Computer gaming showdown: Mac vs. Windows

The Apple commercials on television strive to tell the viewing public one thing: Macintosh… The Apple commercials on television strive to tell the viewing public one thing: Macintosh computers are trendy, hip and cool – their Windows counterparts are old, stodgy and absent-minded.

And apparently they’re working, as Macintosh’s sales have jumped significantly. In movies portraying young hackers bent on saving the world, the hero is typing away madly on a Macintosh, or at least staring at a screen that is distinctly OS X. Macintosh has become synonymous with simple, elegant computing.

But Macintosh is hiding a secret from the public. Gamers often hear that if they want to play the widest range of games available on the market, they’re wise to invest in a new, souped-up Windows computer (perhaps an Alienware).

Macintosh tries to compensate by advertising its new Macintosh Pro desktop machines with the latest and greatest graphics cards. A rich computer connoisseur could easily spend thousands of dollars to have multiple top-of-the-line graphics cards installed on his or her new, Intel-based, Mac Pro desktop (with advanced cinema display for color quality).

So if you’re considering buying a new gaming PC, should you really consider Macintosh? True, Macintosh is an excellent, stable platform. The operating system is beloved by many and renowned for its ease of use, reliability and attractiveness.

With the new graphics cards Macintosh is putting in its top-of-the-line laptops (the MacBook Pro) and desktops (the Mac Pro), a good amount of money will get you a machine capable of keeping up with the most demanding modern games.

Some could consider Macintoshes more cost effective for gaming than their Windows counterparts. The expense of a fully loaded Mac Pro, costing around $2,400, pales in comparison to the Dell XPS of similar, if not slightly lower, specifications (the Dell XPS, top-of-the-line desktop is priced at around $4,000).

But would you really get your money’s worth out of a Macintosh? The debate continues, and the Mac fans use a straightforward argument: There are many new games coming out for Macintosh that have never been released for it before.

With the advent of Mac OS X, companies are finding it significantly easier and more cost effective to port their products to Macintosh. There’s also more willingness to accommodate Apple because of the steady increase in market share that Macintosh has recently been enjoying.

The argument against often cites a quick search of Macintosh-capable video games – you’ll usually turn up a dearth of results. EB Games, a leading video game and computer game retailer, shows only the “World of Warcraft” series (including expansions), “Diablo II,” a rather old (although still excellent) title and the “Warcraft III” series (including expansions).

Apple itself does offer some additional titles, including Microsoft’s “Age of Empires III” and the sequel to “Myst,” “Uru.” Also, “The Sims 2” is available for Macintosh, as well as “Call of Duty 2.”

But despite this list, many of the most desirable games, including “F.E.A.R.,” are not Macintosh-compatible. Windows continues to dominate Macintosh in the video game industry, providing a platform for a significantly wider selection of video game titles.

Macintosh does provide a large platform for shareware and “arcade-style” games. A quick browsing of Apple’s download Web site (http://www.apple.com/download) will return a list of inexpensive commercial software, shareware or freeware for download. Although these games probably won’t put a Mac Pro with four GeForce (very expensive) graphics cards through its paces, they’re very entertaining to play.

Macintoshes now have the ability to run Microsoft Windows dual-boot. That is, a user can select at startup whether to boot into Microsoft Windows or Macintosh OS X. Also, because Macintoshes include Windows-compatible graphics cards (as opposed to the proprietary graphics cards of old), Windows is perfectly capable of playing graphically intensive games.

In addition, the number of Macintosh-capable games is increasing steadily in the market. Buying a top-of-the-line Macintosh now might pay off later as more titles become available.

To make a long story (and argument) significantly shorter, just consider your personal gaming needs. Yes, Macintoshes are becoming more attractive to the gaming market. Their compatibility with Windows is increasing daily, and the number of titles released for OS X continues to expand.

But be warned: If you’re an entry-level gamer and not a die-hard Macintosh fan, think twice before investing in one. Entry-level Macintoshes do tend to be more expensive than their Windows equivalents. If you’re not necessarily looking for mind-blowing graphics capabilities, you can always find a nice cheap PC that will suit your needs – unless, of course, you’re a Mac person.