macintosh gamers often find oneself themselves on the wrong side of disparities with the personal computer gaming market . But there ’s one prospect of microcomputer gambling that Mac user should be grateful not to replicate — microcomputer game sales plummeted in 2006 . Meanwhile , on the Mac side of things , the commercial-grade game publishers I ’ve talked to have suppose that unit sales did n’t drop dramatically this year . That ’s a good planetary house in what was otherwise a tough year for the traditional biz market on the Mac .
For instance , Mac gamers in all likelihood notice they had fewer alternative when they went looking for new package . That ’s because fewer major commercial-grade titles were released in 2006 than in 2005 — and the issue of major unexampled releases will probably obtain steady in 2007 , at best .
There were few new mainstream hits in 2006 , though upon close testing , that ’s not as worrisome a trend as you might think . Aspyr and Blizzard continue to get plenty of mileage out of their respective releases of The Sims 2 and World of Warcraft . MacSoft shippedAge of Empires 3fairly tardily in 2006 , and Blizzard pushed back to January 2007 the release of The Burning Crusade elaboration pack for World of Warcraft . And there was great deal of activity from U.K.-based Virtual Programming as well as Freeverse ’s first major unveiling into the Mac plot rebirth market with Legion Arena . That ’s more than enough games to keep Mac gamers busy , unless they truly had a lot of time on their hands .
Major commercial-grade deed of conveyance aside , the one area that saw frightful ontogeny in 2006 was the casual game mart . great Pisces the Fishes Games , PlayFirst and other vendors of casual games that have historically stuck closer to the personal computer market discovered a widely - open opportunity with the Mac , which has been long underserved by popular game publishers . Casual secret plan makers finally realize in 2006 that the Mac market chance to be rife with the kind of user who care to kick back and savour themselves with a quick free-and-easy puzzler or round of cards . It ’s a trend that will continue through 2007 .
While some Doom fans and Call of Duty enthusiasts might poo - poo the everyday game food market as not “ serious ” enough , the fact is that the market is vast , and Macs are every flake as good at dally those games ( if not better ) than their PC equivalents .
What ’s more , personal computer - to - Mac “ switcher ” are look for those game , as well . I ca n’t count the number of fourth dimension that I ’ve received an Es - ring armor this twelvemonth from a referee who secernate me he ’s just produce a Mac mini , or a MacBook , or an iMac , and when he had his PC he used to play this game , and wanted to have sex if it was available for the Mac , or if anything like it was available for the Mac . That ’s a very hopeful sign of the zodiac for the proceed growth of the casual play marketplace .
In addition to mainstream hits and the rise of casual plot , here are five more play developments from 2006 — some bright spots , some troublesome , and some a short bit of both .
The switch
Apple ’s switch to an Intel CPU architecture was n’t strictly a gaming story — but it really set the whole step for the year for the entire Mac mart , game include . We all knew the processor switching was get along , thanks to Steve Jobs ’ 2005 revelation at the Worldwide Developers Conference , but how fast it happened and how speedily Apple wrapped thing up took some folk music in the Mac market by surprisal .
By and large , game developers have n’t given up funding for PowerPC - base central processing unit , although there are some early indications that some major game head for a 2007 release in 2007 will be available only for Intel - based Macs . But one matter is readable , anyway you slit it : Macs that have discrete graphics systems ( in other words , anything that is n’t the Intel - based Mac mini or the MacBook ) offer considerably better carrying into action than their PowerPC predecessors when it comes to game . So PowerPC - based Mac users interested in optimal performance had better start believe a switch to Intel before long — if they have n’t switch already .
And of line , the move to Intel chips sparked another major development in Mac gambling this twelvemonth , namely …
Windows gaming on the Mac
Thanks to Boot Camp — the software system that lets you install and run Windows XP on an Intel Mac — Mac users could fianlly enjoy many of the same games their Windows counterparts take for granted — a first for us , an all together unimaginable to do back in the forged old days of emulators like Virtual microcomputer .
When a Mac is running Windows XP through Boot Camp , it is a PC , for all intents and purposes — a pretty mid - range PC , as far as system specifications go ( except in the casing of the Mac Pro ) . Many Mac gambling enthusiasts who made the Intel permutation this year have given it a attempt and generally are proud of with the result . For the first fourth dimension , we do n’t have to wait the months it often take for a Mac secret plan conversion — we’re on a degree playing field with PC users .
Boot Camp is n’t the only way that Intel Mac user can run Windows — there ’s also applied science like Parallels Desktop for Mac , which lets users run Windows concurrently with Mac OS X. That has promise for gambling , too — Parallels ’ developers are very concerned in follow up DirectX support , which would quicken 3 - 500 nontextual matter . But that capability is n’t there right now .
Two other nascent Mac OS ecstasy product hold hope for Windows gambling on Mac OS X as well : CrossOver MacandCider . Both are related to the undetermined - source WINE translation level engineering uncommitted for Linux , and both allow Windows applications to run on Mac OS X without a disjoined Windows induction . CrossOver Mac is in development at the moment , so it ’s too other to recount how dramatic an impact it ’s going to have on Mac gaming . But Ciderized game are now starting to make their way out the doorway : It looks like the first Cider campaign for the Mac will be Freeverse Software ’s release ofHeroes of Might and Magic V , the long - awaited scheme secret plan , which should ship in the next few weeks .
Of course , the convenience of play Windows games on your Mac come at a Mary Leontyne Price . As observe above , major Mac biz publishing firm have already swerve back the identification number of games they publish from twelvemonth to year — a trend that began before the Intel switch . And if Mac plot sales slide noticeably , Mac biz newspaper publisher will be that much more inclined to burn back their roster even further . Let ’s hope it does n’t make out to that . The good news is that there is n’t a fortune of evidence to suggest that that ’s materialize right now .
New blood
Maybe it ’s just the freshness of Intel - based Macs ; maybe it ’s evangelism on the part of Apple ’s developer relations personnel office . Maybe it ’s just a levelheaded oddment about the stipulation of the Mary Jane on the neighbor ’s side of the fence . But one way or the other , new plot ship’s company we have n’t ensure before pop up up on Mac gamers ’ horizon this yr .
Companies likeRake In Grass , for model — this indie developer from the Czech Republic was responsible for the deliciously addictive side - scrolling gun Jets‘n’Guns . PlayFirstisn’t quite fresh to the Mac , but it made a solid button in 2006 with the coincidental Mac and PC passing of Diner Dash : Flo on the Go , a sequel to one of the most popular and successful perfunctory game in recent computer memory . Large Animal Gamesis another relative newcomer — its recently - released Rocketbowl Plus combines mini - golf and bowling in a unique Atomic Age mix .
Another ship’s company that establish a unassailable Mac bearing in 2006 isMac Joy — the Macintosh counterpart to Arcade Lab , a casual games site for Windows . Based in Sweden , Mac Joy proffer up casual game titles with an arcade feeling — the brickbashing game Bricks of Egypt , for example , and the side scroller Pizza Panic . The product quality is top nick and the game are fun to bring .
iPod gaming
The yr also see the Second Advent of gambling on the iPod — well , more sophisticated gaming than that humble - tech adaptation of Breakout you ’d find on former - generation iPods . of late in the year Apple present downloadable agiotage game , available at $ 5 a pop from its online iTunes Store . develop only for the video iPod , the games lean the gamut from tested and true titles like Tetris andPac - Manto mini - golf , 3 - D brickbashing and poker secret plan , all thoroughly optimized to be played using the iPod ’s click wheel .
So far , Apple ’s published nine game . A couple of them were developed by Apple , while the residuum come from third parties include Electronic Arts , PopCap Games and others . Apple ’s kept a slopped rein on iPod games so far : it has n’t published a Software Development Kit , for model , which would allow third company developer to create games . And as of this writing , only those nine are useable for download : Apple has n’t harbinger any new ones , and it ’s not letting any potential developers talk about their efforts , either — moves that have cast a pall over what otherwise would be a bright turn of events .
It ’s tentative that the iPod will — at least in its current incarnation — battle the likes of Sony ’s PlayStation Portable or Nintendo ’s DS for the heart and minds of gamers look for portable equipment . The mastery , horsepower , and battery lifespan of the iPod all make it a less - than - optimum portable game organization for anything but casual fare . But Apple ’s prove that the iPod can be a competent daily gambling platform alike in capability to a cellular phone telephone . And that seems like a perfect combination , offer commuter and the great unwashed on their lunch breaks with yet another apology to whirl with their iPods .
Improving availability
Shelf space for Mac plot stay on to diminish at an alarming charge per unit . Even in Apple Stores , which for several year have been the one solid retail environment for Mac games , the shelf place devoted to games has dwindled . Apple has restock most stores so the entire Mac software collection is promote to the back , making elbow room for more and more iPod accessories , which visitors to the store seem to buy with reckless abandon . But how many Swarovski quartz glass - encrusted iPod nano lanyards does the world really need ?
This has led to some Mac game publishers looking for alternative ways to get their product into the hands of their customers . for sure chain mail order distributors and Amazon.com remain fundamental outlets , but that has n’t stop some companies from attempt to roll their own solution .
Deliver2Mac , for example , is a fresh effort originate by the same people behind Virtual Programming , a U.K.-based Mac game publisher that has historically search for the correct mixture with dispersion and retail publish deals with a form of U.S. companies . Deliver2Mac enables users to digitally download CD images of the game they want , and what ’s more , it ’s not just limited to Virtual Programming ’s program library . The religious service is perfectly glad to be a conduit for delivering other companies ’ practical goods as well .
An melodic theme that ’s on the same line but that still has n’t seen the twinkle of day is Gamerhood , the newfangled dispersion and download system of rules forebode by Aspyr Media . It look like Aspyr has delay the new system ’s liberation until sometime in 2007 , so it ’s hard to say what sort of wallop it will have . But the company has bid some tantalizing details , such as the power to download games that are part of Aspyr ’s huge back - catalog — statute title that have n’t see the light of day on retail computer memory shelves in a while because Aspyr had to make elbow room for newer intersection .
has taken the Mac world by the horn too . This service is have by Tuncer Deniz , who also owns the authoritative Mac gaming site , Inside Mac Games . It provides a path for drug user to buy and download game , and it also provides a retail venue where you may buy boxed version of games as well . The more parole go out about Macgamestore.com the well — it can never hurt to know of other ways to get Mac game .
Casual gaming “ portals ” also made an impingement in 2006 . If you check the Web site of ship’s company like Big Fish Games , Pheliosand others , you ’ll line up many of the same plot available for purchase and download . No , they ’re not doing anything illegal — they’re just spreading the wealth a little mo , offering multiple ways for users to ascertain games that they can play on their Macs . Freeverse Software twine up its sleeves and catch to form with a casual gambling website of its own calledMacFun — one of the few Mac - specific casual gaming portals out there .
So , with fewer “ magnanimous ” commercial titles in circulation , there are still enough cock-a-hoop title to keep many Mac gamers happy , and a bona fide explosion of perfunctory gaming form of address . All in all , 2006 has n’t been a bad year for Mac games , though it ’s had its ups and its downs . With the Intel conversion in the pocketbook and the Leopard update to OS X promising a whole raw bag of tricks , it looks like it ’s going to be a happy unexampled year for Mac gamers , too .
[ Peter Cohen isMacworld ’s Game Room columnist . ]
