is OS X Leopard good for gaming?

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imported_LandShark

Member
Nov 9, 2005
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i dont know anything about this OS, im wondering if it is good for gaming.

Microsoft made Directx 10 exclusive for vista, but i dont wanna buy Vista

Moved from PC Gaming to All Things Apple-PC Gaming Moderator DAPUNISHER

 
Bateluer

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
27,730
8
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None of the Mac OSs have been particularly good for gaming. Its not that they don't have the capability or the features, rather that few firms develop for the platform because of its low popularity. Macs only make up something in the 5 to 10 percent range of the total 'PC' market.

If you've got XP now, I'd stick with that for the time being. DX10 isn't a compelling upgrade for two big reasons. First, DX10 ready hardware isn't really powerful enough to do it justice. And secondly, because developers are still learning DX10, there are few DX10 titles. There's also the slow uptake of Vista as well to make matters worse.
 
AstroManLuca

AstroManLuca

Lifer
Jun 24, 2004
15,628
5
81
Just to illustrate my point, I'll mention that you can play Call Of Duty 4 under the Mac OS... starting in July.

Bateluer is right, though. It's not that OS X itself is bad for games, it's that the amount of hardware that runs OS X is so tiny and most of it isn't suited to gaming at all. MacBooks and Mac Minis have Intel graphics, and even the iMacs only have mediocre video cards despite their high prices (Radeon 2400XT, 2600 Pro, or 8800GS, depending on the configuration). Very few Mac users play games, and the ones who do generally boot into Windows to do it.

Basically, if gaming is anything more than an occasional diversion for you, then OS X isn't for you.
 
Modelworks

Modelworks

Lifer
Feb 22, 2007
16,240
7
76
Other than the lack of available games OSX could be a very good gaming platform, its just not currently.
I installed OSX86 the other day on the same pc I am using now and it was the easiest os install I ever did.
It also is very fast at doing everything, light years ahead of vista Iimho.

Too bad apple wants to keep it only on mac hardware.
If they would sell it for pc, they could give MS a run for their money since people aren't liking vista all that much.
Hardware support is mainly lacking in the sound card area. It supports pc sound cards, but getting surround to work in 5.1 is a bit of a issue.
Video cards, the 8800GTS I have worked fine.


 
sourceninja

sourceninja

Diamond Member
Mar 8, 2005
8,805
65
91
In terms of hardware compared to a PC, yes it is lacking, but why do we need to look at the mac as a PC. This has bothered me. The mac is like a console system. You have exact hardware specs that are fairly consistent and targetable. It should be possible to write games for a mac that run better on less hardware then on a windows or linux pc. You should be able to push it harder knowing the exact hardware. This is why GTA IV looks so great in 1080p on my tv via the 260, but will probably run like crap at 1600x1200 on my desktop in vista unless I upgrade.

Sure maybe the 360 doesn't look as great as most PC games. But it looks damn good at 1080p on my tv, good enough I don't care. If mac could pull that off, maybe go zero install like a console, they could have a huge gaming market. And with the way most consoles are marketed now, it could actually work. They could even sell the iControler.

Current marketshare would not matter, what would matter is top named titles and proper marketing (apple is good at that).

It's a shame really. Oh well they still make great unix workstations.
 
AstroManLuca

AstroManLuca

Lifer
Jun 24, 2004
15,628
5
81
The problem with that, sourceninja, is that the Macs that cost the same as game consoles have crappy GPUs. The $600 Mac mini, the only Mac that even approaches console prices, has an Intel GMA shared graphics processor, which sucks and can hardly play any games. If you want to look at Macs that are at least somewhat capable of gaming, the cheapest one is $1200, and that's an iMac with a Radeon HD2400XT?not much of a graphics card at all. The $1500 iMac has a Radeon HD2600 Pro, which is probably about comparable to what's in an Xbox 360... but it's $1500. Meanwhile, the cheapest Mac to have an 8800, the 24" iMac with an 8800GS (probably about on the level of the PS3), is $2000.

These might be acceptable to people who use their computers for all sorts of stuff, especially work-related stuff, and who only game incidentally. But no one is going to go out and buy a Mac specifically for gaming (well, some people might, but it would be pretty dumb!).

Besides, in order to give Macs console-like consistency, Apple would have to stop putting Intel GMA chips in their cheaper computers, making them even more expensive. And more importantly, they'd have to get a bunch of developers on board. It's technically possible to do what you propose, but it'll never happen. Apple's tried to get game developers interested in them in the past (Halo was first announced at a Macworld conference!), but the developers inevitably lose interest and leave Apple because Apple's just not committed to putting adequate gaming-grade hardware in all their computers. This is even more true now that they're using Intel graphics instead of dedicated graphics in all their computers.
 
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mchammer187

Diamond Member
Nov 26, 2000
9,114
0
76
Originally posted by: EarthwormJim
No, unless all you care about are Blizzard games.
Click to expand...

I know WoW runs much better on vista than when I boot it up as a hackintosh

WoW does not run as well as i'd hoped on my MBP in leopard but I have not installed vista or XP on it yet
 
sourceninja

sourceninja

Diamond Member
Mar 8, 2005
8,805
65
91
I don't think directX has that much play anymore. Very few games are windows only anymore, in fact windows is a secondary target it seems. So if they are already doing ps3, they have the experience to do things other then directX. Same with the wii. The problem there is that apple has not supplied a nice way to do what directX or the gaming console development tools does. Something valve has complained about.
 
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AnthroAndStargate

Golden Member
Oct 7, 2005
1,350
0
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Yes you can game on a Mac. I play World of Warcraft with EVERY setting maxed and get 60FPS consistent (I could get more but I limit it to 60).

I am going to buy CoD 4 and Im sure that would run well. I have played TF2 and DOD:S in OSX via Crossover.

Its frutstraing and not the best but I'd say come over. I'm a hard core gamer and the more gamers we get on OS X the better.

Until then you can always dual boot into XP. I use a MBP btw
 
K

Kmax82

Diamond Member
Feb 23, 2002
3,008
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www.kennonbickhart.com
I'm really looking forward to Doom 4, not because I love the series, but because it's going to be the first engine that works on EVERY OS. I think this is revolutionary, and I'm super excited that id is working on it. They typically make great engines, so if anyone can make a cross platform engine work, it'd be them (or the Unreal team).
 
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GundamSonicZeroX

Platinum Member
Oct 6, 2005
2,100
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Originally posted by: Kmax82
I'm really looking forward to Doom 4, not because I love the series, but because it's going to be the first engine that works on EVERY OS.
Click to expand...
What about the Quake 3 engine?
 
sourceninja

sourceninja

Diamond Member
Mar 8, 2005
8,805
65
91
Or for that matter unreal engine (up until unreal 3 which they decided coudln't be ported to linux)

nwn also works on all 3 platforms I believe.
 
K

Kmax82

Diamond Member
Feb 23, 2002
3,008
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www.kennonbickhart.com
Originally posted by: sourceninja
Or for that matter unreal engine (up until unreal 3 which they decided coudln't be ported to linux)

nwn also works on all 3 platforms I believe.
Click to expand...

Oh.. Well, I'm the uninformed citizen. I was unaware those were all multiplatform. :(
 
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