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    Mac not for gaming??

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by Mandrake, Jul 25, 2011.

  1. Mandrake

    Mandrake Notebook Nobel Laureate NBR Reviewer

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    Thought I would post this for some giggles....

    Because Windows supports more games than OS X I think the perception is if you want to game don't bother with a mac. These days most Macs can dual boot and you can still load Windows natively (non-VM) so that perception is a bit skewed.

    Well I'm a huge Star Wars fan and usually get all the games that are released from Lucas Arts. I have never been able to finish the game Star Wars Force Unleashed II because of glitches with the game on Windows.

    Here is an example of the problem. It happened to me on two different Alienware systems.
    ‪M17xR3 - Star Wars Force Unleashed II - Problem!‬‏ - YouTube

    Now I'm playing it with my iMac and there are no issues. As soon as I get a little more time the game will be conquered! ;)
     
    Mandrake, Jul 25, 2011
    #1
  2. Mitlov

    Mitlov Shiny

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    I'm a gamer who has owned Apples since 2004, but who will be going back to a dedicated PC machine next. When I had my PowerBook G4, I gamed on my previous PC machine (an Inspiron) and consoles. When I got my MacBook Pro, I fully expected it to offer "the best of both words" due to boot camp.

    It didn't.

    First, even though MacBook Pros offer CPUs and GPUs well-suited to gaming, no Apple laptop offers cooling adequate for gaming. These machines get HOT while gaming. Some people experience throttling, some people just plain don't like getting burned by the top-left quadrant of their computer while gaming, and certainly that much heat is not good for the long-term health of components.

    Second, if you plan on using Boot Camp to game in Windows, this is exacerbated because the MBP doesn't cool itself as well in Windows as it does in OSX. Not sure why, but it definitely runs hotter.

    Third, if you plan on using Boot Camp to game in Windows, hard drive space of all Apple laptop offerings is lacking. Maxing out at a 500 GB hard drive (assuming you're going for 7200 over 5400) doesn't leave all the space I'd want for two partitions with two OSes.

    Fourth, if you're planning on gaming in OSX, the selection sucks. For every high-profile game that exists in OSX there are ten that don't. Bad Company 2? Battlefield 3? Mass Effect series? Crysis series? I could go on and on, but I've made my point. If you're the sort who doesn't just have one or two games that you're dedicated to, but like to play this or that new release, relying on OSX is going to seriously hamper you.

    Finally, if you're planning on playing games in OSX, be aware that many of them are poorly-executed ports. The Blizzard games run well, sure (Starcraft II and World of Warcraft), and some others do. KOTOR ran terribly when they first released an OSX version for the App store, but they've fixed it. The OSX port of Dragon Age: Origins ran very poorly for me. Frankly, Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age 2 (same company, much newer and more graphics-intensive games) ran much better for me in Win XP than Dragon Age Origins did in OSX.

    You can game on an Apple, just like you can go running in dress shoes. But it's not what the shoes were designed for, and they're not going to work as well as shoes made for that purpose.
     
    Mitlov, Jul 25, 2011
    #2
  3. doh123

    doh123 Without ME its just AWESO

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    I only game on my Mac.. and without Windows... the whole reason I started making Wineskin in the first place was just for myself :)
     
    doh123, Jul 25, 2011
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  4. Mandrake

    Mandrake Notebook Nobel Laureate NBR Reviewer

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    I'm just happy I can play Force Unleashed II now. :p
     
    Mandrake, Jul 25, 2011
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  5. Bog

    Bog Losing it...

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    I played Force Unleashed on my PC. It is probably the laziest port ever, and the sequel is no different.
     
    Bog, Jul 25, 2011
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  6. Nick

    Nick Professor Carnista

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    Nick, Jul 25, 2011
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