I wrote about the speculation of a Mac OS X Steam release here. Now we have confirmation in the form of GameInformer article scans at PalGN showing that Steam is indeed coming to OS X, and that the sequel to the amazing puzzle-FPS game Portal will be simul-released on Mac & PC.
Some cool stuff:
Valve is releasing all of their games on the Mac – this includes the Half-Life series as well as the zombie shooters Left 4 Dead 1 & 2, the multiplayer romps Team Fortress 2 and Counter-Strike, as well as the original Portal and others.
Gabe Newell (Valve co-founder) confirmed that this are ‘native’ versions, with head of development John Cook saying “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.”
Steamworks for Mac will feature ‘Steam Play’ – you buy the game once, and can play on either Mac or PC and the save games will be transparent across both platforms.
Wait … did I just say that you buy one copy to use on either Mac or PC and that saves are automatically synchronized across platforms?!?! Yes I did …and yes it deserved another bullet!Valve says that developers will have to decide on how to implement Steam Play and the ‘Steam Cloud’ for user data storage, but they expect most developers to make use of the system. Of course there is no indication whether any publishers with existing games on both platforms will take advantage of this (e.g. Bioware with Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2 and Dragon Age, Activision with Call of Duty Modern Warfare, etc).
For Mac gamers, this is the fulfillment of a dream that has been on hold since 1997 saw Half-Life (and Jedi Knight) pass the Mac by, with Valve placing the blame on Apple. For me, I love the Mac OS, but generally am in front of a PC because of the dearth of games available on the system (or in the case of Dragon Age, the lack of post-release support and content). So I am ecstatic for this opportunity!
In honor of this being a Mac related post I need to add …
Oh, and One More Thing … if gamers already own copies of Valve games on the PC, they will get the Mac versions of those games for FREE! That’s right, just log into your account, download Half-Life 2, and pick up where you left off!
I have loved technology for as long as I can remember - and have been a computer gamer since the PDP-10! Mobile Technology has played a major role in my life - I have used an electronic companion since the HP95LX more than 20 years ago, and have been a 'Laptop First' person since my Compaq LTE Lite 3/20 and Powerbook 170 back in 1991! As an avid gamer and gadget-junkie I was constantly asked for my opinions on new technology, which led to writing small blurbs ... and eventually becoming a reviewer many years ago. My family is my biggest priority in life, and they alternate between loving and tolerating my gaming and gadget hobbies ... but ultimately benefits from the addition of technology to our lives!
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