are Macs just not good for games?

[LinuxNewbie]

i was very heavily considering buying a mac soon because i've always wondered what they are like....it's an alternative to Windows but it has lots of EASY TO USE support (Linux is tuffy). look to compare requirements between Mac and PC for Return To Castle Wolfensten i see something strange......

for Mac:
* 500 Mhz or faster processor
* 128mb of RAM (256 MB under Mac OS X)
* Graphics Acceleration Required (ATI Radeon, Nvidia GeForce or later)

for PC:
* 3-D Hardware Accelerator (with 16MB VRAM with full OpenGL® support
* Pentium® II 400 Mhz processor or Athlon® processor
* English version of Windows® 95 OSR2/98/ME/NT4.0 (SP6)/2000/XP Operating System
* 128 MB RAM

it says that they need the same amount of ram but the Mac should be at least 500 but only 400 for Windows, both are official numbers given by ID Software. am i overlooking something or is this basically what it's trying to say?

[PresterJohn]

>are Macs just not good for games?

imo, Macs aren't much good for anything anymore!

you can do it for lots cheaper using intel/amd box running either MS or linux.

and if you're just going to play games on the mac, that will be the MOST expensive gamebox you'll ever buy

[ocit]

And macs have a scarce selecion of games, nothing compared to pc, and usually are released later than pc versions.

[mpc]

Don't listen to the peanut gallery. Go ahead, get a Mac....you'll like it, and after you've gotten your feet wet, you can even run it as FreeBSD box.

As for the mhz difference? It has to do with the way they ported the game to the Mac OS. Since the game was written natively as a Windows application, after porting, the Mac has to carry out exta processes that don't have to occur when the game is running on Windows.

This is what accounts for the mhz requirement difference.

[samwichse]

Quote:

Since the game was written natively as a Windows application, after porting, the Mac has to carry out exta processes that don't have to occur when the game is running on Windows.

Quote:

And macs have a scarce selecion of games, nothing compared to pc, and usually are released later than pc versions.

[LinuxNewbie]

lol peanut gallery

ok well thanks guys next stop for me is a brand new Athlon

[mpc]

Quote:

Originally posted by samwichse



So in answer to your question, no, they're not very good for gaming.

You'd do a lot better to pick up an inexpensive PC. And calling them the "Peanut Gallery" isn't too respectful.

Sam

Actually, the answer to his question is "it depends". Some programs written for Windows are completely rewritten for the Mac and thus don't have that issue.

The biggest problem regarding Mac gaming is that you don't have the selection of video cards that you do with PC's, and the lack of available titles.

The poster was, however, asking about Macs because he was wondering what they're like and as an alternative OS to play with....not as an exclusive game machine.

If that's the case.....go for it, you'll have fun and you'll like it.


As far as the "peanut gallery" comment goes:


Lighten up!

[PresterJohn]

Quote:

Originally posted by mpc
you can even run it as FreeBSD box.

in this corner you have a mac running freebsd which costs $2000...

in the opposite corner you have a amd box running freebsd which costs $500...

riiiight, go with the mac.

LOL

[mpc]

Cost isn't an issue with everyone.

[Martee]

Quote:

Originally posted by mpc
after porting, the Mac has to carry out exta processes that don't have to occur when the game is running on Windows.

Such as?