Depends on the game
Are there any real differences in buying a Mac or a PC version of a game? I've been itching to play The Sims 2, along with a few other games, and I'm not sure which one to get.
I have Windows installed, via BootCamp, and a few older games I can play on there. I also have a MacBook, so the video might be an issue. From what I understand, the video card can be more productive under Windows running natively than using OS X.
Also, is it possible to play on a network against PC users? For instance, let's say we're playing Age of Empires II, and I want to go against a PC user. Will that work, or do we need to both have the same version of the software (both Mac or both PC)?
I bought a 20" iMac last fall, and lived with three other guys all running xp machines. I got UT 2004, and for the first couple weeks was able to network no problem with their games, or host the games(which is usually what happened). Then for some unknown reason I could no longer see their games, and only one of them could see my game. I was running wireless the whole time, and my roommate was messing with the router alot trying to make it more secure from other people stealing our internet. So that might have been what caused it, by then though we switched to Battlefield 2 where I was forced to boot into xp to play.
Between the difference in games between the two OS's, I have found that it usually doesn't matter to much, but in general the windows version will run a little smoother, usually due to much more time spent on debugging the windows versions. For example I played World of Warcraft for a couple months, and at first I was forced to lower my settings so i could get a decent 30 fps. but after a couple weeks blizzard released a couple different updates that allowed me to run at full settings easy and have no problems at all with framerates. While at the same time the built in iTunes controls so I could change songs or the volume of iTunes without having to exit the game, since in OS X you can't switch out of full screen applications. I never bothered to see if my roommates had these controls in their xp versions. But after a couple of updates i was convinced that WoW running on OS X was just as good or better than on XP. Through my wireless connection i ALWAYS had a lower ping rate than any of my wired roommates using a 1000mb connection to the router. Mine was usually around 18 and there's usually about 35-40.
I continue to buy OS X games over windows as I can, even though occasionally they will be more buggy,because I know the larger the mac gaming community gets the more time companies will spend on making the versions as good as they can be. And I much more enjoy working inside of OS X than XP. I don't even keep music or movies on my XP partition, just games.
Another game i had that we networked between macs and pc's was Prey, it networked just fine, and with me always hosting the games it still ran great.
Guitar Hero 3 for mac's and pc's October 29th.
I think I might just have to get it.
