While Macs have never been game-free—we may have matched a few tiles once upon a time—the relative abundance of games on Windows and consoles have made Mac-using nerds feel ghettoized since pretty much forever. There are plenty more casual games available on Macs (and, super-duh, on iPhones) these days, but Mac-owning hardcore gamers generally buy a console, run a virtual Windows machine, or bite the bullet and get a secondary Windows box.
After a week or so of teasing, Bellevue’s Valve Corporation (the folks behind Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, and other alarmingly popular titles) announced yesterday that it’s bringing Steam, its popular gaming service, to the Mac. Steam offers an intimidating array of new and classic games for download, from the original Fallout and Psychonauts to Star Trek Online and Mass Effect 2, sometimes for super-cheap. Steam’s got issues, including privacy concerns, serious conflict of interest, and no guarantee of continuity, but for Mac-owning gamers, this is still good news.
Oh, and they’re making Portal 2. The pre-launch announcement/alternate-reality game starts here.
- This is funnier if you are old.
The Stranger Testing Department is Rob Lightner and Paul Hughes.
Mac owning gamers are like gay republicans, delusional.
Mac nerds are just hipsters who are too fat to wear skinny jeans.
If you’re a serious gamer, buying the best equipment for gaming isn’t “biting the bullet,” it’s upgrading.
Which reminds me, I need to start preparing for Starcraft 2.
Now that you’re on the subject, could one of you gamers tell me which is the best game console?
Depends on what you want @3.
I got the ps3 because there were quite a few ps3 only titles that I wanted, I dont care about playing with other people, I refuse to pay a subscription, blu-ray is nice, and there are less hardware problems.
What are you looking for?
@#2 yeah you do SC2 is awesome! 🙂
Whenever I see long lines for releases of Halo games I get nostalgic for Marathon and my Powermac 6100.
Are you in their beta, cody???
Portal 2!! WANT.
Let’s face it, after all the Oscar parties, there’s going to be a lot of cool gaming for the iPad and other Macs.
Talent and stories will abound.
@4 I thank you. I think, unless someone has something to add. it’s ps3.
NOTE: Steam will be on Mac. That does not mean all games available on Steam will be available on Mac.
All Valve games will be available, and, since they’re making it a Tier 1 platform, subsequent Valve releases will ship on Mac, PC, and Xbox simultaneously. But there are a LOT of non-Valve games on Steam.
@2 Kersy
Yeah I am 🙂 yay blizzcon 2008!
I also got a second invite so my boyfriend is playing too. It’s like I won the SC2 lottery.
Will you be able to play them on the iPad?
@4, Plus its one hell of a media server. I use PlayOn and can easily stream Hulu, YouTube, Netflis (thought there is a disc for that now), plus every video file on my computer. I actually have not played a game on mine in a while, though with FF13 out that’s going to change.
I’ve been on Macs since the early 1990s (anyone remember the SE-30?). I like games, and have always been bummed that PCs have tons more games. I’m not hard-core enough to buy a PC just to use as a gaming platform.
Question: Now that Macs are using Intel processors, shouldn’t it be easier to port PC-based games over to the Mac? Instead, there seems to be fewer games than ever.
@15: Easier, yes, but there are still plenty of differences. OpenGL vs. DirectX is one important one.
Reminds me of this: http://i.imgur.com/1Ypur.jpg which seriously made me laugh every few hours for about 3 days.
I’m glad this is happening, so that Macnerds can get in on the fun.
@12 You dirty bitch 😉 I want!
@14 Nice! I have a separate media computer running Boxee, so I haven’t tried it on the console. Such a nice option. As for FF, omg. so. gorgeous. 1080p <3
I haven’t played any games on an Apple product since Zork III.
I like this particular article. It gives me an additional input in the information.
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