Boot Camp and Blizzard
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A few days ago I posted a postive note about Blizzard’s complete and unfailing support for the Macintosh OS as a game platform [mba]. From my days trying to play Warcraft III against my friends on my Mac LC 475 with a low baud modem and a screen refresh rate of like once per every thirty seconds to the pure sexy smoothness of WOW today on my G4 Powerbook and my G5 iMac, Blizzard has been one of the few companies to step up and continue to launch games for both the PC and the Mac at the same time.
I wondered how Boot Camp, the new beta software that allows users of the new Intel Macs to run Windows XP, would affect the future of Blizzard development on the Mac. It’s possible that a lot of software companies might abandon the Mac platform altogether given that soon, once Boot Camp is more stable, Macs will run Windows as well as PC boxes. (This is an offshoot from the John C. Dvorak argument that Apple will adopt Windows full time soon [pcm]).
If you haven’t been following the comment thread to that post, much like I haven’t been following the Blizzard FAQs, Blizzard’s Mac Team dropped by to set me straight [mba].
From the comment thread…
Q: Apple’s OS X Boot Camp software lets me boot Windows XP on my Intel-based Mac. Can I run Blizzard games under Windows using Boot Camp on these systems?
A: Yes, you can if you wish to do so. However, please note that as OS X Boot Camp is in beta form, we can’t offer technical support for Blizzard games run under Windows using Boot Camp at this time.
Q: What is Blizzard’s plan for native Mac OS support, now that Boot Camp is available?
A: We have a recognized track record of native Mac OS support, and we have no plans to break with that tradition. We understand that our Mac player base prefers native software whenever possible, and our cross-platform development practice addresses that.
So while nothing is on stone tablets in this crazy world, but that sounds to me like even once Boot Camp gets stable there will still be a Mac version of future Blizzard games coming. Hopefully that’ll include any follow ups to World of Warcraft.
Which in my book calls for a huzzah. Huzzah!
imagine the influx of mac users!
Definitely a huzzah!
Seriously, this is a good sign. Companies that have committed to developing on both operating systems will continue to, and as long as that happens, Mac OS won’t just tank and become something like Linux, where users have to jump through technical hoops to get their applications to work or it doesn’t become just another UI for your standard PC.
Definitely good news. :)
Blizzard so far has only released a universal binary for World of Warcraft. Other Blizzard games like Warcraft III run degraded via the emulator. Hopefully Blizzard will step up and keep their commitment to Mac by releasing a patch to a universal binary for at least some of these still popular legacy games.