The other day I needed to run to my local Apple store in Oak Brook, Illinois (The one in Orland Park is not open yet, but I digress) to pick up some A/V cables for the good old iPod and of course drool at all the new Mac stuff.
I have been in a few Apple stores and they are generally set up the same with the high end production software to the left of the register and the games, GarageBand loops, etc to the right.
I was perusing the latest additions to the Mac gaming world and over heard one teenager complain with a friend about the price of a game that is at least two years old, the name of the game I cannot recollect. He stated that the game was two years old, was already in the bargain bin at a local “Big Box†store, and was more than fifty percent cheaper. The question was; “Why should I pay more for something I can get for less?†His friend, who obviously was a Mac owner, looked around the store like a person who had just been publicly humiliated as his friends tone carried throughout the store. The Mac owner quickly retorted that playing on a Mac is better than playing on the PC.
At this point I was pretending to be interested in a foreign language teaching app so as to be discreet and not be seen being nosy. I had to hear the Mac owners reasons, I have my own but thought they would be different.
He said, “They look great with the Mac displays! Nothing looks better than an LCD screen.†He was arguing the case very good so far. “Did you know that the Macs have Intel chips in them?†The friend at this point looked like a deer in the headlights, he obviously didn’t have a clue about the new Macs having not only Intel chips, but Core 2 Duos. “That means you can run Windows, if you really felt the need, and play your PC games.â€
I’m not going to say at this point that the friend went right up to the register and bought a Mac, but I will say that he was intrigued. He at least went up to one of the Mac specialists and asked questions about the graphics cards that came with them, and other options that could be had.
He may never own a Mac, but he will at least know why it’s fantastic to play games on the Mac. Think about it this way, the game you are purchasing may be two years old, but it’s has had patches and has had bug fixes that were not done at the very beginning, so in most cases you are getting the best product and not worrying if the program will crash. Because our PC friends have done all the beta testing for the Mac version for us.
Good grief. This is exactly why PC users think Mac users are creeps. Rather than accepting shortcomings or flaws in our beloved Macs, they instead make excuse after excuse justifying how EVERYTHING on macs are better. It’s disgusting. And in this article the author and the “mac buddy” both even resort to lying in order to make a point just to nail the sale. As much as we like Apple, we need to quit acting like commissioned salesmen and remember WE ARE CONSUMERS.
Now as for the points made in the article:
1) “Nothing looks better than on an LCD”
Actually, the absolute best screens use CRT technology. Apple LCD’s are fantastic but they are overpriced compared to other brands like Dell who use the exact same parts and charge 30-40% less.
2) Macs use Intel chips.
True but we’re talking games. Intel core2duo, quadcore, octo. Its all pretty powerful stuff but what does that power matter when the games are built for PPC.
3) You can run Windows.
Again, we’re talking games meaning parallels is useless. Boot Camp is good but it requires a hefty hard drive partition and when you add up the OS and toss in the size of modern games.
4) “Its fantastic to play games on Mac”
Why? What makes a Mac gaming experience in any way better than PC?
5) “the game you are purchasing may be two years old, but it’s has had patches and has had bug fixes that were not done at the very beginning,”
Every game has patches and modern games update them with very little user intervention. Waiting 2 years for a 20mb patch isnt a good trade off. And when talking patches then a larger userbase means a better optimization of the app and more frequent updates.
6) so in most cases you are getting the best product and not worrying if the program will crash. Because our PC friends have done all the beta testing for the Mac version for us.”
There has yet to be a Mac version of a PC game that is better than the PC version because Mac games are usually ported, emulated or re-written for Mac. PC users have very little to do with the development process.
Anyway, i’m all for praising Macs where they excel but lets not forget that people are paying hard earned money for these things so deceiving fellow consumers does not make the Mac look any better.
“They look great with the Mac displays! Nothing looks better than an LCD screen.â€
That doesn’t really make sense. I have had an LCD screen on my Windows box for years now. My LCD screen looks just as good as any Apple display.
For me, I would play on a Mac rebooted into Windows. Having 4 Core’s running anything just seems cool. However, for most of what I play, I just switch my monitor over to my Windows box and play there.
For me, I got a Mac to get away from horror stories of people updating video drivers only to get the infamous BSOD over and over. Microsoft wanting to own my soul. etc…
All of your opinions are valid and are not discounted, once again these are the things I over heard. I personally enjoy playing my games on the Mac simply because they run faster than on my Windows box.
I think if there was a game that best defines it, it is “World of Warcraft”. Once again valid points and opinions.
-c
Look, I have a Mac, I like it but I sadly won’t be getting another because it CAN”T Play games. I mean sure, dual boot windows, but, unless you are buying a 2500 dollar Macbook pro you don’t have a prayer at running any sort of games on a mac laptop. Also, the desktops, unless you get a Top of the line model you’re not getting much either. Apples $&%! does stink and this is an example where a mac isn’t truly the right choice. This article really annoys me about that, the points it makes make no sense at all and truth be told, if you want to play games then I would strongly advise you getting a Mac, I know my next computer won’t be on for that very reason.
Thanks for the comment Tom, though I’m confused on the point you made:
“This article really annoys me about that, the points it makes make no sense at all and truth be told, if you want to play games then I would strongly advise you getting a Mac.”
Are you stating you saying if you want to play games then you should get a Mac?
I’m just confused by the argument you make. Yes, Mac’s are not chiefly made for gaming. Macs do things REALLY well that PC’s can’t. And PC’s do things that Mac’s can’t which is a very small margin.
Point being, having the ability to play games on a Mac is not a bad thing. I have a iMac G5 PPC and Doom 3, The Sims 2, Tiger Woods, Halo, and Age of Empires 3 runs REALLY smooth. I can’t comment on the portable line, I can only report on what I see.
So yeah, maybe the guy I overheard was trying to be a Mac salesman, but the point of the article is, is that we can have fun with our Mac’s, play games, and not have to worry about PC’s if we don’t want to.
Don’t get me wrong I LOVE my Macs, and as a “laptop platform” the MBP is an ok game rig…. under the Windows OS.
For all of my day to day and business use I use OS X and love it. I am very happy with the way my MBP has integrated into the workflow of my office almost without effort…but lets face it Macs are not a great gaming platform.
Even a Mac Pro the best of the Mac gaming rigs pales in comparison to my Quad core “gamers pc” running two modern gaming GPU’s in SLI. Saying games are faster or better on a Mac is just wrong. I’m happy you like WoW and it is a great port but it is an exception. Under windows you can run WoW/EQ / EQ II / Vanguard / Anarchy Online/ Lord of the Rings Online / Dungeons and Dragons Online / Half-Life 2 / Supreme Commander / CC3 / Neverwinter Nights 2 / Farcry / Halo 2 /… I can keep going but I think the point that there are almost too many great games on Windows to list. On the Mac I can name a handfull and I have to pay 2x as much for them sometimes waiting for a 2-3 year period before I can play them.
I personally own 4 Macs (2 iMacs, my MBP, Mac Mini (intel)) but with the exception of my MBP when I travel I never use them for gaming. The Mac is just not a gaming platform…trying to say otherwise is like saying Vista is just like OS X. Just wrong on so many levels…
Funny you mention World of Warcraft. I bought WoW for the Mac since it was one game I played often. I figured I wouldn’t need to switch computers to play.
I was not very impressed with it’s performance. Mind you, I don’t have the ATI Radeon X1900 GT. However, I did expect a little better performance. So I switched back to my Windows box.
I have heard that the ATI Radeon X1900 GT makes WoW scream, and someday when my Windows box finally is too old to play modern games, I’ll probably upgrade my video card to something that will push a few pixels.
Just so everyone knows, I mean NOT GET A MAC
I noticed some comments about mac users being freaks for making exuses for every single flaw the mac has.
I do that. I admit it. But to me, it’s not about making my friends into mac users. It’s about getting them off my back. Maybe mac users are freaks about the superiority of the mac, but I, as a mac user, wouldn’t be such a freak if the PC users (especially the ones with Vista) weren’t so viously ant-mac.
I agree with ya’ dp, thanks Tom for the clarification. Yes, don’t buy a Mac for games only, that is not very practical. BUT, if you do have a Mac, why shyn away Mac gaming. People say yeah we get titles 2-3 years later than the PC folks. Maybe we need to start supporting the Mac gaming community, if thats your thing of course. In reality, most games made today are on Macs running Maya, just a little food for thought.
Now if you don’t care about playing games on the Mac, fine, that is your choice, and everyone has a valid and appreciated opinion. Just don’t knock someone who feels differently.
Another two cents of mine lol
Wow, what are all these stupid Windows users doing on a “Mac” Cast website. Do you guys remember this place is for “Mac” users, there’s a place for Windows users but not here so stop hating so much.
As far as gaming is concerned, I just don’t know why the Xbox and Nintendo are so successful as it seems that nobody wants to play games unless they are on their computer. You can’t expect your computer to do everything but they do almost everything.
I play Doom3, Unreal, Quake 4 and Call of Duty 2 on my dual G5 desktop and use the Radeon X800 GPU and I play online perfectly at high settings. These are not some games from back in the day, they are some of the current titles. This myth needs to come to an end that Macs CAN’T play games. That’s BS. Windows users say that because they have never owned and used a Mac OS X computer.
Someone mentioned earlier that the MacBook GPU won’t play games because it’s using shared graphics and they decided not to use a Mac because of that?
Again stupid argument because Dell and Sony (incidentally Sony’s are WAY overpriced) and HP all use shared graphics on some of their models so gaming wouldn’t be any better so what’s your point? There is no point.
It’s Apple’s fault that Macs have this non-gaming rep but don’t knock the platform for all the great things it’s capable of.
Don’t forget every movie you watch in the theater and every CD mastered in the studio was most likely made on a Mac because PC’s just aren’t used for pro stuff like that.
As far as the article written, I have to agree that the response about how nice it is to play games on a Mac because they look good aesthetically and the screens are nice makes no sense.
However, the reason why people using the Mac platform are so dedicated and act like commissioned sales people for Apple is because we actually love our computers and we love the platform. I will speak for most Mac users that we have USED Windows which is why we are using Macs now. I have yet to see a PC user really love Windows so much that they become evangelists and sell the platform for Microsoft.
Mac users are dedicated for very good reasons, people just don’t feel that way about a Wintel PC.
Freeverse makes some awesome casual games for a very reasonable price.
Many of the points I wanted to make have already been made in previous comments, but I would like to add that I found particular part of the piece irked me:
–
“Think about it this way, the game you are purchasing may be two years old, but it’s has had patches and has had bug fixes that were not done at the very beginning, so in most cases you are getting the best product and not worrying if the program will crash. Because our PC friends have done all the beta testing for the Mac version for us.”
–
This kind of unwarrented snobbery is part of the reason PC users are adverse to trying out Macs in the first place. There are many ways in which Macs are superior to Windows PC’s, but gaming isn’t one of them.
Nor did I try to imply that.
Charlie, I apologize, I was way to harsh on you. You were simply trying to write something for the maccast website and I was not fair to you. I sincerely apologize to you for being to cruel in trying to prove my point. I could have put it in a more intelligent and calm way.
But Mr Hldan,
“Wow, what are all these stupid Windows users doing on a “Mac†Cast website”
That is the exact reason PC users hate people with Macs… I mean it is those kind of snobbish remarks that get us our stereotype.
Sorry for the double post but also…
Mr Hldan:
“Again stupid argument because Dell and Sony (incidentally Sony’s are WAY overpriced) and HP all use shared graphics on some of their models so gaming wouldn’t be any better so what’s your point? There is no point.”
On SOME of their models. Jeez, do you think they would put one on a 499 system? No, but they do give you the option on Dell. So, all you would have to do would be to buy one for 1299 with a dedicated card and it will THEN outperform the Mac
I am a Mac user and not a gamer, but I have a theory. Since the majority of personal computers are Windows machines, many game developers target this segment. The more developers, the more competition and the lower the price. Also, developers can afford to sell at a lower price to a larger volume. Mac game developers do not have that luxury of scale. That means, in order to stay in business, they must sell at a higher price.
Mr. Hildan,
As a “Stupid” PC user I hesitate to respond to your flame bait post but for the sake of any others that might be following this topic.
Please check facts. If you are going to make off the cuff comments like PC people should not be here and have probably never used a Mac then at least take the time to read the posted information. I am currently writing this on my Macbook Pro and as I previously stated it is just one of 4 macs I currently own and use. It is important to learn the good and the bad about all the computer platforms. If more people would take the time to do that there would be a LOT more Mac users in my opinion.
Adam’s tone on the MacCast has always been friendly to switchers / sliders and those investigating the Mac for the first time. In fact I have recomended that several of my friends listen to the show to get a feel for the Mac community. It is a shame that you feel the need to be so insular that you lash out at any perceived “threat” to your chosen computer. If you are going to lecture PC users about who should be here and who shouldn’t please look to the standards set by the host of the show that we all listen to.
Thanks for your time.
Upated MacBooks!!!!
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2007/05/15macbook.html
I just wanted to say (all be it a bit late) that I really enjoy the fact that I can skip around on your podcast as needed as well as the picts. That being said I know you aren’t exactly being paid the big bucks to do your show. I personally would rather hear more podcasts than have the enhanced version. Love the show and please keep up the good work.
~J
Well my opinions about the article have just as much right to be here as others and despite what some of the “Windows Users” think I welcome them to any Mac forum as well as listening to Adam’s podcast. The concern is that every chance a PC user has to attack the Mac platform they will. The article was talking about games on Macs and of course the gaming industry knows that there aren’t nearly as many available games on a Mac as there are on Windows but PC users always come back to that attack when the topic comes up.
Since security has always been a problem PC users get defensive since Macs are strong in that area.
Some of the comments here mentioned about the Macbooks having shared graphics which ruins any chance of playing a good 3D game on them but I brought up the fact that other manufacturers do the same thing so again there’s no reason to attack the platform.
Other comments mentioned that the games are simply ports, I know that comment comes from a Windows user because the 3D games I play are not so again, another unruly attack against the platform.
To Tom: Statements made by you saying ” I Mean Not Get A Mac”. What’s that suppose to mean, sounds like another attack on the platform. See those type of comments make me ask why would a stupid Windows user be here?
BTW I visit Windows Vista forums as well and the comments PC users say about the Mac and Mac users would bring this forum to tears. I never seen such rudeness and most likely those forums are full of people whom have never used a Mac.
I have not once attacked the Windows platform for it’s shortcomings and if the biggest complaint a person can make about a Mac is about gaming then that’s really not an argument against Macs, it’s best to buy a game console.
“Wow, what are all these stupid Windows users doing on a “Mac†Cast website. Do you guys remember this place is for “Mac†users, there’s a place for Windows users but not here so stop hating so much.”
Isn’t this attitude what gives Macs such a bad reputation? There’s such a martyr attitude out here that if you don’t kiss Apple’s backside then you must be a “stupid windows user”. The topic is Macs and gaming yet because you are offended by the lack of Mac-praise then you immediately go attack the actual person rather than their point.
To Mr Hldan:
Paranoia to the MAX!
Thats all I have to say, be being a stupid PC User who somehow owns an iBook G4, *Wonders how that got there*
“To Tom: Statements made by you saying †I Mean Not Get A Macâ€. What’s that suppose to mean, sounds like another attack on the platform. See those type of comments make me ask why would a stupid Windows user be here?”
*Sigh* If you actually read my above post then you wouldn’t have brought that one up…
Cole: Get over yourself. The reason Macs have a bad rep is because of people like you. Constantly attacking Mac users and anyone who spends a dime with Apple.
“Isn’t this attitude what gives Macs such a bad reputation? There’s such a martyr attitude out here that if you don’t kiss Apple’s backside then you must be a “stupid windows userâ€. The topic is Macs and gaming yet because you are offended by the lack of Mac-praise then you immediately go attack the actual person rather than their point”
Me? offended by lack of Mac praise? I use a Mac everyday of my life and I don’t need pomp and circumstance from you or anyone. You pick and choose what I write instead of commenting on my last posting.
No one seems deny the good Mac games mentioned here actually exist but every chance a PC user has they show ignorance by stating “Macs don’t play games”. If there’s any reason to be offended it’s that type of repeated ignorance. That was the gist of the whole article. Do once again get over yourself dude, if you don’t like my comments ignore them and reply to someone else’s post.
Hi agreed with the article not making much sense in terms of gaming being good on Macs because they look nice but I play great 3D games on my iMac Intel. I don’t use any bootcamp or parallels. One of posters said he would not buy another Mac because of gaming. I was curious as to why not just have an Xbox or Sony gaming machine. This whole thing about playing games on my computer is nice but it doesn’t replace a dedicated gaming machine.
Replacing graphics cards and updating processors on PC’s is costly and you could buy several Xbox 360’s with the money you spend keeping the computer up to date.
Besides the graphics are much better on a dedicated gaming box. My computer is for my work, media, web surfing and photos. I don’t need to make a buying decision on which OS to go for just to play games. I think that’s sort of anal.
Yes, well thats your opinion, keep in mind that there are many games consoles just can’t play such as RTS’s. And what you are saying isn’t really true. The graphics aren’t much better on a console at all. In fact allot of games look even better on PC’s. And of course, a gaming machine can do pretty much anything because they have to be powerful, so you also have a computer to use, something that a console won’t get.
I have my iMac since last november and I must say, I really love it. But gaming on an intel imac running OSX is no fun. It can be both slow and they seemed less patched. The larger games for OSX which can be bought right now are not all universal.
On the other hand, bootcamp is a good solution if you play like to play games as my iMac even runs Oblivion well, using XP.
I would say that gaming on a iMac is no problem unless you really want to play the latest games on the highest resolutions. But you’d have to do it using bootcamp (XP) and not in Mac OSX. And I do think games for Mac OSX are ridiculously expensive. NeverWinter nights 1 is still 60 euros; I bought that one two years ago for 40 (for windows). And they throw a Linux binary in for free.
However. I’m not going back to Windows; I can live with the occasional bootcamp for gaming and hopefully in a year or two the larger games will be available for OSX only months after the Windows version.
I’m a windows user and i know the pros and cons of mac vs windows and the likes for the reason being to know how good or bad it is one have to test it hands on to see the flaws. As a conclusion I’m still sticking to windows :) its a matter of choice actually i would use leopard for normal windows…. but not Windows on a MAC definitely :)
Financial constraints hold me back,
having a choice cuts the slack,
Choose between a windows and a mac
pity me for the cash i lack.