Steam for Mac opens a portal to May 12, steps through

Valve promised that Steam on Mac would arrive in April. As you're no doubt aware, April is nearly over. Does that make Steam... vaporware? Not quite. Put away the Caruso sunglasses for two more weeks, because our friends at Joystiq just received a one-line email reading: "Valve today announced the public release of Steam for the Mac is May 12. Please stay tuned for more information." Oh well -- at least you're not waiting for Steam on Linux, and you can always stock up on Razer peripherals while you endure the delay.

[SolidSnake Posted Apr 29th 2010 8:22PM]

Title win.

[Mattg Posted Apr 29th 2010 8:28PM]

YEEEEEAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[coolpal Posted Apr 29th 2010 10:09PM]

Absolutely!!!

[TickLe MY eLMo Posted Apr 30th 2010 12:18AM]

Another perfect example of Valve time.

Hey, at least they are consistently late with their releases!

[robindahoods Posted Apr 30th 2010 12:28AM]

@SolidSnake

"...and I''m a Phase Cannon."

[leiahjents Posted May 14th 2010 12:41AM]

@SolidSnake We're not on windows anymore... (lol) This sure is a sweet treat for mac users, hopefully the list of games will grow not to mention a price deduction on the premium games. Reactions. http://j.mp/steam-for-mac-released-review

[Dan A Posted Apr 29th 2010 8:26PM]

Is that a Virtual Boy?

[BrianH Posted Apr 29th 2010 8:36PM]

@Dan A

don't make me slap you.

[geoken Posted Apr 29th 2010 9:27PM]

@Dan A

Yes it is. Put your eyes against the two openings and you'll see how well it works.

[Mentat Posted Apr 29th 2010 10:16PM]

@geoken

I still go crosseyed every time I see one of those horrible machines

[unicorned Posted Apr 29th 2010 8:27PM]

The cake is a lie.

[Zorque Posted Apr 29th 2010 10:17PM]

@unicorned

I thought this dumb bullshit ended months ago, I really hope the Mac crowd doesn't start up with it now.

[Pies Posted Apr 30th 2010 8:53AM]

@unicorned Chill, the cake is just delayed until May 12th.

[metalhaze Posted Apr 30th 2010 10:24AM]

@unicorned The Cake still needs to bake

[iLi3kTuttles Posted Apr 29th 2010 8:28PM]

Curse you engadget. As soon as I saw "Steam" I immediately thought of a great "uprankable" pun. Then you took it.

[abedinthehouse Posted Apr 29th 2010 8:29PM]

So which one looks cooler?

[ClarkyAC Posted Apr 29th 2010 8:41PM]

@abedinthehouse

Portal turret is shiny

TF2 turret is upgradable.

OF COURSE I'M GOING TO SIDE WITH THE PORTAL TURRET!

[BlackedOut Posted Apr 29th 2010 8:58PM]

Function over form any day.
I guess i'm not cool.

[Bratyr Posted Apr 29th 2010 9:06PM]

@abedinthehouse
TF2 turrets aren't as pretty but you can't knock them over. And it's upgradeable. TF2 turret wins.

[Wesscoast Posted Apr 29th 2010 10:10PM]

@ClarkyAC

You actually recognize those.... things... from video games you've played...??


WEDGIE TIME!!!!!!!!!!!

[AaronX Posted Apr 29th 2010 11:45PM]

@abedinthehouse

Remember, this is for Mac users...

[Awesomesquared Posted Apr 29th 2010 8:30PM]

Yahooooo!!!
I just became interested in gaming on mac a week ago. This was a great time to think of this.

[victorvelasco1 Posted Apr 29th 2010 8:31PM]

tell us more about for Linux

[matknny Posted Apr 29th 2010 8:52PM]

@victorvelasco1
My thoughts exactly

[alex4lex Posted Apr 29th 2010 8:32PM]

"Does that make Steam... vaporware?"

...I see what you did there.

[TheSmartOne Posted Apr 29th 2010 9:22PM]

@alex4lex OH WOW YEA

[kjsin1994 Posted Apr 29th 2010 8:34PM]

steam on linux will be cracked open within a day

[imthefrizzlefry Posted Apr 29th 2010 9:36PM]

@kjsin1994 I've been happy with Steam's current performance in linux:
http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Steam_under_Linux

It would be better for a native Linux version, but the Windows version works fine with WINE...

[benjgvps Posted Apr 30th 2010 8:26AM]

@imthefrizzlefry I'm sticking with my personal acronym for WINE: Wine Is Not Enough. I couldn't stand Ubuntu on my netbook without my many Windows programs, so I reinstalled XP within a week.

[thinkthis Posted Apr 29th 2010 8:34PM]

Does this mean any game that comes to steam will play on a Mac or just that some (valve) titles will?

[korvin13 Posted Apr 29th 2010 8:43PM]

@thinkthis Depends on the developers. Steam is not some magic compatibility layer. I think I've read L4D2, TF2, amd Portal 2 will be available on the Mac.

[Formul Posted Apr 29th 2010 8:47PM]

@thinkthis several valve's games and maybe few from other developers, certainly not all of them

[Jeff Kibuule Posted Apr 29th 2010 9:04PM]

@thinkthis

Games based on the Source engine will probably have an easy migration path. Games that were already Mac compatible will probably hit Steam at some point as well (assuming they were being distributed with Steam before) - a no brainer. Non-"Steam on Windows" Mac games will probably drop by sooner or later.

Though the big question really is, is the Mac gaming market large enough to consider non-Mac games to be ported over? Unreal Engine 3 runs on Mac OS X, but considering even Unreal Tournament III never made it to the Mac, one needs to hold high hopes for anything worth playing to get through.

[Kelmon Posted Apr 30th 2010 6:18AM]

@thinkthis

It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out. In the short term, no, I think we're only going to be seeing Valve's titles for the Mac via Steam but in the longer term we may well see more titles from other developers. I'd like to see a Mac version of Relic's Dawn of War series but I'm not going to hold my breath on that one.

[Jope31 Posted Apr 29th 2010 8:37PM]

I couldn't ask for a better birthday present!

[uHorndog Posted Apr 29th 2010 10:01PM]

@Jope31

Happy 24th Birthday Jake!!

[coolpal Posted Apr 29th 2010 10:12PM]

Too soon. Come back on 12th

[mikemanblah Posted Apr 29th 2010 8:39PM]

Anyone know if games are included or you have to buy your own now?

[aforty Posted Apr 29th 2010 8:41PM]

@mikemanblah Are you serious?

[packy17 Posted Apr 29th 2010 8:52PM]

@aforty

Actually, in the leaked beta video, it did say Portal would be free to celebrate the launch.

[KupoCheer Posted Apr 29th 2010 8:54PM]

@packy17 Makes sense, since the original Portal is now merely a nifty hype device for Portal 2.

[Notsogr8one Posted Apr 29th 2010 9:07PM]

@mikemanblah Well, games aren't included but if you have the games on Steam in Windows they crossover

[einhanderkiller Posted Apr 29th 2010 9:42PM]

@Notsogr8one
The ones that have Mac versions and that are supported through Steam Play (the publisher has to agree to let Steam distribute both Windows and Mac versions), at least.

[chasedaway Posted Apr 29th 2010 8:46PM]

Oh man, all the games I haven't been able to play since getting a mac will now be at my fingertips...

Deus Ex...Morrowind...Jedi Knight....

Ah, the good ol' days.

[B3CU Posted Apr 29th 2010 9:09PM]

I think you will only be able to play Source engine-based games on the Mac, not all. Someone correct me if I am wrong...

[chasedaway Posted Apr 29th 2010 9:16PM]

@B3CU I've been wondering this myself, though I haven't been able to find a definite statement. In the meantime, I'll just keep wishing and hoping....

[KosherTelephone Posted Apr 30th 2010 3:38AM]

@chasedaway
That's entirely dependent on the original game's publisher. I would have thought that stuff like CIV IV and other games, which already have mac versions will make an appearance, but I think it's unlikely that anyone other than valve is going to port old games to OSX

[teky Posted Apr 29th 2010 8:46PM]

"Oh well -- at least you're not waiting for Steam on Linux"

Actually, I am. May be in for a long wait.

[IvanP91 Posted Apr 29th 2010 8:49PM]

what will it take for me to be banned. Ill be as offensive and offtopic as possible.

[mmurfin87 Posted Apr 29th 2010 8:53PM]

SACRILEGE!!! GAMES ON A MAC????? HERESY!!!!