
If you're shopping for one of us this holiday season, here's a quick guide to a few good gift ideas.
I find it pretty hard to recommend any actual games this year, but odds are that anything from an Apple store will make your gamer happy-- as long as you include the receipt, since even the most standard of computer games seems to have had major issues this year. For the sake of completion, both Freeverse and Ambrosia have a pretty good selection of OS X games to choose from, but I can't say that I really had a must-play OS X experience this year. Maybe next year.
But even if your gamer doesn't play that many games on their Mac, there are definitely gifts to get them.
And the first of those is an iTunes gift card (Apple, $15-$100). Most gamers also tend to be media consumers, so while your Aunt may flinch at receiving a gift card for the holidays (she'll take it as a sign that you don't care enough to choose something for her), most gamers are happy to get gift cards-- their tastes change so fast that you aren't expected to keep up with their media consumption. And a gift card for iTunes also gives them the chance to play Phase (iTunes, $4.99), a music game by Harmonix (the makers of Rock Band and the original Guitar Hero games), and probably the best game to hit the iPod yet.
Mike Rose mentioned both World of Warcraft and EVE Online in his guide for kids, but while those are both great games (and both great experiences on the Mac), you've got to remember that anyone you buy either game for has to pay a monthly fee to play them. So even if your gamer is already playing one of those, you can help them pay their subscription fee with gametime cards for WoW and EVE (Blizzard/CCP, $30-$50). That way, you can give them the most important thing for players of either of those games: playtime.
Finally, the truth at this point is that most Mac gamers don't play games on their Mac-- they play them on their consoles. The hottest selling console this holiday season is the Nintendo Wii (but good luck finding it at retail-- most stores are sold out), and Microsoft's Xbox 360 (I know, it's Microsoft, so it's still buggy, but it is popular) is close behind. And if you know someone who has one of those consoles-- or is getting them-- and a Mac, there are two terrific programs to let them do more with both their Mac and the console.
Wii Transfer (Riverfold Software, $19) has been mentioned before here on TUAW, and is a great way to get your Mac media browseable on your Wii, as well as back up saved games on your Mac. And Connect360 (Nullriver Software, $20) will do the same for your Xbox 360, painlessly and quickly putting any or all of your iTunes playlists and iPhoto pictures right there streamable on your 360. The other console in the running this year, the PlayStation 3, doesn't have a dedicated program to connect up to the Mac, but we've heard that EyeConnect's UPnP compatibility will do it for you just fine.
Unfortunately, we're not to a point yet where there's a must-have gaming experience only on the Mac (although here's hoping that this time next year we'll be recommending some terrific third party iPhone/iPod touch games). But there are definitely options out there for the gamer in your life who happens to appreciate the Mac experience, too.
Update: Mike Rose, smart man that he is, reminds me that the PC versions of Bioshock (Irrational Games, $50) and The Orange Box (Valve, $40) (Portal, as I've mentioned before, is my pic for Game of the Year) should both run pretty well on BootCamp, assuming your gamer has something better than the MacBook's integrated video card. I haven't heard anything about how Crysis (Crytek, $50) runs (and its system requirements are pretty high), but that's the other monster PC game this year.













Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
12-11-2007 @ 11:51AM
Sam said...
Xbox 360 + MBP = best experience ever.
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12-16-2007 @ 3:31PM
ogvor said...
Exactly what I be rollin'
And in boot camp, my MBP runs C & C III and Titan Quest Beautifully while I can enjoy the awesomeness of Mass Effect and Assassin's Creed on 360!
12-11-2007 @ 12:05PM
boparaiparamvir said...
kool well i hope too dat we will have games next year for iPhone
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12-11-2007 @ 12:45PM
Edward said...
Sweet Osprey.
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12-11-2007 @ 1:15PM
Andy said...
There are also more and more little casual games for the Mac that mostly sell at around $19 or less. Like on BigFishGames or on Macfun.com or CasualGems.com
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12-11-2007 @ 1:45PM
AJB said...
Colin McRae Rally for Mac is supposed to be a good title . . . but I'm sure you could get a Windows version for much cheaper and run it in Boot Camp, too.
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12-11-2007 @ 2:13PM
Scoo said...
You could get them a copy of Unity Indie, and they can roll their own games!
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12-11-2007 @ 3:01PM
Bradc said...
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars should be mentioned. It is an amazing game and runs in OS X too :)
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12-11-2007 @ 3:04PM
Scott said...
Don't forget City of Heroes/City of Villains! Great online MMO, appropriate for tweens, runs great under Boot Camp, and it's total superhero kick-in-the-pants fun!
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12-11-2007 @ 3:15PM
kshackelford said...
I would note EVE online is pretty unplayable on both linix and mac osx since the latest release. I wouldnt buy eve atm. You can use boot camp of course and it will run flawlessly, but who wants to do that :P
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12-11-2007 @ 4:34PM
joemc72 said...
Not sure exactly what you're saying there, because EVE has been running flawlessly on my MBP since the patch. Alternatively, EVE classic will run just fine in Crossover Mac as well.
12-11-2007 @ 4:55PM
kshackelford said...
http://myeve.eve-online.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=651314
Above is one of the many list of frequent crashes etc.
I have 3 mac which all have the same problem with this game. 2 imac 2.8, 1 MBP 2.1
12-11-2007 @ 3:47PM
Andre said...
Or you could always just give your beloved gamer cash. No doubt their wallet is starting to feel the pinch with all the games coming out recently...
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12-11-2007 @ 4:14PM
Greg G said...
Get them a Mac Pro, only way they may not have problems with the latest games. =\
That, or a PS3 ;)
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12-11-2007 @ 5:42PM
Jason Coleman said...
Does anyone know if the most recent Wii update (which disables mp3 playback in the photo channel) will disable any features of Wii Transfer? Just curious if any mac users have had any issues.
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12-11-2007 @ 8:34PM
Manton Reece said...
Jason, I tested with the new Photo Channel update today and it doesn't effect Wii Transfer. MP3 playback through the Internet Channel continues to work as it always has.
If you have any other questions, please let me know via support@riverfold.com. Thanks! (I'll also keep an eye on comments here for a few days.)
12-11-2007 @ 8:45PM
Jason Coleman said...
Manton, thanks for the research and info. Nintendo Wii Fanboy (one of TUAW's sister sites, I think) had an article that indicated the mp3 playback no longer worked. I'm glad to hear your test indicated otherwise.
http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2007/12/11/photo-channel-update-avoidable-and-reversible/
12-12-2007 @ 9:05AM
Manton Reece said...
To clarify, the Wii Fanboy site is correct: Nintendo did take away MP3 in the Photo Channel in favor of AAC. However, MP3 via Flash in the Internet Channel (which is what Wii Transfer uses) continues to work just fine.
12-11-2007 @ 8:21PM
pikelet said...
Crysis runs on my iMac (the white ones with the X1600 128mb) at a level I would say is 'bearable' (most things on low and a couple on medium) for the demo. Doesn't look anything like the screenshots (looks pretty crappy :p), but the gameplay is certainly fun. Would not gamble on buying it though, I hear the later levels are more graphically intensive and cause slowdown on far better cards.
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12-12-2007 @ 2:43AM
marcello said...
please, please, please...
guys this time you went a little too far...
what's the first entry in a gamer's gift guide?
an iTunes gift card? O_o
because you know, if one plays videogames he surely has an ipod and listens to a lot of music.
please, please, please...
at least i hope apple gives you a nice cut on every gift card they sell, because this is getting a little too lame.
M
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