Valve to Bring Steam to Mac Platform
PrintWe don't often post Mac-centric news (being primarily a Windows PC-based site and all), but every once in awhile, we can't help ourselves. This happens to be one of those times.
Valve yesterday announced plans to bring Steam, its gaming service, and Source, Valve's gaming engine, to the Mac platform.
"As we transition from entertainment as a product to entertainment as a service, customers and developers need open, high-quality Internet clients," said Gabe Newell, President of Valve. "The Mac is a great platform for entertainment services."
Valve said its library of games, including Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, Portal, and the Half-Life series, will all be available next month, though the company didn't specify an exact date. And these won't be run through emulation, but natively.
"We looked at a variety of methods to get our games onto the Mac and in the end decided to go with native versions rather than emulation," said John Cook, Director of Steam Development. "The inclusion of WebKit into Steam, and of OpenGL into Source gives us a lot of flexibility in how we move these technologies forward. We are treating the Mac as a tier-1 platform so all of our future games will release simultaneously on Windows, Mac, and the Xbox 360."
In addition, Cook said that Mac and Windows players will be part of the same multiplayer universe, so it will be entirely possible to settle the debate between PC vs Mac in head-to-head matchups.
Image Credit: levelselect.co.uk
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Khaled
March 11, 2010 at 8:10am
Nice, and you don't need to pay again for it.
Macintosh+Windows user.
logicmaster2003
March 09, 2010 at 6:41pm
FPS game challenge : window's gamers vs mac graphic design artist
announcement: this is team deathmatch. get ready..
windows team : go go go soldier
mac team : oh shoot ! I can't find my lipsticks and nail polisher !
Nyarlathotep
March 10, 2010 at 12:02pm
Windows team: Headshot!
Mac team: Doesn't the new skin I designed look cool?
Ha ha...
Seriously though, this will get more people playing games on their computers. I'm personally all for it. I wonder when we'll se an Apple console?
"Sheesh, It's just one man's opinion..." -Me
Caboose
March 10, 2010 at 12:04pm
already happened back in 1994
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
Nyarlathotep
March 10, 2010 at 12:26pm
If you're talking about the Pippin, I think it was branded more as a computer for your tv that plays video games. I didn't own one so that's just an assumption on my part. How about if I revise my comment to "I wonder if Apple will release a competitive console?".
"Sheesh, It's just one man's opinion..." -Me
Caboose
March 10, 2010 at 12:51pm
Thats the name of the device! I couldn't remember
When you think about it though, a video game console, is a speciality computer designed to play video games on your TV, so maybe the Pippin wasn't TOO far off...
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
Nyarlathotep
March 10, 2010 at 1:15pm
I think it was doomed just based on the name... lol.
"Sheesh, It's just one man's opinion..." -Me
nekollx
March 10, 2010 at 1:19pm
yeah Frodo would have been more effective
------------------------------
Coming soon to Lulu.com --Tokusatsu Heroes--
Five teenagers, one alien ghost, a robot, and the fate of the world.
IFLATLINEI
March 09, 2010 at 6:15pm
Im very happy for Mac owners finally getting some real gaming support. This should open up a whole new world of gaming for them to take advantage of. What Im really happy about is not having to watch Apple owners pretend they are not missing out anymore. WHAT??? Its painfull watching them rationalize crippled machines they paid a premium for!
wolf17
March 09, 2010 at 4:52pm
LOL
This is true, compared to the new mac users I'll be pretty good at online fps games :D
Mac User: How do I throw a grenade???
Windows User: Hit the right mouse button!
Mac User: What right mouse button?!
Windows User: *aims and clicks right mouse button*
"Life is about living, not stressing" - a very smart girl :)
WindowsXP
March 09, 2010 at 4:52pm
Wasnt a fan of mac, but I think it was a great idea to finally move to the mac platform.
"In addition, Cook said that Mac and Windows players will be part of the
same multiplayer universe, so it will be entirely possible to settle the
debate between PC vs Mac in head-to-head matchups."This will be fun!
After Mac can we then work on Linux? If Steam goes to Linux with great support, I will have no reason to stay on Windows. (I dont wish to use Cadega on Linux for now)
Hg Dragon
March 09, 2010 at 1:53pm
This means I won't be the worst player whenver I log into TF2 anymore...
logicmaster2003
March 09, 2010 at 1:45pm
so much for valve for windows / mac / linux...
valve should also support DOS platform :) i wonder if some evil genius will revive DOS and make it run in 64 bit !
gendoikari1
March 09, 2010 at 1:51pm
And then all you would be able to play is Gang Garrison 2.
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BAMT
March 09, 2010 at 1:29pm
According to the Valve announcement they are able to port it to the Mac natively because they now (can) use WebKit and OpenGL, which are also available on Linux. Port to Linux pl0x
Edit: And as for distro incompatibility, they could use a binary like Uplink or NVidia does (maybe a self extracting .sh?).
Guillermo_De_Gaulle
March 09, 2010 at 1:08pm
I hate macs (they're for doodoo heads) but I love steam (half-life 2 saved my life... before L4D destroyed it). even though I am an avid pc user, I do think this is a good move for valve because it allows them to compete with "games for windows" more aggressively as a service. I hate games for windows because I'ts just xbox live doing a really crappy imitation of steam. I don't have to tell you guys that Valve several orders of magnitude less evil than microsoft and therefore less likely to try to exploit you. I would love nothing more than seeing games for windows eradicated from this plane of existence (I've had some bad experiences) but this represents an opportunity for steam to expand into a market that microsoft can't enter. This could make valve tons of money which they would hopefully use to
make more/better games. And if it's anything to allay the fears of other pc gamers, I'm certain Steam for mac won't start a gaming exodus from pc, while there is money to be made on mac, PC still has still has more gamers and an established market and no one is going to abandon that!
snapple00
March 09, 2010 at 12:43pm
Fake. Mactards don't game. They left the PC platform because with a Mac, you can be much more "productive".
Now that the "lack of gaming" feature has been removed, does this make the Mac more shitty? (The answer is yes)
Peanut Fox
March 09, 2010 at 11:59am
This could be good for PC gaming. An expanded player base will make the platform seem all the more appetizing to publishers and developers alike.
patrickmaher
March 09, 2010 at 2:08pm
How does Steam on Macs expand the player base of PC gaming? If game developers wanted to make games for Macs they could have been doing so without Steam.
Mac is a different platform from Windows, just like Xbox 360 is a different platform from Windows. The reason some games are console only or made into crappy delayed PC ports is because there are more sales from consoles. Why would developers even bother with the small Mac sales potential when they barely care about Windows these days.
Caboose
March 09, 2010 at 2:19pm
The XBox 360 and MS Windows have a lot more in common than you think. A slightly better comparison would have been 360 to PS3.
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
ryantmer
March 09, 2010 at 10:28am
Aside from the obvious right-click issue, what about GPUs? Very few Macs come with any sort of real GPU, and those that do are usually using last-gen parts. 640x480 anyone?
nekollx
March 09, 2010 at 11:28am
i don't know if that is true, i'm on a Mac right now (with a logitech mouse) i have right click and scroll wheel, even the mighty mouse can right click, they just hid it inside a unibody but the function IS there.
And looking at apple.com the top tier card in their own Tower
http://store.apple.com/us_smb_78313/configure/MB871LL/A?mco=MTM3NDc3ODQ
is a ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB, not to shabby
------------------------------
Coming soon to Lulu.com --Tokusatsu Heroes--
Five teenagers, one alien ghost, a robot, and the fate of the world.
nekollx
March 09, 2010 at 12:13pm
but the only thing higher (as i understand it) is the JUST RELEASED 58xxs. Seems to me then that having the Current Leading edge is pretty competitive.
------------------------------
Coming soon to Lulu.com --Tokusatsu Heroes--
Five teenagers, one alien ghost, a robot, and the fate of the world.
gendoikari1
March 09, 2010 at 12:32pm
There is such thing as a GTX 285 for Mac. It's an EVGA card, and is ungodly expensive (up here its ~$530 CAD, or $100 more than my 5870). If you so prefer, you can get a $3000 (CAD) Quadro FX 4800, from PNY.
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nekollx
March 09, 2010 at 12:38pm
Oh i never said they weren't hideously over priced but the idea their is no right mouse or curent gen GPU's for Apple is a fallacy i wanted to correct.
------------------------------
Coming soon to Lulu.com --Tokusatsu Heroes--
Five teenagers, one alien ghost, a robot, and the fate of the world.
gendoikari1
March 09, 2010 at 1:46pm
But the 4870 isn't the best of the best for Apple. That's what I was trying to say.
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Caboose
March 09, 2010 at 2:07pm
From what my brother's told me (he has a Mac for his film and television course in school), he's had to find and flash a special "apple" firmware on to the video card for them to work properly in his Mac (I don't remember what it is. It's a giant tower, dual Xeon, yadda yadda yadda)
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
Caboose
March 09, 2010 at 10:57am
rriigghhtt...
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
RtDK
March 09, 2010 at 10:10am
So does this mean Macboys will be able to say, "Mac's can game too, so STFU"?
Well, no fault of Valve's I guess. Though, I have to question whether or not this decision is economically-sound. Seems to me that such a small market can't be that profitable for so much work put into making it adaptable.
Has Steve Jobs approved of this?
Bender2000
March 09, 2010 at 2:07pm
Valve has to ammortize the porting costs, and will probably add a little to the cost of all their games. Which would make it another Apple Tax on stuff not made by Apple! That Jobs is taxing worse than King George and the tea tax!
Caboose
March 09, 2010 at 10:17am
Financially, you're right. In fact, Valve is setting it up so that if you've purchased a specific Valve produced game on the PC Steam, you get it automatically on the Mac Steam(and vic-versa). Now, this is good for consumers. Why buy 2 copies of TF2, or L4D just to play on your Mac instead of booting in to Win7 via Bootcamp.
But with the small group of "Mac Gamers", I don't really see this to be much of an issue.
I wonder how L4D, Portal, TF2, or Half-Life series will work with that single button mouse, or the "Gesture mouse" or w/e it was called... (yes, I know that they have the "mighty mouse" and you can use a real PC mouse on a Mac)
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
nekollx
March 09, 2010 at 10:12am
good point, Valve could go to al lthe troube just of Steve to say that steam is a unapproved app ;)
------------------------------
Coming soon to Lulu.com --Tokusatsu Heroes--
Five teenagers, one alien ghost, a robot, and the fate of the world.
Caboose
March 09, 2010 at 10:14am
That would be quite funny!
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
nekollx
March 09, 2010 at 10:18am
and i'm not talking just about the iMaxiPad, i have a Pro Tower and now i can't even run non iPods to sync with iTunes. They could do the same with steam making only first part Apple games *snort* run on it
------------------------------
Coming soon to Lulu.com --Tokusatsu Heroes--
Five teenagers, one alien ghost, a robot, and the fate of the world.
Caboose
March 09, 2010 at 10:26am
iMovie and iLife aren't games though... So... there'd be nothing for them to sell!
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
AntiHero
March 09, 2010 at 9:32am
This isn't a bad idea really. Wrld of Warcraft has tons of Mac users. One concern I see with this is if someone buys a non Valve game, will it work? Also, older valve games on Mac? And even their newer ones, are they going to need 2 versions?
I can run Steam in Linux just fine, however I do think they should do Linux next. I don't see it happening soon because they need to make one for all different distribution bases.
Caboose
March 09, 2010 at 10:02am
From what I read on Kotaku and here, it's JUST the Valve produced games. So, as someone else pointed out, 99% of the library won't work. But that won't stop all the Mactards from gloating that "th3y t00 kan play TF2! n00b".
But, with increased focus on gaming, comes increased adoption, and as we all know how insecure and full of holes MacOS X is, comes increased exploitation! And once that happens, the world will know how truely crappy an OS MacOS X is!
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
K0BALT
March 09, 2010 at 9:20am
Fail
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BioBandit
March 09, 2010 at 11:37am
They could go for the most popular version of linux OR make their own distro
gendoikari1
March 09, 2010 at 1:48pm
Yes, in order to play about 10 or so games you need to wipe Ubuntu/Debian/Fedora/Gentoo/etc. and install Valve OS. </sarcasm>
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nekollx
March 09, 2010 at 3:00pm
not Valve OS...Steam EXtended
Take a minute to get the joke....
------------------------------
Coming soon to Lulu.com --Tokusatsu Heroes--
Five teenagers, one alien ghost, a robot, and the fate of the world.
nekollx
March 09, 2010 at 10:07am
cause their is 40 billion Linux Distros? They may have the same base but you first got to figure out that base in a way it works with Distor 48112 - 56907 without breaking distro 49631 and 53302.
and that doesn't even take into account the other 39,890 distros.
------------------------------
Coming soon to Lulu.com --Tokusatsu Heroes--
Five teenagers, one alien ghost, a robot, and the fate of the world.
K0BALT
March 09, 2010 at 9:21am
for the same reason it's just as retarded to do so on a Mac
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
i7 920@4.4GHz,Heatkiller 3.0, (2X)GTX295 Quad-SLI, EVGA X58 3X SLI, 6GB DDR3 OCZ Gold
lunchbox73
March 09, 2010 at 9:28am
You've failed to win me over with your argument. Why is it a "fail" and "retarded" to have Steam available for Mac OS?
TechJunkie
March 09, 2010 at 11:12am
wanna know why?? Because most of us think that it's unfair that Steve Handjobs hates the PC so much that he makes it blatantly difficult for you too use any PC product with a mac but will bend over backwards for his precious Ikoons er...Itunes and etc. to work on a PC. I hope this fails. And then fails again just incase it didn't take the first time.
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