“There is only one reason I still have a Windows PC: games. Obviously, I need a device for hooking up to the net, answering email, and general productivity… But I prefer that device to be a PC so I can play the latest and greatest cutting-edge games. It’s not that the Mac gaming shelf is devoid of life — any system that plays Civ IV gets a thumbs-up in my book — but for a serious gamer the PC continues to be where it’s at,” Fargo blogs for FirePlanet.
Fargo writes, “This is not a new development. For years I’ve wanted a Mac.”
Fargo writes, “I know it’s humiliating, but for once you’ve got to look at what Microsoft is doing and copy it. Those guys are scared of you — and they know that games are the one and only thing that has prevented you from hitting the Tipping Point years ago. The ‘Games for Windows’ team is making noise at every game convention I go to. A whole division at Microsoft is devoted to developing game technology — like DirectX or the Microsoft XNA developer’s toolkit. Microsoft buys up development studios and publishes triple-A games with regularity. Microsoft knows that games are the key to getting people to adopt hardware: how is Microsoft attacking the American living room? Through a game console. How did they make sure that game console was a household name? They bought Bungie and brought Halo on board. Man, Halo was supposed to be a Mac game.
“They shanked you,” Fargo writes.
“I say, take some of that big money you’re making from iTunes and shovel it into gaming. Don’t go half-assed, Apple. Buy some companies up. Get with the mergering and acquisitioning. Get some exclusive content. Make sure that the next Spore-like event appears on the Mac first,” Fargo writes.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We remember sitting in the keynote hall at the Javits Center when Halo was introduced to the world by Steve Jobs (“Halo will be released simultaneously for Mac and Windows”) with a preview trailer at Macworld Expo NYC in 1999. Less than a year later, Microsoft bought Bungie.
Macworld Expo NYC 1999, Steve Jobs shows off Bungie’s Halo:
The Mac Hardware Platform also needs a high end gaming rig. Mac pro is way overkill with its Xeon Processors, and its ULTRA high end ECC memory is too expensive.
We need a Mini Mac Pro, with field swappable / upgradeable video cards, Core 2 Duo, DDR2 RAM priced around 1k-1500. Basically, take an iMac and rip out the LCD and bump up the Video card power.
The only reason I am holding on to my old p4 windows machine is because there is no direct Apple hardware to replace it, and I already have a high end expensive LCD I dont want to replace. I also dont want to drop OVER 2k on a Mac pro
I have many Windows Friends that feel the same way.
APPLE/STEVE HERE OUR CRIES!! GIVE US A MAC MINI PRO or an INTEL CUBE!!!!
” . . . perhaps you need to get your pasty white ass outside and see the world a bit.”
Amen. (And please wear pants. Think of the children.)
Hey, what about iQuiz?
@ Chrissy One… I disagree whole-heartedly on your point about 3D. 3DS Max is far, far, faaaar from being the be-all end all of 3D Apps. The vastly superior Cinema 4D and Maya both work very well in OSX. Hell, you can even slum it in Lightwave if you want.
I make my living as a 3D Artist/Animator, and have always been, exclusively on a Mac.
“There is only one reason I still have a Windows PC: games”
Stopped reading right there. Get a life.
Here’s a better version or versions of the Halo preview.
http://halo.bungie.org/movies.html?orderby=date
God knows where my Macworld 1999 CD is with all the info on it. Most likely in a box in the storage room.
Seriously, if you want to play games, buy a PS3, Wii or Xbox 360. That’s what they’re built for. Who wants to play games on a PC or a Mac when you can get one of those and hook it up to your big screen HDTV in your living room. And they’re truly plug-and-play, unlike any PC.
A better letter would be:
Keep your Windows box for games, I don’t want MS to completely disappear, we need them to provide the easiest to break-in OS so that virus writer (better, script kiddies) will never focus their attention to anything else and have their playground always ready.
Keep Windows be such a low hanging fruit: better, an already packed fruit ready to be savoured.
Windows, the best AV for everybody else.
MDN “easy” Now, that’s scary
I am a gamer always have been. However I feel that the PC’s days of gaming are numbered. I bought an Xbox and I gotta say gaming is way more fun on a console. For the following reasons…
The cost of a console is about the same as the latest vid card.
5 year upgrade cycle reduces the replacement cost to keep current.
Gaming in the living room while sitting on couch.
Split screen with 2-4 player on almost every game title.
Headset to talk to friends while playing.
Note that I think some games suck on consoles, like RTS games because of the requirement of many buttons to perform specific tasks. Since I’m not a fan of RTS it’s no big deal.
@ Willie G
I believe you, but many in 3D don’t. One friend has lots of money and many years invested in 3DSMax and he won’t just go out and learn Maya, while also learning a new OS. The learning curve on 3D apps is just too steep to expect that.
**Yawn**
Sorry… don’t care about games…. or the lack therof on the Mac platform.
While I understand this is a problem for many, how many gamers really buy off the shelf hardware systems? Don’t gamers like to ‘upgrade’ everything? I doubt Apple will ever allow any type of real customization of it’s systems, more than is available on the Apple Web Store.
If Apple were to develop better tools for gaming developers, how will more games allow gamers to customize a system that isn’t really build to be as customizable as a PC?
Every statistic I hear about computer gaming shows the market to be stagnating or even shrinking. Console gaming is where it’s at.
On PCs, too much of the burden of achieving a good gaming experience is pushed to the gamer. PC gamers are expected to continually upgrade their gaming PC with better video cards and the like. Consoles force the developers to better exploit what’s there already. PC gamers buy half-finished software and then are expected to apply a plethora of patches. Consoles force the developers to work the bugs out before they release.
Overall, with the major exception of MMORPGs, there’s no good reason to game on a PC. (And the best MMORPGs are available for Mac.)
That’s what bootcamp is for. PC games run beautifully on mac hardware with bootcamp. That’s the only legitimate reason to use bootcamp, because everything else you can do just as well or better in OS X
“Stopped reading right there. Get a life.”
Yeah. But stop at one. You don’t need a Second Life.
This is so true.. Apple’s biggest weak point (and it’s HUGE) in the consumer space is GAMES.
Hard core gamers push the hardware envelope on Windows PCs in the consumer space. Apple has no presence here. At best they get hand-me-downs from the Windows world. This situation needs to improve for Apple to really hit Microsoft where it hurts in the consumer space.
Right now I cannot recommend a Mac to my Windows PC loving friends who are hard core gamers.. it’s just not an option. Sure they can dual boot into WIndows using Boot Camp, but c’mon! I would not ask a friend to endure that crap!
Apple fix this situation!
Now!
As a avid gamer and a longterm Mac user I have this to say
Game consoles are taking over much of the needs and wants of the average personal computer.
My PS3 can access the internet and do a lot of things online, just not all that well yet, but it\’s rapidly improving with each system update.
This is why Microsoft and Sony are taking huge losses on the console market, whoever \”wins\” here will own the personal computer space.
Game consoles are sold at near cost or a loss and made up for on individual game prices.
Also costs are absorbed into something bigger that does make profits, for Microsoft it\’s Windows and Office. For Sony it\’s a whole bunch of hardware and content sales.
How is Apple supposed to compete in this space? the iPod? It\’s keeping them alive right now. They don\’t have anything that incurs a profitable revenue stream in order to compete. (perhaps if the iPhone gets really big?) They certainly can\’t be buying content and compete with M$ and Sony.
Apple is best at what they do, create brand new markets and dominate them as long as possible.
Sorry 3D gamers (myself included) Apple and eventually even Windows boxes will see even further declines in the game market.
Go into any game store and you used to see Windows and Mac games with a few console games, now it\’s all console games and a few Win games.
The 3D game market is dead for Mac\’s and that\’s the truth
Don\’t expect Apple to seriously consider it. My PS3 is 10x more powerful and costs substancially less than a Mac Pro with graphic cards upgrades every few months.
Forget seriously 3D gaming on anything les than a Mac Pro with a RAID 0 pair of boot drives either.
Think iLife.
Imagine a game environment that employs your own video, stills, and music. A 3D landscape that is strangely familiar (that trip to Hawaii) with voices from your home video (was that my sister speaking?).
Apple will jump right over the next generation of games, and land in your world!
Imagine it!
I think Apple has realizes what it’s been missing in the gaming market, and the iPod Games are their first real entree into this area. Much like that Motorola RKR, or whatever it was called, was a preliminary entree into cell phones. Steve’s got something up his sleeve for the gaming market, just you wait and see.
Dear Steve Jobs,
Perhaps you do or don’t like violent games but that doesn’t mean that other computer users agree with you, however it is an important part of the market. Likewise you should respect other people’s likes and needs and provide a whole Mac experience.
Sure iTunes is essential, Quicktime Pro is cool and and iWork is really functional. In fact today’s Macs blow windows’ machines out of the water. As for Apple’s operating system, there is simply no match. But something is missing, really missing and that’s games.
Just to jog your memory, in the early to mid nineties gamers gave up on the Mac platform and went over to windows (in hordes) because more and more games were being ported to that part of the market. Apple was always a Johnny-come-lately when it came to games.
Sure we can use Bootcamp or Parallels but that means installing XP or Vista. Have you ever thought that many of us just can’t stand the sight of Microsoft and that having anything from that company (on our Macs) just makes us sick to the stomach.
So come on Apple, get your act together and stop hiding behind Bootcamp/ Parralels. That’s right, by using this type of software for games is the equivalent of saying we don’t care about games being ported to Macs.
You know Steve, I’ve been waiting since Shattered Steel for a Mech Warrior type game to be ported to Macs. I’ve been pretty patient I think, but nine years is just a bit too long don’t you think? So come on dude, if Apple could completely change the music scene in three years don’t you think you could do the same thing to the gaming market.
I spent half the day yesterday playing Halflife2 and half the morning today playing Flight Simulator X…
I’m fine with my MacPro & Bootcamp works flawlessly to play these games!!
A small postscript,
Playing games on an ipod is real small beer and I mean small as in the screen size. Ditto for the iPhone. Consoles are cool but people are still playing games on computers. Frankly, I can’t justify forking out serious dollars for a console just to play games (forget dvds being played on consoles, dvd players/recorders are much cheaper than consoles).
Everyone forgets that Apple is going to where the puck will be, not where it’s at now.
Canadians understand this. They are not worried about the state of gaming on a Mac. They are worried about being able to get that small, hand-held computer that also takes pictures, plays movies and music, uses WiFi to surf the net on real web pages and does one other thing. What is it? Oh yes, makes phone calls and sends text messages.
About the only useful thing that Apple could do for gaming is make Xcode capable of developing code for the PowerPC gaming consoles (Playstation 3 & Wii) as well all Mac OS devices.
high end PC gaming is a dead end. dedicated Gaming boxes are the future.
This doesn’t mean Apple should abandon gaming altogether, but only if it has some killer game or low end gaming it can turn a profit on.
Screw the gamers. Grow up already