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Technology Stocks : Apple Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Eric Yang who wrote (6708)	12/9/1997 1:49:00 PM
From: Perry	Respond to of 213173

=== The Scoop =============================== By Randy Whitted, TechWeb contributor Games and computers have always been an interesting combination. Back in the early '80s, my friend's father worked for a company that built logic boards. They had the equivalent of a $10,000 computer in their home built from pieces of things his father had been working on. It had two 5.25-inch floppy drives and a little black and green screen. It was high tech back then, but all we cared about was what games it could play. Four or five of us would hunch over that little screen in awe that the computer could describe a room so well. "You're in a room 15 feet by 15 feet. To the north is a doorway." "Go through the door!" we would yell, and my friend's older brother would type "North." "You're in a long hallway with a door to the south and a large rock to the north." "Look around! Look around!" we'd yell. Wow, what times those were. When the Macintosh came out, Apple was wise enough to realize that this little machine would make an excellent gaming platform -- and that nothing could be worse than for this to happen: It would humiliate the innovative new GUI and mouse. The Mac had to be a serious productivity platform, or it would fail. It's difficult to tell if this strategy worked, but there is no doubt it lasted much too long. Despite driver woes, "plug and pray," and a DOS structure, the PC soared past the Mac as an entertainment machine. This is not because it was a better machine for multimedia, but simply because Apple discouraged games on the Macintosh. Things are changing fast though, almost in spite of Apple. Developers' kitchens have been held by Apple, and for a while they were developing game sprockets to aid programmers in producing games for the Mac. These were good signs that a new mind-set was in place, but ultimately it was the Mac users themselves and their buying dollars that have turned things around. It began with the port of Doom II to the Mac. This was a big seller on the Mac platform for GT Interactive and id Software -- not enough to convince them to develop simultaneously for PCs and Macs, but enough to raise awareness. Blizzard also realized there were profits to be made >from the Mac side. Even Apple is realizing the importance of entertainment titles. Last year there was a concerted effort by Apple to place colorful stands in computer stores displaying many of the best titles available for the Mac. This year the stand is not necessary. PowerMac 6500 displays (formerly Performas) now allow the shopper to play a few games on the machine to see just how well they run on a Mac. More important, there are enough relatively current and certainly popular games available that truly warrant their own space on the software shelves. There have been some nice games developed only for the Mac, or originally for Mac, but the PC gaming platform has developed a tremendous lead. The current issue of PC Gamer magazine is more than 400 pages and includes two CDs. There are more PC games than any one person could ever hope to play. Luckily for us Mac users, we have a filter. Most of the new titles on the Mac game shelves are already certified hits on the PC. It is a drag at times waiting for a Mac version of a game you're interested in to maybe come out, but there is certainly a good choice of titles to keep a person occupied in the meantime. The recent successes of PC ports to the Mac have resulted in some positive trends for us Mac gamers. Titles like Myth, Fallout, and Close Combat II are coming out simultaneously. Well, very close anyway. Market share numbers are daunting, but there are other figures that can't be ignored: There are millions of Mac users out there who love to play games; Mac users use less tech support; Mac game developers don't have to deal with Microsoft's heavy handed antics to force the use of DirectX; Mac users are fiercely loyal; and best of all, Mac users have been deprived of the great game selection PC users have had. Things are looking good for the Mac gaming world. Apple can no longer discourage games on the Mac, and it no longer wants to. Entertainment software is a scene as intricate and involved as the politics in Apple itself, but it is coming around. If you own a PowerMac and haven't been to a software shop recently, you might be surprised at what you find. We've come a long way from "to the north is a doorway."