Questions about gaming on MB

[ipatmi]

hey guys.
i pickin up a new computer for school. i going in for film production so im gunna get the macbook, not sure which one yet, prolly the 2.16ghz one. anyway just wondering how easy it is to run games and what kind of games. not that im gunna be playing alot of them. i just really enjoy strategy games like aoe3 and such. how does the mac run games like this one and is there any special modification u need to do to them. also one more thing say im playing a game online with my mac, can i play with pc users who are playing. any help is appreciated. thanks

 

[eXan]

No, MacBook is the worst (with Mac mini) Mac right now for gaming. They both have Intel GMA graphics.

You also said that you will be doing film work on the laptop. The MacBook's screen is too small and is very bad for such things (poor viewing angles, bad colors).

That said, I strongly recommend a MacBook Pro 2.2 GHz. It has insane graphics card (especially for a 1" thin laptop) and high-quality big LED screen.

 

[grahamtearne]

If you are on a tight budget being a student there is no real need to stretch to the Pro, OK yes it has a bigger screen which is nice for editing and does have a better graphics card for gaming but the MacBook is fine for what you want. You can always hook the MacBook up to an external screen when you are using it for prolonged video editing.

As for gaming not sure aoe will run on the Mac (is it universal?) Anyhow if you boot into Windows using bootcamp (which I do on my MacBook) to play the game you will be fine. You sound like you dont want it for heavy gaming so you are not a 'hardcore gamer'. Im sick and tired of everyone saying the GMA is crap, its not as bad as people make out, check my video of it running madden 08, a new game at medium texture details and 1280x800 resoltion, perfectly fine for casual gaming etc.

 

[eXan]

As for gaming not sure how they run on the Mac (is it universal?) Anyhow if you boot into Windows using bootcamp to play the game you will be fine. You sound like you dont want it for heavy gaming so you are not a 'hardcore gamer'. Im sick and tired of everyone saying the GMA is crap, its not as bad as people make out, check my video of it running madden 08, a new game at medium texture details and 1280x800 resoltion, perfectly fine for casual gaming etc.

It IS crap. I have one in my MacBook - I know what i'm talking about.

Sure, it runs Unreal Tournament 2004 1v1 deathmatch @ 800x600 lowest settings at 30+ FPS, and you think its good?

And BTW, UT2004 is very CPU-stressing game, which makes GMA look better than it really is.

 

[grahamtearne]

For the hardcore gamer it is crap agreed. But for casual gamers its fine IMO. Hardcore gamers would avoid the MacBook even if it had a proper GPU as the screen is too small etc. This laptop isn't built for them sort of gamers. The OP said he doesn't really play much games just aoe, to me that sounds like a casual gamer and so IMO the MacBook will be fine.

 

[ipatmi]

hey guys thanks. i actaully just looked up some games for mac and turns out all the aoe's are on there. cant wiat im pickin it up tommorrow. not sure which one im getting ill talk to the guy at the store. thanks for all ure help. i