iPod likely to be Apple's strongest player

Sharing San Francisco with thousands of Apple computer buffs isn't all fun and games. Actually, there was plenty of fun to be had at the Macworld trade show last week, but not all that many games. Despite a recent surge in sales of Apple's elegant Macintosh computers, the catalog of game titles for the Mac remains sketchy.

Mind you, it's an attractive sketch. While there are far more games for Windows PCs than Macs, the "triple-A" Windows games, the ones with the critical kudos and strong sales, generally get ported to the Mac sooner or later. Much of the credit goes to Aspyr Media Inc., an Austin, Texas, company that's built up a nice trade in adapting hit PC games to the Mac. At Macworld, Aspyr showed off new releases like Prey, an alien shooter game that's been strong on the PC and Xbox 360 platforms. Aspyr has also produced Mac versions of Star Wars: Empire at War, Sid Meier's earthly empire-builder game, Civilization IV, and the beloved digital dollhouse game The Sims 2.

Alas, none of the titles were shown to best advantage. In past years, Macworld featured a sizable gaming area, with dozens of machines provided for the pleasure of visitors. Hundreds passed through, pausing just long enough to wield an electronic broadsword or toss a few digital grenades. But this year's spartan gaming area, hosted well away from the trade show's prime exhibit space, was mainly good for a bit of peace and quiet.

"It's kind of shocking," said Bruce Morrison, a designer at game developer Freeverse Software Inc. of New York. "It really is kind of a letdown."

Especially if you work for Freeverse, one of a handful of firms that make games especially for the Mac. The company's bestseller is a card game with the vaguely disturbing title Burning Monkey Solitaire. Morrison's also justly proud of a family-friendly aerial shooting game titled Wingnuts 2. This game pits you against Baron von Stopwatch, a zany Teutonic villain who travels through time with an army of robotic airplanes and a Zeppelin. But you get a time-traveling aircraft carrier, so it's a fair fight.

Because the first Wingnuts was a solid success, "we decided to pull out all the stops" for the sequel, Morrison said. That meant a budget of around $100,000, at a time when a typical game for the PC or living-room gaming console can easily run up a $10 million development budget. No wonder Wingnuts 2's graphics look fairly primitive compared to top-drawer PC titles. But it still comes across as a delightful time-waster at a decent price -- $29.95, about half the cost of an A-list game.

It's odd enough to encounter a commercial game written especially for the Mac; odder still to learn that Freeverse is toying with the idea of creating a version for Windows. It may not happen, though. "We've started the project but we haven't completed it," said Morrison. He said many loyal Macophiles object to the idea of a Windows version. So often shut out of the computing mainstream, they relish the idea of a game only Mac owners can play.

Still, Macs are destined to remain a niche market for computer games, and a pretty small niche at that. After all, Macs make up only about 3 percent of all the personal computers in the world. Compare that to the 70 percent market share for Apple's iPod music players, and it's easy to see why the company has dropped the word "computer" from its name, to become simply Apple Inc.

But it turns out that the iPod's powerful computer chip, and the large color screens on newer models, make them well-suited to the same kinds of simple "casual" games millions of us play on our cellphones. Add in the iPod's overwhelming popularity, and it's clearly Apple's best chance to become a force in gaming.

Electronic Arts Inc. certainly thinks so. The world's largest digital game maker has begun selling a line of simple games like Tetris , Mahjong, and Mini Golf, specially tailored for "fifth-generation" video-capable iPods. EA started developing the games in 2005, and while they're based on similar games for use with cellphones, they've been modified to use the iPod scroll wheel -- for instance, by aiming a golf shot by rotating the wheel.

EA isn't alone in spotting the gaming potential of the newest iPods. Japanese game company Namco turned up at Macworld with an iPod version of one of the most popular games ever -- Pac-Man. Steering the little yellow dot-eater with the clickwheel takes getting used to, but there's clearly a future in it.

Indeed, as Apple adds more computing power to the iPod , its future as a game machine may be brighter than most people realize. Its video playback features suggest that iPods will be capable of excellent 3-D graphics. And now comes the Apple iPhone, with a huge, colorful screen and the same operating software that runs on Mac computers.

As the full capacities of the iPod and iPhone are tapped by handheld game developers, future editions of Macworld are likely to be a lot more fun.