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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > Help me choose 5 games for a Laptop (1.25 Alu)

Help me choose 5 games for a Laptop (1.25 Alu)
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jindrich
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Mar 7, 2004, 02:39 PM
 
hi, i'm just enjoying my new alu 1.25 powerbook after i got rid of a very old tibook. I'm enchanted with this new mac. It's SILENT (no fan noise) and VERY fast, with a very handy lighted KB. I put 1GB ram into it, and it makes a whole difference.
It's THE BEST LAPTOP EVER.

Now, i want to get some games. I've never been a game kinda guy, but after playing some playstation/xbox with my little cousins (who btw destroyed me at any game), i'm addicted now

I know the limitations of a laptop comapred to a console or a desktop PC, so i want games that RUN WELL on a powerbook.

I've enjoyed (for the xbox) the EA NBA basketball (or so named). I dont like much the simms type games.

So which five would YOU get? (I mean games that YOU have played and enjoyed)

I'd like to get one basketball game, a rallies one, maybe a flight simulator, some point and shoot and some tony hawk (which one?).

Also, what "rumble" gamepad WORKS with a Mac and those games?

thanx in advance.
     
fizzlemynizzle
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Mar 7, 2004, 03:10 PM
 
you'd be better off buying an xbox than trying to recreate the enjoyment you got by using one on your mac.
     
jindrich  (op)
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Mar 7, 2004, 03:56 PM
 
ok, so i'll buy a xbox/PS2, a 29inch tv, a monstruous battery and a BIGGER flightcase for everytime i travel or move, which btw, is all the time.

is it so difficut to make a game machine out of a �3,000 computer ??
     
fizzlemynizzle
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Mar 7, 2004, 04:14 PM
 
If you're looking for sports games on a Mac, yes it is..

I played Warcraft 3, Neverwinter Nights and Return to Castle Wolfenstein on my AlBook without any issues. But the performance was middle of the road and those are very different games than EA's NBA game.
     
vcutag
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Mar 7, 2004, 04:20 PM
 
Originally posted by jindrich:
hi, i'm just enjoying my new alu 1.25 powerbook after i got rid of a very old tibook. I'm enchanted with this new mac. It's SILENT (no fan noise) and VERY fast, with a very handy lighted KB. I put 1GB ram into it, and it makes a whole difference.
It's THE BEST LAPTOP EVER.

Now, i want to get some games. I've never been a game kinda guy, but after playing some playstation/xbox with my little cousins (who btw destroyed me at any game), i'm addicted now

I know the limitations of a laptop comapred to a console or a desktop PC, so i want games that RUN WELL on a powerbook.

I've enjoyed (for the xbox) the EA NBA basketball (or so named). I dont like much the simms type games.

So which five would YOU get? (I mean games that YOU have played and enjoyed)

I'd like to get one basketball game, a rallies one, maybe a flight simulator, some point and shoot and some tony hawk (which one?).

Also, what "rumble" gamepad WORKS with a Mac and those games?

thanx in advance.
Because I'm a geek like this...
/disclaimer

1. Civilization III. Yeah, it's crap next to the new PC expansion packs, but hey, it's Civ. Best. Game. Ever.

2. Age of Empires II. Rocks. What can I say? I warned you, I'm a geek.

3. Risk. If you're into that sort of thing. Running the old version off of the Macintosh Garden is a bit like solitaire or minesweeper for me. Great way to kill time in class.

4. Goban, off of Version Tracker. Go has to be one of the world's hardest games, and the computer's impossible to beat. Great if you're a masochist.

5.... hm. iConquer was pretty cool, but it's shareware, so my copy doesn't work anymore.
     
cszar2001
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Mar 7, 2004, 05:24 PM
 
I bought RTCW, Medal of Honor and Soldier of Fortune 2 for my PB17 Rev. A-they run fine and are still great value for the money.
The fans come on pretty quick-games use a lot of power.
"Microsoft is a cross between the Borg and the Ferengi. Unfortunately, they use Borg to do their marketing and Ferengi to do their programming." Simon Slavin

Me on Flickr.
     
JohnM15141
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Mar 7, 2004, 05:54 PM
 
Inside the Games Folder on my 17"PB are....

1. EV Nova from AmbrosiaSW.

2. Diablo II

3. Warcraft II

4. Civilization III

5. and HALO!

Believe it or not HALO is quite playable on a 17" PowerBook.
( Last edited by JohnM15141; Mar 7, 2004 at 06:05 PM. )
     
James L
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Mar 7, 2004, 06:08 PM
 
Hey,

The problem is NOT the hardware, but the lack of quality ports over to the Mac platform. First off, your best friend is:

www.apple.com/games

They have a list of almost EVERY quality game currently available for the Mac... many with reviews, system requirements, etc.

Now, I have played:

1) Medal of Honor.

2) Aliens vs. Predator.

3) Red Faction.

4) Undying.

5) HALO.

6) Max Payne.

....in case you haven't guessed I am a FPS type of guy.

now, as far as flight sim goes you can't beat:

7) X-PLANE!

8) Get the latest Tony Hawk, it runs quite well.

9) The only sports games I know of on the Mac are Tiger Woods Golf and I think a NASCAR one.

... I would bet that you WON'T be able to find a basketball game on the Mac at all.

For me, all of the above games ran acceptably on an ALBook...none on the highest settings, but with the settings on middle of the road the were all enjoyable.

Hope that helps!
     
iMan
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Mar 7, 2004, 07:17 PM
 
I love Medal of Honor: Allied Assulat.

I play it on my 1 GHz Titanium PowerBook and it runs like a champ.
Nick Fleming
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Ti PowerBook - 1000/512/60
iPod 30 GB
     
galaga
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Mar 7, 2004, 08:10 PM
 
Just a suggestion... you might want to check out some emulators at http://www.emulation.net and go for some retro gaming. You should be able to run some older arcade basketball games under Mame no problem.
     
urrl78
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Mar 8, 2004, 08:20 AM
 
Giants, Citizen Kabuto was the most unusual and adventurous game I ever played on my Powerbook. Wish they could make a sequel. It ran very well too. But then 3rd person games always were my number 1 pick.

In reference to the last poster; retro games; Ghouls 'n Ghosts on MacMame is the absolute bomb.
     
jindrich  (op)
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Mar 8, 2004, 10:58 AM
 
thank you very much for your comments, i thinki I'll get Halo and THawk 4 for a start. I'm very sad EA hasnt ported his NBA game to mac. I think is a terrific game.

regarding Gamepads, which one do you use? seems like everybody complains on usb gamepads, and most just use the PS2 or Xbox ones with adapters.

I think i'll do the same, but then where in Europe can i get a proper PS2 to USB adapter? (no radio shacks here)

thx again.
     
iREZ
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Mar 8, 2004, 12:21 PM
 
Like it or not, cant use controllers for Halo yet. Im really hoping they add this function to the next update but highly doubt it. I find using my xbox controller to be the best game pad, just find a connector that changes the plug from an xbox output to a usb output, worked for me.
NOW YOU SEE ME! 2.4 MBP and 2.0 MBP (running ubuntu)
     
galaga
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Mar 8, 2004, 03:23 PM
 
Originally posted by urrl78:
Ghouls 'n Ghosts on MacMame is the absolute bomb.
You have discerning taste!

Originally posted by iREZ:
Like it or not, cant use controllers for Halo yet.
Whaaatthe ? Halo on the Mac is keyboard only? Surely not.

Originally posted by iREZ:
I find using my xbox controller to be the best game pad, just find a connector that changes the plug from an xbox output to a usb output, worked for me.
I didn't even know this was possible. Don't you need any kind of software for this to work?
     
Keiretsu
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Mar 8, 2004, 04:48 PM
 
- Neverwinter Nights
- Diablo II
- iConquer
     
James L
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Mar 8, 2004, 08:51 PM
 
USBOverdrive, if I remember correctly, works great to connect PS2 and other gamepads to the Mac, via a USB adapter.

Try a versiontracker.com search on it!
     
SEkker
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Mar 8, 2004, 11:21 PM
 
I'm a pinball addict, and I think Loony Labyrinth is one of the best ever made for a computer. Littlewing made a few others, too -- all available now for OSX and downloadable.

Hoyle Card and Board Games are very well done -- run in Classic just fine if you like card games.
     
urrl78
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Mar 8, 2004, 11:31 PM
 
Many thanks James L...That USBOverdrive works fantastic!

http://www.senlick.com/macsw/overdrive.html

I had given up using my cheap USB Gravis Gamepad Pro until now for Ottomatic in Panther. The gamepad only worked in OS9. Now in Panther I can manipulate Otto's movement as well as have him jump, shoot and pick up things; even change weapons. I can pause and start the game all from the gamepad; UNBELIEVABLE. I enabled all of these functions using the keystroke method; clicking on the keystroke space and then pressing the proper key to assign each button. Haven't tried it on the other games yet but it sure looks like it will work.
     
Link
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Mar 9, 2004, 03:04 AM
 
Originally posted by jindrich:
thank you very much for your comments, i thinki I'll get Halo and THawk 4 for a start. I'm very sad EA hasnt ported his NBA game to mac. I think is a terrific game.

regarding Gamepads, which one do you use? seems like everybody complains on usb gamepads, and most just use the PS2 or Xbox ones with adapters.

I think i'll do the same, but then where in Europe can i get a proper PS2 to USB adapter? (no radio shacks here)

thx again.
I think EA has a grudge against apple. The only game that ends up EVER getting ported to the mac side is anything with the word "sim" in it and I only like sim city... and even that's rediculously overhyped now :sigh: An updated version with the feel of SC2 would have been awesome.

Anyway.. this sucks because I'm a big NFS addict. Oh well.
Aloha
     
urrl78
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Mar 9, 2004, 08:13 AM
 
Yah, I've had a Playstation 2 for about 3 months now anyway...
     
waxcrash
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Mar 9, 2004, 03:37 PM
 
One of my favorites that runs fairly well on a PowerBook is Ghost Recon. You can get the demo here.
     
ww2junkie42
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Mar 12, 2004, 12:03 AM
 
My favorite games
1. America's Army(online play only)
2. Medal of Honor
3. Call of Duty (play it on PC, but i think there is a mac version too)
4. Uhh...I only play those three games

Yea I like first person shooters a lot lol. Americas Army is also free (Made by the U.S. Army as a recruiting tool. Go to AmericasArmy.com to download.)
     
   
 
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