![]() ![]() Just think, by this time next year my kids may not want to play with Pokémon anymore. ![]() The entertainment market is a constantly changing thing. “Unit sales on the PC are really important, but we’re making an effort to consider where the Mac market is going rather than just target the market as it stands today. “Three years ago I would have said the number one criteria in evaluating a potential port was unit sales on the PC,” said Al. But it’s a little more complicated than that. When I asked Al what factors are involved when considering a game, I was certain he’d say that MacSoft looks at PC sales and acquires the most popular PC game of the day. How did they get here, and what factors do Mac publishers consider when bringing a game from the Dark Side to the Light? To find out, I turned to MacSoft Senior Product Manager Al Schilling. Most of today’s Mac games, however, are ported from the PC. Apparently not.īecause Pangea self-publishes and produces only Mac games, its products go from lab to duplication with few intervening steps. I’d always assumed that writing a game would be like writing a screenplaycome up with a story, map out scenes, write it up, and lose your profits to a collection of Hollywood sleazebags. The first startling revelation was that, at least in Brian’s case, games don’t begin with a concept or plotthat this game will be about a bug that dashes through various levels avoiding enemy insects and freeing the fair ladybugsbut with the tools used to create the game. I couldn’t think of a better person to ask about the genesis of a Mac game. Brian’s company, Pangea Software, is one of the few outfits creating commercial games for the Macintosh only. If you have an iMac or iBook, you have not only a cool computer but one that contains the work of Brian Greenstone, creator of the delightful 3-D games Nanosaur and Bugdomgames that are bundled with the iMac and iBook. British Academy of Film and Television Arts hosts the 2nd annual BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards March Game Over republished as Game Over: Press Start to Continue March 1519 Game Developers Conference (formerly Computer Game Developers Conference) moves to San Jose, California where it stays for six consecutive years hosts the 1st annual Independent Games Festival. ![]() Although the answers aren’t as shocking as those from my elementary-school days, many are just as unexpected. Because that yearning is so strong, it shouldn’t surprise you that I’ve spent the last few weeks questioning several big guns in the Mac gaming business about how games are conceived and brought to market. ![]()
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