Can you actually game on a Mac? If you ever read the comments you’ll realize that if you ever mention the words gaming and Mac in the same sentence people love to explain why that’s a terrible idea but surely it can’t be that bad?

The first thing is actually finding games that work on OS X. Take a look in the Mac App Store and you’ll find a few games including Hitman and Civilization 5 as well as quite a few classic titles like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and RollerCoaster Tycoon but not a huge variety of AAA games.

Download OpenEmu and you’ll find support for quite a few emulators including Game Boy, Genesis and Super Nintendo but still nothing new. Jump into Origin for Mac and you’ll find SimCity and The Sims 3 along with a few older games like Batman but you won’t find any Battlefield or Crysis here.

On the other hand when I installed Steam I was actually surprised. Right out of the box over half my Steam library shows up just fine on OS X including some big name titles like Bioshock Infinite, Metro: Last Light and Tomb Raider. Admittedly a lot of the games are indie titles but there’s still a pretty reasonable selection including basically all Valve games.

To make things at least somewhat fair I tested with a late 2013 Mac Pro. Now while this is by no means a gaming PC as it’s really made for things like photo and video editing however it is rocking some pretty decent specs. Inside we’re looking at a six core Intel Xeon CPU clocked at 3.5GHz, dual AMD FirePro D500 graphics cards, 32GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD.

Compare this to a gaming PC and you’d be looking at something like a Core i7-4930K along with two Radeon R9 280 cards which would be slightly faster but also lose out on the workstation features. For the first game we have The Walking Dead Season Two while this is hardly an incredibly demanding game when you crank up the settings and play it at 4K it actually looks pretty nice.

Playing through the latest episode which I actually won’t show to not spoil things if you guys haven’t played it yet I didn’t have any issues at all. Everything played perfectly smoothly just as if I was playing on Windows. Moving up to something just a little more demanding we have Metro: Last Light. I’ve already taken a look at this port running on SteamOS and it’s very similar on Mac.

You’ve got the entire game and DLC however the quality settings are paired down to an incredibly simple slider which just drives the nerd in me crazy. Gameplay is fine although the way OS X handles mouse acceleration does take a little getting used to and even with the graphics maxed out it’s still not quite on par with a gaming PC.

If you take off your PC Master Race hat though it is completely playable. Next we have Bioshock Infinite which seems to be a better port overall. Basically all of the settings are intact allowing you to fine tune the graphics and once you turn on VSync you would be hard pressed not to notice a major difference between playing on a Mac or PC.

It certainly doesn’t hurt that Infinite is a great looking game regardless of platform even all the way back to the last generation consoles. Probably the most impressive game I’ve tried on Mac is Tomb Raider. As a fully functioning port you also get access to all the settings and the graphics look great, running right up against the 60 frames per second VSync limit which really helps with the screen tearing that you’ll find otherwise.

Unlike some DirectX games that have been ported to OpenGL Tomb Raider hasn’t lost much visual quality with plenty of detail and correct textures and effects. Now of course there’s nothing stopping you from installing Windows via Boot Camp which will immediately get you access to way more games however I’ve got to say I’m impressed with how many games actually work pretty well running natively in OS X.

Don’t get me wrong though a Mac Pro is completely insane as a gaming PC as you can build something better for much less if that’s all you want to do with it. If you plan on getting a Mac and just want to do a little gaming with it though I think it’s totally possible. So what do you guys think about gaming on a Mac? Let me know in the comments below and be sure to hit up that Subscribe button if you’re new to the channel.

Anyway guys thank you so much for watching and I will catch you in the next one!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enHey guys this is Austin and today I’m herewith a video going over what should be a prettysimple question.Can you actually game on a Mac?If you ever read the comments you’ll realizethat if you ever mention the words gamingand Mac in the same sentence people love toexplain why that’s a terrible idea but surelyit can’t be that bad?The first thing is actually finding gamesthat work on OS X.Take a look in the Mac App Store and you’llfind a few games including Hitman and Civ5 as well as quite a few classic titles likeGTA: San Andreas and RollerCoaster Tycoonbut not a huge variety of AAA games.Download OpenEmu and you’ll find supportfor quite a few emulators including Game Boy,Genesis and Super Nintendo but still nothingall that new.Jump into Origin for Mac and you’ll findSim City and The Sims 3 along with a few oldergames like Batman but you won’t find anyBattlefield or Crysis here.On the other hand when I installed Steam Iwas actually surprised.Right out of the box over half my Steam libraryshows up just fine on OS X including somebig name titles like Bioshock Infinite, Metro:Last Light and Tomb Raider.Admittedly a lot of the games are indie titlesbut there’s still a pretty reasonable selectionincluding basically all Valve games.To make things at least somewhat fair I testedwith a late 2013 Mac Pro.Now while this is by no means a gaming PCas it’s really made for things like photoand video editing however it is rocking somepretty decent specs.Inside we’re looking at a six core IntelXeon CPU clocked at 3.5GHz, dual AMD FireProD500 graphics cards, 32GB of RAM and a 256GBSSD.Compare this to a gaming PC and you’d belooking at something like a Core i7-4930Kalong with two Radeon R9 280 cards which wouldbe slightly faster but also lose out on theworkstation features.For the first game we have The Walking DeadSeason Two.While this is hardly an incredibly demandinggame when you crank up the settings and playit at 4K it actually looks pretty nice.Playing through the latest episode which Iactually won’t show to not spoil thingsif you guys haven’t played it yet I didn’thave any issues at all.Everything played perfectly smoothly justas if I was playing on Windows.Moving up to something just a little moredemanding we have Metro: Last Light.I’ve already taken a look at this port runningon SteamOS and it’s very similar on Mac.You’ve got the entire game and DLC howeverthe quality settings are paired down to anincredibly simple slider which just drivesthe nerd in me crazy.Gameplay is fine although the way OS X handlesmouse acceleration does take a little gettingused to and even with the graphics maxed outit’s still not quite on par with a gamingPC.If you take off your PC Master Race hat thoughit is completely playable.Next we have Bioshock Infinite which seemsto be a better port overall.Basically all of the settings are intact allowingyou to fine tune the graphics and once youturn on VSync you would be hard pressed tonotice a major difference between playingon a Mac or PC.It certainly doesn’t hurt that Infiniteis a great looking game regardless of platform,even all the way back to the last generationconsoles.Probably the most impressive game I’ve triedon Mac is Tomb Raider.As a fully functioning port you also get accessto all the settings and the graphics lookgreat, running right up against the 60 framesper second VSync limit which really helpswith the screen tearing that you’ll findotherwise.Unlike some DirectX games that have been portedto OpenGL Tomb Raider hasn’t lost much visualquality with plenty of detail and correcttextures and effects.Now of course there’s nothing stopping youfrom installing Windows via Boot Camp whichwill immediately get you access to way moregames however I’ve got to say I’m impressedwith how many games actually work pretty wellrunning natively in OS X.Don’t get me wrong though, a Mac Pro iscompletely insane as a gaming PC as you canbuild something better for much less if that’sall you want to do with it.If you plan on getting a Mac and just wantto do a little gaming with it though I thinkit’s totally possible.So what do you guys think about gaming ona Mac?Let me know in the comments below and be sureto hit up that Subscribe button if you’renew to the channel.Anyway guys thank you so much for watchingand I will catch you in the next one!\n"