Another big announcement from Steve Jobs at WWDC today:
Apple will be offering a new type of software for
Macs this summer called "games" (pronounced "gaimz"). The new genre, being supported in a big way by publisher
EA, will allow "players" to enter virtual worlds and take part in contests of skill. The first titles in EA's "game" line-up include
Command & Conquer 3,
Battlefield 2142,
Need For Speed Carbon and
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Later this year,
Madden NFL 08 and
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 will arrive on Mac at the same time as other systems -- apparently, "games" have been offered for several months elsewhere.
There are, of course, still plenty of unanswered questions. If you die in the game, does your corporeal form itself die? How does the on-screen man know what actions you want him to take? Do they come in teal? We'll keep digging.
{ Jun 11th 2007 at 4:58PM } 
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Anam @ Jun 11th 2007 5:04PM
Hmm... I don't think these "games" will catch on. Sounds like a fad.
sheppy @ Jun 11th 2007 5:05PM
I bursted out laughing at "do they come in teal"
bootsielon @ Jun 11th 2007 5:05PM
Mac needs a killer app, not just ports.
Breserk @ Jun 11th 2007 5:07PM
I've been "gaming" lately and it's pretty fun. You should all check it out.
steve wright jr @ Jun 11th 2007 5:08PM
This is the end of the world first the iMac, then iPhone, now iGamez I can't take this anymore their TAKEING OVERRRRRR. I just as bad as me paying .98 a tank of gas lol
Gamble20 @ Jun 11th 2007 5:08PM
Its big news for Mac owners, but not for anyone else.
Apple also claimed that their new Safari browser for PC was 1.6 times faster then firefox, and i have downloaded it and its at least twice as slow.
Apple is very good though, they'll fix it.
Ken @ Jun 11th 2007 5:15PM
@ #3
Mac had a killer App, It was Halo, Bungie before they were bought by MS debuted it at Macworld Expo, When MS saw it they decided to buy out Bungie and release the game on the Orginal Xbox. Halo did come out on the Mac eventually but not before the Xbox and P.C.
Anam @ Jun 11th 2007 5:16PM
@Breserk
Well, these "games" may be able to hold the interest of a casual audience, but for us hardcore Mac users, it'll be hard to compete with e-mail checking and Joystiq commenting.
I've heard that Madden doesn't even support semi-colons. Do they really think they could take the place of tried and true real-time bloggers? Remember, graphics aren't everything.
...
Anyway, tell Valve to make Half-Life 2 available already.
RobM @ Jun 11th 2007 5:25PM
Sounds like someone is mad that OS X is getting more support.
What's happing to your dear old Windows?
;)
Rare Hare @ Jun 11th 2007 5:27PM
it still freaks me out that vince young is on the cover of madden after his first year. seems a bit premature.
2ez @ Jun 11th 2007 5:28PM
rofl... yeah, Macs with their 5% marketshare. Listen, I want to use a Mac for photoshop, and thats about it, and I end up using that on my PC anyway. Why the hell would I want to play a game on an overpriced prebuilt computer that I cant upgrade?
Gamble20 @ Jun 11th 2007 5:59PM
@10
I agree, wasn't there a rumor though that LT (as in LaDanian) turned them down? I personally thought Chad Johnson or Steve Smith would have been great.
electronic @ Jun 11th 2007 5:37PM
@11
What... like a games console?
Kunikos @ Jun 11th 2007 5:43PM
It's nice to see that they will be getting a proper unified box format similar to the Games for Windows format for PCs. It help both retailers and customers if you can more easily identify from a distance what shelves contain which platform. :)
AssemblyLineHuman @ Jun 11th 2007 5:45PM
electronic: No--"overpriced" is the key word. A game console is much cheaper than a Mac.
Tony Blair @ Jun 11th 2007 5:46PM
Now with the support of EA it is quite obvious that Macs will now replace PC's once and for all.
I know so many people who considered a Mac but then refused to purchase one because they could play Madden or Tiger Woods golf.
The era of 2000 dollar fashion statements has begun!
Thierry @ Jun 11th 2007 5:49PM
It's good to see a big game publisher like EA supporting games on Mac OS X, it's not that hard to build games simultaneously for PC and Mac.
syco @ Jun 11th 2007 5:55PM
Gah, this is terrible news for Apple fans. First it'll be EA, next thing you know you won't be able to walk past the Mac software section of a store without being buried alive under a mountain of Army Men titles and Bob's Xtreme Fishing 4: Return of the Bass Aliens from Mars.
syco @ Jun 11th 2007 5:59PM
It's pretty much the opposite of ...
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2003/07/09
john @ Jun 11th 2007 6:01PM
I GET IT!!
Anam @ Jun 11th 2007 6:01PM
@AssemblyLineHuman
Very true. And once game consoles start supporting functions like e-mail, word processing and photo editors, the price of both Macs and PCs will start being hard to justify for casual users.
I very much believe that by the next iteration of consoles, I probably won't use a computer anymore.
That's not to say that computers won't be around anymore, but they'll start being less popular for all but the hardcore users. I mean, if all you use a computer for is internet, e-mail, and maybe a word processor, all of that could easily be implemented in consoles. Most people wouldn't need a computer anymore.
Luigi193 @ Jun 11th 2007 6:03PM
LOL@ 12!!!!
God, cant those apple haters take a break! When OS X users get good things, there always there to put us down. FOR The love! IF you don't like it, fine. But theres no way to make fun of us! (and i am not talking about the post itself...that was very funny, just the comments...)
Dale @ Jun 11th 2007 6:14PM
An interesting tidbit on the "overpriced Macs" debate:
http://www.scotsnewsletter.com/91.htm#macpc$
Upgrading the default specs is often bafflingly expensive, but if you put that default spec side by side with a similar PC offering, the price difference is barely noticeable.
For those who use Macs, this is good news. For those who don't, it doesn't affect you one bit, why bother with the predictable Mac bashing?
Matthias @ Jun 11th 2007 6:14PM
OMG, what a post...
Usually I think better of Joystiq.
"Flamewars between console fanboys aren't sufficient anymore, so let's try to move on to the Mac." Or what was the thinking?
Rare Hare @ Jun 11th 2007 6:15PM
@ Gamble20:
Yeah, LT turned it down. But why not one of those two instead? What about Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Larry Johnson, or Shawn Merriman? Giving that kind of honor to a rookie is just odd.
Emperor Samoth @ Jun 11th 2007 6:18PM
Ohhh.. Where do I keep the disc.... Where do I keep my games?...
NF @ Jun 11th 2007 9:19PM
Now Mac users can experience the same crappy games from EA taht PC users deal with
krizoitz @ Jun 11th 2007 6:27PM
hahahaha as a life long Mac user this post was hilarious :-)
Anam @ Jun 11th 2007 6:30PM
@Matthias
As a Mac user, I think the Joystiq post was hilarious, because that's exactly what it feels like to be a Mac user: Someone's making games on my Mac? What a crazy idea! It's almost like someone thinks that we Mac users might like games... weird.
I would like to point out however, that Blizzard provides excellent Mac support. Not that that's a suprise; they do pretty much everything right.
tom b. @ Jun 11th 2007 6:37PM
That really was the funniest blog post I have read this year!
And yes, I am (almost) an Apple fanboy.
Aberu @ Jun 11th 2007 6:31PM
@12 The hardware in a modern 400-600 game console equates to an almost $1000 Windows PC and a $1500 Mac. Consoles are priced much more competitively than Macs.
On that subject, it's cool beans that mac users are getting games. Too bad macs are being used LESS and LESS everyday. Their marketshare has constantly gone down since the Apple IIe with a short rise with the iMac/eMac (because schools bought them when they came out). One of their biggest customers were public schools, and they have even lost that customer. Mainly because if you don't get anything but the middle or high end, a mac is unreliable, slow, piece of crap. Compare a $500 bulk ordered Dell with it's nice warranty to a $500 bulk ordered Mac. That's the honest reason why they have no marketshare anymore.
With this though, it's cool that they are adding support. Guess World of Warcraft kinda made EA reconsider the Macintosh as a platform. Despite how cool this seems for all, it just means they will be wasting time on developing games to operate in OpenGL more, which means splitting the production as usual.
AirIntake @ Jun 11th 2007 6:34PM
@Dale
For those of us who think that a $2800 laptop is a bit much: Does Mac offer a $700 laptop similar to this (because that's all I need)? http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0926INGFS10086228&catid=20354&logon=&langid=EN
Yeah, didn't think so.
VK Sefirosu @ Jun 11th 2007 7:19PM
@AirIntake
Um, if a 700$ laptop is all you need... then why the fsck are you comparing it to a 2800$ laptop that will totally crush this one and is overkill for many while totally ignoring the fact that this is the HIGHEST priced one you specifically picked ?! Saying that Macs are overpriced are one thing (and to some extent they still are), comparing two totally opposite ranges are another.
Enjoy your TL-50... it will load pr0n real fast since you're not gonna be playing any recent games on that thing...
syco @ Jun 11th 2007 7:52PM
Aberu, any time invested in OpenGL is not wasted, as DirectX needs comptetion very seriously. Microsoft's threat to make DirectX10 Vista only is a prime example of why OpenGL is so important. When the first game comes out that only supports Vista, will Vista be ready? (it's certainly not ready now, I can't believe they even released it like that). We can't let one company determine how every computer game is coded.
djricekcn @ Jun 11th 2007 7:53PM
I use both Macs and PCs and Macs aren't upgradeable, they are upgradeable.
Comparing stability wise through the past few years I've used Macs and Windows, Macs has always been more reliable in stability wise vs. a Windows OS. I'm not saying one is much better than the other, but stability wise, Macs are betters (even comparing Classic OS to something like Win95)
Macs aren't that expensive either with the same specs PC and not using a no brand parts for your PC.
Also, Macs usually run a bit quicker it with the same RAM and speed, I've compared it with few applications like CS1, CS2 and CS3 series.
Either way, don't see why you guys bash Macs because it's just as good as Windows, it just has less support from companies overall (though that's been slowly changing ever since Steve Jobs came back).
I'm not involved in this field, but my friend who does this as a profession, he said it's easier to work with Macs when colors are involved like for prints and ads. I guess it's kind of a difference like 360 vs. PS3 color output.
Final-Fan @ Jun 11th 2007 7:55PM
I'm sure this was hilarious to you, and I don't begrudge you your fun, but I trust you realize that every Blizzard game since WarCraft the First has been released simultaneously on PC and Mac alike? EA getting into the game just means a lowering of the bar.
David @ Jun 11th 2007 8:28PM
lol, thats one of the most sarcastic articles I've ever read. But seriously, everyones making a big deal about halo 2 coming for vista and (if you've been checking 360fanboy by any chance) XP. So y does everyone poke fun at apple when they get, and I'm playing the devil's advocate here, these "games" for Macs? Don't get me wrong, i hate OSX, but we gotta be fair, lol.
C. Grant @ Jun 11th 2007 8:38PM
Guys, you'd probably be perturbed to learn how many Joystiq writers use Macs. It's like an Apple conference every time we get together!
Except Justin, he uses an old IBM with MS-DOS 5.0. He insists it's better for gaming.
Daniel @ Jun 11th 2007 9:21PM
@ #7 Ken
Mac had a killer app; back when PC gamers were still stuck in the confines of Doom, Mac gamers were playing Marathon.
Playing it now makes me wish I would've had a Mac (and a big appletalk network with friends) back then.
The ZeroCorpse @ Jun 11th 2007 9:48PM
I'll put my MacBook up against any PC Laptop. You want upgradable? The 5400 RPM 160GB hard drive in my MacBook took all of 2 minutes to install, and it's not happily dual-booting OS X and Windows XP (although not often in XP, it's nice to have options). The RAM in my MacBook took 3 minutes to upgrade to 2GB. The CPU is a Core 2 Duo (2 GHZ), and I think that's enough for the next few years, but if it isn't, the very best thing about an Apple computer is that the resale value in three years is very likely going to be damn close to what I paid for it-- A lot closer than a comparable PC, anyway.
I don't get it: What else would you need to upgrade these days? Hard drive and RAM are easy, and plenty for now. CPU? It's easier to get a new computer. Video card? Well, on a laptop it's sort of a moot point anyway, but I don't really get into the whole "pay $500 every six months to get 10% boost in video speed" thing. I used to, when I built PCs. Now I see how utterly stupid and worthless that way. Wifi? Built in 802.11n. Bluetooth? Built-in. DVD-R DL? Built-in. I just don't see what there is left to "upgrade" on this computer. If there's any peripheral I need, most of them support USB and will work without drivers on a Mac.
If I want to play super-hardcore HD games, I have the XBox 360. If I want to play a lot of PC games, I can play in Windows XP on my MacBook and they run fine at medium or higher settings. If I want to do some video editing or photoshop, the MacBook kicks the run-of-the-mill PC's ass in every way.
Games? Lots of them in OS X, but why would I bother getting an EA game for OS X when I can just get a cheaper version and run it in Windows XP on the same computer? I suppose not having to boot into Windows might be nice, but I almost prefer keeping all my stupid fooling around in Windows, where it belongs, and keeping all my work in OS X, where games performance isn't my priority.
This is nice news, but it's about seven years too late. Boo to EA, for only jumping on the bandwagon after they've exploited every other computer, console, and OS and come up short.
The ZeroCorpse @ Jun 11th 2007 9:51PM
Sorry~ TYPO:
"The 5400 RPM 160GB hard drive in my MacBook took all of 2 minutes to install, and it's not happily dual-booting OS X and Windows XP..."
I have no idea where that "not" came in. It is happily dual-booting, no problems, no errors, no flaws.
John Doe @ Jun 12th 2007 2:08AM
Awww isn't that cute? Apple is going to get some games. Thank God for Boot Camp.
John Doe @ Jun 12th 2007 2:16AM
ZeroCorpse,
I hate to break this to you but the rest of the computer industry found easy to upgrade hard drives years ago. Well before Apple rediscovered the idea that their users *gasp* wanted to remove their hard drives. Oh for the days of Pismo again. You want to talk upgrades?! But those days are gone. Instead you have more then a few, nonApple, laptops on the market that can have their CPU and GPU upgraded without needing to crack the case.
You speak of the MacBook. How about the MBP. Upgrading my MBP's HD was a royal PITA. The number of screws, the ribbon cables held together with glue.
The simple fact of te matter is Macs aren't gaming rigs. They never were and never will be. I'm fine with that.
Danny @ Jun 12th 2007 3:21AM
Is it just me or is Joystiq sounding like Ctrl+alt+del more and more every day?
mattclarkie @ Jun 12th 2007 6:37AM
I am surprised by the number of people that don't know Bungie was a Mac developer. All their old games were Mac or Mac first.
That article was hillarious, Apple-fanboys think they have the greatest system, but really it is more proprietry than Microsoft. I can build a program that works on Windows whenever I want, I regularly make apps to do tasks like back-up my files automatically. But Mac is so lame that they don't even have games, what is this 1972.
tominated @ Jun 13th 2007 4:50AM
STFU mac haters. macs have always been good for games, it's just the game devs ignore macs for their small marketshare. Macs were actually more popular for gaming when they first came out.
Anam @ Jun 12th 2007 9:46AM
@mattclarkie
No silly, it's 2007. In 1972, Macs had games.
Mog @ Jun 12th 2007 10:40AM
Uh, mattclark? You can make a program for OS X whenever you want, too. It's not like "Mac" is going to stop you. :| :| :| :| :|
Reid @ Jun 12th 2007 1:16PM
Maybe now I'll be able to buy a mac compatible USB gamepad somewhere in the UK!
Durandal @ Jun 16th 2007 2:04PM
Does anyone remember oni?
I think this is all about it being easier for developers to make mac games now. Not that it matters anyway because most mac users buy windows for gaming anyway.
Also, you could always buy mac compatible game pads, and you never have to install drivers so... not sure what you are talking about.