if you as much of a nerd as i am, you will love this

[Noize Anomaly]

hahaha!!!!! can't wait!!!! i was actually gonna have a pc built just so i could play this game (civilization 4) and elder scrolls 4....now if only bethesda would port over to mac.....

http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2005/10/27/1656

[Limey32]

You do realize that any game on the mac will be scaled down. The graphics can't handle anything 3D on a Mac. Civ 4? Ok. A game with graphics? Not a chance.

[Child of Cupertino]

The problem is not that the Mac "can't handle" it, but rather that games ported over to the Mac are not well optimized to run on it. Windows --and all of its developers -- uses DirectX. Macs are still using OpenGL. Macs commonly have dual CPUs, but most games are not tweaked to take advantage of them BOTH.

These are just two reasons why, despite Apple having decent hardware to run games very well, that their capabilities are not being taken advantage of... and in reality, I can hardly blame the game developers for this. Apple's Mac userbase is indeed growing, but it is of course still very small compared to Windows.

Check out the following game benchtests:

http://www.barefeats.com/mac2pc.html

Although getting trounced in most of the tests, you'll see just how much a Mac can "handle" gaming when the code is optimized for it in the example of Quake 3. Yeah, it's an old game -- but it does show how well properly optimized code can run on a Mac.

So, it aint the hardware causing the problem; it's the software.

[Child of Cupertino]

Also, your assertion that a Mac can handle Civilization 4 and no more is an absolute exaggeration. if you want to criticize the Mac platform, at least be accurate in your facts and careful with your wording.

I have played UT of many "years", Medal of Honor (there are several expansion packs available), several Star Wars titles, Doom III (my system is WAY below the recomended minimum, but it played very well), and a lot of other games.

If one was a HARDCORE gamer, however, they'd be better off with the Windows platform (notice that I'm not stipulating the PC platform -- it's Windows that makes the PC popular). Or, go with a game console.

[Noize Anomaly]

i played doom 3 on a severely underpowered mac and it looked as good as it does when i play it on xbox.

besides, civ 4 is not about graphics. that is the problem with gaming now. when all we had was a super nintendo the games were great. now that the graphics are insane, too much focus is put into that and not into gameplay. the civ series is the most addictive crack i've ever had and i want more..not because of any graphics but because of the game. and it will play just fine on my new mac.