so that I can play them while I work.

Was just wondering if anyone here is a gamer on a mac? Im aware of something called Bootcamp / Crossover, letting you play windows games on mac but wasnt sure if its free or any good?

XP and Vista installed on a mac is just as good as a PC with whatever specs you have, so its all good. Windows 7 should also work well, but it'll get the official support in a month or so.

Also is it true that mac versions are often released a few months after windows / consoles release?

Most of the time, yes. It depends on the company.

For example, companies like Blizzard, Sports Interactive completely supports OS X and they release games at the same time with PC. Games like WoW, Starcraft, Diablo, Football Manager etc. are all available natively for OS X.

Bio Shock 1 just got released on OS X though, so that should give you an idea on certain other games. Price also differs, so make sure you check that out as well before you make a purchase.

Finally, if i have the windows versions of a game does that mean if i use Bootcamp / Crossover then i dont need to buy a new copy?

Yes, as long as the game doesn't have an active license restriction(very rare). All your Steam games, etc. will work.
Also, certain games like Football Manager, Spore, Myst and WoW(can download from website as long as you've got an account) come multiplatform, 2 versions for 1 price.

Here are some websites you may find helpful.

Apple - Games

Macgamefiles.com: Free Mac Games Downloads

Inside Mac Games

Direct2Drive: Download PC Games and Mac Games Now at D2D

Macgamestore: Mac Games, Hardware, and More

Macintosh Garden - Celebrating macintosh abandonware! - Awesome Mac abandonware website. Back in the day almost every PC game had a mac version so hundreds of classic games and applications can be found here for free.

The Emulator Zone - Macintosh Emulators - Mac Emulators.

[Colenzo]

nobody

[Pikarya]

Yeah, Starcraft. 1999

[Kaisha]

Being a Mac gamer on OS X would fucking suck.

Went to an Apple store last month (nabbed me a copy of Snow Leopard <3 ), and saw Fable 1 for full price as one of the more 'recent' titles on display, I just chuckled to myself......, I was expecting them to at least have the EA games they buggily ported (using TransGaming I believe, the game is essentially wrapped/partially-emulated from the Windows DirectX version) like Spore and Battlefield 2142.

Anyways, as far as gaming goes on a Mac, as mentioned, is to use bootcamp and start a second partition for a proper Windows installation. I run Mass Effect fine on my MacBook Pro (3,1 model from 2 years ago) under WinXP with most settings at high, for reference.

CrossOver is hit-and-miss I heard, best option really is to just dual-boot your Mac so there's no compatibility issues, and that you're running the apps at native speed.

Also, don't bother with Parallels/VMWare Fusion if you're thinking about trying to VM it, they're only good for simpler games like World of Goo. Try TF2 on them and you get to sit with medium graphics for a semi-stable FPS at 800x600.


The only time you'll see me gaming on a Mac is when I purchase a PC game that just so happens to have the Mac executables included on the same disc, which Blizzard almost does exclusively. The only recent examples I can think of that also do that would be Spore (lol, buggy, and I believe it actually required a net connection to just play the game due to lack of DRM), and Guitar Hero 3 (which was shipped as a PC-only title at first, so Activision missed the boat on that one since no one gave a fuck about it by the time the PC/MAC shipments came out)

Mac Gamers don't game on a Mac, they game on their consoles like the majority of us.

[Korietsu]

Just get a copy of win7, use bootcamp to partition and install, and play on windows. Takes all of 30 min, and its zero trouble.

[Darus Grey]

Cross-over is great long as you're comfortable doing a lot of tweaking.

I play PC games mostly on OSX using cross-over, and find that very little is actually completely incompatible.

That said boot-camp is guaranteed compatibility, I just hate dual-booting because most of the software I use is OSX only, so if I switch to Windows, I can *only* play games until I switch back.

But yeah, consoles.

On the bright-side, game releases/ports to OSX have gone up in the thousands of percentiles since OSX went to intel. Companies are starting to realize that ignoring 10-15%~ of computer users(who also are in their core spending demographics, i.e. they can afford games because they can afford a mac), is a bad business move. Well many of the ports are shoddy(CoD4), they at least happen. I can imagine the situation much improved in the future.

[Venga]

Im basically all set up with windows xp installed but i cannot get the audio drivers. Been searching google for a while now and it seems a bit of a myth, no one knows what they are.

I've check the "about this mac" section and all it gives is: Intel High Definition Audio

Does anyone know the sound drivers for a mac to install onto XP!?

[Kaisha]

Insert your Leopard/Snow Leopard disc while in windows and install the Bootcamp drivers off of it, then run the Apple Software Update when it's done to ensure you have the latest drivers installed for your system.

[Korietsu]

Im basically all set up with windows xp installed but i cannot get the audio drivers. Been searching google for a while now and it seems a bit of a myth, no one knows what they are.

I've check the "about this mac" section and all it gives is: Intel High Definition Audio

Does anyone know the sound drivers for a mac to install onto XP!?

The sound drivers in particular are a pain in the ass. I unfortunately, do not have them anymore, as I downloaded them off the realtek site.

[Blabj]

Insert your Leopard/Snow Leopard disc while in windows and install the Bootcamp drivers off of it, then run the Apple Software Update when it's done to ensure you have the latest drivers installed for your system.

This.

Also, the only gaming I do on my mac is flash type games. Machinarium, Plants vs. Zombies, World of Goo. No heavy 3D gaming, thats what my PC desktop is for (with a 512 graphics card and quad core, vs. my dualcore 256 laptop.)

[Venga]

Im mainly looking at playing valve games and modern warfare 2. I partitioned my mac enough for only a few games, mainly because i don't want to fill my memory up.

Strange question but are there any other set ups i need to do for windows. It did cross my mind i may want an anti virus? Anything like that?

[Mayareira]

Yes, you definitely need an anti-virus software. Here are a couple of free ones.

avast! - Download antivirus software for spyware and virus protection

AVG Free - Download Free Antivirus and Antispyware for Windows 7, Vista and XP

Avira AntiVir Personal - FREE Antivirus

I partitioned my mac enough for only a few games, mainly because i don't want to fill my memory up.

Its always wise to allocate a good bit of space since you'll probably need more soon. You may also consider external HDs for general gaming since certain PC games require a lot of space(i.e Empire: Total War 18gigs~, Dragon Age 20~gigs.)

[Qalbert]

nobody

^

[Ramor]

yeah, i mean really everyone who plays games on a mac just plays games on windows that happens to be on a computer you bought from apple.

[Blabj]

So sorry you missed the last OS war, but we're all too exhausted to fight another one.

Please lurk tech for the next Apple vs. Windows battle, I'm sure it wont take long.

P.S.: Stop shitting up threads with this bullshit fucking debate.

[Weltall]

Is this some kind of trick question? lol

Gaming on Mac...lol