steam-play
Latest
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy enrolls in Mac App Store, cross-platform on Steam
Aspyr has ported Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy to Mac, available today through the Mac App Store or as a cross-platform Steam Play game. Tuition for the Jedi Academy will set Padawans – and whatever the Sith equivalent of a Padawan is – back $9.99.Of course, if you've already purchased the Windows version on Steam, you get access to the Mac port as part of that initial purchase. Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy requires OS X 10.7.5 or higher – if you're looking to enroll in a real Jedi class, you should probably think about moving to New York.
Trine 2 co-op works cross-platform, from PC to Mac, available now in beta
Finnish developer Frozenbyte has announced that its upcoming cooperative platform puzzler Trine 2 will support cross-platform multiplayer across PC and Mac, courtesy of Valve's Steam Play framework. The ongoing beta is also now available for Mac, meaning would-be cross-platformers can test out the new feature immediately ... that is, if you pre-purchased the title. Note: While Trine 2 will also be available via just about every method of digital distribution known to man – including GamersGate, Direct2Drive, the Mac App Store, Xbox Live Arcade, and PlayStation Network – only the Steam PC and Mac releases will support cross-platform play. Sorry, Xbox players won't be buddying up with PS3 players. The release is still a vague "later in 2011" and if our Finnish Indie Dev Hunks calendar is accurate, there isn't much of 2011 left.
Portal 2 will not support PlayStation Move [update]
Update [2:30PM]: "Portal 2 does not include support for Sony's motion controller," Valve clarified in a press statement today, saying quotes in a German language PlayStation Blog interview that had indicated PlayStation Move integration was in the works had been "lost in translation." (See our original post after the break.)
Left 4 Dead 2 coming to the Mac this Tuesday
This is it -- the rumors were true! The last non-Mac holdout of Valve's Source titles is Left 4 Dead, the zombie-killing shooter featuring four survivors and a whole lot of undead, but that's about to change. The official site for the newest Left 4 Dead 2 downloadable content, "The Sacrifice," confirms that the game's sequel is coming to the Mac this very Tuesday, October 5th. Left 4 Dead 2 will be released, as have all of the Source games, under the Steam Play banner. That means if you own it on the PC, you also own it on the Mac, so all you'll have to do is download and start shooting zombies. Anyone who buys the game on Steam will get all of the DLC for free, which makes for the original five campaigns plus the three DLC levels to play through. That's an excellent deal for sure. Unfortunately, the first game is not yet ready for the Mac; apparently, it's taking Valve a little longer than expected to get it OS X-compatible. But Valve promises that when it is released, Steam owners will get the same deal -- all the DLC with the game itself. That's good stuff. Of course, with Left 4 Dead finally coming to our platform, which game will we be stuck waiting for next? Civ V, where you at? Thanks, Ben H!
Day of Defeat now available for the Mac
One more classic Steam title has been added to the Mac lineup -- Day of Defeat is now available on the OS X version of Steam. It's a Source-engine WWII multiplayer shooter that's not quite as popular as Counter-Strike or Team Fortress 2 (both of which are also available on the Mac at this point), but still provides some Axis and Ally-style fun. Personally, I think I prefer Enemy Territory, but Day of Defeat makes use of the Steam Play feature, so if you already own the game on Windows, you can download and play it on your Mac without paying any extra. If you've never played it before, you can pick it up for just $10 or (even better) buy it along with a few other classic Source titles for $30. That just leaves the Left 4 Dead line as the last big Valve title yet to be released on the Mac. They've been pretty faithful with their weekly releases, so by this time next week, you could finally be killing zombies on the Apple OS. Stay tuned! [via Joystiq]
Day of Defeat Source now playable on Mac
Valve's steadfast assimilation of its catalog of games on Steam into The Mac Collective continues with Day of Defeat Source, its WWII-based mod. Thanks to Steam Play, those of you who picked it up already for Windows will be able to play it on Mac instantly. Fear not, green horns, your itch for battle can too be scratched ... for $10 in wartime bonds. What? You thought the democratic war machine simply ran on the blood, sweat and tears of its determined populace? Nope, cash also helps. Cold, delicious cash.
Steam for Mac now live, Portal free, Lucasarts adventures included
The Steam for Mac store is now live, and Mac users can not only download the Steam client, but pick up a number of new-to-Mac games. As I said yesterday, both Portal and Torchlight are available, and both of them are brilliant. In fact, until May 24th, Portal is actually completely free. You have zero excuses at this point -- go download the client and get that game. LucasArts also announced this morning that a bunch of their old adventure titles, including Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, as well as the excellent Loom, are also available via Steam for Mac. There's also a great pack of indie games available if that's more your speed, and Telltale also has a bundle of their Tales of Monkey Island games, along with the latest Sam and Max episode. All of these titles are releasing under the new Steam Play program, too, which means that if you buy them on one platform, you can play them on any others as well. So if you already own Portal or Torchlight, odds are that you can simply install the Steam client (right here), and then download them to play on your Mac. Finally, after all of these years, it is an amazing day to be a Mac gamer.
Steam for Mac, Portal, Torchlight out tomorrow
Tomorrow's the big day: Valve's Steam platform is officially coming to the Mac, and it's bringing two of my favorite games along with it. Portal is the first one -- hopefully if you're a gamer you've already played it, but it was my absolute favorite game of 2007 and one of the best games I've played in the last five years. Runic Games' terrific Torchlight is also along for the ride. It's a Diablo-style hack and slash game (created by a few ex-Blizzard guys) that is another must-play. The best part is that both of these are "Steam Play" titles, which means that if you already own them on Steam for Windows, you own them on Steam for Mac as well. Engadget posted a nice roundup recently of Steam for Mac impressions, but the bottom line is that it's exactly the same as the PC version, so if you've used it on Windows, you'll know what you're in for. And on the eve of the occasion, Wired has a funny little writeup of how these games will differ on Apple's platform. For instance, Portal's GLaDOS voiceover will actually replaced with Steve Jobs, and the portal guns available in the game will only create entrances, not exits. At first, Steve will tell you that exits aren't really necessary, but then they'll later be patched in via software in three to six months. Funny.
Left 4 Dead 1 & 2 to feature cross-platform play between Mac & PC
The initial announcement of Steam for Mac conspicuously omitted the inclusion of the first Left 4 Dead game. The Left 4 Dead blog, however, confirms that the original game will migrate to Mac along with the rest of the announced Valve games in "late Spring." The post makes it sound as if both games will be added at the same time, but that remains unconfirmed. Because of Valve's Steam Play technology, you'll be able to play either game on either Mac or PC, with the ability to share your progress between the two platforms. Even better, you'll be able to play with other people across platforms! "Mac and Windows players can go head-to-head," Valve notes in the announcement, "since both Left 4 Deads are cross-platform compatible. Mac owners can even host their own servers and create their own maps, just like Windows users." Cross-platform play means that all of these new-to-you Valve games are going to come with massive built-in communities.
Valve confirms Steam for Mac, debuts in April
Eager gamers have no doubt already seen the teasers, but Valve has now finally confirmed that its Steam game distribution service and Source engine will at long last be headed to the Mac. According to Valve, the company's current line-up of games (including the Half-Life and Left 4 Dead series) will be available to Mac users in April, while Portal 2 will represent the company's first simultaneous release for PC and Mac later this year. Better still, Steamworks for Mac also boasts a new feature called "Steam Play," which will let you buy a game once and, for instance, start playing it on a PC at work and then pick up where you left off on your Mac at home (we'll give you a moment to let that sink in). Game publishers will have to enable that feature themselves, but Valve says it expects most to take advantage of it.
