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Macintosh version of Spore really costs thousands of dollars
9:38 AM on 09.08.2008, Brad Nicholson 58 comments

Macintosh version of Spore really costs thousands of dollars photo
     Mac

As most Macintosh owners may have realized, not many triple-A titles come to the platform. Although the lack of quantity of feature games has been the classic issue, many Macintosh enthusiasts have been excited about the prospect of sinking their teeth into Electronic Arts' Spore. Unfortunately, the Macintosh version of Spore costs more than just the retail price – it may cost you a brand new Macbook.

GhostRazor has discovered that any Macbook made earlier than late 2007 is not capable of running Spore. It’s all intertwined with the rotunda of graphics cards that Apple has used over the last couple of years. Spore doesn’t support the GMA 950 card that most year-old Macbooks have. Instead, Spore only utilizes the fresh and beautiful GMA X3100.

This is a problem that I ran into after I upgraded from Tiger to Leopard expecting to be able to run Spore just fine. As you can see from this unfortunate message, Spore just doesn’t want to cooperate with me. The only option available to people like myself with a slightly older Macbook is to buy an entirely new Macbook, Macbook Pro, or iMac.

Maxis are already pursuing a very small user base by choosing to develop for the Macintosh platform, so why tighten the circle even further? Doesn't this seem a bit odd, or should I be upgrading my Mac every sixteen seconds so I can get the coolest Will Wright games?


Next page: More Spore stories




linuxguy's Avatar
linuxguy at 09/08/2008 09:45
Sorry brad but macs are for fags :)
BlackDove's Avatar
BlackDove at 09/08/2008 09:48
Haha. Macs. You get what you pay for. Except not.
Android8675's Avatar
Android8675 at 09/08/2008 09:52
@linuxguy: I won't even go into what Linux is for. I have a bit more tact.

One word: Hackintosh

A Mac Pro for the cost of a Macbook.
Wexx's Avatar
Wexx at 09/08/2008 09:56
lol mac gaming.
MetalHaze's Avatar
MetalHaze at 09/08/2008 10:00
Wow Brad, are you serious? Your bitching because your shit ass computer can't run a brand new video game?

That's like me bitching that my old 95 Gateway can't play Crisis.

Listen, if you want to play the newest shit, you have to have a newer PC with a new graphics card that can handle it.

END OF STORY

Now quit your whining. This isn't a Mac problem...
The-Excel's Avatar
The-Excel at 09/08/2008 10:01
I have seen a Macintosh in a house only one time and it must have cost at least $2100. It was one of those huge 21" units with all of the internals contained in the monitor itself. I think it was running Leopard but what do I know.
Zeno's Avatar
Zeno at 09/08/2008 10:01
lol mac gaming.
smoger's Avatar
smoger at 09/08/2008 10:07
MetalHaze: this is NOTHING like running Crysis on a 95 Gateway. It's like running Spore on a 2007 Macbook.

Spore is several times less intensive than Crysis and a 2007 macbook is several times more powerful than a 95 Gateway.

Furthermore, as noted above, the PC version will run on the SAME COMPUTER under Windows. So yes, this IS a Mac problem.

Actually.. to be more specific it's developer laziness.. the article asks why they bother to develop for the Mac.. the truth is that they aren't developing for the Mac at all.. these titles use third party virtualization software to get these games running, which increases the resources needed dramatically.
Timmeh's Avatar
Timmeh at 09/08/2008 10:08
The funny thing is if you run the windows version through bootcamp it works just fine....

Ouch, epic fail!

Is this some kind of marketing strategy akin to that Vista only horseshit MS were peddling, despite games not using DX10 features?
linuxguy's Avatar
linuxguy at 09/08/2008 10:08
@Android8675: didn't you see the smiley?
It's just a recurrent joke(macfags)
ScanCase's Avatar
ScanCase at 09/08/2008 10:12
maybe someone needs to get a PC. Really you tried to play a game on a Mac? That's perhaps the dumbest thing I have ever heard.
Toad's Avatar
Toad at 09/08/2008 10:17
You aren't really missing out on much. Have you played The Sims? Sim Ant? Sim City? Then you've pretty much played Spore.
RoboSheep's Avatar
RoboSheep at 09/08/2008 10:22
Cider (the software that allows for 'ports' to intel macs) is the worst thing to happen to Mac gaming. Companies put out a half-baked product that has double the system requirements of the windows box and then see it doesn't sell so they stop making Mac games at all because there's 'no market'.

If developers were to embrace the mac as a gaming platform (like they did with the iPhone) who knows what sort of results they'd get (you don't, shut up troll).
Zanch's Avatar
Zanch at 09/08/2008 10:25
If you bought a Mac for gaming, you ought to have been expecting a hassle.
king3vbo's Avatar
king3vbo at 09/08/2008 10:32
What? An Apple computer not running a game? SAY IT ISN'T SO
TheStripe's Avatar
TheStripe at 09/08/2008 10:36
Sheesh. Run it in windows, or get a new mac. Gaming on shared VRAM is rarely an optimum situation.
Brando's Avatar
Brando at 09/08/2008 10:58
Dual-boot anyone???
Professor Pew's Avatar
Professor Pew at 09/08/2008 10:58
In other news, Macs make you nuke cats. WHAAAT?!
aaronf's Avatar
aaronf at 09/08/2008 11:10
I have a pretty beefy Mac Pro with a GeForce 8800GT, so I don't expect to run into many issues running this game. However, given my previous experience with C&C 3 for the Mac (late patches, no expansion availability), I might pass and buy the Windows version. I'd hate for EA to abandon Mac Spore like they did C&C.
brainderailment's Avatar
brainderailment at 09/08/2008 11:10
Anyone who is a mac fan and is really wanting to get into gaming, ought to be buying a cheap PC. It just costs too much to keep up to date as much on a mac.
TheStripe's Avatar
TheStripe at 09/08/2008 12:14
How so?
aaronf's Avatar
aaronf at 09/08/2008 12:26
@brainderailment:

Or, why not just Boot Camp into Windows? Then you only need one computer.
TheStripe's Avatar
TheStripe at 09/08/2008 12:36
I think the moral here is not to buy an entry level laptop and think it's going to play a brand new 3D game two years from now.
elysse's Avatar
elysse at 09/08/2008 12:45
what the---

my Macbook Pro was made in 2006 and spore runs just peachy on it, thankyouverymuch, i even have it running on my boot camp partition splendidly:

2.16Ghz, 2G RAM, Radeon X1600, 256 VRAM. native 1440x900

the only problem with the default setting, which was documented in the README, was that if Spore was jerky in OSX to lower shadow effects, which i did, and everything else is on high with no problems... but then i can also crossover the Orange Box with great success, so maybe my machine is supercharged with win?

meanwhile, on the XP-bootcamp side, it's business as usual for PC gaming.. Mass Effect and Crysis notwithstanding.
geekjutsu's Avatar
geekjutsu at 09/08/2008 12:50
I believe the problem isn't "OMG MACS CAN"T PLAY GAEMS" as much as it is just laziness.
The fact that the program will not run a certain Mac graphics card in OSX, but WILL if in Boot Camp is just stupid and sloppy.
It's not like a Macbook is equivalent to an old Dell or something.
I guess yet another reason I won't be buying this.
elysse's Avatar
elysse at 09/08/2008 12:57
@geekjutsu

word. i've been the Mistress of Whine when it comes to Cider ports, and have found that Transgaming has come a long way from when i used to support it as a debian-er... back when i salivated at the TG American McGee's Alice.. *sigh* i used to love you, Transgaming, but you were a different company then.

although when it comes to EA "allowing" mac ports, Cider's new on the field of suck. it used to be Aspyr, so i can't complain too much now. either way, it's laziness on the developer's part to require intel hardware and then skimp out on a native release. it was understandable when it was for PPCmac architecture, but now there's even less excuse... in fact, they could go the route of Vendetta Online and make win/*nix/mac, if only they knew the deep dark secret about OSX being bsd core OOPSISAIDTOOMUCH.
MotoRobo's Avatar
MotoRobo at 09/08/2008 13:12
Spore'd need modified to run on older chips and Maxis/EA doesn't consider the cost of down-specing worth the potential purchases/delay.
elysse's Avatar
elysse at 09/08/2008 13:21
lolz@delay on Spore specifically, nevermind that development of Spore encompassed several years worth of hardware spec.

i think that, as always, EA is just wearing their ass as a hat.
namtastic's Avatar
namtastic at 09/08/2008 13:26
As a Mac owner of many years, this is exactly why I am a console & portable gamer. So I don't ever have to rely on my Mac for any of it.
elysse's Avatar
elysse at 09/08/2008 13:32
ok, one more word and i'll quit comment-spamming..

re: mac vs. PC for games: i came to the conclusion (personally) that console gaming was more my style. although i do enjoy some PC gaming as well, it's not the primary purpose of my computing needs (no, that would be comment-spamming), and after a decade or so of PC use, mostly open-source, i found that rather than spend a bunch of money over time to continuously upgrade components i was better suited to plop down the same amount of money in one go for a machine that lasts me about as long sans-hardware work.. doubly so for the last 9 years since i've been almost exclusively a laptop user, and since OSX is a shiny version of the open-source goodness i was already using it was a logical step.

this is my reasoning for using a mac, i suspect others have similar reasons, but LOLZMACGAMEZ people sometimes miss the point and expect that every mac user is an apple fanboy at their own expense (ok, some are). rant off.
Edge of Blade's Avatar
Edge of Blade at 09/08/2008 13:41
Mac is a fail of computing. All they can do is whine and bitch to their marketing department that more people should adopt Apples. Then, when the rubber meets the road, you have to deal with computing in the real world.

Face it. Microsoft owns the computing world. Want to compete? Make something better, instead of churing out vacant, apostolic zombies.
TheStripe's Avatar
TheStripe at 09/08/2008 14:09
Wow, Edge, thanks for pointing that out. I guess it's worth going back to the unstable security sieve that is Windows for a few games. I must not have been having wonderful computing experiences in all but games since I switched. You're an idiot.
vexed alex's Avatar
vexed alex at 09/08/2008 14:12
"should I be upgrading my Mac every sixteen seconds so I can get the coolest Will Wright games?"

Isn't that what Apple wants you to do? Swap your Apple products for the latest model every year?
AaronLindes Neighbor's Avatar
AaronLindes Neighbor at 09/08/2008 15:22
Shit, my spring '08 Mini upgraded to 2 gigs of ram doesn't even meet minimum system requirements. Damn GMA 950! However, spore creature creator was supposedly hacked to run on the GMA 950 machines, has this happened to the full version yet?
see:
[url=http://www.tuaw.com/2008/06/17/run-spore-creature-creator-on-unsupported-gma-950-macs/]TUAW[url]
This is the only nonconsole game I was excited for, so it is a real downer to not be able to play this game. My mac works better than my old PC for streaming to my 360, and I haven't had a OS error yet. All in all, happy with my switch to Mac.

Also, aspyr still hasn't put out a COD4 mac version, hilarious.
elysse's Avatar
elysse at 09/08/2008 15:22
"Isn't that what Apple wants you to do? Swap your Apple products for the latest model every year?"

Isn't that what *every* manufacturer of systems and components wants you to do?
Stephen57's Avatar
Stephen57 at 09/08/2008 15:36
High five to everyone else that has boot camp.
We live on both sides of the fence, and the grass is always green.
Stephen57's Avatar
Stephen57 at 09/08/2008 15:38
But no, really, that sucks Brad.
All these people are whining that you use macs, but the article is about how a relatively new computer can't run a new, not particularly graphically demanding game, at ALL.
moggle's Avatar
moggle at 09/08/2008 15:46
Ah, Apple consumers. They're so smug and condescending. Like Justin Long, all cool in his casual jeans and Tee. I just want to smack the awesome off of him, but my hand would burn up from his aura of sweetness within a few inches of his face. Yet, sadly, I guess no amount of laid-back bad-assery will make Spore run on a Mac. John Hodgman, you finally have something you can throw in Long's face. Take that, you savvy, hip, suave Mac users!
braulio09's Avatar
braulio09 at 09/08/2008 15:48
Yeah, buying Apple products, you're expected to upgrade every time a new model is out. It's an expectation, not an option.
elysse's Avatar
elysse at 09/08/2008 16:09
"Ah, Apple consumers. They're so smug and condescending."

I suppose you didn't get that memo about what happens when you purchase a mac. you get the mac, software, a couple of stickers, a 3 year supply of smug-in-a-can and a nice snifter so that you can sample your own farts. you can't fault us mac users, we're just using what we got. ;-)
Jetsetlemming's Avatar
Jetsetlemming at 09/08/2008 16:21
You bought a computer with an Intel graphics chip and then are surprised when it can't play a new game!? JESUS THE SHOCK
Secret Cow's Avatar
Secret Cow at 09/08/2008 16:33
When I was shopping for laptops the Macbook definitely met all of my needs, the one downside was that it didn't have a dedicated video card and instead used fairly crappy on-board graphics. I considered a Mac Pro, which had a decent video card, but didn't really need most of its features for anything other than games. I was disappointed when the creature creator was released and didn't run on my Macbook, but not surprised.

I don't think the system specs are unreasonable, and I don't feel I'm being "forced" to upgrade my laptop. I chose this computer knowing it's great for a lot of things, but not games.
Secret Cow's Avatar
Secret Cow at 09/08/2008 16:33
When I was shopping for laptops the Macbook definitely met all of my needs, the one downside was that it didn't have a dedicated video card and instead used fairly crappy on-board graphics. I considered a Mac Pro, which had a decent video card, but didn't really need most of its features for anything other than games. I was disappointed when the creature creator was released and didn't run on my Macbook, but not surprised.

I don't think the system specs are unreasonable, and I don't feel I'm being forced to upgrade my laptop. I chose this computer knowing it's great for a lot of things, but not games.
Poopface Morty's Avatar
Poopface Morty at 09/08/2008 17:54
"Ah, Apple consumers. They're so smug and condescending. Like Justin Long, all cool in his casual jeans and Tee. I just want to smack the awesome off of him, but my hand would burn up from his aura of sweetness within a few inches of his face. Yet, sadly, I guess no amount of laid-back bad-assery will make Spore run on a Mac. John Hodgman, you finally have something you can throw in Long's face. Take that, you savvy, hip, suave Mac users!"

You're starting to sound like a Mac user!
Electro Lemon's Avatar
Electro Lemon at 09/08/2008 19:22
Goddamn it, I knew this would start a fucking war.

Listen, you elitist, high horse eclectic twats, there is nothing wrong with OS X. Nothing. Just like there's nothing wrong with Windows. For fucks sake, a computer being different does not mean it's of a fucking lesser caliber. And he never said he bought the computer to play games. Have you cunts ever considered that MAYBE, he bought a computer with more than games in mind? No? Oh, sur-fucking-prise.

And no, not every Mac user is a art grad student with a soul patch and a set of acid washed jeans in a fucking beatnik hat. We're not ALL assholes, though the way you guys act in this thread alone, I'm sure you're fitting the connotation you've just set forth. I hate those "Get a Mac" and "it just works." commercials as much as you do, and I wish they'd stop pushing that bullshit, but for a group of 'higher-thinking' people who say they won't get swayed by the media (when it comes to gaming anyway) you sure as fuck love to complain about a standard that is set forth by the media anyway.

And yeah, late 2007 computers and on are the ones that can play Spore. Don't act like this is a Mac only problem too, you twats- technology progresses with age, and that's the same reason people have to upgrade their PCs once every few years. You're bitching about the same thing you have to do eventually to run newer games, just because you're looking for more justification of that one beatnik you saw sitting in Starbucks writing his novel on how to fucking change the world.


It's shit like this that still makes even racial epithets socially acceptable. Grow the fuck up.


In conclusion, OS X is great. Windows is great. They're both great, and you focusing on games alone as a way to judge a computer is just as shallow and ignorant as it is fucking insane.
TheStripe's Avatar
TheStripe at 09/08/2008 19:51
Moggle = Idiot.

Runs on my mac just fine, in OS X. Stop being so stupid.

If you hate macs, you've never owned one.
vexed alex's Avatar
vexed alex at 09/08/2008 21:20
@ TheStripe

Chill the fuck out, fanboy.
Jetsetlemming's Avatar
Jetsetlemming at 09/08/2008 22:30
@Gynecologist Cobra

Dude, did you just fucking say there's nothing wrong with Windows?

Way to throw any semblance of credibility out the window.
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