370 replies to this topic

[Jan]

Tacohead, on 13 August 2015 - 10:54 AM, said:

Maybe I'm being a little "glass half empty" here but I think the time has passed for us to reasonably expect Dragon Age Inquisition for the Mac. Based on that job listing thing from quite a while back now it seems like they at least investigated the possibility. But at some point it now seems likely that something happened to dissuade them from doing so.

The Witcher 3 for the Mac is probably a different story though. CD Project seems pretty invested in supporting the Mac with GOG and the first two games in the series coming to our beloved platform. They even went out of their way (or somebody did) to sort of re-release a better version of the first game because of all the issues that had cropped up with the somewhat shoddy WINE port that had been originally released. I don't think you would see EA do something like that ever. So sooner or later I think we are going to be hearing something about a Mac version of The Witcher 3.

However if we continue to hear nothing about this until early next year I would start to worry.

I agree. EA just don't care, but Aspyr seems to have a pretty solid relationship with them. They even rebuilt and rereleased the new Sim City for the Mac App Store, which is quite an effort.

I hope CD Projekt will hire either Aspyr or Feral to do a proper native Mac/SteamOS version of The Witcher 3. Valve already teased the game for SteamOS. Why would anyone invest in a (currently) non-existent install base of Steam machines and not also target the multi-million Mac user base to reduce the risk? At least as long as Apple supports OpenGL and/or Vulkan in OS X.

[Cougar]

Jan, on 13 August 2015 - 11:11 AM, said:

Look at the iPad Air 2. It's such a powerful piece of hardware for a mobile device and they keep getting better and better every year. Currently we're talking Xbox 360/PS3 performance for iPhone, but what about 2016 or 2017? At least the Japanese publishers are pushing mobile pretty hard.

The problem with iOS isn't the performance, it's the space, or lack thereof. Apps have a 4 GB limit right now. It doesn't really matter how fast the device is if there's no room for the fancy assets. Apple needs to up this limit and discard the 16 GB models if we're going to see flashier games.

If the new AppleTV does have an App Store, it will be interesting to see how much space they give it. There's no way they'd put a noisy platter in it, and flash remains expensive.

[DirtyHarry50]

The Aspyr thread needs some love... and some demands, umm, I mean requests!

We need more RPGs, classic RPGs would be niceness. Since Aspyr has done ports in the past of both Neverwinter Nights and Neverwinter Nights 2 I think they need to update those and do new fabulous releases that include all expansion content.

Now, I can only hope that Blair is lurking, will see this, feel for me in my terrible plight and make it so.

Seriously though, wouldn't it be great to have updated releases of these two great games? I think so. While  I wish for Bethesda RPGs I don't see that happening but this seems like maybe it would be possible depending on availability of licensing for them. I don't know why Hasbro wouldn't want to make more money. I think they own D&D now don't they?

[Jan]

I wholeheartedly agree. Aspyr releasing KotOR II The Sith Lords including The Restored Content Mod and with widescreen and gamepad support was my personal Mac gaming highlight this year. And I'm speaking about a ten (!) year old game. That's how much I love a good story-driven RPG. Luckily I could still purchase Neverwinter Nights 2 in January 2012 before it was removed from the Mac App Store. But an updated version with multi-language and gamepad support would be awesome!

Talking about awesomeness: Blair, is there any chance for another great Western RPG from Aspyr in the coming months? I think I'm not the only one who would pay you any premium price you ask for a Mac native Fallout 4.

[Cougar]

I'm sure Aspyr would love it, too. But Bethesda couldn't care less.

[mattw]

Think I read somewhere that they ended up with a Mac hating CEO who would prevent titles coming to the Mac even if there was good money to be made....

[Janichsan]

mattw, on 13 October 2015 - 12:50 PM, said:

Think I read somewhere that they ended up with a Mac hating CEO who would prevent titles coming to the Mac even if there was good money to be made....

I'm still surprised Elder Scrolls Online was released for the Mac.

[nick68k]

+1 for a re-release/Intel update for NWN/NWN2. I had the former working with a WINE wrapper for a bit, but it was klutzy.

[tcrown]

mattw, on 13 October 2015 - 12:50 PM, said:

Think I read somewhere that they ended up with a Mac hating CEO who would prevent titles coming to the Mac even if there was good money to be made....

EA and Ubisoft seem to fall into that category of unreasonable CEO despite both Mac hardware and game sales on the up swing quarter after quarter.

[Cougar]

tcrown, on 13 October 2015 - 03:02 PM, said:

EA and Ubisoft seem to fall into that category of unreasonable CEO despite both Mac hardware and game sales on the up swing quarter after quarter.

EA and Ubi both have their sporadic moments of recognition. Bethesda pretends the Mac doesn't exist.

[Frigidman™]

Cougar, on 13 October 2015 - 03:05 PM, said:

EA and Ubi both have their sporadic moments of recognition. Bethesda pretends the Mac doesn't exist.

Thats ok, I pretend none of them exist. I don't even know who you are talking about.

[Jan]

Time goes by quickly for 2015. I wonder if we'll see any more games from Aspyr before christmas, not to mention AAA role-playing games which were released after 2005. Does Austin have something in stock for the big Steam Machines launch on November 10?

[Mr Pink]

I'd love another Star Wars title.
Aspyr ported The Force Unleashed II to PC, but never to the Mac. I wonder what that was all about.
Battlefront II would be great; I don't have much hope that EA's Battlefront will make it to the Mac.

[Mr Pink]

I wonder why Aspyr decided to only re-release Tomb Raider II on the MAS, on not on Steam.
And why not bring the rest of the series back as well?

[Thain Esh Kelch]

I would like some Star Wars Battlefront. This trailer got me hyped up a bit, but I also adore that score.

But I could definitely also settle for The Witcher 3. 8)

[Mr Pink]

Thain Esh Kelch, on 15 November 2015 - 11:53 AM, said:

But I could definitely also settle for The Witcher 3. 8)

Weren't the first two Witcher games ported by CD Projekt RED themselves?
Give them some time, maybe they'll port the third part too soon.

[Janichsan]

Mr Pink, on 15 November 2015 - 02:44 PM, said:

Weren't the first two Witcher games ported by CD Projekt RED themselves?
Give them some time, maybe they'll port the third part too soon.

The first two were ported by Virtual Programmings. CD Projekt Red mentioned when they announced The Witcher 3 that it would also come for the Mac, but honestly, given the circumstances I don't really believe that's going to happen.

[Thain Esh Kelch]

Mr Pink, on 15 November 2015 - 02:44 PM, said:

Weren't the first two Witcher games ported by CD Projekt RED themselves?
Give them some time, maybe they'll port the third part too soon.

They were, but given how many years it took them to actually make it playable, I'd prefer someone else to do it this time around.

[Jan]

I'm curious which way Aspyr will be heading: They have mostly done ports of older classics this year, like Fahrenheit Remastered, KotOR II or the Homeworld Remastered collection. Don't get me wrong: Those are all great games and I'm glad to be able to play them natively on OS X without the need for Crossover or Wine.

But I wonder if they will return to their AAA roots or if it's even possible from a business perspective: It's relatively easy to bring an older game to both Mac and mobile devices and benefit from both markets. That's not possible with highly demanding titles like Star Wars Battlefront or The Witcher 3.

Given the current GPU situation on Macs and the lukewarm launch of Steam Machines and SteamOS, it will be interesting to watch their next move.

[jeannot]

Hopefully, a year from now GPUs in new Macs will have vastly improved. GPUs have fabed built with the same process node for like 4 years, and the shift to 16 nm transistors will help a LOT. AMD is claiming 2X improvements in power efficient, so we're talking R9 nano levels of performance for less than 90 W.
These recent years have not been the most favorable for Mac gaming because of the new AAA console games that are too demanding for most Macs, and the fact that Apple stick with AMD GPU. But as Mac get more powerful than consoles, and as Metal (hopefully) implements more modern functions, things can only get better.