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For those who previewed the game in early 1999, Halo: Combat Evolved was to be one of the most gorgeous titles released for the Macintosh.

Yes, the Macintosh.

Even Steve Jobs lauded the title as “one of the coolest” he had seen for the Apple platform – that is, until its developer, Bungie, was swallowed up by Microsoft and Mac development ceased. Instead, the Chicago-based Bungie repurposed the game for Microsoft's soon-to-launch Xbox and the small but loyal community of Macintosh gamers shed a collective tear.

In the ten years since Halo was first announced, the world of Mac gaming has changed dramatically and remains a far cry from the platform's nineties-era heyday. Today, few of the old developers such as Maxis and Cyan World remain and the future of gaming on a Mac is more uncertain than ever.

There's no real secret why. According to research firm Gartner, Mac users account for less than 9 per cent of the U.S. PC market in the second quarter of 2009. Global studies have placed that figure even lower. With such a relatively small number of users, the Mac platform's appeal to game developers is a tenuous one.

However, that may be changing.

Since Apple's switch to Intel processors more than three years ago, developers have increasingly found the Mac to be a more viable platform than it once was. Add to that innovative software developed by a small Toronto-based company called Transgaming, which released Cider in 2006, a technology that allows Windows games to play on Mac, the potential for a Mac gaming resurgence is more than a pipe dream.

“Macintosh users are avid loyalists when it comes to the Mac, and many of them are very frustrated with … the lack of gaming options,” explained Vikas Gupta, Transgaming's CEO, from the company's downtown office.

“We're trying to change that. We're trying to make the Mac an equal player as far as gaming goes.”

The company's Cider technology proved unique in that it no longer required developers to code separate versions of their games specifically for the Mac. Instead, the Windows code was placed in wrapper that made it behave as a native Macintosh game, in a manner indiscernible to the end-user.

“What we have the ability to do is very quickly and very easily with virtually no redevelopment effort enable a game [to run] from PC to Mac,” Gupta says.

Companies such as Electronic Arts have Cider with successful results, releasing such well-received titles as Spore and The Sims 3 . But there remain some developers unconvinced of the Macintosh's gaming potential.

In a 2007 interview with gaming site Kikizo, Gabe Newell, managing director at Valve and creator of the popular Half-Life series, expressed his disbelief that Apple had “ever taken gaming seriously.” One of his main complaints was Apple's inability to listen to the requests of his developers.

In fact, the operating system's graphics drivers – integral to the proper performance of modern-day games – are so strictly controlled by Apple that they are often largely outdated, months behind their Windows equivalents.

“And as a result,” Newell went on to say, “there's no gaming market to speak of.”

A scan of Apple's website corroborates Mr. Newell's argument, but only to a point. While you won't find many of the past decade's hit titles, including Half-Life , Grand Theft Auto or anything with “Mario” in the title, the company's online store has an section dedicated to Mac games that appeals to a less hard-core fan base.

And that segment of game player is growing.

gametreeonline.com

A screenshot of GameTreeOnline, TransGaming Inc.'s a commercial site selling games for Macs.

“There is definitely a large group of customers on the Mac who crave simplicity and ease-of-use,” explained Edward Allard, vice president of development at PopCap Games. “This fits very well with PopCap's emphasis on extremely fun and accessible games that are designed for a very broad audience.”

PopCap is one of the few developers featured heavily in Apple's online store, and is also the largest developer of so-called casual games. Such titles are often a far cry from the complexities and demands of the first-person shooters and strategy titles that hard-core gamers expect.

But that's not to say a more serious gaming audience has been ignored. Despite the challenges of catering to such a small market, there remain a number of developers who see the potential for both Mac and PC markets to coexist. One such developer is Blizzard Entertainment, creator of the immensely popular online role-playing game, World of Warcraft.

Blizzard has become particularly notable for its long-standing commitment to the Macintosh platform. Since 1995, the studio has simultaneously released Mac and PC versions of its games; it's the sort of release strategy that has become nearly non-existent in a market otherwise dominated by PC and console gaming.

“We're making games for whatever platform makes sense,” explained J. Allen Brack, production director for WoW. “If you're looking at the Mac, there are certainly people who would not play World of Warcraft if there were no Mac client.”

While developers such as Blizzard recognize the Mac's casual reputation, World of Warcraft's success has proven the platform is just as viable for the hard-core crowd. More importantly, the Mac may prove even more influential than its PC counterpart, introducing formerly casual users to a new world of gaming.

After all, the days of Halo are now but a footnote in Macintosh history, but perhaps it is the casual gamer that will ultimately determine the platform's fate.

“We're making sure that we target games that fit really well for the Mac,” Gupta concedes. “We know that from a hardware perspective and from a performance perspective, we're not going to be able to do what a 360 or PS3 can do.”