I was referring to GOG's mac release, not the originals, which were from way before apple started using intel processors. Even if GOG could release them, they wouldn't easily run on Lion or newer, when apple killed rosetta. They also aren't compatible with most mods, which I can imagine there being a bit of a backlash to.

ok, so I know there does exist an i386 macos version of fallout 2 too even if not fallout 1, but that'll most certainly never see the light of day. Besides, it has the same mod compatibility problems.

Not my cup tea. But good news and exclusive games for Mac users, no doubt.

Bah crappo! It would be nice to be able to send a gift of different games to different people instead of getting one code for everything. :(

Even though i don't have a mac i happy with this because mac's pave the way to linux
-- Both use open-GL.

If that is what you think..doesn't mean it's not the case. but hey think whatever you want

And you do? Consider that it took GOG a full year to help them get the licensing rights just for Mac games...and that they're still working through the legal steps of getting the rights to the Mac versions of the games from their catalog of classic releases - the big problem remains in actually getting the legal rights to sell the Mac ports that are out there, because some may be owned by the porting studio, the Mac publisher, and/or the original IP holder.

It'd be just the same problem for Amiga and AtariST games, just as it would be for other classic platforms. The question remains, "Who owns the rights to these games?" - is it Atari? The developers? The publishers? The emulator software itself carries right with it too; GOG needs to secure permission to distribute them as part of a commercial package, too. With the Amiga it's even more insane than System Shock, since the brand has been bounced from company to company over the past few decades.

Don't think that GOG could just toss up a random .zip file with some ROMs and an emulator; that'd be a surefire solution to being sued and having the games pulled anyway.

So in short, yeah, DCT does in fact know what he is talking about. :) I'm still not entirely clear on how this is going to happen, since the official OS X port for Fallout 2, done by The OMNI Group, is extremely old, and is PPC-only – and I don't think F2 had a DOS version. Same goes for Giants: Citizen Kabuto (also by The OMNI Group) which in fact was highly optimized specifically for PPC processors. Maybe they actually hired some developers to convert them to x86 binaries, but I can only imagine how hard it would likely be.

And as for Freespace, it didn't even have a Mac port. I'm wondering if they're likely using a modified version of the FS2_Open binaries.

Doesn't GOG already use ScummVM? Going one step further and using the FS2_Open binaries doesn't seem like much of a stretch after that.

"And you do?"
And I do what?
I'm not the one making ridiculous claims without documentation.
I'm calling BS on both of you.
Spending lots of time on gaming forums does not make you a licensing expert.

I think that's a good thing, BUT actually I would loved it if all games that have native ports for other platforms would be downloadable.
Look at botanicula: a native linux version available done by the original developers, so licensing linux versions should not have been a problem. So I regret even having pre-ordered it through GOG.
I do not regret pre-ordering the witcher 2, because there is no native port.
I do not regret buying scummvm playable games, because scummvm. (Just like fs2 engine, and a lot of other engines).
I do not regret buying games that have linux ports not done by the original software house, because I cannot blame GOG (I will buy the linux version anyway in that case). But if ports are done by the original software house, please try to negotiate licensing for all "open" platforms (windows/mac/linux install what you want, not closed gaming consoles).
I think android usually is out of the question, because for a lot of software houses that's a way to resell old games. (And actually I don't care about that, since a lot of the android ports do not support keyboard/mouse or gamepads)

Here is a list of the interplay that comes to mind:

Other platforms native by "original" software house:
kingpin: there is an unofficial native port dony by a xatrix employee (I have the original CD, so never bothered buying on GOG). Looking at it, it sounds it has DRM (cd must be mounted).

Other platforms open source (install data with wine):
freespace 2: open source engine, no problems on linux and probably mac. (Due to the excessive use of opengl specifics it will not run on opengl-es devices :-( ).
freespace: I guess the fs2 engine works on that too
descent 1+2: open source engine, no problems on linux and probably mac, I even play it on my openpandora.

Other platforms not licensable:
descent 3: native port by lokigames for linux. (No DRM once installed, so might be hackable ;-) )
shogo: mad native port done by hyperion entertainment for linux. Has a very anoying DRM BTW.

I'm betting Wine will be applied in most, if not all, cases.

Have you a link of full emulator ready to install and fully legal?

I have many troubles with some recent supposed Mac release through Wine, The Witcher from Steam still doesn't work even if last update allowed me see few second of the game beginning, before it was quitting at end of the intro cinematic.

And Serious Sam 3 BFE wasn't better. All of that is far from release that was working fine like Duke Nukem Forever or Two World 2.

Ha well I'm still enjoying get more games to play on my Mac, when it works, have the gog installer doing all the work make worth those release.

Does it really work on OS X Lion (10.7.5)?