As a felonious feline emperor gazes out a window onto his vast space empire, he asks to be alone as he discusses the war effort. The battle has taken a turn for the better, it seems. That troublesome hot shot who caused the Kilrathi so much inconvenience has been blamed for the destruction of their most advanced ship. Consequently, that pilot has been demoted and should no longer pose a threat. How stupid of the enemy, how positively… human of them.
So begins the cinematic space-opera arcade game Wing Commander 2, one of the most popular space flight games in recent computer history. The lush sequences and rich fighter action can be yours with a trip to the software store or a call to your favorite mail order house. Of course, as with any epic, you’ll need some heavy horsepower to really make “WC2” fly. So you’ll save up to get that Centris after all, right?
Wrong.
“We create worlds” is the motto of Origin Systems, makers of Wing Commander 2 and the smash line of Ultima adventure games. The company currently develops for every platform from Sega Genesis to Game Boy to something called FM TOWNS. But where personal computers are concerned, Origin’s worlds are confined to a universe ruled by Intel with Mindscape handling some porting to the Amiga. In an age where Apple is selling more Macintoshes than ever before, dropping prices, successfully courting the home computer market, and even assigning evangelists to “consumer” software (AppleSpeak for games), Origin treats the Macintosh like a six-colored leper.
On the online service America Online and elsewhere, a volume of protest has sprung up from Mac users. Origin representatives have responded by creating a folder of messages in which Mac users can air their views. The dedicated but small band of online voices have raised excellent arguments. They, too, point to Apple’s new aggressiveness in the home market, the low price at which '040 power is now available (especially in light of recent Centris 610 price reductions), the richness of the Mac development environment, and the flummoxing depth to which Apple’s double-speed CD-ROM drives prices have dropped.
Nevertheless, despite some sympathetic but firm postings from Origin, the folder has been thus far ineffective. To date, there has been no official response from anyone in a position of power at Origin to these users. But that’s not surprising. Origin is no closer to producing a Mac title now than it was when the folder began a year ago. To further rub salt in the wounds of Mac users, it’s not as if Origin lacks the equipment to do Mac development. As one of the first companies to support 3DO’s Interactive Multiplayer format (a product—online protesters have pointed out—that respected industry surveys pinpoint at an installed base of exactly zero), Origin had to begrudgingly pick up a couple of Quadras in order to create software for the new machines. [For a look at what 3DO is all about, see the May/June issue of WIRED magazine.]
It’s not a question of talent, either. Two years ago, a couple of bright kids from the University of Texas pulled some strings and got permission to try a Mac version of Ultima VI. While Origin thought enough of their programming talent to offer them jobs, they eventually nixed the project even though the game was 80 percent done. Why? Because in spite of fond memories by company co-founder Richard Garriot about the company’s Apple II salad days, the company still doesn’t believe that the Macintosh game market amounts to a hill of Apple seeds.
According to those who have been down the road, there’s nothing magical about porting a game to the Macintosh. It takes work and time and money, but the procedures are straightforward. Much of the effort must go into new code to support differences in memory handling, sound, and graphics. To see why, download a GIF of a screen shot from the Origin forum on AOL. I don’t want to say that VGA graphics look small on a Mac screen. But if you didn’t know better, you’d expect Elvis’ face and “29¢” to appear on something that size.
A Crashing Borland. The ill-will is slowly beginning to rise. Origin is on the verge of becoming another Borland as far as the Mac community is concerned. Like Borland, Origin is known for innovation in their product category and, like Borland, Origin had Mac products at one time but withdrew from the Mac marketplace. Furthermore, both companies have squashed Mac development efforts—Origin with Ultima VI, Borland with Ashton-Tate’s Mac’s products.
Ironically, though, in spite of Borland’s undesirable reputation, I’ll bet we see Borland re-enter the Mac marketplace before Origin. Borland’s burgeoning Windows products are competing against products that boast excellent cross-platform compatibility, and the potential execution speeds of fledgling cross-platform development languages are not as important to a developer of analytical software as they are to a games developer .
So Richard Garriot loves the Macintosh. That’s a nice sentiment, remarkably similar to one that Borland kingpin Philippe Kahn often expresses. But all of Garriot’s fond looks back aren’t helping him see the Mac game scene today—a fertile market ripe for innovation in the areas that Origin has enjoyed success. Richard, if you love the Macintosh so, believe in it. Develop for it.
Not that Origin cares, but the window of opportunity is slowly beginning to close. Mac gamers may not be able to play Ultima VII, but they’re sure getting a kick out of New World Computing’s Might & Magic III. They may not have Strike Commander, but Graphic Simulation’s F/A-18 Hornet will quell many a patient pilot. And while there’s currently nothing that really compares to Wing Commander today, you can bet that some enterprising developer is working hard creating a more than worthy substitute. Forget nature; it’s capitalism that abhors a vacuum.
By the time Origin wakes up, the smell of coffee may come from cups that have been filled by companies that have already invested in the Mac—DOS bigwigs like New World, Interplay, Sierra, and even Origin’s own parent company Electronic Arts, have all shown a remarkable new interest in the platform.
Call to Arms. But stubborn companies like Origin react far better to reaction than reason. In spite of online protest and even some courting by Apple representatives, the company sticks to its lasers. The representative voices of protest have been steadfast but small in number. But if every reader of IMG wrote or called Origin demanding that they port their Mac games, Garriot and Company might start to get the hint that there really is a market out there for Mac games after all. Call Origin at (512) 335-0440 and tell them what you think of Mac users’ appetite for well-done games.
And one other thing: when Origin daddy Electronic Arts does start unveiling their new games for the Macintosh, check them out. If they’re half as good as it seems they will be, they will represent of the coolest diversions ever to move across an Apple-logoed monitor. If you want them, buy them. That’s right. Go down to that Egghead or call mail order shops and plunk down 60 hard-earned bucks. EA will have deserved it for their effort, and for not giving up on your platform.
Now’s your chance to change the minds of Origin’s bean counters. Only if they know how strongly you feel and they see how much you’ll buy will they consider leaving their Big Blue umbrellas. If the Mac community is vocal enough with their voices and their wallets, some Origin executive may realize those 3D0 development Quadras are as ideal for playing games as they are for creating them. Only then will the humans have a chance of defeating the Kilrathi . . . in Wing Commander III for the Macintosh.
In my opinion, that would be a world worth creating.
You can contact Origin at:
Origin Systems
P.O. Box 161750
Austin, TX 78716
Ross Scott Rubin is the author of three books about the Macintosh and has written for MacUser, MacWEEK, Mac Home Journal , and other publications. He is also a forum consultant in America Online’s Macintosh Hardware Forum. Fair Game will appear occasionally in Inside Mac Games.
