'BioShock Infinite' for Mac gets release date, to hit Mac App Store on Aug. 29
Mac gaming publisher Aspyr announced on Thursday that its port of "BioShock Infinite," the third game in the massively popular BioShock franchise, will be up for sale on Apple's Mac App Store, Steam and the company's own GameAgent on Aug. 29.
The release date was posted in a Q&A on Aspyr's GameAgent blog, which also announced downloadable content availability, SteamPlay support, and special pre-order bonuses.
While Apple's Mac App Store will have BioShock Infinite for sale on launch day, pre-orders are not being accepted due to store restrictions. Those who pre-order through GameAgent, however, get access to the "Columbia's Finest" DLC for free, as well as a digital coupon that takes 20 percent off the game's $59.95 price tag.
SteamPlay is also available for versions of the first-person shooter not purchased through the Mac App Store, granting access to both the Mac and PC version of the game. Also supported is Steam's Season Pass, which gives subscribers access to three planned DLC packs, including Clash in the Clouds and the two-part campaign Burial at Sea.
Apple's Mac platform has in the past been neglected by many game publishers, but that trend is slowly changing thanks to a number of factors, including the introduction of native support for Valve's Steam in 2010.
The release date was posted in a Q&A on Aspyr's GameAgent blog, which also announced downloadable content availability, SteamPlay support, and special pre-order bonuses.
While Apple's Mac App Store will have BioShock Infinite for sale on launch day, pre-orders are not being accepted due to store restrictions. Those who pre-order through GameAgent, however, get access to the "Columbia's Finest" DLC for free, as well as a digital coupon that takes 20 percent off the game's $59.95 price tag.
SteamPlay is also available for versions of the first-person shooter not purchased through the Mac App Store, granting access to both the Mac and PC version of the game. Also supported is Steam's Season Pass, which gives subscribers access to three planned DLC packs, including Clash in the Clouds and the two-part campaign Burial at Sea.
Apple's Mac platform has in the past been neglected by many game publishers, but that trend is slowly changing thanks to a number of factors, including the introduction of native support for Valve's Steam in 2010.
Comments
Great game!
Hey, if it worked for your dad, why deny others?
Pre-ordering doesn't really make sense for digital distribution.
Anyone know if this is Cider or a native port? That's my personal deal breaker.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vorsos
Pre-ordering doesn't really make sense for digital distribution.
Anyone know if this is Cider or a native port? That's my personal deal breaker.
I have never known Aspyr to do a Cider port. If you want native ports search the Mac App Store for Feral Interactive or Aspyr games.
WTF...
Given that it uses Steamplay, if you'd bought the Windows version in the Summer sale, it should be added retroactively. This is what they tend to do with Steamplay titles. It was 50% off in the Summer sale ($30) - it's a recent game so wasn't discounted much. They have daily deals too and random sales though (right now Quakecon is on so 75% off all id titles) so it might crop up again - you can even buy Steam codes from eBay because console gamers sometimes get Steam codes with their games to play on PC and PC gamers get some with new GPUs but they sell them instead at a fraction of the price. There's some here for just over $20:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BioShock-Infinite-for-STEAM-PC-2013-/231026230266?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item35ca3c83fa
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BioShock-Infinite-PC-Steam-Game-/121152884923?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item1c354650bb
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BioShock-Infinite-for-STEAM-PC-2013-/181188107538?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item2a2fa71d12
It's quite easy to check which games are on sale on Steam using RSS. If you put the following URL into an RSS reader (e.g Netnewswire, Feedly), it gives you notices of all the games on sale every day. Set your region to your local store and you can remove the &stores=steam if you want other stores like greenman gaming, gog etc.
http://www.steamgamesales.com/rss/?region=us&stores=steam
$4.99. I don't think it's an essential purchase. The in-game money it gives you isn't really enough to buy anything worthwhile.
I rarely pre-order digitally but sometimes you get bonuses. Here for example, you can get a 20% discount. Sometimes you get free DLCs.
I wasn't a fan of the combat but I liked the general story and the ending. I think it's a worthwhile game. There's a DLC coming where you play as Elizabeth in the environment in the original games:
[VIDEO]
It would be nice if more titles like this were ported to the Mac. Even iOS should be ok in the next hardware iteration. There were a few good games out this year: Tomb Raider, Hitman Absolution, Remember Me. Remember Me was particularly interesting because there was no shooting, all hand-to-hand combat and it has sequences like the following where you have to remix memories like Total Recall in order to progress the game:
[VIDEO]
The level design is based on French architecture and has some nice visuals. It reminds me a bit of the old Mac game Oni but mixed with Deus Ex and Tomb Raider's climbing:
[VIDEO]
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marvin
There were a few good games out this year: Tomb Raider, Hitman Absolution, Remember Me. Remember Me was particularly interesting because there was no shooting, all hand-to-hand combat and it has sequences like the following where you have to remix memories like Total Recall in order to progress the game:
I completed and enjoyed all those three. Tomb Raider actually ruined Bioshock Infinite for me a little because I played it immediately before, and the Infinite graphics just couldn't compete. I thought the gaming media treated Remember Me unjustly, it deserved a higher rating, one of the few games in a while I've considered replaying from start to end. Will buy the Rapture DLC for Infinite but probably not the recently released combat DLC (unless am incurably bored this weekend).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vorsos
Pre-ordering doesn't really make sense for digital distribution.
Actually, it can make a lot of sense. By allowing the customer to download the data ahead of the actual launch, a lot of server congestion can be eliminated which it turn can greatly improve download speed for the user. I believe Steam works this way on big releases.
Speaking of which, given SteamPlay support, why would anyone by the Mac App Store version?
-kpluck
I felt the visuals were lacking in Bioshock Infinite too. They are using Unreal Engine 3, same as Remember Me so they should have been able to make it look nicer. Dishonored uses it and didn't look that bad but it could also have been improved - sometimes the visual style they go for impacts this. The engine can be adapted to lots of styles. Alice: Madness Returns uses Unreal 3 and it doesn't look much better than the original American McGee's Alice from 13 years ago:
[VIDEO]
I read the reviews of Remember Me and I agree the overly negative ones were unjustified. I found the combo system didn't make sense right away but after figuring out how it worked, it was ok. Pre-made combos would have been easier even if it limits choices. It's just less time-consuming.
Sleeping Dogs isn't too bad a game. It's 75% off just now on Steam and because it's made by Square Enix, there are DLCs to play with the Hitman and Deus Ex outfits - you even get a silenced Silverballer gun. It's part of the True Crime series, which wasn't that good but it's fun enough. The combat is a bit like Arkham Asylum but you can also throw people into nearby objects:
[VIDEO]
The Agent 47 style looks quite good from the back. Not as much from the front as it's still the Chinese character:
[VIDEO]
They have a DLC where you play through an island tournament like in Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marvin
I felt the visuals were lacking in Bioshock Infinite too. They are using Unreal Engine 3, same as Remember Me so they should have been able to make it look nicer. Dishonored uses it and didn't look that bad but it could also have been improved - sometimes the visual style they go for impacts this. The engine can be adapted to lots of styles. Alice: Madness Returns uses Unreal 3 and it doesn't look much better than the original American McGee's Alice from 13 years ago:
I really enjoyed Madness Returns. At first I thought the graphics were a bit basic but they seemed to get better as the game went along. And by the end it was so unusually long (by modern standards) I felt had got really good value for money and it would be small to complain. Interesting to hear that Infinite was using the same engine as that, kind of assumed it would be something more modern for such an AAA franchise.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marvin
I read the reviews of Remember Me and I agree the overly negative ones were unjustified. I found the combo system didn't make sense right away but after figuring out how it worked, it was ok. Pre-made combos would have been easier even if it limits choices. It's just less time-consuming.
Same here: seemed confusing and bringing in unnecessary concepts at first but ultimately simple. Somehow got caught up in Nilin's story, seemed a bit cliche at first but, by the end, was wanting more.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marvin
Sleeping Dogs isn't too bad a game. It's 75% off just now on Steam and because it's made by Square Enix, there are DLCs to play with the Hitman and Deus Ex outfits - you even get a silenced Silverballer gun. It's part of the True Crime series, which wasn't that good but it's fun enough. The combat is a bit like Arkham Asylum but you can also throw people into nearby objects:
Yup I played through Sleeping Dogs and enjoyed it more that GTA IV, which I thought it was kind of a rip off of. Maybe I enjoyed it more because I am in Australia and the Asian influence is stronger here. Also went to Hong Kong on vacation once and liked it. But also went to New York ("Liberty City") once and liked that so who knows...
Edit: it sure makes those Kung Fu fights simpler when you can just pull out the old Silverballer
Quote:
Originally Posted by dnd0ps
There was some discussion that BioShock Infinite Macintosh version would use Steam and as such would be available if you bought the PC version. There was no way to no for sure, but it was a strong possibility. Many people jumped on the opportunity.
That being said, do not buy the Mac App Store version. You will not get the PC version if you do so. With Steam you will be able to enjoy either version.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Goldenclaw
That being said, do not buy the Mac App Store version. You will not get the PC version if you do so. With Steam you will be able to enjoy either version.
On the other hand, some people here are Apple fans. And they might want to support the long term vision of the Mac OS having a proper integrated App Store with only sandboxed apps, that worked so well for the iPad.
In which case they might want to not use Steam, and especially not buy games from any company that goes against the long term interests of the Mac by making their own Game Agent.
Always love "this game sux" comments, as if they have ever added to the discussion.
ascii
Goldenclaw
That being said, do not buy the Mac App Store version. You will not get the PC version if you do so. With Steam you will be able to enjoy either version.
On the other hand, some people here are Apple fans. And they might want to support the long term vision of the Mac OS having a proper integrated App Store with only sandboxed apps, that worked so well for the iPad.
In which case they might want to not use Steam, and especially not buy games from any company that goes against the long term interests of the Mac by making their own Game Agent.
I understand the tradeoffs, but don't make it an either/or situation where you can like Steam or MAS, but not both. Valve seems committed to OS X, and Steam has certainly been a huge help in pushing Mac games within recent years. I doubt they would pull anything really going against Mac long term interests, like Adobe dragging their feet through Carbon for years, or Microsoft stealing IP.
For me, it depends on the game; Which sales platform is it more committed to? Borderlands 2 has a larger multiplayer population on Steam. Hero Academy on the MAS can play against friends using iPhones. Steam has frequent sales, MAS has Game Center integration. Both have automated game updates.
It was a solid shooter. Not enough skyline combat. And the final mission is kind of a drag on hard difficulty. The ending was pretty cool, but unsettling -- those who have played it know what I'm talking about. At least the title makes sense now.
I think not having the Mac port sooner probably killed some potential Mac sales for those with both Macs and PCs. And if you're already a console fan, you were never seriously going to play it on the Mac anyway.