A bit of research on the viability of audio gaming for mac and windows
Because I am actually in agreement with this, I decided to further back it up with some actual statistics, given the first article being replied to was, I feel, in many respects, more of a biased plea than an educated piece that does not take the entire playing field into consideration. Because I can already hear the Apple fanboys screaming for my head, I'd like to point out, That this is no windows advertisement, that I loved and researched my mac as best I could when I had it, and that I still miss it terribly! There! If that doesn't establish my credibility, nothing will! As usual, constructive and productive criticism is welcome via PM, email, or whatever other method you find desirable and which I might have at my disposal and, provided you have varafiable evidence I will willingly retract and give credit to any further research in this direction.
Fact: It is necessary to start off with the mainstream commmunity and, as such, it is equally necessary to note that there are well over a billion PC's running windows operating systems on them, desktop and laptop combined, with at least 400 million of them running windows 10. This is not and should not be any surprise, given that for many years microsoft has managed to outcompete Apple in the personal computing department.
Fact: Windows PC's are cheaper, meaning more people are going to buy them. The cheapest macs are at least $500, while you can get a basic windows PC for under $300 that'll fit most every average computer user's needs.
Fact: Apple is the only company you can go to to get an Apple computer. Regardless what you think of that fact, good or bad, that means that in the mainstream market, windows, who outsources like a king to every company and their cousin, is going to reign supreme with many choices to pick from that will cover even more needs and wants. If that's not enough of an incentive to buy a windows PC over a mac, there's also the ease of hardware customization, which has made it easier to build your own PC with all of your necessities and desires in mind beforehand. Macs are designed to work best with the hardware they come with, again, for better or worse.
Fact: Most mainstream gaming is done on windows PC's.
Fact: Most windows PC's still come with common ports and conectivity options, requiring you to spend less than if you buy a mac.
Fact: Windows PC's are updated with new specs more frequently than macs.
Fact: OSX is a lucretive sandbox that is nice to have if you've bought into the Apple Ecosystem, but cannot beat out windows operating systems on customizability.
Fact: Macs can be repaired with ease, but windows PC's can be repaired more affordably.
With all of the above information, let us see how that actually affects the audiogaming community, which is a mix of both mainstream gamers and individuals who have not ever played a mainstream game in their life, many blind, some visually impaired, some sighted.
Fact: not all computer users are actually connected to the net. In my life, I've run into at least 20 people, some younger, some older, some who use screen readers and some that don't, that do not ever brows the net. While this number of people in general seems to be dwindling with the passage of time, this group still exists all the same, and because they do not brows the net or participate on social media platforms or forums it is exceptionally hard to ascertain and compile information on them, what programs they use, whether or not they have ever gamed at all, let alone played a text or audiogame.
Fact: The audiogaming market still remains mostly a favorite of blind and visually impaired individuals, of which most if not all use accessibility software such as screen readers and magnification programs.
Fact: Most screen reader users are using windows machines or iOS devices. While one might say that it is not fair to judge all screen reader users by this survey alone, we can, while coupling it with above information, assume that this is in fact the case, for a few other reasons including ease of availability and financial cost. Of the people who participated in the above survey, 31.9% were primarily NVDA users, with 64.9% of the total of people participating claiming to use NVDA on a somewhat regular basis. NVDA is a free, open source screen reader available only on windows at present. VoiceOver on the other hand, only holds 11.7% of participants as primary users, with 39.6% saying they use it on a somewhat regular basis. It is worth noting that of those who use VO primarily or on a frequent basis, 14.2% use iOS, with only 7.9% claiming OSX usage. Meanwhile, 72.8% of participants are regularly using windows.
Fact: Unlike the mainstream market, audiogames are usually developed by small groups of people and, in many cases, by one individual who simply has a passion for gaming and developing. Most are blind and visually impaired individuals themselves, and if above data is to be referenced, probably using a windows PC on a regular basis.
Fact: Selling a game is hard; selling an audiogame is harder. Most audiogamers, whether they admit it to you or not, are wary of buying audiogames. A few reasons exist, from the fact that a developer sometimes has to manage a few fronts unlike a company who would have people spread out to manage all of them, to how such a small community may or may not perceive said developer based on previous merrit or lack there of and so on. In short, it's not a market one can depend on to make a business out of. With the creation and release of New Horizons, it is easy to see how freebees can be just as if not more entertaining than games which have been paid for and purchased in the past, raising the bar for everyone involved in the development of audiogaming. On the gamer side, who would realistically pay for something which may or may not deliver as much content and replayability? From the developer's perspective, why spend time and possibly financial resources developing something that may or may not be a hit in such a small market?
Once again, I'm fully aware that this is somewhat of a generalization. Because of that, if you feel I have misrepresented you as an audiogamer, by all means feel free to correct me however you see fit; the same holds true for devs as I'm not one. It's hard to get up close and personal with every audiogamer since, firstly, there are a ton on this site alone, plus the many I don't know of elsewhere. This article was written in an attempt to further solidify the above link and illustrate "why it isnt always feasible for developers to port their games" and also, why developing for macs may actually be out of the question for many. It is not an attack on mac users, of which I've been one and wish I still was.
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