Valve, Apple worked closely to bring Steam to Mac

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 38
    dezinerdeziner Posts: 3member
    Quote:

    Congrats to Valve for doing the right thing for people who've already purchased the PC version of the game!



    Perhaps they realised that as people migrate from PCs to Macs, many of them are giving up on gaming altogether. To many people, like me, booting into Windows to play games is an annoying burden and something I eventually stopped doing. By allowing us to download games we already own for free (but on another platform), they're basically ensuring converts can continue to game (and buy new games $$$) when they otherwise might have stopped, and to allow those of us who already had stopped to start again.



    This means, in the longer term, more money in their pockets.
  • Reply 22 of 38
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by str1f3 View Post


    P.S.: Seriously AI, can you please fix the linking for the iDevice optimized site? I'm getting tired of clicking on one story and going to another. This has been going on for a long time.



    For real. Sometimes I just give up. Oh and the AI web page toolbar totally SUCKS. It always gets in the way and half the time shows up when you don't want it to. Get rid of it, it's awful.
  • Reply 23 of 38
    apfelapfel Posts: 29member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer View Post


    Yes, the PS3 uses OpenGL.



    Maybe it is possible to use opengl. But no one is using it on the PS3.
  • Reply 24 of 38
    I thought I read somewhere that the PS3 primarily used something similar to OpenGL, i.e. Sony's own bastardized branched-off version of it.



    Anyway, this is glorious news, and as much as the needle on my BS-O-Meter is ticking upwards at the mention of Apple being co-operative with a game company (beyond throwing a copy of Xcode in their general direction and saying "go nuts"), I'm finding it hard to control this little spark of hope it's lit inside me.
  • Reply 25 of 38
    djrumpydjrumpy Posts: 1,116member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by blecch View Post


    So, Steam blows, it's like malware, it starts up unbidden, tries to phone home, drives me nuts, etc., etc.;



    Just turn off the option to start on boot up.



    As to calling home, that is the entire purpose of Steam that lets you avoid having to keep a disk in the drive. It's a fair trade off for most purposes. As DRM goes, it's not hugely intrusive.
  • Reply 26 of 38
    chronsterchronster Posts: 1,894member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by blecch View Post


    So, Steam blows, it's like malware, it starts up unbidden, tries to phone home, drives me nuts, etc., etc.;



    lol of course it tries to "phone home" it's connecting to the steam servers to gather your account info and such.



    I do agree, it does feel a little odd at times because it doesn't show up right away and some of the startup screens have a cancel button that are completely unresponsive, but i wouldn't go far as to say it's like malware
  • Reply 27 of 38
    gmcalpingmcalpin Posts: 266member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bdkennedy1 View Post


    Is it really necessary to post 5 Valve stories a day?



    I'm not even a big gamer. and I think this is only a very close second to the biggest Apple-related news of the year. I WANT 5 Valve stories a day, if they're as good as this one!
  • Reply 28 of 38
    4metta4metta Posts: 365member
    Oh my gawd...I get to play my current Valve games for FREE!! I was ready to buy all my Steam Valve games again!!



    Good to hear Apple is finally getting smart about gaming and worked closely with Valve.
  • Reply 29 of 38
    freddychfreddych Posts: 266member
    I can't wait to see the reviews on how these games run on the lowest macbook/macbook pro.



    Games and BluRay were the two things holding me back from buying a macbook. If the games portion was solved, that might be enough of a critical mass...
  • Reply 30 of 38
    eaieai Posts: 417member
    I'd expect the games can work on a MacBook, but I'd say they'd have to be fairly low resolution.



    One thing that bothers me about mac gaming is that they don't let you command+tab while playing.
  • Reply 31 of 38
    knightlieknightlie Posts: 282member
    I'm really pleased about the fact that you can play Mac versions of Steam games you already own. That means I might be able to finally finish Half Life 2 after all these years, assuming my '06 iMac will run it.



    I agree with other posters, this is really big news. The Source engine sounds like a fantastic tech that will hopefully encourage more Mac games.
  • Reply 32 of 38
    benroethigbenroethig Posts: 2,782member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by thespaz View Post


    Now if EA/BioWare would just let me download the Mac version of Dragon Age without purchasing it again (third time, really, since I already have the PC and PS3 versions), my life would be complete.



    That depends who has the publishing rights. With Most mac ports, the original publishers/developers sell the rights to a third party who develops and publishes the Mac version.
  • Reply 33 of 38
    But will it run on my Cube????
  • Reply 34 of 38
    djrumpydjrumpy Posts: 1,116member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by pondosinatra View Post


    But will it run on my Cube????



    If I were a betting man, I'd say no. I would imagine the support will be for intel based Mac's only.
  • Reply 35 of 38
    davegeedavegee Posts: 2,765member
    I certainly not what anyone would consider a gamer! Even by even in the most liberal sense of the word. So I make zero clams on the industry and its workings.



    That being said, am I the only one thinking that this move to OpenGL isn't solely for Mac users but for the someday when Googles Chrome OS starts making advances (if and when that day ever comes) then they'd be much better off having their stuff up and running on OpenGL instead of just Microsoft developed technologies?
  • Reply 36 of 38
    djrumpydjrumpy Posts: 1,116member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DaveGee View Post


    I certainly not what anyone would consider a gamer! Even by even in the most liberal sense of the word. So I make zero clams on the industry and its workings.



    That being said, am I the only one thinking that this move to OpenGL isn't solely for Mac users but for the someday when Googles Chrome OS starts making advances (if and when that day ever comes) then they'd be much better off having their stuff up and running on OpenGL instead of just Microsoft developed technologies?



    Yes the move to port these to OpenGL potentially make the possibility of some of these being ported to Linux based OS's a bit easier. There's a lot of work to get from A to B. This might make porting some of these easier from a Wine perspective.



    I don't think they would go so far as to put out a Steam client for Linux. The vast mess that is Linux would be a huge undertaking from a support perspective, simply because all of the Linux variants are such a huge moving target. What distributions would they target? Why Chrome? Why not some other distro? What sound engine? What window manager? You get the idea. There are just too many what-if's when it comes to Linux.
  • Reply 37 of 38
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by eAi View Post


    I'd expect the games can work on a MacBook, but I'd say they'd have to be fairly low resolution.



    One thing that bothers me about mac gaming is that they don't let you command+tab while playing.



    I play World of Warcraft on my unibody MacBook Pro 13" with a 9400m. I have the settings usually set to default and I get 40-60 frames or more. Even if i crank it up to Ultra settings, which are only supposed to be used on the highest-end gaming rigs, it is still playable around 17-25 frames. I know WoW isn't supposed to be the most demanding game, but it still requires decent hardware to run all of the latest expansions well.



    Oh, and you can command-tab out of it. I just had to check "windowed-mode" and fullscreen that from the settings of the game.



    I'm very much looking forward to Steam. I never used it on a PC, but i know a lot of people that have in the past and made a switch to Mac. One of the biggest drawbacks of gaming on a Mac (besides maybe having to install Windows) was having to buy the games again at full price. It's hard to argue Mac vs. PC gaming to your friends when you can buy Knights of the Old Republic for about $10 on PC or around $50 on the Mac.



    There are a lot of people that would love to own a Mac for many of the benefits they offer (no viruses, reliable hardware, A+ customer service, attractive, fast, and user-friendly OS, etc.) but stay PC strictly for games. This is the first step for Apple and game developers to reach out to a market that may be interested in Macs for all of their benefits, but also want to game.
  • Reply 38 of 38
    4metta4metta Posts: 365member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bdkennedy1 View Post


    Is it really necessary to post 5 Valve stories a day?



    Like others have said...



    YES!!
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