Hello there everyone! It’s that time of the week for quick and handy Apple tricks. This week I’ve got one that is dear to my heart. As a lifelong gamer, one of my biggest qualms about being a Mac user is that the majority of my favorite PC games never make it to the Mac platform. Out of the ones that do, some are less-than-perfect ports that fail to live up to the caliber of the original release. I’ve always wished there was a simple, efficient way to play PC games on my Mac.
Sure, one can install Windows on the Mac using Boot Camp and play the games there – but that requires a full system reboot, as both operating systems can’t run at the same time, and switching between them isn’t as simple as logging out and logging back in. I don’t always want to have to completely power down and select a different OS just to play a game. Things need to run in the background, and life needs to keep going even if I’m absorbed in a game.
Fortunately, there is a really simple solution that allows Windows games to be installed and play perfectly while running OSX. This is definitely more of a tip than a trick, because it is based on your getting your hands on a program called CrossOver For Games.
CrossOver For Games website: http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxgames/
CrossOver For Games works on Intel Macs or Linux PCs, so you won’t be able to run this on your old G4. It is built on Wine, which is a free software app that allows Unix operating systems to run programs written for Windows. This software build is intended specifically for games and not all other software, which means it’s focused on giving you the best possible graphics and frame rate performance possible. Something designed to run Excel on your Mac wouldn’t be as concerned about such things, so it’s nice that this is solely for gaming.
The CrossOver For Games website says it “officially supports” WoW, EVE Online, Guild Wars, Prey, and a list of Steam games including Half Life 2, Counterstrike, Call of Duty 2, May Payne 2, GTA2 and more. Since I don’t own any of those things, I tried it using one of my favorite PC games of all time: Deus Ex.
Installing CrossOver For Games is as simple as anything else, just drag it to your Applications. The user interface is friendly and easy to follow, which is good for people who don’t use Wine regularly (most people).
After booting it up, you chuck a Windows game into your machine and it starts working automatically. After a few minutes of processing and doing who knows what, the install screen for the game will show, and you’ll move forward as usual. Right after installation, you’ll be playing your favorite Windows game right on your Mac, while OSX runs natively in the background.
The game, since it’s pretty old these days, ran just as well as it would on a Boot Camp install. Newer games can run slower and be somewhat laggy, but you can adjust the graphics to get it smoother. You’re likely not going to be playing a brand new Windows game on the highest graphical settings and enjoying it very much – but hey, it’s better than nothing. For the convenience factor, I like this, because I absolutely refuse to switch to Boot Camp and use my MacBook’s limited hard drive space to house a complete Windows operating system solely for games.
My biggest complaint is the fact that it trashed my desktop icons after I was done with the game. Not sure what that’s all about, but I’m not going to be breaking any noses over it.
Seeya next time, Apple Folks.
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[...] Link: http://igadgetlife.com/2009/10/25/apple-tips-4-play-windows-games-on-your-mac/ [...]