Playing Games on Mac

[mr.hackcrag]

I was considering getting a new computer and choosing an imac, but I've never had one before and was wondering how limiting it is for playing video games? Maybe other people could share their insights?

[GreatEmerald]

As limiting as Linux. You can play most of them through Wine, but other than that, nothing that I know of.

[mr.hackcrag]

Is using Wine simple, potentially harmful, inconvenient, etc? Would it be better to just to get a non-mac computer since you'd essentially be running windows on a mac anyway?

[ThunderTitan]

Last i remember it was restrictive by a few hundred buck more... if you know what you're doing you can get a PC that works just as well at a cheaper price... just like with everything else, the brand cost extra...

[Shyranis]

If you're running Windows, you should have no problems. You only need Wine or other workarounds if you stick with the Mac OS

[hatsforclowns]

You're better off getting a big rock, splashing it with some random hipster colours, putting on some random hipster glitter, designing a hipster logo for it, and calling it the iRock.

Voila! A hipster, stypefyingly overpriced, designer piece of shit

The only advantage Apple ever had was exclusive, professional audio and video software...not so any more.

[GreatEmerald]

Wine is imperfect. It's still under development and doesn't emulate every game perfectly. To run them, you often need to use workarounds, some will have missing features. See the AppDB for a list of games and how well they work:
http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.p ... nding=true

MM6 works perfectly, MM7 works perfectly, MM8 works perfectly (all with GrayFace's patches). MM9 has issues.

DOSBox work on Mac I believe, and its emulation is pretty much perfect.

[hatsforclowns]

What about Cedega? (or whatever it was called)

"Whine" is imperfect, but it has worked pretty well for older games like MM, UT, and so on. I wouldn't want to use it for any newer games.

[GreatEmerald]

Is Cedega available on Mac? Though I never really used it. It's still Wine, but with special tricks for applications.

UT? It runs natively on Linux. Well, provided that you have the original CD and not the Anthology version.

[mr.hackcrag]

If anyone has used Cedega, I would appreciate some feedback about it and also how it compares with Wine.

What do you guys think about these reviews and which computer do you think is the best?

http://all-in-one-pc-review.toptenreviews.com/

The one that was ranked #2 is appealing for the low price, but it sure is ugly, especially compared to the mac, which is almost the same price.

[GreatEmerald]

Do you really need an all-in-one?

[Humakt]

Only good platform you can run newer games at the best possible settings as well as older games is Windows 7 64 bit. If you want to run mainly older games XP is enough, but vast majority of them works on 7 too (some with malware drm requires some extra effort).

I advice against buying any overpriced Apple product, you can get a lot more bang for your buck. And if you value your time drop the idea of running games on linux.

[mr.hackcrag]

Do you really need an all-in-one?

Well, I don't even think I really need a new computer. Most of you would probably say YES, since my current computer is from the 90's and I'm still running Windows 98. But it does everything I need it to do. I don't think there are any new games that I desperately want to play right now, but I was considering getting a new computer after H6 is released in case it turns out to be REALLY AWESOME and the best HoMM ever (god willing, but I seriously doubt it )

The reason I was thinking about the all in one mac was because the 27 inch screen looks really nice and it doesn't take up much space, and you don't have to worry about viruses. If it wasn't so heavy it would almost be portable, lol. A laptop might be a lot more convenient, but I've heard they are not so good for video games, plus I think a PC would be better if I wanted to play piano and use recording software with my computer.

I advice against buying any overpriced Apple product, you can get a lot more bang for your buck. And if you value your time drop the idea of running games on linux.

Well, the cost of the all in on mac was on par with some of the other computers in that link, but thanks, I'll consider the time and money aspect.

[GreatEmerald]

Well, if you're using Windows 98, I can see that you can be afraid of viruses... The thing is, Microsoft stopped updating that OS a long, long time ago, so it's a playground for viruses right now. Windows XP will turn into one after three years, so Windows 7 is the way to go for compatibility and security reasons. You can even use it without anti-virus or firewall software as well, although you have to be careful not to download anything from sources you don't trust and have UAC enabled in that case.

I would very much recommend getting a normal PC since it's modular. Having built my PC from scratch, I know that it's a very important thing - if you wish to upgrade it, you can do so easily. Even if you decide that you need a new processor, hence a new motherboard and possibly new RAM, you will still get to keep the graphics card, the sound card, the CD/DVD drive, the hard drive, the power supply and the case with its fans. That makes it a lot more economical. Plus, with PCs that have proper BIOS, you are not restricted to one OS anyway. Right now I an on Linux, and I have one partition for Windows 7 as well as one partition for Windows XP and I can switch between them whenever I want.

I'm not sure about Mac's BIOS and bootloader, but all-in-ones are generally as modular as laptops - if you want to upgrade a part that is not RAM, you're out of luck and will have to buy a new all-in-one and throw away the old one.

[Shyranis]

The new iMacs can only have their RAM upgraded. If you try to replace the hard drive with a non-apple drive (read 200-300$ cheaper) the machine will not boot.

Macbook Airs have every single part soldered in so if anything goes wrong, you replace it under warranty or get a new one.


All in one machines however are generally small (hence, all-in-one) because they use laptop parts. If you want full desktop performance you should get a desktop. However, that's not to say laptop parts cannot perform, they certainly can. You just need to make sure to do your research first.

Edit: Also, Macs are getting targeted far more frequently by viruses these days because most mac users don't bother with antivirus software at all.

[mr.hackcrag]

So are you guys saying that all-in-ones are not as powerful machines as similarily priced desktops?

Also, I cannot see myself buying a computer and then constantly buying parts to upgrade it. I can see myself buying a computer and using it for a really long time (like my current 90's computer) and then someday getting a new one. Since a lot of the last two posts are about macs not upgrading easily/cheaply, do you still think that it is a big demerit to choose mac?

Also, has upgrading often really become a necessity? I would imagine that most computers you buy today have the power to handle just about anything, but since my computer is ancient, I really don't know about these things.

EDIT: Which is safer as far as viruses are concerned?

[Campaigner]

All apple products are overpriced. They're business idea is to make people think they're buying something exclusive.

Why can't you see yourself getting a computer and constantly upgrade it? Tough to sell the old parts? Got that problem myself.


What I need to know though: You're gonna play kinda new games?

Graphics cards are enough to switch every 3-4 years if you buy the performance card (like the GTX 570. GTX 560TI is mainstream and GTX 580 is enthusiast).

You only need to change the system (motherboard, CPU & RAM) atleast every five years.

As for viruses, Macs aren't spared anymore. They've become so popular now that they're not safe anymore. I'd think that Windows is the most targeted though. But who cares about that?? Keep your firewall & antivirus updated and you're fine.

[GreatEmerald]

Upgrading has its benefits. One is price, you don't have to pay nearly as much for an upgrade as for a new PC. Another is keeping the hardware you're familiar with. If you are fine with your current HDD, for example, why pay to get another one, then worry about transferring all the data from your old one to the new one, then worry about getting new drivers that would be suitable for your new one? Especially that you could buy a new HDD and then use both at the same time, increasing the PC's performance, storage space and not having to deal with the problems I mentioned before.

So while upgrading is not a necessity, it's a very sensible thing to do. Instead of having a PC that is slowly decaying and then leaping to a new one, you can have a PC that stays sharp for the same price.

And yes, all-in-ones are weaker than PCs because of the space requirements. The more space you can spare in your case, the better, since that gives PC part manufacturers space to work with. The less space, the more things have to be cut from the product, leaving it underpowered. And while all-in-ones typically have slightly more space than laptops, the difference isn't that huge.

[ThunderTitan]

The advantage of upgrading is also the fact that if you get a good motherboard and processor then you can buy a cheaper video card and replace it in 2-3 years once the tech advances enough, and the cost for both would be about the same as if you bought a high end card (which might be more powerful, but usually won't take advantage of new DX's, shaders etc.)