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It may not have been a landmark year for gaming, but don't tell that to the 10 games and accessories selected for the 2007 Game Hall of Fame. The creators of these products overcame the odds to deliver offerings that were memorable, visually stunning, and just plain fun. Peter Cohen welcomes our 10 newest inductees into Macworld's annual gaming shrine. [more]
Game Room Weblog: Macworld's 2007 Game Hall of Fame
#1
Macworld.com 
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Posted 03 December 2007 - 09:40 AM
MultiQuote
#2
JakeB
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Posted 03 December 2007 - 01:18 PM
Surely anyone serious about gaming on a Mac is going to use Boot Camp and install a version of Windows XP, then choose from THOUSANDS of PC games, often costing much less than the relative few for which a Mac version exists.
Apart from development of casual games that can run on iPods or the iPhone, what incentive is there for developers of major games to cater to OS X?
Mac gaming is alive and well. Mac gaming using OS X is moribund.
Apart from development of casual games that can run on iPods or the iPhone, what incentive is there for developers of major games to cater to OS X?
Mac gaming is alive and well. Mac gaming using OS X is moribund.
#4
hagen
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Posted 03 December 2007 - 01:59 PM
Agree: XP's game year was out of this world and Boot Camp runs them all (with a Mac Pro of though): Crysis, Bioshock, COD4 and untold thousands more.
I do buy games as they come out on the Mac so have played Prey (and loved it for it's gravity and 3 dimensional mindbenders but also for the games it plays with scale). I also use my Mac for casual games and there are tons of great games out there: Magic Stones, Chicago 1930, Kult: Heretical Kingdoms, Copter, iConquer and lots more. Google download games for mac and loads of free and shareware stuff pops up.
I definitely recommend Winter Wolves' Magic Stones though.
I do buy games as they come out on the Mac so have played Prey (and loved it for it's gravity and 3 dimensional mindbenders but also for the games it plays with scale). I also use my Mac for casual games and there are tons of great games out there: Magic Stones, Chicago 1930, Kult: Heretical Kingdoms, Copter, iConquer and lots more. Google download games for mac and loads of free and shareware stuff pops up.
I definitely recommend Winter Wolves' Magic Stones though.
#5
jackdawsson
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Posted 03 December 2007 - 02:09 PM
Credit to the developers still bringing out Mac-native games, but I very much agree with previous posters. If you want serious gaming on a Mac there's really little choice (& what choice there is seems to be fast disappearing) but to Boot Camp it. It may be a pity, but unless something extraordinary happens soon that's the irresistible reality. The Mac user base is certainly increasing, but AFAIA Mac-native game sales aren't.
#6
Philip Michaels
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Posted 03 December 2007 - 02:13 PM
Quote:
Star wars episode numbers are not right. New Hope is episode IV, then follow from there.
Star wars episode numbers are not right. New Hope is episode IV, then follow from there.
That's because Attack of the Clones never happened. You hear me, George Lucas? It never happened.
#7
Peter Cohen
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Posted 03 December 2007 - 02:43 PM
This feature is about Mac gaming. It's not a referendum on Boot Camp.
Boot Camp isn't gaming on the Mac. It's gaming on Windows. That copy of Windows may be running on the Mac, but that's irrelevant -- it's still gaming on Windows.
Boot Camp isn't gaming on the Mac. It's gaming on Windows. That copy of Windows may be running on the Mac, but that's irrelevant -- it's still gaming on Windows.
#8
Schneb
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Posted 03 December 2007 - 02:51 PM
Quote:
That's because Attack of the Clones never happened. You hear me, George Lucas? It never happened.
Quote:
Star wars episode numbers are not right. New Hope is episode IV, then follow from there.
Star wars episode numbers are not right. New Hope is episode IV, then follow from there.
That's because Attack of the Clones never happened. You hear me, George Lucas? It never happened.
Still one off. Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace never happened. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
#9
MarkZebra1
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Posted 03 December 2007 - 03:47 PM
Is it just me, or is this list of games uninspired? RPG games, a vibrating chair, etc... ho-hum. And Prey is an Xbox game that was out several months (I believe) before it was available for the Mac. I had already finished it on the Xbox by the time it came out.
I miss the golden age of Mac gaming: the Myst series, Gadget, L-Zone, Carmageddon, etc. (most overlooked by Macworld -- which should be hyping the cool, in light of the fact that in a just world the Mac would be the gaming platform of choice). Apple's partially to blame for the dearth of good Mac-only games. Is there a future for Mac gaming that pushes the boundaries of what gaming can be? Given that Macs appeal to people who think different?
I miss the golden age of Mac gaming: the Myst series, Gadget, L-Zone, Carmageddon, etc. (most overlooked by Macworld -- which should be hyping the cool, in light of the fact that in a just world the Mac would be the gaming platform of choice). Apple's partially to blame for the dearth of good Mac-only games. Is there a future for Mac gaming that pushes the boundaries of what gaming can be? Given that Macs appeal to people who think different?
#10
Peter Cohen
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Posted 03 December 2007 - 03:50 PM
In case you haven't heard it, Patton Oswalt's take on this is hilarious. (Caution: Coarse language.)
#11
Schneb
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Posted 03 December 2007 - 06:40 PM
Didn't want to pay the buck, but the preview gave me a chuckle. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
If there is a movie I like, but hate many of the scenes, I will edit it in FinalCut, then turn it back in to a DVD. I have done this for Titanic, Frisco Kid, and Team America. I tried on Star Wars Episode 1, and I just couldn't make it work. It was that bad! :O
If there is a movie I like, but hate many of the scenes, I will edit it in FinalCut, then turn it back in to a DVD. I have done this for Titanic, Frisco Kid, and Team America. I tried on Star Wars Episode 1, and I just couldn't make it work. It was that bad! :O
#12
jackdawsson
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Posted 04 December 2007 - 08:03 AM
Quote:
This feature is about Mac gaming. It's not a referendum on Boot Camp.
Boot Camp isn't gaming on the Mac. It's gaming on Windows. That copy of Windows may be running on the Mac, but that's irrelevant -- it's still gaming on Windows.
This feature is about Mac gaming. It's not a referendum on Boot Camp.
Boot Camp isn't gaming on the Mac. It's gaming on Windows. That copy of Windows may be running on the Mac, but that's irrelevant -- it's still gaming on Windows.
Indeed, but the fact that you're getting unprompted references to Boot Camp says a lot about the state of Mac gaming.
Yes, it's gaming via Windows, but it's also a viable way for Mac gamers to be gaming on a Mac! That's fairly relevant.
As all new Macs now ship with Boot Camp, may I suggest that at some point in the future Macworld considers reviewing those Windows games that aren't available in Mac-native versions, for eg. Total War games. AFAIC, this would to be a logical (if not inevitable) progression.
#13
Peter Cohen
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Posted 04 December 2007 - 11:25 AM
Quote:
As all new Macs now ship with Boot Camp, may I suggest that at some point in the future Macworld considers reviewing those Windows games that aren't available in Mac-native versions, for eg. Total War games. AFAIC, this would to be a logical (if not inevitable) progression.
As all new Macs now ship with Boot Camp, may I suggest that at some point in the future Macworld considers reviewing those Windows games that aren't available in Mac-native versions, for eg. Total War games. AFAIC, this would to be a logical (if not inevitable) progression.
We'll take it under advisement. Thanks for your feedback.
#14
Steve_S
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Posted 04 December 2007 - 11:38 AM
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Indeed, but the fact that you're getting unprompted references to Boot Camp says a lot about the state of Mac gaming.
Indeed, but the fact that you're getting unprompted references to Boot Camp says a lot about the state of Mac gaming.
It does, but it's not a real solution either. I have a Mac Pro, but have no interest in Boot Camp for gaming purposes. With the spare time I get, I don't want to have to reboot my machine into Windows just to play a game. In fact, I often have jobs running in the background (yes, 4 cores allows you to do that) that I don't want to quit while I sneak away to play a game for a half hour.
To your point though, Mac gaming has become dismal at best. This is sad because the Mac hardware is the best it's been in a long time and the same goes for market share. This past year, I only purchased 2 Mac games (and maybe 3-4 shareware download purchases). On a good year, I'd purchase more like 10 commercial games + shareware games. My purchase habbits have changed, not because of a lack of interest on my part but because of the pathetic offerings we Mac gamers have to choose from these days. Instead, the Macworld Hall of Fame games are littered with titles like Soduku and Star Wars Lego... Thanks, but I'll pass.
Seeing as though just about every game released for the Mac now qualifies the "Hall of Fame" listing just by default, I'm surprised there was no mention of Starwars Empire at War. That was one of my two commercial purchases and it's quite good. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
