Ah ha... Funny stuff Arctic Stone. I've often wondered how large the user base actually is. I'm told it's larger than the selling base because of the fact that they last longer...

Tlarkin, two points of reference (and only reference since we seem to agree). You need to remember that both the Xbox360 and PS3 are using the PowerPC architecture. I actually saw a picture of a microsoft employee using a G5 tower for testing on the Xbox 360. Also, hardware is not the hard part of porting. The OS is, whether it's the OS for the Xbox 360, Windows or OSX. Writing new libraries to work with OS's takes a loooong time.

Also, Direct3D is a part of DirectX 9.0 along with DirectDraw and DirectSound. I specifically referenced Direct3D because we were talking games and video cards, so it seemed appropriate.

But, despite the schematics and my ever present need to correct people (sorry), I do think we agree. I personally would like the simplicity of one machine (and one OS) for both my games and my work. But I can be patient, it will happen eventually :).

actually a PS3 is using cell processors developed by IBM, Toshiba, and Sony, it is loosly based of PPC based hardware, but is actually a different standard on its own. So really its not based off of a G5 processor.

IBM already stated that the base technology of cell, was completely OS nuetral and would be available for anyone to develope an OS for.

I have no use for games. Books are a better source of knowledge.

Myst and WebSudoku.com rule!! :D
 

Indeed, the PC friends that I have are invariably upgrading or replacing them, and often talking about a problem or to they hope to solve "next time".

My Mac compatriots, however, may long for the latest specs and machines, but my impression is they get a lot more years and problem-free use out of each machine. And they don’t get trashed, just placed in a corner somewhere, perhaps with an important secondary task or two -- and every once in a while we lift our eyes nostalgically.

I’ve been a Mac user for about 13 years. Three years ago I purchased my first new computer, ever. Before that: second-hand machines that we still use. And I still have my PowerPC 6100 packed in a box. Well, it somehow seemed disrespectful to throw it away... :o


With best regards,
ArcticStones


PS.
I hear ya! But the fact is that gaming is a prime force in PC development, and has been for some years.

Don’t play much games myself, but do glance over the shoulders of our kids. However, I admit to spending many a waking night with various editions of Myst.
And once a day or so I solve a puzzle at WebSudoku with the timer on. I’m convinced it helps my writing flow better. Try working your way up to category "Evil"; I’ve solved half a handful of those, but gotta throw in the towel more than half the time.

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Zalister, there is an interesting article on BBC today.

Couldn't possibly disagree more...well, actually I could. I'm a history buff, and I don't think I'll ever play Civilization 4 and think to myself "My but this is an accurate rendition of history".

But honestly, if I want to learn how to fly a plane, manage a large city budget or simply learn some of the in's and out's of sports, there are few resources better than games.

Flight Simulator or XPlane are probably the best examples of this. In some areas it is legal to do half of your flight training for your private license on a simulation like this if you have an instructor present. I can personally tell you that logging over 200 hours in Flight Simulator 98 made it possible for me to follow a VOR route from Phoenix to San Diego when I was a lad of 15 (as opposed to the lad of 23 I am now). The pilot I was with assumed I had flown before, I had to explain that it was all from the games I played on my computer.

Heck, most airforces agree with me. I remember going to Luke Air Force Base in Phoenix to fly on the F-16 simulator. The F-16 trainee's are required to log a hundred hours (if memory serves, it's been a while) on those sims before they are ever allowed to touch the real thing.

In conclusion, yeah, books are awful useful. But if you want hands on training, you'd be surprised what a good game can do for you.

Arctic Stone--

I couldn't agree with the article more (I would have watched the program but, alas, I'm one of those stupid Americans and have no access to the BBC :-). ) I think the biggest change we'll see in the next ten years is the development of programs that make game creation simpler. A good example of this is the Torque Engine from Garage Games. It's not even close to perfect, but it does make the creation of a game much simpler than hammering out all the graphics code on your own. And it's Mac Friendly :).

I would both agree and disagree with sulo28. I think games have their place in the development of certain skills, however; there is absolutely no substitute for the knowledge one gains from reading.

Then again, I also think comparing the two is like comparing apples to oranges; you just can't do it. I don't believe that playing video games for hours on end will enhance one's vocabulary or enrich one's life so that they become a contributing member of society. Books can.

Along those same lines, books cannot provide the same entertainment/interactive environment that games can. Sometimes, games are a great way to just blow off some steam.

I think an important idea here is that people really need to find a balance of the two and not just one or the other. I've noticed when talking to people that play online enabled games that their sentence structure and verbal capacity is quite limited compared to someone that has never played such a game.

Also, people who tend to do nothing but read books/novels/etc that they can come off as being a bit arrogant with their use of words that no normal person would ever use in a casual conversation.

An equilibrium is the ideal place for parents to place their kids and for adults to restrict themselves to. Unfortunately, I think parents are becoming a bit lax in the types of games they let their kids play, and thus; it hurts their social skills later in life.


Just my 2 cents... which means nothing of course... :)

I have no time for games now I'm all growed up. But if they ever released Oddworld for OSX I'd have to get it.

This is another one of those agree/disagree points for me as well. I don't think you can ever replace reading, that's why they have text in video games! ;). Anyway, I do think games can enrich your life, and I dare say that anyone who thinks otherwise hasn't played the right games. Remember, video games are a genre, and they have their high points and their low points just like everything else. I personally love literature, and am currently working on finishing Musashi's Book of Five Rings, which has many wonderful insights. At the same time, I don't feel I learned anything from reading "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad. I know that's just one man's opinion. And I'm sure there are better examples to prove my point. But I just want to point out that not all books are exactly educational, or worth reading.

I agree with this though (and most of the rest of the post.) People do need to find a balance, and those World of Warcraft people need to learn how to type. To try and offer an explanation for the latter (I'm ever the apologist when it comes to the gaming community).

They might be using l337 speak (pronounced like elite without the e at the front). It's a form of gaming language that popped up back when First Person Shooters where first becoming popular. It stems from the fact that you have a whole 2 seconds to hammer out a message before you get plastered by a rocket. Thus most of the sentences that come out are vague and mostly incomprehensible. As time went by it become a matter of pride, and a way to differentiate oneself as a gamer. So they developed a whole new alphabet that uses numbers and weird signs (eg >< for x or @ for a), and now they use it as a way to show gaming superiority. It's kind of silly, and a lot of gamers I know look down on it. Still, some gamers specifically do not use correct syntax just because they can...

Well, that and many people on WOW are 14.

But, I will agree that balance is very very important. I personally think a person should use whatever tool is best for the job, whatever that tool may be. If the situation needs a book, grab a book, if it needs a movie, then get a movie. It's just important that one doesn't write off a whole entire genre because they don't understand it. That's all.

Well said.

Just on the subject of Oddworld does anyone know of other similar games that are out on OSX? Not the 3d one, I mean the first two Oddysee and Exoddus.

Well, as far as I can tell, none of those games have been released on Mac, and most likely they won't be. Unfortunately they all depend on DirectX, and no one wants to tackle that particular implementation. Very unfortunate because they are excellent games.

If you want you can try http://www.macgamefiles.com. Independent developers will sometimes come up with their own versions of their favorite games. For example, you can find a full, user created, version of FreeSpace 2 with update graphics. I really like the site personally, you never know what you are going to find...

I enjoy gaming there is no doubt about it.

I have a P4 3Ghz Intel Processor with 2GB RAM a 256MB Graphics card and this is plugged into my 20" Apple Display.....

I never use it.

I play what games I can on my PowerBook.

Why you ask? It urks me to you the windows box I have been ruined by Apple, maybe I can sue them?
Yes I know that playing the game on a top of the line Windows box vs Playing the game on the top of the line Mac (even when the PowerMac G5's are replaced) should be the same and even if it is identical in experiance there in one problem, that I can not bring myself to over look.

That damn start button and the fact that it is a windows machine...

Yes I know I need Help :)

Funny funny.

You know what makes me mad is the difference in speed between gaming on Mac's v. gaming on Windows. Ex: My friend (who works at a Mac reseller) and I recently installed World of Warcraft on both the Windows and OSX side of a MacBook Pro 15.4". They matched up pretty well until we hooked the computer up to our 30" Cinema that we have there. Then the difference was obvious.

On the one hand, it was really cool to see WOW with full effects running like a demon on a 30" under windows. But I can't tell you the amount of scaling back we had to do in order to get the game to work right on our OSX install.

The reason is pretty straight forward. WOW uses DirectX9. Apple doesn't support DirectX at all. So Blizzard probably had to shoehorn the game to make it work.

If there was any one wish I would make with apple it's that they fully implement DirectX in OSX. They don't have to use it for System stuff, but just for 3D applications that make use of it. Heck, with what I've seen of DX10, it might be a really good idea...

there are also rumors now of AMD and ATI merging....


That would change a few things as well.

Holy heck yeah, it certainly would. Where did you get your info on that?

here goes a google search for it, I read it on slashdot

http://www.google.com/search?client=...=Google+Search

Hmm, still in it's rumor stage, but not a bad rumor. My experience with Apple rumors makes me a little less trusting of 'internet noise', but we'll see if it happens.

I just wonder how that's going to affect Apple. Since apple is using Intel, I wonder if we'll see a degradation in performance compared to a similar AMD. Granted, AMD would probably want to keep it's entire market share, and would try to keep the intel side of things looking good. But the resources to work with AMD processors would be right there!

I wonder if Intel will try and buy out nVidia as a response. That would be great for the MacBooks...

AMD actually makes a better processor than intel on paper. They have better benchmarks for most things and are a bit cheaper. However, they have never quite been able to get ahead of intel in the market share.

Personally, my PC at home is run on AMD hardware and I like it. Intel doesn't make a bad product by any means, but they are wearing their technology thing, hence all the over heating problems with the latest intel processors. They are overclocking them too much. Their answer was suppose to be the duo core processor family, but those run hot as well.

It is kind of like the chevy/ford debate with american cars. Some people prefer intel, and some prefer AMD. AMDs server and enterprise level hardware has jumped up in the market share a ton due to its nice performace/price ratio. I was second guessing that nvidia may want to jump in with intel, but in the end I think nvidia won't so they can play both sides of the market. Nvidia didn't buy out all those other companies for nothing, and they now are starting to make render cards and other specialized business level hardware.

Either way it will definitely be interesting.

the only game i really want on the mac would be the gta series, that'd be awesome