Hoor-EA! Mac games hit Apple store today

67 Comments by Ludwig Kietzmann Aug 17th 2007 6:45PM
Filed under: Mac, Action, Sports, Strategy

That's what they say. Publishing monolith EA has announced that four of its Cider-powered Mac OS X titles are now available to purchase on Apple's online store today. The initial burst looks to satisfy a variety of Intel Mac gamers, including those who are partial to waging futuristic war (Battlefield 2142!), owning totally sick rides (Need for Speed Carbon!), casting ex-crucio-ting spells (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix!) and, uh, waging even more futuristic war (Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars!).

The games will also materialize on minimalistic shelves within Apple retail stores, with Potter and Need For Speed arriving on Tuesday, 21 August. Battlefield 2142 and Tiberium Wars should arrive the following week on 28 August. Though the tardy titles, namely Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 and Madden NFL 08, were promised to arrive on the same day as other systems at WWDC, you can now expect their respective balls to come crashing through the "September/October window."

Tags: Battlefield, Cider, CommandAndConquer, EA, HarryPotter, Mac, Madden, NeedForSpeed, TigerWoods

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(Page 1) Reader Comments

mo: Aug 17th 2007; 6:51PM

gears of war and ut 2007 is supposed to be coming to mac also

its gonna be sweeeettttt

blooh: Aug 17th 2007; 6:54PM

cider? hahahaha is that the mac version of a pentium processor or something? lol funny

Exo: Aug 17th 2007; 7:19PM

uh now cider is software that lets you easily port pc software over to mac

John Doe: Aug 18th 2007; 1:10AM

There are no more Pentiums. For the love of god if you are going to lay hate at least get your facts right. Idiots.

Poisoned Al: Aug 17th 2007; 6:52PM

I'm sure it's platform snobbery in effect here, but I can't read "Mac gamers" without scoffing.

TRUTH: Aug 17th 2007; 6:55PM

People actually play games on a mac!?!?!

required: Aug 17th 2007; 7:14PM

I'm on level 9.0.2 of Photoshop CS2

Miles Pulsford: Aug 17th 2007; 8:05PM

@required:

ROFL thats the funniest thing ive heard in a LONG LONG time. bonus points to you.

mr nimblewick: Aug 17th 2007; 6:59PM

This is futile. Macs are for mature people who don't play video games.

lostprophet: Aug 17th 2007; 7:20PM

because your got to be immature to play games.

mr nimblewick: Aug 17th 2007; 7:23PM

Congratulations. You've successfully mastered basic logic.

phattie: Aug 17th 2007; 6:59PM

Outside of their towers, Macs are non-uprgadeable performance pigs... this'll sell to casual gamers, the hardcore will stick with their fully configurable and cheaper PCs.

mr nimblewick: Aug 17th 2007; 7:28PM

I sense some irony with you calling something a pig... now what is it...

mr nimblewick: Aug 17th 2007; 7:28PM

I sense some irony with you calling something a pig... now what is it...

Das: Aug 17th 2007; 7:57PM

Are you with the redundant department of redundancy perchance?

colin: Aug 17th 2007; 8:33PM

i thought it was the department of redundancy department ... i think its funnier that way

i think its funnier that way

mr nimblewick: Aug 17th 2007; 8:49PM

You dicks are both dicks. :P

colin: Aug 18th 2007; 12:01AM

i would have been offended, but you made it into a joke. but i would have been offended if you didn't make it into a joke.

Phillip Black: Aug 18th 2007; 11:08PM

Windows for Bros, Macs for Hoes.

Vince UK: Aug 17th 2007; 7:02PM

People generally just surf the net on macs, but owning one makes them feel better about themselves.

Poisoned Al: Aug 17th 2007; 7:16PM

You're saying Mac owners are mostly shallow wankers?

Yeah, I can buy that.

Evan: Aug 17th 2007; 7:48PM

lol that is so true! my friends that have macs for some reason feel the need to point out they have a mac, on multiple occasions in the same conversation.

ark_v2: Aug 17th 2007; 8:19PM

You're SO right.

colin: Aug 17th 2007; 8:41PM

actually there are two groups, the one you mentioned, and the elitist video editors and graphics whores. and i don't mean photoshop ... i'm talking after effects, maya, etc. i know plenty of those kind. not that theres anything wrong with that.

Voice Of Reason: Aug 17th 2007; 9:40PM

No, a lot of people use Macs to make money.

What do you use your Windows box for? Games only? That's productive, or is it Word and Excel? That's pretty glamorous.

I daresay a lot of people use their computers for internet browsing in general.

ill trooper: Aug 17th 2007; 11:19PM

Hahhaha... Vince.

If you use Windows, don't forget that you're on the lowest common denomenator of an OS. Most Windows users are likely what you describe. A lot of gamers, websurfers, parents, and grandparents.

Most of the people I know who MAKE MONEY using their computers use Macs (graphics, video, writing, web design, etc., - all of which OF COURSE can be done on either platform, but people I know seem to opt for Mac), while most of the Windows people I know are expert torrent-whores and gamers, and occasionally a pro 3D person... Not criticizing that, just saying - I can't seriously believe it's anything more than 'hating' when people say Mac users 'just surf the net,' when in reality, that might just be describing what YOU do when you get home from working at Tesco...

To paraphrase 'Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels":

"Windows for show, Macs for pros."

Just kidding with that one. Buy what you want.

Abuzar: Aug 17th 2007; 11:39PM

I have a Windows PC, I use it for games, making powerpoint presentations, writing up reports and helping my dad with his car business. In fact that's out main source of income(my fathers car business) and he uses a Windows computer to make post of his sales. BTW he takes around 20,000 USD salary from his own dealerships(not including profit, because he owns all four of them 100%).

Sorry for my English, I am not a native speaker.

Big Ed: Aug 17th 2007; 7:07PM

@ Vince

Like you would know.

Verde: Aug 17th 2007; 7:32PM

Great news! I can't wait to play the new C&C.

Lol @ the Mac bashers. I love ignorance.

Darth Abe: Aug 17th 2007; 7:59PM

Just because I have a drinking problem doesn't mean I should say I love drinking.

...Erm

TheSecretWeapon: Aug 18th 2007; 5:39AM

I love C&C. I think it's one of the best series EA has going for it right now.

Hell, it was 8 years since the last C&C Tiberium Game. You sure can't accuse them of milking that storyline. ;)

colin: Aug 18th 2007; 12:05AM

sick burn, abe!

Ditto Suit: Aug 17th 2007; 7:53PM

Is this only on the new Intel Macs? I've got a four-year old G5 that could run these games, but it doesn't have the Intel chip.

Norm: Aug 17th 2007; 7:57PM

Are these games PPC compatable?

Verde: Aug 17th 2007; 8:11PM

No, unfortunately Cider isn't the same as companies such as Aspyr recoding the game to work on Mac OS X. It's more of a Windows API layer. So, no, Intel only from EA so far.

Norm: Aug 17th 2007; 8:18PM

Thats a big bummer. I always appreciated the extra work that companies like Blizzard put in to make their stuff cross platform. I couldn't find info at the apple store. Thanks.

AlexP: Aug 17th 2007; 8:44PM

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

A bit late, but yay, I don't have to boot into XP anymoar.

Dan: Aug 17th 2007; 8:51PM

I wonder what voice comms are like playing BF2142 with mac users...

"damn, I just got shot, I wish I could zoom in to fire more accurately and fight back, BUT I HAVE NO RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON :("

Jouten: Aug 17th 2007; 9:27PM

You can have a right mouse button if you so choose. My Mighty Mouse has a right button on it.

jonny quest: Aug 17th 2007; 9:33PM

That's about as true as windows users not being able to play games because they're always blue screening.

Move your sarcasm into the new millennium please.

myheaditches: Aug 17th 2007; 10:53PM

A complex and intricate tutorial on how to right click on a Mac.
http://i12.tinypic.com/5z3akxy.png

Poisoned Al: Aug 18th 2007; 4:52AM

@jonny quest: Wow, shows what you know. Ever since XP the blue screen only appers when the PC is seriously f**ked with a hardware problem. Not that it matters because you're going to keep lying to yourself the Macs never crash despite using slandered equipment.

Jouten: Aug 17th 2007; 9:28PM

This is awesome! I hope they come out with alot more. I prefer to use my Mac over PC. Gaming was the only stumbling block, not it's slowly starting to disappear.

Ian: Aug 17th 2007; 9:31PM

Hey Dan no one is making you use the keyboards macs come with

like right now, im using a wireless logitech mouse and keyboard that has a right click with my mac.

Its nice to finally see a major developer porting their games over for mac users. As far as im concerned mac gaming is a relatively untapped market and I will be picking one of these up pretty soon.

Dan: Aug 18th 2007; 11:53AM

Yes they kind of are, because most frugal people would feel cheated that they had to buy a new mouse to replace the one that comes with the overpriced-PC-in-a-different-box they just bought.

jonny quest: Aug 18th 2007; 2:29PM

I had to add new comments since for some reson I couldn't reply to Poisoned Al's post of,

"@jonny quest: Wow, shows what you know. Ever since XP the blue screen only appers when the PC is seriously f**ked with a hardware problem. Not that it matters because you're going to keep lying to yourself the Macs never crash despite using slandered equipment."

Wow, want to read my post again? Maybe if you read it real slow and out loud you'll be able to comprehend the actual meaning of what I said.

In this case, the message that must have been too complex for you to understand was that Dan's quip about the inability to right click was as outdated and obsolete as any reference to Blue screening all the time in windows.

Oh and so you know, you missed your mark at the end there too. I have a PC.

Ian: Aug 17th 2007; 9:31PM

Dang jouten you said what I wanted to say first

Jouten: Aug 17th 2007; 10:00PM

Heheh! Sorry Ian!

Yep, got the bluetooth keyboard and MM. Works for me. But yeah, Dan, Macs have been able to use a regular two+ button mouse for a long time now.

Welcome to 2007! Oh, and btw, Macs even use Intel C2D processors now too! Should go to www.apple.com and get updated on Apple product info so you can post more accurate information.

Thanks.

DWells55: Aug 17th 2007; 9:40PM

Look at all the ignorant Mac bashers. How many of you have actually used OS X and taken the time and sit down and use a Mac? You'll find out that they're great systems powered by an excellent OS. No, they're not designed for or targeted at hardcore gamers. This doesn't men that they should be dismissed and ridiculed.

Believe it or not, a lot of people don't buy computers with gaming as their primary intention. That doesn't mean they don't have the right to still enjoy gaming. While I'm not exactly a fan of EA or their business practices, I have to give them props. It's nice to see developers making an effort to make their games available to a wider audience and they deserve credit for including the Mac community.

I'm sure a bunch of you are just going to write me off as some Apple fanboy. However, I'll let you know they I use a PC and run Windows. I like to be able to pick my own parts and enjoy PC gaming, so it only makes sense that I use a PC. However, seemingly unlike many of you, I respect other operating systems. I trust Linux as a reliable and extremely customizable desktop environment and have run a FreeBSD server. I like OS X due to its reliability and visual appeal and simplicity. Each OS has it own advantages and flaws, and just because one suits you better than the other doesn't mean you should write off all the others as being inferior and useless.