Steam for Mac details emerge

Bobby Miller 11 May, 2010 at 1:13pm ET Article published in Gaming

Steam for Mac is poised to be released tomorrow. This morning, Valve Software released some eagerly-awaited details of the gaming platform. Details include the release schedule, which games will see the platform, and what developer tools will be made available for Steam for Mac.

Games for Steam for Mac will be released on subsequent Wednesdays following that platform’s launch, with each set of titles selected to demonstrate specific functionality of Steam for Mac. The first collection will highlight “Steam Play”, which allows the gamers to buy a single copy of a game and play it on either their PC or Mac platforms. Gamers who have previously bought games on Steam for PC will find those games freely downloadable on Steam for Mac as they become available.

Valve’s outstanding puzzle shooter Portal will not only be a part of “Steam Play”, but will also be the first of Valve’s catalog of games to come to Steam for Mac. Along with Portal comes the critically acclaimed Torchlight by Runic Games. The Diablo-esque hack and slash RPG will be a great game for Mac gamers that are limited to playing on a laptop without a mouse.

Finally, in a move that is sure to boost Steam for Mac growth, Valve is releasing their comprehensive Steamworks suite of publishing and development tools. The suite includes product key authentication, copy protection, auto-updating, social networking, matchmaking, anti-cheat technology, and more. These tools will be available to Mac developers for free.

Get your internet connections ready, Mac users. Tomorrow you will no longer “Think Different”, and begin to “Think Freeman”.

Comments

11 May 2010 ~ 4:34pm Thrax HOW DO YOU SHOOT THE ORANGE PORTAL WITH ONE MOUSE BUTTOn?!?!!!!stevejobs
11 May 2010 ~ 5:09pm UPSLynx I cannot WAIT to pwn Mac n00bs in TF2. I hope there are specified Mac servers so I can wipe the floor with their mock turtlenecks.
11 May 2010 ~ 5:18pm rolleggroll I want to see mac-lovers make totally artsy nerdrage videos and other nonsense.
11 May 2010 ~ 5:42pm ardichoke

Thrax wrote:

HOW DO YOU SHOOT THE ORANGE PORTAL WITH ONE MOUSE BUTTOn?!?!!!!stevejobs

Sometimes I love you, you bald bastard.

(just lol'd so hard it hurt)
11 May 2010 ~ 5:47pm Chris Brentwood How are they porting the library of older games on there? I'm interested in some of the technical details if they're available. As a Mac user primarily, I think this is good news. Anything that opens up the market to gamers of all types is a good thing.
11 May 2010 ~ 5:55pm Snarkasm Next year, Apple will come out with a new application called "Wormholes" that will only let you shoot purple portals, but YOU'LL GODDAMN LIKE IT because that makes it revolutionary. Valve will immediately cease to exist in an explosion of Cocoa-flavored rainbows.
11 May 2010 ~ 6:23pm Cliff_Forster Our customers were frustrated by the challenge of windows gaming so we added a feature whereby the game guides the player through effortlessly. At Apple, we think things should be simple, don't you?

Cut to a quicktime video of Combine soldiers just moving out of way as the player is guided by a stylish white "go here next" arrow.
11 May 2010 ~ 7:04pm UPSLynx

Chris Brentwood wrote:

How are they porting the library of older games on there? I'm interested in some of the technical details if they're available. As a Mac user primarily, I think this is good news. Anything that opens up the market to gamers of all types is a good thing.

All joking aside, I'm excited about the expansion of the game market as well. I think this will be a wonderful boost to PC gaming (in which the platform known as "PC Gaming" will now have to envelope Mac gamers as well.)

No technical details on the porting system have been released yet.
11 May 2010 ~ 8:21pm drasnor

Thrax wrote:

HOW DO YOU SHOOT THE ORANGE PORTAL WITH ONE MOUSE BUTTOn?!?!!!!stevejobs

Control-click.
11 May 2010 ~ 9:28pm QuadyTheTurnip So, no TF2 tommorow? Dammit, i'll have to go tell the bad news to my Mac Gaming friends