GameTap For Mac - Part Of An Apple Game Resurgence?

Online game download service GameTap is to begin supporting the Mac format this month, according to media reports, in what continues to be a resurgence of interest by games publishers and developers in supporting the often ignored format. According to website Macworld, GameTap will begin to offer classic games for download from June. As on the PC, the service, which is owned by cable firm Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), will allows users to download and play a large range of emulated arcade and console games. The news follows Electronic Arts’ announcement that it would renew support for the format, with a number of titles also making use of the Cider technology. Famed PC developer id Software also recently chose to debut their new graphic engine on the Mac with a technology demo of id Tech 5. Although no official Mac compatibility press release has yet been made by GameTap, a post on Angled Whiteboards, an unofficial GameTap information blog run by an employee, suggests that the Macworld article is correct. As such, Macworld indicates that the service beginning in June will be modeled on the PC Lite service, which features a rolling line-up of titles and is free to download and use. The full service, which will require a monthly fee, will be available “later this summer”. However, the GameTap software will run only on Intel-based Macs, since it uses the Cider technology from TransGaming. This technology is employed by other publishers to enable PC games to run on Macs using Intel hardware. Although this will limit the number of games made available, the total number of compatible titles is currently estimated at more than five hundred. The Macworld article quotes GameTap vice president of content Ricardo Sanchez as saying: “We’ve been looking at the Mac market for a while, waiting for the right opportunity. We also recently launched our portal product, and we didn’t want the Mac experience to be out of step with that. And Intel Mac penetration is far enough along that now is the right time.”