Opinion: Is the iPhone Killing Mac Gaming?
Now, don’t get me wrong. I love iPhones as much as the next guy, but sometimes I get worried. Maybe it’s because I don’t have one, maybe it’s because I rely too much on my trusty Macbook, but it seems to me that the primary focus of game developers is shifting from the Mac as a platform to the iPhone.
Many software review sites, including this one, now have a significant amount of articles on iPhone applications. This is of course because there are new iPhone applications popping up every day. Racing games, arcade games, even new games that create their own genre. But fewer and fewer articles, at least those about gaming, mention a platform other than the iPhone. I have nothing against new programs, and I think as I’m sure the developers do too that the iPhone is an exciting new way to think about applications, and has such great potential as a platform. What I think is happening, however, is that the developers are so interested and so obsessed with the new possibilities of a small touch screen interface that they are abandoning what can be done with a mouse and a keyboard.
Back in the day, the Mac was revolutionary. Games like Myst or Riven, for example, took the world by storm, and were fully Apple-centric created on, and originally for, only Macs. But now, just as the Mac begins to gain market share, and games are developed and released simultaneously on both Macs and Windows (instead of having to wait through interminable periods of jealousy, watching your PC-loving friends play the ones that you couldn’t), it seems that Apple has created the agent of its gaming downfall. No longer are games on a computer screen the forefront of exciting new ways to play.
iPhone games are now where the revolution is taking place. The touch screen, the motion and tilt sensors, all of the little pieces and features of the gadget make it a wonderful tool to use for game input. But countless times now, I have looked through the web, eagerly read news on upcoming games, and then discovered the link to the iTunes music store at the bottom of the article, crushing my dreams of ever playing it. Now, I know that a huge amount of people have iPhones, and this is a market as eager as myself, but I also know that I am not the only person without one. The Mac is still an amazing computer, capable of doing amazing things more so now than ever, with Core Image graphics, all the other features of Leopard, and so on , but it’s not getting the attention it deserves.
The iPhone is certainly a wonderful piece of technology. But developers have to remember that it is not the only piece of technology. Bring back new, exciting Mac games! Become forerunners of innovation, creativity, and, most of all, fun! Remember that gamers have more fingers than just their two thumbs! Either that, or someone buy me an iPhone.
I too remember playing games like Marathon which I still think has not been bettered for suspense, playability and storyline in it’s genre since, however, since then there has been a definite shift towards the PC and game consoles.
As much as you may hark back to the Mac games of yore, Mac gaming has been a quiet backwater for many years now.
My theory is that the iPhone is only the beginning of a new consolidated Mac gaming platform with AppleTV perhaps becoming the hub. Or the iPhone will become a Wii style controler for games on your TV or Mac.
Without question there will be ever more innovation based on the iPhone that will eventually spill over to other Mac hardware. But why wish you could turn back the clock if the future is so much brighter?
For me this is a good thing. I have a wii at home for playing games on, in the lounge where there’s plenty of room to play with friends, with the games designed for the hardware and the controllers (i didn’t think there was a better set of controls than mouse and keyboard for FPSs until i played resident evil 4 on the wii). As such I will hardly ever play games on my mac. But there are many many occasions when I will have the opportunity to be playing games on the move – short games on my journey to work (usually by indie developers), but much longer ones on flights and long train journeys (usually by the big games studios). As more developers start developing for the iphone, the better the games will become. my only worry is that so many of the games are so cheap – a trend that is beneficial now while the iphone is still a relatively immature platform, but surely can’t be sustainable in the long term.
Mac gaming died years ago.
Now all we have are lousy ports.
Aside from the occasional gem, there wasn’t much to kill anyway.
The iPhone gaming market is multitudes larger than the Mac’s gaming market had been even before the iPhone was even concieved.
Reality check….the platform did not have much to kill to begin with.
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You write for a Mac site and you don’t have an iPhone?
The iPhone is a “Mac” and in that sense “Mac gaming” is stronger than ever.
When the iPhone evolves into a tablet, the line between Mac and iPhone will blur, and gaming on the Mac will reach new heights.
My thoughts exactly: there’s nothing to kill on the Mac as far as gaming. We never had a lot of options to begin with. Actually, EA is focusing a lot on releasing games for the Mac now, which is promising.
I also want to echo Matt’s sentiments: you write for a Mac site and don’t own an iPhone or iPod Touch? Get out there and drop some cash!
Buy yourself an iPod Touch.
I wouldn’t say that these developers are focusing less on Macs, because they weren’t focusing on Macs to begin with. The vast majority of games on the iPhone are either ports of web-based flash games or first time attempts from new developers who can afford the low cost involved in iPhone development.
Don’t worry — the 6 people that were working on Mac games before the iPhone are probably the same 6 people that are working on them now.
You are talking about the iPhone as a gaming device like it is the first in its class. What about the Game Boy, Nintendo DS, PSP? I would consider the iPhone in the same class as those (only more advanced). The iPhone does not compete with the Mac and Windows for gaming, rather other handheld devices. It’s kind of like saying that Honda making a motorcycle is killing their car business. They are different vehicles and each has its own purpose.
And I have to agree with everyone else…Macs never did have much of a gaming platform, so there is very little to decline. I don’t see the hugely popular game development for the Mac being stopped to make it for the iPhone, they were NEVER developed for the Mac.
IHO the SDK and for iPhone developers should only attract more Mac developers. The tools are the same. They are both OS X. if anything apple is expanding a new generation of capable mac programmers.
I tend to disagree with your opinion and so seems everyone else. The Mac platform hasn’t been the choice for game developers for a few years. I know a few games that have been developed also for the Mac and I can count them on one hand. The rest are just Cyder ports.
It’s absolutely wrong to say that Mac game developers are moving to the iPhone, as many have pointed above me in the comments, there aren’t any to move to the iPhone. What happened is a huge amount of Windows and console developers are starting to make games for the iPhone. What might and probably will happen is that since they are already familiar with Xcode, they might actually consider the Mac platform too.
Also, you should mark the user “IPhone Deals” as spam. thank you.
I have to say I’m not really a big fan of gaming on desktops. Yes there are games that really need to be on a desktop like C&C type games, simulators, and the like but for everything else you’re better off with a console.
I’m a firm believer of using the right tool for the job and Macs have sadly never been the right tool except it is easier to get games running on a Mac than on a PC.
My DS hasn’t been touched since I got my iPhone. The iPhone is a great alrounder.
I am an iphone developer, and I want to quit and do OSX apps. As a small developer you have almost 0 chance of making a living on the iphone market. Every day there are 50 new games. Unless you are a big publisher, or are one of the 0.1% that get a lucky break and apple features you, your apps will go nowhere since there are way too many apps and too few ways of being noticed. Even if you get lucky and make some sales, you don’t get paid for almost 3 months. 2% of the apps get 98% of the sales. From a user’s perspective its great, from a developer’s perspective it too tough a market. Add to that the frustration of dealing with apple’s app store team and there is no fun in iphoneville.
I do not think so. Mac games supports iphone. Thanks for this share.
Mac gaming died years ago.
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