First, since Macs have become equipped with Intel processors, there has been an unspoken shift away from developing for the PowerPC chipset. For a while, many companies provided a Universal binary -- that is, an application that would run on both non-Intel and native Intel computers. This is a trend that seems to have dissipated somewhat, with more and more apps requiring the Intel processor.

This in itself is not necessarily a bad thing; the technologies enabled by the Intel processor certainly bring a great deal of power and flexibility to the platform. Because many modern PC games utilize Intel chip code, a lot of previously-out-of-reach games can now be ported over to the Mac. Clearly, this shift makes gaming on a Mac a much more viable option than ever before, especially given the rise of virtualization software like Parallels Desktop and VMWare, which make playing PC games on your Mac an ostensible reality.

Second, the majority of games being released still favor pre-Leopard operating systems. To see this in action, jaunt over to the games section of Apple's website and note the requirements of most of the games on offer for download. The ones that require Leopard are fewer in number -- Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, for example, and Spore, of course -- and it's not entirely clear why they do. One possibility is that Leopard runs the latest OpenGL apps, and that technology might be required to display the kinds of graphics the aforementioned games offer.

However, considering that Spore has been in development for some years, it's apparent that their team has been working on it with Leopard in mind. A game this rich in complexity doesn't have the option of regenerating assets and starting from scratch every time something changes in its target platform. At the same time, you'll notice that Spore is available on the PC for both Vista and XP. Perhaps there is something to the often-floated idea that it's just harder to write games for pre-Leopard Macs?

Yet for years, there have been games that arrived on both platforms simultaneously, most notably the StarCraft and Diablo franchises. Of course, this isn't necessarily the best example, as Blizzard is famous for its release philosophy as being "It's done when it's done" -- meaning, perhaps, that until they're absolutely sure that both platforms can run the game well, neither will have it. It's difficult to imagine that dual-platform element being the one thing that maintains their philosophy, however. As much as we love the Mac, sales numbers have always historically paled in comparison to PC game sales.

So, why Leopard? Having developed games for the Mac for years, both Maxis and Electronic Arts are well-familiar with the unique challenges involved in creating game entertainment for the system. The Sim-x series has always been a mainstay on the Mac since 1989, when SimCity was released, created by none other than Will Wright. It might merely be nothing more than Maxis wanting Spore to take full advantage of whatever longevity the Leopard OS might have without wanting to run into backward-compatibility roadblocks years down the line. Games written for the Panther OS, for example, run poorly on Leopard, if they run at all, and that release is only two generations behind. Granted, it uses the old PowerPC chipset, but it does serve to illustrate the point. There will be no going back for Apple and Intel, and apparently, for Maxis as well.

Will Spore force users to upgrade their OS? Wright's games have always sold well, and indications are good for this title to continue that trend. Spore has about it an element of breakthrough gameplay -- a game that appeals to people who are outside the gamer demographic -- so it's likely to enjoy success among Mac users who might not otherwise have purchased a game. But to upgrade to Leopard requires purchasing the DVD, which is an extra $129 on top of the $49.99 that Spore will cost. That might negate the attraction for non-gamers right off the bat.

But Mac users in general tend to think of themselves as progressives, and many who are still Leopard-free may be awaiting a good reason for them to upgrade. Anyone with an Intel Mac will make the jump sooner or later, and if they're prepared to swallow that $129 anyway, Spore is certainly something to look forward to. As of this writing, I'm running a 2.16 Intel Core Duo with an NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT, and Spore Creature Creator runs quite smoothly indeed. If we can reasonably expect for the final product to keep the same specs as the Creature Creator does, then there is ample time for fencesitters to decide whether or not Spore is worth letting the Leopard into their lives.

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