Columnist: Apple Should Make Mac Games

June 1st, 2006 at 3:00 PM - News by Brad Cook

Apple should put its resources to work creating games for its Macintosh computers, argues BusinessWeek columnist Arik Hesseldahl. In his latest Byte of the Apple column, he recounts his love of games -- in particular, Command and Conquer Generals, which Aspyr Media published for the Mac in 2004 -- before noting that the Mac gaming market has been sagging, with a successful release selling only 50,000 copies.

Aspyr director of development Glenda Adams told Mr. Hesseldahl that Apple could turn that around by "educat[ing] its users. Appleis message is so closely tied to iTunes and iLife and the iPod and these are all great selling points. We have a great relationship with Apple and they help us get the games ready. But we really need the users to meet us halfway, and only Apple can make that happen."

While many have felt that Appleis release of Boot Camp is likely a final nail in Mac gamingis coffin, Ms. Adams noted: "The majority of the end-users we talk to still want Mac-native games. If they can get Mac-native games, theyire willing to wait for them."

And so, says Mr. Hesseldahl, Apple should turn out its own Mac games. While recent rumors have suggested that the company has started internal development of iPod games, the columnist said "it could easily be an effort aimed at both [Mac and iPod games] ... One great game would get Mac users looking for more great games, and thus help demand, which would encourage more games. In time, one of the weakest planks in the pro-Mac sales proposition would start to look stronger."