The “Freaky” Tiki Bros Talk Mac!

Mean: Hi, I’m *Ahem* Mean Freaky. And this is my frustrating and annoying little brother *uhhhh* Dread Freaky!

Dread: Yrrff! Tafs whrigff! (Spits out fake plastic Dracula teeth) Yeah! That’s right, we are the uhhh… “Freaky Brothers.”

Mean: Get it? Tiki rhymes with Freaky, Red rhymes with Dread and Green rhymes with Mean. It also rhymes with Halloween! And we are so totally in the Halloween spirit this week!

Dread: But we’re not here to scare you. In fact, we’re here to do the opposite. So, without delay let’s move on to this week’s question!

Marcie Macintyre from Chicago, IL writes:

“Can my Macintosh computer play Pogo games? I don’t even have a Right mouse button how can I play a game that must use right clicks?”

Mean: Great question Marcie! Today we are going to talk about playing Pogo with Macintosh computers. The easiest answer to your first question, “Can my Macintosh computer play Pogo games” is “probably.”

But, to get a better answer, we’ve brought in an expert. Everyone, please meet Mel our second-cousin-twice-removed. This guy is Macintosh crazy! He is so Mac crazy in fact that we both call him “Melmac”!

Melmac: Hi everyone and thanks Green and Red. I hope I can help out all the Mac fans out there play Pogo!

Dread: Whoa there, Melmac– that’s “Mean and Dread” not “Green and Red!” Sheesh!

Melmac: Oops, sorry uh… “Dread.” Anyway, these guys told me that some folks out there were having a bit of trouble running Pogo games on Macs. Some may have even thought we don’t support Macs! I am here to set things straight!

Let’s talk abut the biggest issue: the inability to right click on a Mac mouse! By default the way to right click on a Mac is to hold down the “Ctrl” key on your keyboard and then click the mouse button. To your Mac, this is the same as right clicking a mouse!

That’s right – Mac players can “right click” too! Also note that for some Pogo games a Ctrl+click will not work, you have to hold down the “Shift” key then click. Also on some games, such as Pogo Bowl you will need to “Command+click”. (The command key looks like a little box with circles on the four corners. It located near the bottom left side of the keyboard).

What games use what kind of click? Well unfortunately it can change from game to game. Your best bet is to experiment with the different button+click combinations till you find one that works for the particular game your playing.

Mean: Just so everyone knows, that joker Red and his noble and gifted brother Green Tiki are not infallible. If they are unable to figure out a Mac question from a customer, they always forward it over to Melmac. He is awesome figuring out those Mac questions!

Melmac: Thanks Green – – err- – “Mean.” The first thing to note is Macs require Java to run Pogo just like PC’s. Newer Macs running OSX thankfully have Java pre installed. Below are some links you can click if you need to update your Java for your Mac:

If you have Mac OS X go here to get info and download Java from Apple’s site

For older Mac operating systems 8 and 9 go here for more info.

Also note to note that if you do happen to have Mac OS 8 or 9, Java is not supported to run on your system. While it may work, Pogo does not test under these conditions and Apple no longer officially supports them. Note that Macs use Java 1.4.2. If you cannot get it to work we recommend you update to OS X.

Dread: Thanks, that is some good info Melmac. I didn’t know that about OS 8 and 9.

One thing I do know is that our Java test page will work for Mac computers as well. If you do have to send in a support question through our Help page, include the Java information with your question. It will also tell us what OS and browser you are using. Click Here to go to the Java test page.

Mean: And one thing I know is that if you are on a Mac computer, you will want to be sure you have at least about 384 to 512 or more megs of system memory if you plan on playing Pogo on your Mac.

Melmac: Good one guys. Is it possible that the four pounds of Halloween makeup on your faces has actually increased your intelligence?! Anyway, let’s see, what else will help our Mac users out there play Pogo? Oh yeah! Browsers! So there are 2 main browsers Mac users have that will work with Pogo.

These include the Safari browser (this should come standard with your Mac OS X). You can get more info about it here.

And the Firefox Browser. You can get info and download Firefox here. Note that Firefox can only work on OS X.

Also, you might have the IE 5 browser on your Mac. You will likely only want to use IE 5 if you have OS 8/9. While IE 5 might work. It is no longer supported by Microsoft on the Mac platform and not recommended so you will likely want to switch to Safari or Firefox browser or if your on OS 8/9 upgrade to OSX (if possible).

Dread: Hehe, well anyway. Any last things you want to say about using Macs for Pogo? I want to get this makeup off its starting to itch and it’s still weeks before Halloween!

Melmac: Sure “Dread.” First off, keep in mind that there are a few games that only work on a Windows computer. These are generally the 3rd party games that do not use chat.

Also, if you are having troubles running the games on your Mac, make sure you check out the “software update” link in the Mac “System Preferences” screen. Make sure all your hardware and software is fully updated.

If you have followed all of these steps and you are still having troubles with your Mac and need to contact support be sure to include as much info as possible about your Mac. You can go to your “About this Mac” control panel and include your system information in your email. More info on how to do that is here.

Also include your Java test information discussed earlier.

I look forward to your emails. Enjoy Pogo on your Macs!

Mean : And with that, we are done with this installment of Tiki Brothers. We hope y’all had a great time, and have a safe time Trick-or-Treating. I think I’m gonna go play some more Spooky Slots and then go surf! That is… if the lazy Red Tiki Brother doesn’t get in my way!