Transgaming makes deal with Ubisoft

Just an FYI. EVE Online has a "native" Mac app which is wrapped in Cider and packaged by Transgaming. The "native" client is solid and has minimal fps loss over running the game in Windows.

I think that sort of proves Ciders' capabilities.

OMG OMG OMG - Beyond Good & Evil 2??? One of my favorite games ever, that nobody bought, is getting a sequel? Fantastic! Now all we need is Psychonauts 2 and my day will be complete!

Now, as for Mac gaming, many titles simply play better using a keyboard and mouse. I got an Xbox to play some kinds of games that I used to play on Windows - and the controls on some of these games just aren't usable enough for me.

Finally, Mac gamers will get to play all those great Ubisoft titles that only Wii gamers have been able to enjoy. Hoo. Rah.

What annoys me is that publishers will charge the same price for the Cider version as for the Windows version when the Cider version is clearly an inferior product.

Brad: World of Warcraft is already native, already a huge hit, and already a "must have" game by many measures... Mac gaming exists, Diablo 3 won't be the revolution that ushers in a new era... It will merely be one more in a long line of games Blizzard has ported natively to Mac. Obviously over the years Blizzard has found it profitable to port their games, which is why they're CONTINUING to do it.

"Ubisoft using Cider is disappointing news. I can't get excited over something that I can do myself with just a half hour of reading."

Cider isn't that easy to use, I hope you realize. It's not a half-baked VM solution, it's an API wrapper. It's not ideal, nor is it fast, nor is it pretty, but give Ubi *some* credit.

I don't get why it's so stupidly difficult for game developers to write games natively. I program on both Mac and Windows, and considering that they're running 100% C++, it's *not that hard* to engineer a game from the ground up to be cross platform (hint: don't use platform-locked libs!). PhysX is cross-platform, graphics engines work across platforms...

I think Diablo 3 may change the state of gaming on Macs. Blizzard has an in-house Mac development team, which means the game will more than likely be a native application, and not wrapped with the Cider engine. D3 is a game in a major, major franchise, and will have proper promotion. Not to mention it's a continuation of a series that was available, and popular, on Macs before.

D3 will be the first "must-have" game that can deliver a completely modern game experience since Apple made the switch to Intel processors. I don't count the Cider games, since the wrapper discards a lot of the effects available when running in Windows. (Cider games look noticably worse than their Windows counteparts).

What will need to happen is for D3 to sell. A large company needs to see that it's possible to make money on the Mac platform if the product is good. As long as it's not wrapped in Cider, I'm planning on getting the Mac version instead of the Windows.

I also tend to discard the idea that Macs are not a platform for gaming. The ideological mindset behind Mac users is changing as rapidly as the market share grows. I have several friends who ask me on a routine basis if there are any good games for Macs.

Ubisoft using Cider is disappointing news. I can't get excited over something that I can do myself with just a half hour of reading.

They should spend money on real Mac development instead of Cider. Ack. That crap's just horrible.

This would be good news, however the performance of Cider is just terrible.

I'm not playing the games in half-quality and months/years late when a quick reboot gives me native speed.

Worthless... Even my 3Ghz Mac Pro was struggling with c&c3 using Cider.

As long as Blizzard keeps up their commitment, I'm happy. Who here is up for some Diablo 3!?

Seriously though, I love my WoW and I'm quite content with that. Any other game I play is on a console anyway.

But ... I can already play those killer games ... on my xbox.

I still don't understand why gaming is SO important to people. I've been using Apple computers and products almost exclusively since 1979 and while I've enjoyed my Ming's Challenge and Infocom games over the years, I can accept that the Mac platform isn't the right platform for gaming ... for me. I actually like keeping those two sides of my life separate.