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Garry's Mod hits the Mac, 50% off
The versatile Garry's Mod is available now for Mac. To celebrate, the app will be $5 for the next week -- that's 50 percent off the regular price. Though, remember, if you own the PC version, you automagically own the Mac port. The one caveat with Garry's Mod is that you need to own another Source Engine game before use. In the right hands, the mod can be used to make engaging Machinima like "The Jacknife Chronicles." In our hands, it would be used to make the umpteenth version of Gman doing "Banana Phone."
Valve offering parts of its Mac graphics code to Steamworks devs
Valve has singlehandedly reinvigorated the Mac gaming world by making its Steam content delivery service compatible with the Mac. It has been steadily populating the service with Mac-friendly versions of its mega-popular games; however, apparently that isn't enough. Now Valve is going to help other developers make Mac games, by releasing elements of its graphics code. Business development director Jason Holtman told GamesIndustry.biz that Valve will release some code to developers signed on with the company's Steamworks infrastructure, in order to expedite the development of Mac games (and thus speed up the population of Steam). "So our Steamworks partners will have access to some of the hard work that we do to get our games up on Mac," Holtman said, "and they'll be able to incorporate that into their games -- and our hope is it gets them there faster." Holtman also provided clues as to the success of Steam's Mac edition, stating that "we're seeing between a 15 and 20 percent increase in games that have a Mac version on Steam." It turns out that Mac owners will buy games if they're available!
Team Fortress 2 on Mac kicks off with free weekend, 50% off sale
It turns out that Valve's completely opaque hinting yesterday referred to a Mac release of Team Fortress 2! If you have an inclination toward team-based, cartoony/violent FPS action, head over to Steam now and enjoy the newly OSX-compatible game. Valve has provided some decent motivation to do so quickly, if fun isn't enough: if you play on a Mac before June 14, you'll get some in-game earbuds like the ones sported by the blue "Mac" team in the above video. Oh, and you can also play for free this weekend (through June 13) on both Mac and PC, or pick up a permanent copy of the game for $10. Both of those offers are good through June 13. [Thanks to all the excited Mac owners who sent this in mid-freakout]
Team Fortress 2 available on Mac Steam tomorrow
The Team Fortress 2 blog has revealed the impending arrival of one of Valve's biggest games to the Mac platform. Tomorrow, Mac-owning gamers will be able to join the Team Fortress 2 ... team. Well, Valve didn't even confirm that it is Team Fortress 2 that is being released tomorrow. Sure, it was on the Team Fortress 2 blog, and the post was topped by the above image of Team Fortress 2 characters, but really it could be any game whose title rhymes with "Speem Gortress." Per the Steam store, TF2 will be offered as a stand-alone title for $19.99. If you've already purchased the PC or Mac version of The Orange Box, it will be made available as a free download.
Star Wars Empire at War on Steam, LucasArts Adventure Pack 50% off
Soon you will know the true meaning of power -- that is, should you decide to download Star Wars Empire at War, the latest RTS available on Steam. Developed by Petroglyph Games way back in 2006, it takes place during the events leading up to Episode IV. The Gold Pack edition on Steam even includes the Forces of Corruption expansion, which adds a host of new units, heroes and planets, as well as an expanded multiplayer suite. Sorry, Mac owners -- this one's Windows only. Not a big Star Wars fan? No worries, because Steam is also slashing 50% off the Lucasarts Adventure Pack, a collection of four classic adventure titles: Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, LOOM and The Dig. All four of these titles are Steam Play compatible and will run on your Mac. You can get 'em for $5, only a little more than a buck a game. That's a pretty damn good deal, if you ask us. [Thanks, CCC] Source - LucasArts Adventure Pack Source - Star Wars Empire at War: Gold Pack
Steam for Mac adds Half-Life 2 with cross-platform Steam Cloud support
The Mac Steam release list is a bit thin in terms of quantity this week, but the additions are pretty substantial. As promised, Half-Life 2 is now available for Mac and -- as we dearly, dearly hoped -- Episode One and Episode Two are also available. All three Half-Life 2 games feature cross-platform Steam Cloud support, meaning that players' games are saved on Steam's servers and can be opened from any computer, PC or Mac. Additionally, Half-Life 2 and Episode One have been updated with over 40 new achievements. All three titles are currently 30 percent off: HL2 for 7 bucks; and Eps. 1 & 2 for $5.59 apiece. The complete Orange Box collection (with cross-platform Steam Cloud support across all games) is also currently discounted ($21), with the Team Fortress 2 for Mac release promised soon. Finally, EVE Online: Tyrannis will launch for both PC and Mac later today, making it Steam's first game to launch simultaneously on both platforms.
Half-Life 2 for Mac hits Steam on May 26
Wait, isn't that ... tomorrow? Why yes it is! Turns out that the third week of Mac releases on Steam will include Gordon Freeman's second adventure against the Combine in Half-Life 2. Rather than simply release a press blurb about the game's forthcoming availability, Valve has created this parody of Apple's "1984" advertisement featuring Alyx Vance. It is, much like the original, rather impressive (especially if you're Half-Life dorks like we are). Valve has not revealed the price for Half-Life 2 for Mac nor confirmed if Episodes 1 & 2 will also be made available tomorrow. The PC version of HL2 for Steam is currently priced at $20.
Free Portal downloaded 1.5 million times
If you release it for free, they will download it. Valve has revealed that its free download of Portal, offered as part of the launch for Steam on Mac, has been anxiously grabbed by 1.5 million users. Using the power of math, that's 187,500 downloads each day for the eight days the game has been free to download -- about 7,812 downloads each hour. If you have yet to acquire your own free copy of Portal, get on it. You've only got until May 24. [Via USA Today]
Cross-platform multiplayer titles hit Steam for Mac
A new batch of games has landed on Steam for Mac. While there are several new single-player titles available, it's the new multiplayer titles that are particularly noteworthy. The reason: Multiplayer is compatible across both Mac and PC platforms. Leading the cross-platform charge is cooperative zombie murder sim Killing Floor. Two other cross-platform titles now available include Madballs in Babo: Invasion and Altitude, a 2D aerial dogfighting game. To mark the occasion all three games are on sale, with Killing Floor priced at $13.99 (33 percent off) and both Altitude and Madballs available for $4.99 each. Plus, Altitude will be free to play this weekend. Incidentally, these sales apply to the PC versions as well. Find a full list of this week's new Mac games after the break.
Hey Steam users: Join the Joystiq group on Steam Community!
We're not angry ... just disappointed. No, this has nothing to do with your Jonas Brothers tattoo (which we think is oh emm gee killer, by the way) and everything to do with the fact that you haven't joined the "Joystiq" group on Steam Community. Mac users, you're excused. After all, you didn't have access to Steam until today. Just promise that you'll go here and join the group when your free copy of Portal is finished downloading, okay? Everyone else with a Steam account, what were you thinking? You didn't want to play games with your fellow Joystiq readers, LOLing, even potentially ROFLing while discussing that "one funny thing you read" or maybe "that one Photoshop with the manatee" or ... you get it. Did you even stop to think about how we felt? If your excuse was "it's hardly ever updated" then, well, you've got us. Guilty as charged! So we're looking to deputize some admins. If you play a ton of games on Steam and want to corral the Joystiq herd, leave a comment indicating your Steam username and why you'd be a good choice. Everyone else: join up!
Steam for Mac now available, 57 launch games including free Portal, and LucasArts classics
[Update 3:15pm ET: And Valve has sent word that the service is now officially live, the store is operational (look at those deals!) and all is right with the world. There are 57 titles available for launch, and listed after the break. We've bolded out some of our picks, but don't let our recommendations stop you from downloading Wedding Dash 2: Rings Around the World. Of note, the Diablo-esque Torchlight is only $9.99, a cool 50% off. Too pricey for you? Valve's own Portal – which it calls "the first of Valve's Source engine based games available on the Mac" – is available for the even cooler price of $0.00 on both Mac and PC until May 24th. Don't believe us? Look here.] Tipsters are telling us that the Steam for Mac service is now live ... sort of. While the client makes the rounds, and the beta whitelist has been lifted, it appears Valve isn't quite ready to break out the cigars. The game store isn't live, and it's still not clear which titles will be available for launch. In this writer's case, games I had purchased on Steam for Windows previously (hello, The Dig!) downloaded just fine for me on Mac OS, though I'm unable to purchase new games in the app. (You can always use the web store!) We'll update this post as the service prepares to takes its first steps, say its first words, and make its first million. Let us know how you fare in the comments! Download Steam for Mac [DMG download]
Steam for Mac rolls out tomorrow, Portal and Torchlight in tow
With PC games continuously losing retail shelf space and Mac games having little shelf space to begin with, Steam presents the first significant distribution platform, digital or otherwise, the Mac gaming platform has seen in years (ever?). It remains to be seen if Steam for Mac and Steamworks – the platform's suite of tools covering everything from copy protection, anti-cheat support, and key-based authentication to Steam community, Steam Cloud, and microtransactions – will be enough to encourage publishers to incur the added expense of porting games to the Mac OS X platform but tomorrow's launch offerings are certainly promising. Valve says that, in addition to the games launching tomorrow, on "subsequent Wednesdays, additional collections of Mac titles will become available, each designed to highlight specific functionalities of Steam on the Mac." The first collection will highlight "Steam Play," meaning games that work on all "Steam supported platforms," currently Windows and Mac OS. Valve identified its own Portal and the Diablo-esque Torchlight as launch titles, the only two to be officially announced. The Steam for Mac beta client reveals over three dozen "Mac games," all currently available via Steam on Windows. Notable entries include LucasArts classics like The Dig, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, and Loom, some of Telltale's episodic offerings, including the most recent installment of Sam & Max and the entire first season of Tales of Monkey Island, and several PopCap titles, like Peggle Deluxe, Peggle Nights, and Bejeweled 2. Also listed and currently playable (unlike every other listing in the Mac beta, short of Portal) is Team Fortress 2, though it's curiously not mentioned in Valve's press release which heralds Portal as "the first of Valve's Source engine based games available on the Mac." Notably still missing from this list are Valve's Half-Life and Left 4 Dead series, PopCap's already-Mac-compatible Plants vs. Zombies, and plenty of other Mac-compatible titles currently on Steam. This forum thread has a nice list of potential Steam Mac games, and we've asked Valve to comment on how many of the currently listed games will be available tomorrow. Check out of a screenshot of the Mac store, as it looks today in its beta state, after the break.
Valve Time strikes again: Steam for Mac bumped to May 12
With just over 24 hours to go before the target month of April expires and Valve – no stranger to a pushed release date – misses its announced release window for Steam for Mac, the developer slash platform provider has sent over the following terse release: "Valve today announced the public release of Steam for the Mac is May 12. Please stay tuned for more information." And that's it. That's less than two weeks away by our count, which isn't so bad when you think about it. Why, when we were kids, a Valve delay meant at least a year! You young folk have it easy. %Gallery-87236%
Steam on Mac video leaked, looks like Steam on Windows
digg_url = 'http://www.joystiq.com/2010/04/21/steam-on-mac-video-leaked-looks-like-steam-on-windows/?d'; It would appear that some people are able to taste Valve's Steam service on Mac, as evidenced by the video after the break from MacStories. And as one of the most anticipated things ever, we're sure you're probably moving your cursor to the bottom of this post right now so you can click through. Spoiler: There's no letdown in the functionality department, as it looks exactly like Steam on Windows. No special bells or whistles, just the new, already slick Steam UI. [Thanks, Federico]
Interview: Steam on Mac OS X is 'the biggest event in Steam's history,' John Cook says
When Valve confirmed Mac support for Steam last week, I emailed the Joystiq team with the following claim: "this is arguably the biggest gaming news on Mac OS ever." It seems Valve shares the sentiment, as the company's John Cook – director of Steam development at Valve – calls it "the biggest event in Steam's history." He also answered some more of our questions via email, so read on! Joystiq: Just to clarify, Steam users with games already purchased on Windows and that have Mac versions available will have those Mac versions accessible to them immediately in Steam, for no extra charge? John Cook: This is supported by "Steam Play." We are using this feature to provide cross-platform access to all Valve games to those who already own the PC version. We hope other developers and publishers will use it in the same way. Some blogs have reported that Valve "hates the Mac" – From Gabe: "So, they seem to think that they want to do gaming, but there's never any follow through on any of the things they say they're going to do. That makes it hard to be excited about doing games for their platforms." So, as a followup, was Apple involved in this endeavor at all? Did they provide any programming resources or platform-level assistance? First, the statement that Gabe hates the Mac is erroneous. In fact, he worked on a 6Mhz Lisa running a Mac emulator in his first post-college job and is involved in the current Mac work on a daily basis. As for Apple, yes -- we've been working with them on this project and we're looking forward to expanding that relationship as we launch Steam for the Mac. %Gallery-87236%
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 Mac support for Steam and Source Engine
In today's completely shocking and unexpected bit of news, Valve has announced Mac support for its Steam digital distribution platform and Source -- the engine that powers Half-Life 2, amongst others. In fact, Portal 2 will be Valve's first simultaneous release across PC and Mac. "Steamworks for the Mac supports all of the Steamworks APIs, and we have added a new feature, called Steam Play, which allows customers who purchase the product for the Mac or Windows to play on the other platform free of charge," said Valve's Jason Holtman. "For example, Steam Play, in combination with the Steam Cloud, allows a gamer playing on their work PC to go home and pick up playing the same game at the same point on their home Mac. We expect most developers and publishers to take advantage of Steam Play." If that doesn't get you all kinds of giddy, then you may just be dead inside. Steam and Valve's lineup of games (including "including Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, Portal, and the Half-Life series") will be available to Mac users this April, but from here on out, simultaneous cross-platform releases should be the norm. "Checking in code produces a PC build and Mac build at the same time, automatically, so the two platforms are perfectly in lock-step," said Josh Weier, project lead on Portal 2. "We're always playing a native version on the Mac right alongside the PC. This makes it very easy for us and for anyone using Source to do game development for the Mac." So, who's got the champagne and noise makers? %Gallery-87236%
Valve teases Apple announcement of ... something [update]
We'd love to outright confirm that "OMG, yes, Steam is finally coming to Mac!" but that'd be a lie. Truth is, of the five images that Valve sent out to a handful of outlets (as seen in our gallery below) – each one depicting characters from separate Valve games in some form of faux Mac advertisement (from Half-Life to Left 4 Dead and everything in between) – none provide ironclad confirmation of our suspicion that the developer is likely porting Steam over to OS X. That said, given the presence of six dots at the bottom of each of the five images we've seen so far, suggesting an iTunes-like image gallery with six images, we're hoping for an actual news release in the not-too-distant future ... possibly via that sixth image. For now, we've put in a call to Valve and will be speculating wildly in the meantime. Check out the five screens so far in the gallery below and get to the speculating with us, won't you? Update: Valve kindly sent over the last image, which unfortunately doesn't "OMG confirmed!" our guesses. It is, however, the coolest (fake) ad yet. %Gallery-87236% [Thanks, Joe K]
