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Archive - Neale Monks
• 2003
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Has BootCamp squished gaming on the Mac
Neale Monks
Writer
Sunday, 04/09/06
Tim's piece last week about how BootCamp -- the utility that allows an Intel-powered Macintosh to startup using either Mac OS X or Windows XP -- made the point that perhaps this was the end of the line for VirtualPC. I don't actually believe this to be the case, after all, the majority of people using VirtualPC need it to run Windows programs alongside Macintosh ones, not instead of them. For those users, restarting their computer each time they need to toggle between Windows and Mac applications just isn't viable.
No, BootCamp isn't the death knell for VirtualPC. But it is an omen of doom for the Mac game developers, or more specifically, the companies that port PC games over to the Macintosh.
I don't own a Playstation or any other kind of games console, and when I do play computer games, it's going to be on my Macintosh. As has often been pointed out, even if the Mac has the potential to be a good games platform, it's let down by a limited range of titles that almost always come out months after the PC versions, and invariably cost significantly more.
This beggars the question, if a Mac gamer need only reboot his Intel Macintosh to turn it into a fully-fledged PC, why is he going to wait for the Mac version of a new game when the PC version is already out? Why pay $40 for the Mac version of SimCity when the PC version is on sale at CompUSA for $10?
It's hard to imagine how MacSoft, or the Mac-specific parts of bigger outfits like Blizzard and Aspyr, can maintain their businesses. Unlike the situation with VirtualPC, which provides a way for Mac and Windows progams to run simultaenously, Mac games are rarely run alongside anything else. If anything, it's standard practise to shut down other applications so that the computer can devote all available resources to the game being run. So while Microsoft can justify developing VirtualPC, when it comes to porting new PC games to the Mac, the case isn't nearly as compelling.
I have mixed feelings about this. Companies like MacSoft did a lot to keep the Macintosh a fun platform to work with during the dark days of the mid to late 1990s. They've almost always turned out good products, and in some cases added value to the package relative to the PC versions. SimCity 3 and 4, for example, came with various goodies either absent from the PC version or only available through add-on patches and updaters.
On the flip side, Mac games have been overpriced compared with the PC versions, and while there may be some justification given the relatively smaller Mac market, when games cost twice as much on the Mac than on the PC, it's no surprise to me that the Mac gaming market has been stagnant for years.
Bottom line, while the Mac may be dead as a platform for game development, Mac gamers have probably never had it so good.
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Neale,
I have to disagree.
First, it is going to be a while before most Mac users are on an Intel machine. Those Mac users will still be buying games for the Mac.
Second, there are many people that would not even install Windows on their Macs even if they did have an Intel machine.
Maybe somewhere down the road, if Windows software can run natively in OSX and most Mac users have made the switch to Intel, then I could see some developers stepping down. Until then, I don't see it happening.
Many Mac users, like myself, have bought game consoles to be able to play the latest and greatest games. If that hasn't kill Mac game developers, I don't think BootCamp will.
Posted by Donny Yankellow
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I tend to agree with you here, Neale. If Mac users want a game, they need only install Windows on an Intel Mac to buy and run it. Why settle for ports that come out months, if EVER, on the Mac? Why would a publisher want to go to the expense? Bottom line is, in two years, there will be next to no Mac OS X games. And you are right, for Mac gamers, it will actually be much better.
Tim
Posted by Tim Robertson
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