Mac Gaming

What’s with the Name?

Well, to be honest, this site could just as easily have been called “iMac Gamer” or “Boot Camp Gaming,” but I wanted to call it something a bit more flexible — something that would let the site focus and, if needed, grow. So, Mac Gaming. But, just so you’re not misled, don’t think of this site as being about games for the Mac. Rather, it’s about games you can play on a Mac, be it in Windows or (less often) in OS X.

Well, even that’s not completely accurate. Think of it this way: This site is the answer to a question — “Can I play that on my iMac?”

Some Background

I’m a web developer and I use an iMac for work. It’s also my home computer. I love playing games, and have for a long time (my first “gaming rig” was a Tandy TRS-80), but I don’t own any consoles and I don’t have room for a dedicated gaming PC. Instead I’ve got a partition set up on my iMac with Boot Camp and Windows XP. Here are my specs:

• 24” Screen (1920×1200)
• 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
• 4 GB RAM
• 256MB ATI Radeon HD2600

No, these aren’t the makings of hardcore gaming machine, but the iMac has handled everything I’ve thrown at it, from Rome: Total War and Half-Life 2 to Far Cry 2 and Fallout 3. The problem is knowing what I can throw at it so I don’t thrown away $50-60.

The Impetus

When a new game comes out or is announced, I do like everyone else: I check the system requirements to get an idea of whether or not my machine will be able to play it. The problem is that system requirements are abstract — they don’t give you a real world sense of how well or poorly a game will play on your machine. Sure, there are sites where you can compare your machine to the minimum and recommended requirements, but they’re not always accurate (nor do they work unless you’re in Windows). So, in the end, I’ll go scouring the web to see if anyone has tried the game on a computer like mine. Sometimes I’ll find answers like “Runs great,” with no comment on settings. More often, though, I won’t find anything but speculation, which is why I’m starting this site — to document the settings I use on my iMac for the games I play. Hopefully other iMac gamers and those with similar specs will find these details useful.