Video games for Macintosh are becoming more and more frequent in the market. Whether it’s action, adventure, role-playing games, sports, kids’ games, or any other category you’re looking for, Mac offers an incredibly diverse and rich gaming experience. Newer Macs also offer an easy-to-install app that allows users to run Windows games from their Mac. While earlier versions of Macs weren’t as game-friendly, the current ones have made porting many games easier. Whether running on a Mac or using a Windows operating system, the Mac will provide roughly equivalent performance to a similarly equipped Windows PC.
The ideal situation for creating video games for the Macintosh is to have them developed simultaneously with the Windows version. In this way, the original developers are available for any questions or troubleshooting that arise during the creation of the game. This also usually allows for a simultaneous release of the Windows and Mac versions on the market. While ideal, this rarely happens. There are only a few companies that develop games for Mac and Windows systems simultaneously.
What often happens is that the high-priced games that come to the Mac are actually made for Microsoft Windows. They are then transferred to the Mac system through one of the relatively few transfer house companies. Two of the first video games to be ported to the Mac were Microsoft Flight Simulator (1986) and SimCity (1988). A notable exception was Myst (1993), which was actually developed on the Mac and then ported to Windows a year later.
Since most games are not developed with the initial version of Windows, the implementation tends to lag behind the version of Windows, usually by several months. This is the typical scenario for most high-budget games that require a large amount of time to play and are graphically intense. However, there are many companies today that create original video games for the Macintosh that are of the more casual variety. These are games that consist of simple graphics and are easy to play in short bursts.
One thing to consider when looking for Macintosh video games is that there isn’t enough shelf space in physical stores to justify having a full line of Macintosh games. With the small share of the Macintosh in the market, it just doesn’t make sense to stock up on these types of items. So for the best selection, an online retailer like Amazon.com will be your best bet, both for selection and price.
Another option for Mac users is to play PC games using a Windows-based operating system on your Mac. This can be achieved in a number of different ways. Ever since the Intel processor was introduced to the Mac platform, users have been able to simultaneously run the Mac operating system alongside Windows, without having to reboot their computer. There are free applications available online for Mac users to set this up on their system.
Whether you’re playing a game through a Windows operating system or a Macintosh-exclusive video game on the operating system, the experience on the Mac is as rich and compelling as that found on any PC.
