Apple does it to themselves. Why?
http://www.apple.com/imac/graphics.html
An iMac is not a gaming machine. Everyone knows that including Apple. Yet they seem to go out of their way to promote the iMac as a gaming platform. It is insane and just invites criticism of the video hardware. Why not just let the iMac be what it is and ignoe what it isn't. Unless, that is, they are trying to purposely mislead potential switchers into thinking that they will not have to sacrafice gaming. Besides false or misleading advertising, what is the benefit of this type of marketing. It is one thing for people to complain about the lack a function the system never claimed to have. It is quite another for Apple to brag about functions that simply make it a target. What am I missing? Thought?
Sorry, the link does not seem to be working. It is the "widescreen graphics" tab on the iMac page.
An iMac is not a gaming machine. Everyone knows that including Apple. Yet they seem to go out of their way to promote the iMac as a gaming platform. It is insane and just invites criticism of the video hardware. Why not just let the iMac be what it is and ignoe what it isn't. Unless, that is, they are trying to purposely mislead potential switchers into thinking that they will not have to sacrafice gaming. Besides false or misleading advertising, what is the benefit of this type of marketing. It is one thing for people to complain about the lack a function the system never claimed to have. It is quite another for Apple to brag about functions that simply make it a target. What am I missing? Thought?
Sorry, the link does not seem to be working. It is the "widescreen graphics" tab on the iMac page.
Comments
Apple and gaming is kind of like political candidates who want to be known as the education or environment candidate but have been actively hostile to those very same causes.
It would be nice if Apple once and for all decided to either put the funding, effort, and right kind of staff to support an active game development market or just stop wasting everyone's time with their current "kind of, but not really" support and just tell Mac owners to pickup a PS2 or cheapo x86 gaming box to go along with the computer.
They have been pulling the same "excellent for games" tag line for a while. I doubt they would remove that section from their consumer product or put any effort making inroads to computer gaming. Perhaps they could tone down all the wordage.
Being a company and all they have to make their pitch, but calling a Radeon 9200 professional-grade 3D is more then a stretch. How much shinier can a turd get by polishing it like that?
Originally posted by Mac Voyer
http://www.apple.com/imac/graphics.html
An iMac is not a gaming machine. Everyone knows that including Apple. Yet they seem to go out of their way to promote the iMac as a gaming platform. It is insane and just invites criticism of the video hardware. Why not just let the iMac be what it is and ignoe what it isn't. Unless, that is, they are trying to purposely mislead potential switchers into thinking that they will not have to sacrafice gaming. Besides false or misleading advertising, what is the benefit of this type of marketing. It is one thing for people to complain about the lack a function the system never claimed to have. It is quite another for Apple to brag about functions that simply make it a target. What am I missing? Thought?
Sorry, the link does not seem to be working. It is the "widescreen graphics" tab on the iMac page.
Consider this. Hardcore, *actual* gamers wouldn't even consider the iMac. They'd be all about the Power Mac or the latest Wintel. That's like saying it's wrong of Apple to push the iLife suite with the iMac G5. By saying its great for video, they're talking to consumers, not professionals. I don't see anything wrong with it.
Originally posted by IonYz
Actually the iMac G5 is a spectacular game system compared with their other products also offering blistering, professional graphics systems. Products like Xserve have no graphics section, but that is expected for servers.
dear god that is funny (pro grade graphics in ibooks). that is like saying that a chevy el camino is a pro grade truck...
Originally posted by ipodandimac
Consider this. Hardcore, *actual* gamers wouldn't even consider the iMac. They'd be all about the Power Mac or the latest Wintel. That's like saying it's wrong of Apple to push the iLife suite with the iMac G5. By saying its great for video, they're talking to consumers, not professionals. I don't see anything wrong with it.
I'm having a hard time following your reasoning. Gaming IS a consumer activity. Doom 3 IS a high end game. Apple IS promoting the iMac as a high end consumer gaming platform. Apple is not promoting Solitaire at 640 X 480. They are promoting the most power hungry games for a machine with a a high native resolution. The iMac is great for Snood. But that is not how they are promoting it. Read the page on their Site.
Originally posted by ipodandimac
Consider this. Hardcore, *actual* gamers wouldn't even consider the iMac. They'd be all about the Power Mac or the latest Wintel. That's like saying it's wrong of Apple to push the iLife suite with the iMac G5. By saying its great for video, they're talking to consumers, not professionals. I don't see anything wrong with it.
I'm sick of the term "Hardcore gamers."
The iMac would have been a nice gaming machine for the average user, if they hadn't used the 5200 FX ultra for its video card. That card is one of the weakest still in production. I would have been more then willing to spend an extra $50 to have a 9600XT or equivalent in the iMac, and so would a lot of other consumers.
It is obvious that the management at Apple has, at best, lukewarm feelings about gaming. Which is strange when 1/3 of all software revenue comes from gaming.
Originally posted by a_greer
dear god that is funny (pro grade graphics in ibooks). that is like saying that a chevy el camino is a pro grade truck...
how is a chevy el camino 1972 with a 454 or 396 not pro grade? The thing could haul anything you put in it or tow behind it.
Horrible comparison.
Maybe a Toyota Tundra
Originally posted by Res
I'm sick of the term "Hardcore gamers."
And I'm sick of iMac threads.
Originally posted by ipodandimac
And I'm sick of iMac threads.
Why are you here?
Perhaps you would like to respond to my last previous post?
Originally posted by ipodandimac
And I'm sick of iMac threads.
you are completely incapable of engaging in intelligent conversation.
Now all of those games came out in the last few months, and I'm playing them on a 2-year old machine. How bad can this iMac be, with a much faster processor, memory throughput, and twice the video ram and AGP-ness?
I find it hard to believe that it can't play Star Wars: Knights, Marble Blast, and Nanosaur - the games pitched on that page - absolutely perfectly. I bet it will play the new Doom fine too. What else do you want?
Originally posted by BRussell
What's wrong with the iMac for games? I'm not a "hardcore" gamer by any means, but I uh get some games every now and then - in the past few months, I've played Call of Duty, Return of the King, and Command and Conquer on an 800 Mhz Powerbook with a 32 MB radeon mobility.
Now all of those games came out in the last few months, and I'm playing them on a 2-year old machine. How bad can this iMac be, with a much faster processor, memory throughput, and twice the video ram and AGP-ness?
I find it hard to believe that it can't play Star Wars: Knights, Marble Blast, and Nanosaur - the games pitched on that page - absolutely perfectly. I bet it will play the new Doom fine too. What else do you want?
Apple also mentions Halo and UT 04 as well as making reference to the hundreds of other games available for the Mac. They are rather blatantly and unambiguously promoting the iMac as a gaming machine and the Mac as a gaming platform in general. They could have just talked about all the things the iMac is truly good for. Instead, they go out of their way to promote it for modern, power gaming rig. The iMac is to desktop gaming what the iPod is to portable gaming. The difference is that Apple is not promoting the iPod as a portable gaming system.
Originally posted by Mac Voyer
Why are you here?
Perhaps you would like to respond to my last previous post?
Geez ok people....
I think the nVidia Card is fine for gaming, and if you demand more, get a Power Mac. There. The reason I didn't engage in "intelligent conversation" is because I feel like it's a black and white issue. Either you think the nVidia is fine or you don't. I do.
Originally posted by ipodandimac
Geez ok people....
I think the nVidia Card is fine for gaming, and if you demand more, get a Power Mac. There. The reason I didn't engage in "intelligent conversation" is because I feel like it's a black and white issue. Either you think the nVidia is fine or you don't. I do.
it isnt anywhere near a black and white issue and that's one of your biggest problems. it also isn't an nVidia or no nVidia issue..... that's another problem. It also isn't an iMac vs. Powermac issue.
you just dont seem to grasp the issue here.
Originally posted by BRussell
What's wrong with the iMac for games? I'm not a "hardcore" gamer by any means, but I uh get some games every now and then - in the past few months, I've played Call of Duty, Return of the King, and Command and Conquer on an 800 Mhz Powerbook with a 32 MB radeon mobility.
Now all of those games came out in the last few months, and I'm playing them on a 2-year old machine. How bad can this iMac be, with a much faster processor, memory throughput, and twice the video ram and AGP-ness?
I find it hard to believe that it can't play Star Wars: Knights, Marble Blast, and Nanosaur - the games pitched on that page - absolutely perfectly. I bet it will play the new Doom fine too. What else do you want?
One again gaming is subjective -- I have the same powerbook as you do and find games like Call of Duty unplayable. Even Games like warcraft III start to choke on my powerbook in the large combats.
They also mention Halo and UT 2004 on the iMac page, and since the 1.8GHz G5 Tower doesn't play Halo or UT 2004 well with the FX 5200 ultra in it, I don't think that the games will run well on the new iMac.
As for Doom 3, even 3+GHz P4s and Athlon 3200s don't play doom 3 well without a GeForce 6800 in them (a Radeon 9600 XT 128MB will go as low as 13 FPS on medium settings on a Athlon 3200).
I didn't expect Apple to put a top of the line video card in the iMac, but a decent middle of the road card like a GF FX 5700 Ultra or a Radeon 9600XT would have been nice. And I would have paid the extra $50 for one. As it stands now, I'm not going to be getting a iMac (nor is my sister or brother, who were also considering the new iMac).
The iMac G5 offers formidable built-in graphics capabilities. Like, for instance, the gorgeous widescreen display. Mac OS X version 10.3 ?Panther,? provides you with the world?s most advanced ? and most graphics-savvy ? operating system. And then there?s the NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra graphics processor with 64MB of DDR SDRAM. It?s a combination that delivers unparalleled 2D and 3D graphics performance and an immersive, photorealistic gaming experience...
Spectacular 3D Effects
The iMac ships combat-ready with advanced graphics processing capability, thanks to the NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra graphics processor with 64MB of DDR SDRAM. Kicking your games and 3D graphics into high gear with hardware transform and lighting (T&L), per-pixel shading and drop-dead gorgeous effects at high resolutions...
? and delivers standout gaming experience.
Let the Games Begin
Or use the 3D capabilities when you?re in the heat of battle, playing one of the hundreds of games available for Macintosh.
Mac OS X features robust support for OpenGL, the industry standard for professional-quality rendering, texture-mapping and photorealistic special effects.
And much more...
I included the last quote because Apple boasts about professional quality rendering in conjunction with the iMac. As for hardcore gaming, they are the ones talking about unparalleled, standout, high-gear, advanced performance. They are the ones talking about frame rates. They are the ones talking about the hundreds of games for the Mac. If you didn't know anything about video cards, you would think they were claiming parity with Alienware. The question is not whether the claims are true. The question is why they are making such misleading statements about their obvious weakness in the first place. The only thing I can figure is that the iMac is targeted at the clueless, especially the clueless PC user. They are trying to mislead them into believing that they will not lose anything by switching to the Mac when it comes to gaming. It is a fraudulent representation, pure and simple. All of the whining about graphics cards and high-end games would have been just that, whining. Except Apple is the one who made it an issue. Now instead of whining, it is legitimate criticism and they have only themselves to blame. So spare some of your vitriol for Apple. They are the ones who brought it up again. This thread is just a response to their emphasis on iMac gaming.
Originally posted by Mac Voyer
Apple also mentions Halo and UT 04 as well as making reference to the hundreds of other games available for the Mac. They are rather blatantly and unambiguously promoting the iMac as a gaming machine and the Mac as a gaming platform in general. They could have just talked about all the things the iMac is truly good for. Instead, they go out of their way to promote it for modern, power gaming rig. The iMac is to desktop gaming what the iPod is to portable gaming. The difference is that Apple is not promoting the iPod as a portable gaming system.
I still haven't seen any evidence that the iMac won't play those games well. I don't see anything wrong with saying that, in a standard config, it plays current games well. From what I understand, most standard config desktop PCs come with "Intel extreme integrated graphics" and probably couldn't play recent games. Anyone who knows about Alienware (1% of computer users?) will know that the iMac doesn't compare to it.
To compare it to the iPod's games is just absurd.
Originally posted by Res
One again gaming is subjective -- I have the same powerbook as you do and find games like Call of Duty unplayable. Even Games like warcraft III start to choke on my powerbook in the large combats.
They also mention Halo and UT 2004 on the iMac page, and since the 1.8GHz G5 Tower doesn't play Halo or UT 2004 well with the FX 5200 ultra in it, I don't think that the games will run well on the new iMac.
Hmm, it's not THAT subjective. You're simply wrong if you say that PowerBook can't play Call of Duty. And again, that's a 2-year-old machine, and Call of Duty is just out. I just can't believe that the iMac wouldn't play it and other recent games just fine. That's not to say it couldn't be better - I'm sure there are situations, especially in online play with lots of things going on, where you can bring the machine down. But for most people like me, it's going to play them great.
Apple should get with the future--6600.
http://www.techreport.com/etc/2004q3...0/index.x?pg=3