Ever since the Macintosh made its debut in 1984, the controversy of the “computer of choice” between PCs and Macintoshes has raged. In the 80’s, it was one or the other— nobody from either side was willing to admit the other had merit. The thought of both worlds coexisting on a common platform was unheard of. From a gamer’s point of view, it was an easy choice. PCs were the way to go, because so much was out there compared to the Macintosh. But there were faithfuls, who vowed by the Mac’s superior interface and gaming potential. The keyword here is “potential.” The disparity in the number of games released for PCs compared to Macs was embarrassing. But in recent years, with the releases of Spaceship Warlock, Maelstrom, Jump Raven, MYST, and Marathon, all of which are Mac-specific, the gap is slowly narrowing. Yet, despite these revolutionary titles, many a Mac gamer has drooled (even whined) over Wing Commander, Ultima: Pagan, or DOOM. Oh, what Mac gamers wouldn’t do to get a taste of PC games without sacrificing their beloved Macs. Well, it is now possible! And guess who should bring this reality to us? Why, Apple (gasp) and Reply of course. That’s correct, the very same Apple company that years ago strove to maintain that the Mac was not meant to be a toy, but a serious business computer.
Just Like Magic. Introducing Houdini II for the Macintosh. Making its official debut to the Mac community at the recent MacWorld Expo ‘95 in San Francisco, Houdini II comes in two flavors, one from Apple (called the DOS Compatibility Card) and the other by Reply (called the DOS on Mac card), a San Jose based company in California. Both cards consist of a 486DX2/66 microprocessor that plugs right into the Mac’s PDS slot. The Apple card is built around an Intel chip, while the one from Reply utilizes a chip from Cyrix. The reason for the two cards lies in the models they were meant to be used in. Apple’s card is designed to work in the PowerMac 6100 models, while Reply’s works in the Centris 610 and 650, Quadra 610, 660AV, 650, 700, 800, 900 and 950 systems. It should be noted that the card is definitely not compatible with the Quadra 840AV. Apple, besides offering the DOS Compatibility Card, has shipped its new 6100/66 16/500/DOS model that uses the card. Both cards and the 6100 DOS system should be available in sufficient quantities by the time you read this.
“But can it play DOOM?” And the answer is a resounding “YES!” In fact, the people at Reply had the card running on a Quadra 650 hooked up to two monitors at MacWorld expo. On one monitor was the Mac desktop and on the other was DOOM. The Mac desktop was active, but then with a swift punch of a hot key, the Reply rep switched over to the PC side of things. Then all of a sudden, to the utter amazement of passerby, the Quadra 650 was running DOOM, and running it fast. And get this, DOOM was running with Sound Blaster sound! It seems the Sound Blaster company has made a special agreement with Apple and Reply to shrink their popular sound card module down to fit specifically on the DOS cards. Also, the cards are capable of running at resolutions of 640 x 480 in 16 or 256 colors, or 800 x 600 in 16 colors. In addition, the cards are able to run Netware-compatible networking software. Particularly groovy is the option to connect a PC joystick to the computer (yes!), which allows Mac users to tap into the huge market of PC joystick products that was heretofore privy only to PC heads. Now, more than ever, you can fully enjoy the experience as you blast your way to higher scores and levels.
Pricing. Apple’s 6100/66 DOS compatible system will probably run a little over $2500 through higher education channels, and will come in a 16/500 configuration. The DOS Compatible Card for the 6100 most likely will see a street price of $650-$700. As for Reply’s DOS on Mac card, the following pricing was given:
Note that while Reply’s card has the Sound Blaster module as an option, Apple’s card includes the module. Also, Reply has two cards available, one specifically for the Centris 610 and Quadra 610 and 660AV, and one for all the other models. Should you decide to purchase the card, don’t forget to mention what system you’re running. Reply can be reached at:
Reply Corporation
4435 Fortran Drive
San Jose, CA 95134
Tel (408) 942-4804
Fax (408) 956-2793
Limitations. As good as it sounds, the cards do have some limitations. The cards, which have a single slot on board for memory, have the capability to run with shared memory, meaning the card can use memory that is available on the Macintosh. But doing so will result in a 25% performance loss when running DOS or Windows. This loss can be bypassed by dedicating memory to the DOS card by adding a memory SIMM to the slot mentioned above, thus resulting in true 486DX2/66 speeds. As there is only one slot available, it probably would be worthless to put anything less than 8 MB on the card, as Windows takes up about four megs just to run. Another limitation of the card is that it cannot handle OS/2. Finally, while it’s possible to view the contents of a hard drive dedicated to the PC from the Mac’s desktop, it can’t be done the other way around. But from a gamer’s point of view, these two drawbacks really don’t matter.
Food For Thought. Irate owners of 7100’s and 8100’s should take note of the following. Since Reply’s card was running on a Quadra 650 at the expo and could be run on a Quadra 800, shouldn’t it also run on a PowerMac 7100 or 8100? After all, the 650 and 7100 use the same case, as with the 800 and 8100. After asking the Reply rep whether the 650 and 7100 used the same case, a nervous reply of “I can’t really tell you that” ensued. Hmmm. You draw the conclusions. Either way, Reply is debating whether to offer a card for the 7100 and 8100 models later this spring. But the instance above does make you wonder.
So, what does this mean for Mac gamers everywhere? Well, it means more variety, as a whole new world of gaming is bridged through the new cards. It means you can play Marathon and DOOM without changing computers. It means you no longer have to wait ages for companies like Origin to release Mac versions of their games. But more importantly, or rather, most importantly, it means you don’t have to give up your Macintosh.
