Can you game on the Mac?

Posted on Sunday, August 19 2007 @ 20:36 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
The Apple Mac platform isn't really famous for its gaming capabilities but it seems to be improving a bit now that Apple is using x86 chipsets for the systems. ARS Technica took another look at Mac gaming this week, you can check out their article over here.
On June 11, Electronic Arts' cofounder Bing Gordon came on stage at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference to announce that EA was going to help bring gaming back to the Mac. Part of this announcement included promises that EA planned to release several titles for Mac OS X by July: Command and Conquer 3, Battlefield 2142, Need For Speed Carbon, and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Not only that, but the company also said that they would release OS X versions of Madden NFL 08 and Tiger Woods 08, simultaneously with their counterparts on other platforms.

Mac-using gaming enthusiasts rejoiced at this news, but not for long; word soon came out that EA didn't plan to actually release real Mac Intel-native versions of its games. Instead, EA planned to use portability engine Cider, licensed from TransGaming, in order to port the Windows versions of its games to be playable on a Mac without having to redo any of the original source code. "Cider works by directly loading a Windows program into memory on an Intel-Mac and linking it to an optimized version of the Win32 APIs," reads Cider's product page. "Games are 'wrapped' with the Cider engine, and they simply run on the Mac."
They conclude that gaming on the Mac is still a joke, but that it's getting a little better.


About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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