Valve Getting Ready to Announce Steam for Mac OS

Valve has been circulating various images that hint that the company will be releasing its Steam gaming service for Apple’s Mac OS. The best of the bunch is Half-Life’s Gordon Freeman with an obscured Apple logo on his chest (pictured above). With Game Developers Conference 2010 next week, an official announcement should come soon.

This is big news for Valve’s Steam service and tremendous news for the Mac platform. Apple has tried the emphasize gaming on the Mac several times, but the efforts were always half-assed. Steam would plug a gaping hole in Mac OS’s catalog.

I know a lot of people that prefer working and browsing on a Mac, but keep a PC around just for games. Are you one of those people? Would you be willing to ditch Windows if Steam arrives for Mac OS?

Author: RPadTV

https://rpad.tv

27 thoughts on “Valve Getting Ready to Announce Steam for Mac OS”

  1. First off, there are a few games Valve makes that are Mac compatible. As well as other games that do exist for Mac.

    That said, I predict that the library for the Mac version of Steam will have far less selection. More than likely not even half the selection available on the Windows client. Whether or not this will push Valve to make Mac versions of say, L4D2… who knows?

    @ Iceman

    More than likely… hell to the no. It's like walking in to Gamestop with a copy of Darksiders for 360 that you bought there and asking if you can get it for PS3 ALSO because it's the same game.

    The only way I could see it being possible, is if they credit you for it which I doubt they would. It just wouldn't make sense. Other than that, you gotta run it in Parallels or Boot Camp. Possibly Crossover, but I personally have yet to figure that out. I've messed with it and can't get anything to run.

  2. I was afraid that what you guys said would be the answer. Crap. Sometimes, I feel like I'd be better off not knowing. Oh well.

    @N8;

    What Apple do you have? I'm on my Macbook Pro now and I partitioned the hard drive so that I could run boot camp. So far, I've been able to play Assassin's Creed, Starcraft, Portal, HL2 and others on XP. What do you have trouble with? Maybe I can help.

    -M

  3. @ Iceman

    I'm on an iMac.

    It's not the partitioning, there's an application called Crossover that (supposedly) runs Windows programs through "bottles" inside Mac OSX.That's what I can't figure out.

    Partitioning through Boot Camp is a cakewalk in comparison. I'm just trying to avoid buying or pirating a copy of Windows.

    When did you get a Mac?

  4. @tokz_21 Ha! I was actually away from home for a good chunk of the day at a super-secret meeting.

    Plus, I put a lot into my American Idol recap. Even if you don't watch the show, some of it is pretty funny. Tonight's recap of the top 10 girls will be even better. Check it out!

  5. Can I access my PC Steam-bought (not steam boat) games through the Mac Steam? I’ve bought a whole bunch of games off Steam and I really don’t want to pay for them again just because it’s a different computer/OS.

    -M

  6. @Iceman
    Unless Valve is going to redo code…then you know the answer for this. Unless they are going to take the route of offering you virtual machine software….but your machine will run the games horribly that way.

    Take AION for example, it uses a directx driver that only works in windows. OSX uses OpenGL drivers.

  7. Actually, I wouldn't put it past Valve to let you play the games you've already bought for PC on your Mac. The problem is their non-first-party games. Valve will most likely back catalog their games and make them OSX ready, but I don't see games like Dawn of War 2 doing it.

  8. @ N8;

    I got a MacBook Pro right after I got back from my honeymoon about two years ago. Versatile little sucker, but I have yet to unlock it's full potential… probably because I don't know how. Heh.

    @ Mr. Padilla;

    I KNEW you would mention Ricky Steamboat just as I finished typing that sentence. I should have made a bet with someone about that.

    -M

  9. @N8R

    The real question is whether or not they will view it as two separate platforms. Although the code may be different, they are still selling it through the same service. The most I see Valve doing is charging a small fee for both copies of the game and not full price. You already bought the game through them and I doubt they want to split their store in two so that they can sell you Mac versions. (Their store is online only. Steam does not have its own store for the Steam application. The Steam application just pulls up the webpage they host their store on.)

  10. @ Sandrock

    You're right. It's not really splitting up the store as much as it is expanding the store.

  11. Sims works because it was coded in binary. If it isn't, then it won't work. Why the debate? I'm also not paying Valve a small fee to play something I've already bought

  12. @Smartguy

    Valve is one of the good video game companies. I don't see them charging you at all for games you already own. At least with their games. Non Valve games are anyone's guess though.

  13. @Sandrock

    Steam is a service more than a platform. In the case of a Mac having Steam it is comparable to Sony letting you play LBP on a 360. That digi road block exists for publishing rights as well as hardware restrictions.

  14. @Smartguy

    I understand some games won't be allowed to port over and that porting them over is the publishers responsibility. However, in this case the only issues are, Games for Windows (which acts as an exclusivity for PCs) and Apple giving the OK. Steam should act as a good go between for developers/publishers and Apple, so it shouldn't be to hard for them to get the Apple approval. Games for Windows is still an issue though, but it shouldn't really hinder anything more than it already has. Apple will still get a gaming boom out of Steam. Just not a Windows defeating boom.

  15. @ Sandrock

    The coding is completely different. Unless they’re porting Mac versions at the same time, they don’t have too many first party games for Mac.

    However, in trying to figure out exactly which ones they do and don’t have, I came across this:

    http://topnews.us/content/212399-mac-support-valve-games

    This opens all new possibilities. However, 1 game on 2 different consoles/computers are indeed 2 different files to download (like a PS3 and 360 game of the same title) and I don’t see them going in the hole for this.

    Think about it, if my MICROSOFT Xbox 360 RROD’s (comparable to my MICROSOFT Windows crashing for whatever reason) and I go buy a PS3 because I’m frustrated at MICROSOFT (keeping the analogy alive, I go buy a Mac because I’m frustrated at MICROSOFT) would I be able to take all my games to any retailer and get the PS3 versions on an even swap just because I decided to switch consoles? If you want to argue disc condition, what about all of my Xbox Arcade games, will I be able to get the PSN equivalents for free if I call the developers and explain? As I told Iceman… Hell to the no.

  16. @ Sandrock

    The Steam applications will be different as well. The same way Firefox asks you what OS you are using before you download it.

    I think it’s more than obvious that they’ll be splitting up the store.

    Granted, alot of games you buy retail (Sims 3 for example) has the PC and Mac versions in the same disc. You pretty much did buy both versions if you bought the Sims 3. The same registration code may work. We’ll see.

  17. @ Smartguy

    Blame Iceman.

    I paid MS for Sonic 2 and TMNT Arcade even though I already bought them once for Genesis and NES. Furthermore, the only Valve game I ever bought was L4D and I sold it a month later. I’ve played Portal (and thought it was too short) and that’s about it.

  18. @Sandrock
    It all will fall on devs to decide how to code their games. Some believe in directx drivers and will hear of nothing else…while some i’m sure get money for using only certain drivers and chipsets.

    I don’t see this evolving the Apple game market on the laptop or desktop side though. They’ve been using intel chips for years and that hasn’t helped.

  19. @Smartguy

    It will give them a marketplace that people already know and trust. That alone should "help" OSX gaming, but like you said it won't save it. Apple will have to do that.

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