I was on the verge of building a decent rig, but if I can play this on the Mac that I have to pay my school for anyway, I'm going to buy a nice external display and do just that.
Guild Wars 2 hits Mac
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
ArenaNet's pay-once MMORPG launches on Apple's Mac OS X in beta form; company claims Mac gaming crowd "often ignored"; future updates to hit PC, Mac simultaneously.
Guild Wars 2 is expanding to a new realm. Developer ArenaNet announced today that its pay-once massively multiplayer online role-playing game will support Apple's Mac OS X beginning today.
The game's beta client features and connects to the same game servers as the PC client, and those who purchase Guild Wars 2 can play the game on both PC and Mac. ArenaNet stressed that players should understand that Guild Wars 2 for Mac is a beta product at present, and players' overall experience may suffer somewhat until the final version is released.
According to ArenaNet, Guild Wars 2 launching for Mac is a "major milestone" for the game, as the company claims Mac users are "often ignored by game developers." Guild Wars 2 players on Mac won't need to worry about game updates launching after the PC version, as ArenaNet said future updates will be released on both platforms simultaneously.
Additional information regarding Guild Wars 2 for Mac can be found through the game's FAQ page. Guild Wars 2 launched in late August and has sold more than 2 million copies. For more on the game, check out GameSpot's review.
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
69 comments
The only joke is Apple breaking application support every two operating systems. Gaming on a Mac is awesome with games that you actually manage to have all the requirements. And I don't mean the latest and the greatest but older operating systems like 10.4 and 10.6. I probably have around 10 games that I cannot play anymore on my Mountain Lion system, including Ghost Recon, Rise of Nations, Command and Conquer Tiberium Wars, Stronghold among others.
What is good for gaming on the Mac is that you can use Boot Camp, and it's an open secret that Macbooks are among the best laptops to run Windows.
The good experiences you have in games with a Mac is with Blizzard games, where at least in the case of World of Warcraft, they surpass their PC counterparts. In the PC version of WoW you need to use FRAPS for video capture where in Mac WoW you use an integrated Blizzard tool that captures Quicktime video.
1 Like @amaan4ever That's why millions of people like to laugh with their iOS devices or Macs. They have fun. That's gaming.
1 Like @woodyfr @amaan4ever Well I do have an iOS product just not a Mac computer. Do you see hardcore gamers using macs for gaming? No, why because they are a joke
1 Like @amaan4ever @woodyfr not really sure what is so "joke" 'ish about MAC. I, and, as evident by the record profits at apple, millions of others have switched to apple products for a variety of reasons. Stability and reliability is my reason. And I appreciate the opportunity to play games on it - SC2, Torchlight 2, Diablo 3 - and have every intention of buying GW2 as well. Not sure why you are so angry that other people have opportunities that you do not need. Hope that anger serves you well somewhere - perhaps the UFC ring might work for you
2 Like @amaan4ever So Steam is a joke ? Cheaper games on the App Store are a joke ?
Games are not only for hardcore gamers.
@division_9 Modern UI is not the big deal of Windows 8. How fast it is for gaming over 7 is what is most important.
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@Gelugon_baat Yes please, I approve of this message. I was so pissed off when I heard that news and no word about Linux version :(
this is great news for me. i only hav a mac and i didn't want to have to build a pc just to play guild wars. dont really have the cash for that right now, so yeah, awesome!
just use bootcamp to run windows on a section of ur harddrive, with bootcamp assistant it pretty much takes care of itself
1 Like You should have used your cash to build a custom PC in the first place, which would have been better, faster, and less expensive than an over-priced, over-hyped Mac, that has had basically the same OS for 15 years.
@JackHoleFace00 @arsefacey I WORK using a mac...Soooo my cash is there in the first place! Try work with video and image using a pc...NOW THAT is to laugh ^^
Linux > Mac > Windows
@JackHoleFace00 @arsefacey Amen to that! Mac is fine if you are doing graphic arts but even today's PC's are more powerful and more feature rich than OSx.
6 Like Who the hell buys a Mac for gaming? Not anyone with common sense, that's for sure.
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@luucifer78b @Gelugon_baat @UnwantedSpam you do realize that Gelugon_baat is a fat dude right?lol
Will it be though? Or is it just with other Mac users? I honestly don't actually know.
@JackHoleFace00 @SolidTy You can play with PC players on the Mac system. Its just a client not a server change.
This is a great thing for the Guild Wars community :) With more people having acces, there's gonna be a greater crowd to fund upcoming expansion! I'm happy that they actually let people who buy macs (for whatever reason) have a chance at the game. I went back to PC, after using Mac for 4 years (though there's been Mac computers in my house for 20 some years) and i prefer PC for now. But nice job ArenaNet
Not sure if they will be compatible though, will they? It could be sort of like Madden for Xbox and PS3 where you can't play each other. Again, don't know. Anyway, I used a brand new Macbook Pro for a year at my old job... and hated it. Even after getting used to it, I just thought the UI, key commands, and little things (like capturing screenshots) were just awful, unintuitive, and outdated. And don't even get me started on productivity software.
As for gaming, pff... Apple's one-size-fits-all approach to their machines is garbage. I'd rather buy my custom videocard, play games on max-settings, and still end up paying less than a Mac, any day of the week.Have to admit, not that stoked for Windows 8 though. I thought they nailed it with Win 7 and all of a sudden they're throwing it out. Stupid move, MS.
@JackHoleFace00 @DaneGamer As for compat with the Mac and PC Guild Wars 2 clients...of course they can play together. There are not separate WoW servers for Mac and PC. It is just a game client. The server is the same.
@JackHoleFace00 @DaneGamer They are not throwing it out. Windows 8 has a desktop that is the same as Windows 7. The Metro UI is nothing more than a front end like "Start" menu where you can run regular apps or Modern UI apps that can give you a more "Web" like experience. In fact Windows 8 rocks for speed and my games run faster than on Windows 7. Look out at some reviews of Windows 8 for gaming. Would have been nice to see Gamespot do one but maybe they are waiting for general release in October. Trust me...its a nice upgrade.
1 Like @snaketus yah cause there are far more linux users than mac users....oh wait, no there are not. Mac is a great thing mate
@philMcCrevis Dude you just so missed the point, Linux is free, Mac is only great when money is no object.
...and most of the linux users that would be interested in buying an MMO also have Windows so they don't need a linux version anyway.
Macs usually have quite poor GPUs (especially the unibodies) but everything else is top notch. As more and more people get frustrated with Windows, the Mac market will grow hugely, thanks to the big Apple name on their phones and tablets too. I always wanted a Mac as a kid (25 yrs ago) as they were the de-facto standard for image and film processing. While that's certainly changed nowadays, when I got my mac 3 years ago it has been rock solid reliable, crashed only a couple of times in total (3rd party software), is on or sleeping 24hrs a day, never had a virus or trojan and needs a reboot once every couple months. If you need a proper reliable workstation 24/7 like I do, you cant beat it. A lot of mac users nowadays probably dont have the knowledge to use bootcamp or install a VM, so this is good to see. I cant imagine its much extra code over doing a *nix version of GW2 anyway.
@mattcake mac's have great CPU's and tons of ram
and great display resolution, great for photos and video.
But is too bad that they use crappy GPU's that cant keep up with games
and the OS is not really game friendly.
(P.S.) the hardware is over price.
2 Like where do you get this 'more and more people becoming frustrated with Windows' theory from? Macs are good for what they do, but Macs will never overtake PCs for gaming. You can build a top of the line gaming rig for less than the cost of an average Mac. I dont really see your prediction coming true. Windows machines only crash when you dont know much about computers, which is pretty much the Mac market like you said. My Windows rig has never crashed and never had a virus either, I dont have any problems with it and I can actually play more games on it than Blizzard games and GW2. (Hint: dont goto questionable sites or open unknown email attachments and you dont get viruses)
Macs are great for video editing and photo editing software, but overall they cost way too much and arent worth it unless you are using it for those purposes or just have a lot of disposable income.
I can build a Windows rig for under $600 that will run most games with no problems. Why would I spend three times that amount to buy a Mac if I just use my machine for gaming?
1 Like @oflow Only a gamer would buy a machine just for gaming, and youre right, no one would buy a Mac for that purpose. The Mac is gaining market because of reputation and the brand name attracting the casual market. I don't think I've ever spoken to a satisfied Windows user, and most didnt even realise there were alternatives. You should expect to see iOS on mobile devices moving towards OSX soon too. With the iphone and ipad userbase waiting its a large market to start respecting and planning for now - its only a matter of time.
And dont get me wrong, I still have a PC and use it for gaming - bang for buck its unbeatable, and so long as you get a good port, still the best gaming machine you can buy.
@mattcake @oflow OSX is a very old OS that has had many bandaids placed over it as of recent. Windows 8 is a very good version and this is one person that can say they are satisfied with Windows. Right now it plays games and pays the bills. I have a MacBook to do development for iOS...that is it. I prefer Windows of OSX any day of the week.
I've been servicing Window and Mac pc's for 40 years, and the majority of people I have come across prefer Windows hands down. Problem is, most of them buy HP, Dell or Acer, and those companies use crap mb's and hardware. Build custom, use top of the line components, there is no difference, remember, Mac Os' are like windows 8, only working with a small accepted amount of software, hence, why you have stability. If apples were capable of working with every 3rd party software and hardware, they would not be where they are now.
@mattcake I'm a satisfied Windows user... Macs are for a certain crowd. One I'm not a part of... Could be coincidental, but I'm a gamer at heart.
1 Like Can't wait. I have a steam account on my Macbook Pro and have no problem running games on it. GW2 will be nice to play considering it is a better operating system than Windows.
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