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MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,278
30,339



Origin, Electronic Art's digital distribution platform, is available for Macs as of today via an open alpha testing period. Origin for Mac was initially announced in August of last year, when EA noted that the Mac version of its upcoming SimCity game was expected to launch alongside the PC version.

SimCity will no longer be released simultaneously on the Mac and the PC, but EA will presumably release the final version of Origin for Mac before the game comes out in March.

Like Steam, EA's Origin allows users to purchase and download games, chat with friends, and continue saved games from any Origin-enabled computer.

originmac.jpg
According to EA, Origin for Mac will function like the PC version, with cloud storage, auto patching, and a friends list. For the alpha, the Origin Store tab is not active, but EA promises that the launch version will include "a great catalog of EA and partner titles."

EA is offering a free copy of PopCap's popular "Bookworm" game with the Origin alpha download, which is limited to a few thousand customers.

The alpha version of Origin is currently able to be downloaded from the Origin website. To download the software, users will need to have a Mac running OS X 10.6.8 or newer plus an Intel Core 2 Duo processor or better.

Article Link: EA Announces Origin for Mac Alpha Testing
 

RoelJuun

macrumors 6502
Aug 31, 2010
449
207
Netherlands
Although I dislike the platform and needing another account for game purchases, I like it that more games come to OS X.
 

Icaras

macrumors 603
Mar 18, 2008
6,343
3,380
Downloaded.

Wow. Store unavailable, and all my games are Windows only. They give you a free game from Popcap called "BookWorm" for joining the alpha test, but that's it.

Really not much to alpha test...
 

Magaman

macrumors regular
Aug 14, 2009
133
1
This is a very good sign with the SimCity launch in the near future. Hopefully they can launch day and date for both PC and MAC!
 

Jessica Lares

macrumors G3
Oct 31, 2009
9,612
1,055
Near Dallas, Texas, USA
I am having an issue trying to install it. It needs the helper tool, but it won't install:

Code:
1/24/13 4:59:29.624 PM com.ea.origin.ESHelper[10414]: Starting ES - Looking up Client bundle....
1/24/13 4:59:29.625 PM com.ea.origin.ESHelper[10414]: Unable to locate Origin client bundle...
 

ikir

macrumors 68020
Sep 26, 2007
2,123
2,270
I love Mac App Store, I love Steam even if lately lacks specific OSX updates and features.... But Origin is just a Steam clones. It is exactly the same thing, same features and purpose. At least Mac App Store and Steam have different ecosystems, target, features, story. Origin is just EA greedy plan.
 

fdv

macrumors newbie
Jun 23, 2010
15
0
"I can't wait for Origin to be released on the Mac!" said no one ever.
 

rmwebs

macrumors 68040
Apr 6, 2007
3,140
0
Cant really beat Steam. Especially with the cross-platform support and great deals they do.

Content wise it even beats the Mac App Store, which only seems to have a few 'big' names on there. The rest seem to be iOS ports.
 

roadbloc

macrumors G3
Aug 24, 2009
8,784
215
UK
Screw Origin. Useless spyware and nothing but EA's rubbish to buy. Steam is much better.
 

ArtOfWarfare

macrumors G3
Nov 26, 2007
9,544
6,042
I love Mac App Store, I love Steam even if lately lacks specific OSX updates and features.... But Origin is just a Steam clones. It is exactly the same thing, same features and purpose. At least Mac App Store and Steam have different ecosystems, target, features, story. Origin is just EA greedy plan.

You say that like it shocks you. In so far as I'm aware, EA stopped doing anything original years (decades?) ago and went full ahead with their make-crap-that-people-relate-to-great-things and make as much money off of them as possible. I never buy anything with the EA logo on it anymore... the last thing I came to possess by them was C&C 3 which was gifted to me, and though I wouldn't tell it to the person who got me it, the game is total crap and a blatant copy of great RTS games from Blizzard.
 

Cougarcat

macrumors 604
Sep 19, 2003
7,766
2,553
I wonder what this means for Mac Game Store?
Think I'm going to cancel pre-order and wait for this so I can move to Boot camp windows if cider engine is bad.

They aren't using cider, it's a native port. Hence the delay.
 
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