Mac-lovers are back in the gaming loop

Although Apple has gone out of its way to ship capable graphics cards with its machines and… Although Apple has gone out of its way to ship capable graphics cards with its machines and Macintosh OS X is renowned as a highly-stable platform, Mac still lags behind Microsoft Windows in one crucial arena: computer gaming.

It is true that the world of gaming is continuing to open to Macintosh users: Many very popular titles are currently available for the Macintosh platform. Still, there are many Microsoft-centric video game manufacturers who insist on producing software for only the Microsoft Windows platform.

This phenomenon is not for lack of trying on the part of Apple Computer, Inc. Apple has added “OpenGL” support to Macintosh OS X, allowing OS X-enabled computers to run complicated 3-D games and applications.

OpenGL is widely supported and embraced, giving Macintosh OS X the power to run the fancy graphics behind many of today’s modern games. With new Macintoshes utilizing mainstream ATI and NVIDIA graphics cards, game companies need not extend support of their products to include the proprietary graphics cards of Apple’s history. Porting existing games to OS X is simpler.

Still, many game companies choose to ignore Macintosh OS X as a viable gaming platform. Macintosh users have been pressured in the past to run supplemental Windows platforms to quench their thirst for video gaming.

For die-hard Macintosh users who wouldn’t dream of owning a Windows computer for “gaming variety,” excellent news was announced last June at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference. Electronic Arts, one of the premier developers of advanced computer games announced, to the glee of Mac-users, the development of Macintosh versions of some of its upcoming titles.

This announcement was in June, and it is, of course, early September. Electronic Arts seemed to hint strongly at WWDC that one of its most popular franchises, “Madden 2008”, would be available in a Macintosh OS X version when the Windows counterpart was made available on Aug. 14. As Aug. 15 came and went, “Madden 2008” began entertaining Windows-enabled football fans but completely ignored the Mac enthusiasts.

Electronic Arts also indicated that games like “Battlefield 2142” and “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” would be created with Macintosh-enabled siblings. Both those titles were promised in July, but as July came and evaporated, delays were announced in the release of the Apple versions.

All is not yet lost, however. The delays experienced by Electronic Arts are not permanent. In fact, as of Aug. 17, Electronic Arts have announced the delayed release of multiple Macintosh OS X titles. The games “Battlefield 2142,” “Need for Speed Carbon,” “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” and “Command ‘ Conquer 3 Tiberian Wars” are now available to entertain those users with Macintoshes.

“Madden 2008,” originally slated for Aug. 14, is experiencing further delays and should be available for Macintosh users this September or October. These games all add to Electronic Arts’ line of “The Sims” and “The Sims 2” games, which have been Macintosh compatible for some time.

The games promise to be a sort of turning point in the way gaming companies view Macintosh as a gaming platform. Before Electronic Arts’ announcement at the WWDC, few of the world’s premier video game companies took Macintosh OS X seriously as a platform for high-performance games. Despite the fact that Macintosh platforms have been historically renowned for their graphical and display capabilities, Windows remained the predominant performance operating system for gamers.

With the addition of one of the pre-eminent video game manufacturers into the world of Macintosh-compatible video game programming, many smaller companies will undoubtedly begin to feel comfortable designing games for OS X. ID Software, of “Doom” and “Quake” fame, has already vowed support for Macintosh OS X in its current and upcoming software projects.

As long as Macintosh continues to support the latest graphics packages and include capable graphics cards with its computers, Macs are set to increase their share of the gaming market. Gone will be the days (in a few years, at least) when gamers were forced to run a Windows computer to enjoy a respectable breadth and variety of gaming options. It may seem unlikely now, but perhaps in the future, Macintosh platforms will become pre-eminent, and the number of Windows-based titles will become fewer and farther-between.

Additional information on the Electronic Arts titles can be found at the Electronic Arts website, www.ea.com.