the-state-of-mac-gaming posts

Welcome to the final installment in our look at the state of gaming on the Mac. We started out taking a good look at what the problem is, identifying the factors that led us to where we are today with video games on the Apple platform. Next, we made an earnest plea to developers, stating why they should seriously consider developing for both PC and Mac simultaneously. Last week, we examined the alternatives available to Mac users who want to play PC games but don't want to actually buy a PC.

This week, we'll try to prognosticate a bit and guess what the future of Mac gaming might look like. Will it get better, worse, or limp along as it currently does?

Last week, we asked developers to reconsider the idea of creating games for simultaneous release on both PC and Mac platforms. However, we cannot control what others do; we can only ask. So let's concede for the moment that things will continue as they are now -- very few games coming out on both systems at the same time, and Mac getting ports of popular PC games much later than their original release. What's an avid Mac gamer to do?

Short of actually buying a PC just to play games -- and it must be said that the cost of a decent PC has dropped dramatically over the past few years -- there are a few options available, and they all contain the crazy voodoo called virtualization. Bear in mind that these are only the applications that I've personally tried myself. Check 'em out after the jump!

Welcome to the second part of our look at the state of video games on the Mac. Last week's article was all about the issues facing simultaneous development of games for both Mac and PC platforms. This time around, we'll be speaking directly to game developers, asking them to reconsider their policy regarding Mac gaming.