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Manufacturer
MacAlly
Release Date
Q2 2001


iShock II
February 14, 2001 | Patrick Leyden
Pages:123

The resurgence of gaming on the Macintosh platform has been beneficial to Mac gamers in a variety of ways. The most obvious way is the greater variety of software as well as the faster pace that A-list software is released for the platform. Another important consequence has to do with hardware options.

While Apple continues to release faster G3 and G4-based Macs, these still are not gaming machines by design. Increased clock speed is always welcomed, but raw megahertz is simply not enough to make a true gaming box. In order to fully experience many of today’s interactive experiences, players need higher quality video cards, stereo or surround sound speakers, more feature-rich sounds cards and, of course, game controllers.

Hardcore Hardware
Thanks to the efforts of companies such as ATI, nVidia, Harmon/Kardon and Creative, many of these peripheral needs have been satisfied. One aspect of Mac gaming peripherals that has been somewhat neglected is the game controller. With USB connectors built into every Apple system since the iMac, the selection of controllers has greatly increased. Unfortunately, Mac support for much of this hardware has been nothing more than an afterthought. One exception to this rule has been MacAlly.

MacAlly has been making Macintosh-compatible peripherals, with a particular focus on input devices, for many years. The company has always had a good track record in bringing a variety of input devices to the market, but their latest release will bring to the Mac a capability that many gamers have been begging for. The soon-to-be-released iShock 2 game pad will be the first Macintosh USB controller to support force feedback.



Pages:123




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