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Luca
ಠ_ರೃ
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Minnesota
 
2006-11-09, 22:33

Yeah, especially after the Intel switch, Macs are now viable gaming machines. Here's one thing I'd like to clarify though - given the price of a Mac Pro, you can get a cheaper and better (for gaming) PC. But then, it's a PC and it can't run the Mac OS.

So basically, Macs are not the best "gaming machines," but they are perfectly fine "machines for gaming." I wouldn't buy a Mac specifically for gaming, nor would I spend a whole lot extra to buy a Mac more powerful than I need just for games, but if you need a Mac Pro anyway, why not? It's an excellent machine for all purposes, gaming included.

And yes, it's the quality and availability of the software that has held back Macs in the gaming arena since the 3D era began many years ago. There aren't many Mac games compared to PC games. Those that are available often come out many months, even years, after their PC equivalents. When they come out, they usually cost the full $50 original retail price, even if the PC version has since dropped in price by virtue of it being out for a long time. And the performance is often poor - sometimes, the Mac version even lacks basic features, like multiplayer (look at Command And Conquer, where the Mac version can only do multiplayer with other Macs).

To a lesser extent, it's also the cost and relative gaming performance of Macs compared to PCs. You see, Apple was never really that concerned with gaming performance, so they've never equipped Macs with extremely powerful graphics cards. As such, you spend a lot of money on a Mac to get a great piece of hardware with a mediocre graphics card. Great for most things except gaming.

But yeah, all this has changed. I think if you're getting such a powerful machine you should pick up an OEM copy of WinXP Home for under $100, and then get a bunch of Windows games. You could get some older ones for really cheap - most games that have been out for longer than five or six months will drop in price to the $20 range.

EDIT: I AM STUPID. I originally suggested Gears Of War. Apparently that is Xbox 360-only for now, though a PC version is likely in the works. That's what I get for not keeping up on gaming news.

Last edited by Luca : 2006-11-11 at 02:49.
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