Saying “PC game” has traditionally being synonym of “games on windows”. Fortunately, and even if the quantity of games native to Windows still cannot be compared to the rest of the platforms, the situation is improving for Mac and Linux users.
Before starting it is worth noting a well-known fact: Apple’s computers hardware limitations for videogames execution. The platform doesn’t have any game oriented equipment. Really, the guys at Cupertino do not have a desktop PC that facilitates the task. The Mac Mini is insufficient and we are not going to spend the huge amounts of money that the potent Mac Pro costs just to play. Most AIO iMac models and MacBook laptops use integrated graphics from Intel by default. Some models offer the option to mount dedicated graphics but they are limited to mobile models and they highly increase the price of the equipment.
This is a clear limitation compared to a desktop PC (or even a laptop) with Windows or Linux that have a huge offer, including the most powerful dedicated simple and dual graphic cards of the market.
If you want to play at top resolution and filters art he great titles allow, forget about Mac. Officially, of course, as you can always get your own Hackintosh and get PC with Mac OS X as good as any with windows or Linux. This is what we have until Mac decides to license the Mac OS to other manufacturers.
In any case, playing in Mac is possible and is more alive than ever as we are going to see through many possibilities and always taking into account the hardware limitations of the official equipment that we just mentioned.
Native Mac Games
Like Linux, Mac OS X has added a god quantity of games, specifically `programmed and optimized for the system. The tendency to develop multiplatform games by the great studios is clear but not as complete and fast as many users who use different operative systems would like. The possibilities to get games for Mac is wide, from getting them on retail to getting them from official Mac App Stores that offer free games and the available commercial ones. The great videogame distribution portals like Steam, Origen, Battle.net or GOG.com offer a catalog for Mac and in most cases allow access to the Windows version, which is a point of interest towards multiplatform users.
Boot Camp
Despite the increase in native games, many others are not available for Mac. The best way to execute Windows games on Mac is through Boot Camp, Apple software which allows the installation of Windows operative system on Mac machines with Intel processors.
Boot Camp allows rebooting on one system or the other, and in theory, it is capable of offering the same performance that if you used a native Windows machine with the same hardware.
Steam In-Home
It will be Valve’s official solution so that machines with Steam OS (Linux) can run Windows games. It allows sending audio and video on streaming from one machine to another through local network to execute your games in distant mode. It permits to play Windows titles from computers with other operative systems, Mac OS X or Linux.
Other options
Virtual machines are often an ideal formula to try out applications and games from other platforms although they will never reach the performance of a Mac native game or of a game played through BootCamp, taking into account Apple’s hardware limitations. If you are going to execute games that are not so demanding, it is a good method to explore.
Wine
An open code application that re-implements Unix system applications interface and supports both Linux and Max. It is not perfect and it won’t work with all games, but it is one of those fireproof software that allow you to run Windows software in your Mac.
DOSBox
Another classic that allows you to run old DOS games and applications in multiple platforms, including Mac.