State of Mac Gaming

[Zalister]

Hey folks. I just started up a blog on Mac gaming and got an interview with Aspyr's Glenda Adams. I'm hoping to build up some momentum and hopefully start putting some pressure on different sectors of the business to take more notice of the Macintosh gaming market.

But I need some help. Go to my blog at http://somg.blogspot.com and read the interview and put some good comments at the end of it. Remember, any and all comments made might lead to better questions for my next interview. With a little work I think we can get this community a lot more notice. Thanks.

[OneSadCookie]

Nothing says professionalism like misspelling, typos, capital letters in peculiar places, and a misunderstanding of the definition of spurn (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=spurn)...

[PowerMacX]

Well, I liked the interview ;) . Nothing earth-shattering but interesting nonetheless.

As for "professionalism", I'd rather see this rephrased first ;) :
Mac Gaming
Designed for the exploration of Mac Gaming in all of it's forms, including, but not limited to, why it sucks so much, and why I don't get to play Half-Life 2...

[Taxxodium]

eeek, blue text on black background, please change that!!!

[Leisure Suit Lurie]

Nothing says professionalism like misspelling, typos, capital letters in peculiar places, and a misunderstanding of the definition of spurn (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=spurn)...

I'd imagine he meant spur. (http://www.answers.com/spur&r=67)

Interesting read. Keep it up.

[igame3d]

Nothing says professionalism like misspelling, typos, capital letters in peculiar places, and a misunderstanding of the definition of spurn (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=spurn)...

And someone got offended when I called you a grammar-nazi?
zieg-heil mein kookie!

[akb825]

You might also want to look into the independent developers, not just the triple A titles. The Mac's shareware market seems to be a lot healthier than the Windows shareware market, with a larger good/crap ratio. I'm sure this translates to games, as well. Look at smaller developers and their games, such as Lugaru, Minions of Mirth, etc.

[Taxxodium]

And someone got offended when I called you a grammar-nazi?
zieg-heil mein kookie!

So you're saying we should all ztop triing 2 right witout keeping gramr in mind?

http://jesus.edot-studios.com/stuff/spelling.jpg

[Zalister]

Hey, everyone leave the grammar Nazi alone. He's more than allowed to have his opinion. For the record, I left the grammar alone in order to make the page seem a little friendlier. I'm not quite sure what direction I'm taking with this yet, thus far it's just styled like a thoughtful blog. But if the time comes for professionalism, trust me, I'll do more grammar checks (and I won't post at 1:20 in the morning).

I did change the color of the text per your request.

As far as getting questions to smaller shareware companies. Could you please leave a comment on the blog to that affect and could you please leave some names as well. I like the idea, honestly. Thus far I'm hitting big names so I have some credentials to flash around. If I can get Aspyr and MacPlay on my list of people I've talked to, it makes it that much easier to ask another company for an interview.

Again, thank you very much for your feedback, I'm taking as much of it into consideration as possible. The more comments you give me (especially on the blog itself) the better.

[Zalister]

Nothing says professionalism like misspelling, typos, capital letters in peculiar places, and a misunderstanding of the definition of spurn (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=spurn)...

Oh my holy cow, thank you for catching that. Yeah, accessible is one thing, but that was just stupid.

[Zalister]

Okay, and I changed the tag line so it no longer mentions Mac Gaming sucking. I figured I wouldn't want a prospective interviewee reading that and thinking I have a bias against them... ;).

Again, thanks for the comments everyone. If you have more, please leave them here, or (preferably) got to somg.blogspot.com and leave me a comment there.

[akb825]

Comment submitted. I don't know if it's the usual since I've never posted a comment on a blog before, but I found it interesting that comments had to be approved before posted. (I'm used to this setting, where everything is instant, then removed if necessary)

[akb825]

hm, all of my URLs seem to have been messed up. I don't know if it's a problem with your blog software, or perhaps I missed a tag, but it seems to have ignored all of my text between the url tags.

[socksy]

Yes, I found that irritating aswell.

Interview David Rosen, Justin Fic, Keith Bauer, Neil Carter, Nathan Lamont, Dan Lab, Brian Greenstone, and err David Helgason and co?

:)

[Chris Ball]

Okay, and I changed the tag line so it no longer mentions Mac Gaming sucking. I figured I wouldn't want a prospective interviewee reading that and thinking I have a bias against them... ;).

Shouldn't you leave it there? You aren't ashamed to let your readers know who you are or what your purpose is, are you?

[Nick]

...know who you are or what your purpose is, are you?
If he left it there, readers might think he didn't like Mac gaming, which is the opposite of his purpose.

As for interviews, definitely David Rosen of http://www.wolfire.com. That guy's amazing. DanLab is really successful shareware as well.

[Chris Ball]

Perhaps I misunderstood, sorry about that. The quote seemed unmistakable.

[Byron Clarke]

Love it... It's nice to get some views on the mac gaming scene from the guys who are in the business. I'll check back every once in awhile, see if you've got any new interviews.

[MattDiamond]

And someone got offended when I called you a grammar-nazi?
zieg-heil mein kookie!

If Zalister had just been posting a message in the forum and OSC had jumped down his throat about his spelling and grammar, then you might have a point. However, since Zalister stated goal is to interest professionals in the Mac game market via the blog, and Zalister posted here specifically asking for feedback, your outrage is misplaced.

Zalister, in future I don't think you should leave spelling and grammar mistakes in to make it "more accessible". Think about who your intended audience is. If you don't want to edit an existing entry that's up to you, but it's something to avoid in future.

[igame3d]

your outrage is misplaced.
What outrage? I'm just calling a spade a spade.

[Taxxodium]

I suggest you guys make your own thread about spelling & grammar and stick to the point of this one.

I just saw you fixed the blue text on black background, good job! The interview itself is quite good. Hopefully you get a chance to interview more people that have something to do with Mac game development.

[Leisure Suit Lurie]

So you're saying we should all ztop triing 2 right witout keeping gramr in mind?

No. But roasting someone on their first post to the site isn't nice, either.

[Zalister]

Shouldn't you leave it there? You aren't ashamed to let your readers know who you are or what your purpose is, are you?

My purpose is a rather fluid thing. And honestly, I think the new tag line is far more representative of what my intention is. This is a new thing for me, so I'm fairly open to suggestion at the moment.

I'll also point out that 'expressing myself' isn't the main point of this blog. Getting the job done is. So if I have to limit my expression in favor of helping things move forward I'm willing to do it. Thanks though

More:

No. But roasting someone on their first post to the site isn't nice, either.

Folks, I'll settle this one. Cut it with the defending me from the grammar comments. I'm putting together a publication and grammar is a perfectly legitimate criticism.

I will do the best I can, and perhaps I'll have my sister look at it next time (she's a copy editor). I didn't think my grammar was atrocious (aside from the who spurn thing, which was me being horrifically stupid), and I can't edit the response I got from Glenda beyond the point of readability. I'll be as careful as I can though, it's obviously a concern and I'm not going to just let it slide if it's getting in the way.

Edit:

I'm hoping to get an interview with a dude from MacPlay this next week. And for a very specific reason. If I have Aspry and MacPlay under my belt then I have a couple of very high profile interviews to wave in the face of others who I might want to interview. I need to prestige to go after bigger targets (say Apple, or Electronic Arts). But, once I get these two under my belt I'll start hitting the lower profile interviews.

Also, if you have suggestions for questions or people to interview please, please, PLEASE put it on the comments at the end of my blog.

Thank you.
somg.blogspot.com (http://somg.blogspot.com)

Edit:

Quote:

hm, all of my URLs seem to have been messed up. I don't know if it's a problem with your blog software, or perhaps I missed a tag, but it seems to have ignored all of my text between the url tags.


Yeah, the blog software is being annoying. This is my first blog, and I decided to go with Googles software for it. I don't like how they handle comments at all. But apparently I can run some editing on the way it does that.

If I had it my way it would just let you submit the comments and I could delete them later. On top of which, all comments would be posted at the end of the blog... I'll see what I can do.

Edit:

Okay, made a few changes in regards to comments.

The comments are no longer premoderated. And I moved them on a page of their own so that it's easier to read. Still not perfect, but much better. I hope the taging works better next time, sorry about that. I took your list down on my 'hit list' anyway.

[unknown]

Hi Zalister, that was called a pentuple post.
just hit edit in future.

[akb825]

:lol: I would have only read the last one if I didn't see that post. (since I just clicked on last post) While I personally don't mind, a lot of people here don't take to multiple consecutive posts very kindly. Probably best to keep it at a minimum.

Edit: you really might want to fix the damage done by my comment. You'll probably either want to find a way to put it to the way it was supposed to be or delete all the HTML link tags and just have the URLs in the text. As is, it's making your entire reply text (and any comment that might be posted afterwards) a link. :p

[MattDiamond]

What outrage? I'm just calling a spade a spade.

Sorry, I just assumed that since you used the word "nazi" that it indicated some depth of feeling on your part.

[Zalister]

:lol: I would have only read the last one if I didn't see that post. (since I just clicked on last post) While I personally don't mind, a lot of people here don't take to multiple consecutive posts very kindly. Probably best to keep it at a minimum.

Edit: you really might want to fix the damage done by my comment. You'll probably either want to find a way to put it to the way it was supposed to be or delete all the HTML link tags and just have the URLs in the text. As is, it's making your entire reply text (and any comment that might be posted afterwards) a link. :p

I can't find a way to fix it, especially with my limited knowledge... I could delete it, but that would be even worse. I don't mind it just being there, all funny looking. It will be a good reminder that I need to brush up on my modding skills.

I fixed my string of posts above, now they are all one massive post. Hopefully it makes a bit more sense now.

And for the grammar debaters. I've made it pretty clear that I want feedback, including grammar checking, to be listed in this thread. I would appreciate it if you didn't hijack my thread from me with your arguing. I really need the feedback. As you all can see, I'm pretty clueless at the moment with this blogging thing. The only way to remedy that is by hard experience and critiques, neither of which I am afraid of. So please, drop it!

[PowerMacX]

OK, since you are at it, "the exploration of Mac Gaming in all of it's forms" should be "its".

Oh, btw I fixed the unclosed link problem - it made every textbox part of the same link, making it hard to enter new posts. You may get more comments now :)

[Zalister]

Oh...um, can you email me at jaycarr@gmail.com and explain what you mean? You know, tell me what the problem is and what not. Thanks for fixing it.

I love how the guy running the blog is so obviously new...

http://somg.blogspot.com

Edit: And I fixed the it's as well, thanks ;)

[codemattic]

I had no problem with the "Mac games suck" tag - it was a call to investigate why they suck and what we can do about it to end the suckitude. Nothing wrong with that.

Apple used to have a game evangelist person - I dont know if they still do - but Id like to read an interview with him if the position still exists.

nice interview btw.

[EvolPenguin]

Maybe a tag-line more like: "Why do Mac games suck?" :\

Alex

[igame3d]

Maybe a tag-line more like: "Why do Mac games suck?" :\

Alex

Why all this focus on Mac games sucking?
I was just planning a long winded thread about all the coolest games on Mac OS X according to my five year old daughter. She has a 30 GB hard drive filled with games, and just over the past few days, perhaps due to an increase in her maturity, volcabulary, and vocalization of her opinion of games as she is playing them, I've come to realize just how cool the Mac game scene is.

Zalister should interview my daughter, the future of mac gamers and game development at its very beginning. I say game development because she spends about a quarter of her day in level editors. Well except the past two days since she discovered Ragdollsoft and El Ballo.

[EvolPenguin]

I'm just trying to help him get his message out. Obviously he thinks mac gaming is not doing well, but instead of saying it sucks, he wants to find out why, therefore I thought that would be a better tag-line.

Mm, el ballo, must go play.

Alex

[skrew]

Why all this focus on Mac games sucking?
I was just planning a long winded thread about all the coolest games on Mac OS X according to my five year old daughter. She has a 30 GB hard drive filled with games, and just over the past few days, perhaps due to an increase in her maturity, volcabulary, and vocalization of her opinion of games as she is playing them, I've come to realize just how cool the Mac game scene is.

Zalister should interview my daughter, the future of mac gamers and game development at its very beginning. I say game development because she spends about a quarter of her day in level editors. Well except the past two days since she discovered Ragdollsoft and El Ballo.


i find that especially odd, since my little 5 year old brother, who, in my opinion is a pretty intelligent little guy. Has no real notion of how the internet works. he has his own hand-me-down thinkpad laptop and has beaten all the games on it, but ive never seen him in any level editors. But thats maybe because he has alot of trouble defining the difference between games/movies and reality. Many a time has he tried to spin cut me with one of his plastic swords, expecting a radiant blue aura to swirl about him like in zelda :p are you downloading these games for her or can she actually navigate the internet?

[Carlos Camacho]

since my little 5 year old brother, who, in my opinion is a pretty intelligent little guy.
Bah, igame3d's 3 year old daughter is making MMORPGs. Now that is clever. ;)

Welcome to the site. I think any positive words for Mac as a gaming platform is good. Much has changed since I started this site -- I couldn't find ANYTHING except for Krat's Mac game programming page. (Hello Kyle, where ever you are.)

I found that many Mac sites will go after the typical Mac developers. This is due to some relationship already existing. For me, I'd like to hear the thoughts of talented game developers who are NOT making Mac games (ports). I'd like to find out why, and so on.

It was fun to see members "play editor" for the interview... I should pretend I'm a regular John Doe, post stuff and get it proofed as fast! :p

DanLab is really successful shareware as well.
I heard that you can register DanLab for 20 euros, and get access to all his brain cells.

p.s. I want to read, "Will Mac Games Someday Seuck?" (Daniel and I are still waiting ;) )

[Zalister]

I had no problem with the "Mac games suck" tag - it was a call to investigate why they suck and what we can do about it to end the suckitude. Nothing wrong with that.

Apple used to have a game evangelist person - I dont know if they still do - but Id like to read an interview with him if the position still exists.

nice interview btw.

Can you get me any more information on that guy, that is very interesting...

Zalister should interview my daughter, the future of mac gamers and game development at its very beginning. I say game development because she spends about a quarter of her day in level editors. Well except the past two days since she discovered Ragdollsoft and El Ballo.


I'm all about being off the beaten track, if you want me to I'll send her a five questions interview and she can do what she will with it. I'm curious at least ;). jaycarr@gmail.com Just email me there (I'm going to get so much more spam than the 700 I already get everyday...)


Welcome to the site. I think any positive words for Mac as a gaming platform is good. Much has changed since I started this site -- I couldn't find ANYTHING except for Krat's Mac game programming page. (Hello Kyle, where ever you are.)

I found that many Mac sites will go after the typical Mac developers. This is due to some relationship already existing. For me, I'd like to hear the thoughts of talented game developers who are NOT making Mac games (ports). I'd like to find out why, and so on.


Thanks for the welcome, I keep forgetting I only have a few posts on this forum, I've read quite a few threads here and just neglected to post ;).

If you want to hear from people who are making games specifically for Mac, I have an interview lined up with Ambrosia Software that's coming up this Saturday (hopefully, they agreed to the interview, they have the interview...but will it be back on time.) So check it out on Monday or so.

Also, for all you people who think I'm just a whiner. Yeah, so what? I've gotten a few posts from people trying to defend the state of gaming on the Mac. While I'll admit it's better than it was 5 years ago, I can't see that as a reason to lift up on the pressure. My site, hopefully, will help push it even farther. And I'm not apologizing for that.

Now, anyone who thinks I don't appreciate the work already done by people like Aspyr, MacPlay, Ambrosia and countless little titles that clutter my harddrive. You've got me all wrong. I love what games I do have...I'm just greedy and want more ;).


Edit: One more question. Does anyone here know how I can get google to see my site? I keep putting in the exact title of my blog and nothing comes up. I think it's going to be hard to get much readership if the search engines don't see me... Though a little word of mouth might be nice... *wink wink, nudge nudge*.

[MattDiamond]

Apple's game evangelist used to be Rich Hernandez. I think he still is, though his official title now appears to be "Partnership Manager."

[Zalister]

K, maybe I'll give him a shot.

[Leisure Suit Lurie]

Apple's game evangelist used to be Rich Hernandez. I think he still is, though his official title now appears to be "Partnership Manager."

Their unofficial evangelist has always been Carlos. Now if they can just be persuaded to start paying the man...

[MattDiamond]

Their unofficial evangelist has always been Carlos. Now if they can just be persuaded to start paying the man...

The odds of that happening are approximately the same as Apple switching to Intel chips and then letting people run Windows on their iMacs. ;)