EA Launches Origin Online Game Distribution for Mac

MacRumors · Feb 7, 2013, 10:16 PM

A Mac client for EA's digital distribution platform Origin was launched today, as first noted by AppleInsider. Origin for Mac was originally announced in August 2011 and went into alpha testing in late January.*

Origin is quite similar to Valve's Steam and allows users to download games and demos, chat with friends and continue saved games from most computers.

The store currently lists 48 Mac games available for download, including games like Batman: Arkham City Game of the Year Edition, LEGO Batman, Harry Potter and Star Wars, Tropico 3: Gold Edition and The Sims 3 and its plethora of expansion packs.*The new SimCity is supposed to launch a little after the March release of the PC version of the game.

EA Origin Vice President of Production Mike Blank told AppleInsider that EA brought Origin to Mac because of two reasons: growing Mac marketshare and a vocal community of Mac gamers.

Quote:

"We're seeing increased activity from our Mac gamers," he said. "In the past, we've brought games slower to market for Mac than for PC partly because the audience hasn't been at the same level. The growth of iOS and Mac devices, though, means we're starting to see gamers demand to play their games on devices that are becoming more prominent. I think, across the board, developers have focused on the PC platform, but I think you're going to start seeing some changes there. [Origin] is the first step in a strategy you're going to start seeing coming out of EA."

Origin client for Mac is available as a download for free at EA's Origin website. It requires OS X 10.6.8 or higher and an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor.

Article Link: EA Launches Origin Online Game Distribution for Mac

Vertigo50 · Feb 7, 2013, 10:20 PM

This will never be installed on my machine.

You had me at "EA".

kjs862 · Feb 7, 2013, 10:23 PM

Really want to play the new sim city when it comes out. How do you think it will run on a virtual machine using parallels?

Eriden · Feb 7, 2013, 10:25 PM

EA is the soulless corporate juggernaut of the gaming industry. I can only imagine how great the ENTIRETY of Mass Effect 3 would have been had EA not gotten its hooks into Bioware.

Instead, thanks to EA, we got a game that was 95% awesomeness followed by 15 minutes of ending that ruined the whole fusking series.

Spetsnazos · Feb 7, 2013, 10:26 PM

No one uses it on PC other than for battlefield 3 and no Mac can run bf3...

Good luck in your distribution goals of 2013 EA

rockyroad55 · Feb 7, 2013, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spetsnazos

No one uses it on PC other than for battlefield 3 and no Mac can run bf3...

Good luck in your distribution goals of 2013 EA

Actually the retina MBP can run BF3 at medium-high settings. I'm doing it now.

But, then again, you are right, I only use Bootcamp for BF3. This EA thingy will never be installed on my mac side.

holmesf · Feb 7, 2013, 10:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjs862

Really want to play the new sim city when it comes out. How do you think it will run on a virtual machine using parallels?

Poorly. Virtualization works pretty well in a lot of cases, but games are not one of them. The DirectX calls have to be translated to OpenGL calls.

bungiefan89 · Feb 7, 2013, 10:31 PM

Aside from the Batman game, I see nothing of value on this list.

Much better selection of games on Steam. Team Fortress 2, Half-Life 2, Nuclear Dawn, Limbo, Assassin's Creed 2, The Binding of Issac, Left 4 Dead 2, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic...

Sorry EA, you're a day late and a dollar short. On EVERYTHING.

Foxer · Feb 7, 2013, 10:35 PM

If this is what I have to use to play the new Simcity, then I'll use it.

slicecom · Feb 7, 2013, 10:36 PM

EA? No thanks.

fel10 · Feb 7, 2013, 10:37 PM

I'm staying away from anything related to those two letters.

sesnir · Feb 7, 2013, 10:38 PM

Nobody likes EA, but if this is what it takes to get better Mac support from a big publisher, then I'm all for it.

Sim City is coming. Maybe we'll get Battlefield 4. Either way, this can only be a good thing. I mean, ideally EA would ditch Origin and get friendly with Steam, but that isn't going to happen.

I just think that when a big gaming company sees a vocal community and rising marketshare and decides to invest in the Mac, then it's cause for celebration.

boto · Feb 7, 2013, 10:38 PM

I will NEVER install this spyware game client on my Mac. NEVER. Windows is a different story since I don't store any important information on my Bootcamp partition, only games.

Fatalbert · Feb 7, 2013, 10:41 PM

"Origin is quite similar to Valve's Steam." What's the point then? There's already Steam and the App Store. Unless this turns out to be a more stable and less annoying version of Steam (which I don't use because it's CRAP), then it's dumb.

I've also used just one EA thing on a PC before, and it was a horrible experience. But all their software for game consoles is good.

Illusion986 · Feb 7, 2013, 10:41 PM

Said it before, will say it again..."EA"

enough said

Fatalbert · 10:52 PM

Just wondering, what has EA done that makes everyone hate it so much? I honestly don't know because I haven't experienced much EA on a PC besides the Harry Potter games and a horrible avatar system for PGA. When I think of EA, I think of SSX3, NASCAR '07, Need for Speed Underground, Harry Potter, and Harry Potter 2, which are good games.

kjs862 · Feb 7, 2013, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by holmesf

Poorly. Virtualization works pretty well in a lot of cases, but games are not one of them. The DirectX calls have to be translated to OpenGL calls.

Dang. Maybe I'll do a windows partition.

jicon · Feb 7, 2013, 11:03 PM

Some pretty ridiculous prices...

$20 for Peggle, and $20 for Bejeweled 3?

No thanks.

Eriden · Feb 7, 2013, 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fatalbert

Just wondering, what has EA done that makes everyone hate it so much?

Not really that much.

bungiefan89 · Feb 7, 2013, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fatalbert

Just wondering, what has EA done that makes everyone hate it so much? I honestly don't know because I haven't experienced much EA on a PC besides the Harry Potter games and a horrible avatar system for PGA. When I think of EA, I think of SSX3, NASCAR '07, Need for Speed Underground, Harry Potter, and Harry Potter 2, which are good games.

Hardcore gamers like me don't like the way they cram the Origin software down everyone's throats.
It started with Battlefield 3 back in 2011. BIG hype and anticipation for this game, but on PC, you suddenly HAD to plug in to this Origin system in order to play the game, and on consoles the game had an "online pass" that everyone had to pay $10 for if they got the game used instead of buying at full retail... that just doesn't happen with other console games.
Since then, they've been dangling the franchises they have control over (Battlefield, Crysis, Mass Effect) in front of gamers with strings attached to things like first-day DLC and other little "rewards" for people who buy for full price on the first day of availability. They've also taken a strong stance against selling games at reduced prices like we get with Steam Sales.

In a nutshell, EA is kind of at the forefront of this creepy movement in the gaming industry to get gamers to pay more money for their games. They're trying to get everyone used to a world where nobody gets a game at a reduced price because it's used or it's been out for a few years so the price is dropped... instead, they want a world where all gamers pay full price for every game they play, which is a big deal because most full games these days sell for around $60 when they first come out.

That's why people don't like EA.

Fatalbert · Feb 7, 2013, 11:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bungiefan89

Hardcore gamers like me don't like the way they cram the Origin software down everyone's throats.

That's understandable. I guess it's like me and Google Plus when I try to use YouTube

SoldOnApple · Feb 7, 2013, 11:34 PM

Their servers are crawling.

----------

And I see Bookworm isn't free anymore, at least in Australia. Doubt I'll ever buy a single thing from this store, unless the new BF is Mac compatible.

Glassed Silver · Feb 7, 2013, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjs862

Dang. Maybe I'll do a windows partition.

Don't worry, it's not flawless and not as speedy as running it natively in Bootcamp, but it sure does work nicely enough if you've got decent specs.

Granted, my Mac is almost completely maxed out, but it probably will work nicely enough for the thing to work.

It does for me in a way that I can't be bothered to reboot my Mac all the time.

@topic:
Definitely will pass on that.
Nice try, EA.

Glassed Silver:mac

Dainin · Feb 7, 2013, 11:37 PM

Origin will never be on my Mac, and never on my gaming PC for that matter.

SteveLV702 · Feb 7, 2013, 11:46 PM

"EA Sports We Rape Your Wallet"

Feb 7, 2013, 10:31 PM	#8
bungiefan89 macrumors 6502 Join Date: Apr 2011	Aside from the Batman game, I see nothing of value on this list. Much better selection of games on Steam. Team Fortress 2, Half-Life 2, Nuclear Dawn, Limbo, Assassin's Creed 2, The Binding of Issac, Left 4 Dead 2, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic... Sorry EA, you're a day late and a dollar short. On EVERYTHING. __________________ 27" 2011 iMac, 3.4 GHz, 12GB RAM, 2GB VRAM - Late 2009 Macbook, 2.26 GHz, 4GB RAM - iPod touch 32GB 4g
	0

Feb 7, 2013, 10:35 PM	#9
Foxer macrumors 65816 Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Washington, DC	If this is what I have to use to play the new Simcity, then I'll use it. __________________ Luck is the residue of design. - Branch Rickey "I'll buy almost anything if it is shiny and made by Apple."
	2

Feb 7, 2013, 10:37 PM	#11
fel10 macrumors 6502a Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Woodstock, GA USA	I'm staying away from anything related to those two letters. __________________ 15 in Macbook Pro, 2.2 GHz, Quad Core i7, 8 GB RAM, Vertex 2 120GB SSD iPhone 5 64GB White iPad2 64GB Wi-Fi TVs
	6

Feb 7, 2013, 10:38 PM	#12
sesnir macrumors 6502 Join Date: Sep 2008	Nobody likes EA, but if this is what it takes to get better Mac support from a big publisher, then I'm all for it. Sim City is coming. Maybe we'll get Battlefield 4. Either way, this can only be a good thing. I mean, ideally EA would ditch Origin and get friendly with Steam, but that isn't going to happen. I just think that when a big gaming company sees a vocal community and rising marketshare and decides to invest in the Mac, then it's cause for celebration. __________________ Tangent Worlds - iOS Developer
	7

Feb 7, 2013, 10:38 PM	#13
boto macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jun 2012	I will NEVER install this spyware game client on my Mac. NEVER. Windows is a different story since I don't store any important information on my Bootcamp partition, only games. __________________ iMac 27" 3.4Ghz, GTX 680MX, 1TB FD, 32GB RAM \| rMBP 2.6Ghz/16GB RAM/256GB \| 16GB iPhone 5 White \| 16GB iPad 3rd Gen White \| Time Capsule 2TB \| Apple TV 3
	2

Feb 7, 2013, 10:20 PM	#2
Vertigo50 macrumors 6502a Join Date: Apr 2007	This will never be installed on my machine. You had me at "EA".
	20

Feb 7, 2013, 10:23 PM	#3
kjs862 macrumors 65816 Join Date: Jan 2004	Really want to play the new sim city when it comes out. How do you think it will run on a virtual machine using parallels?
	2

Feb 7, 2013, 10:25 PM	#4
Eriden macrumors regular Join Date: Sep 2006	EA is the soulless corporate juggernaut of the gaming industry. I can only imagine how great the ENTIRETY of Mass Effect 3 would have been had EA not gotten its hooks into Bioware. Instead, thanks to EA, we got a game that was 95% awesomeness followed by 15 minutes of ending that ruined the whole fusking series.
	7

Feb 7, 2013, 10:26 PM	#5
Spetsnazos macrumors regular Join Date: May 2012	No one uses it on PC other than for battlefield 3 and no Mac can run bf3... Good luck in your distribution goals of 2013 EA
	1

Feb 7, 2013, 10:36 PM	#10
slicecom macrumors 68000 Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada	EA? No thanks.
	7

Feb 7, 2013, 10:41 PM	#14
Fatalbert Banned Join Date: Feb 2013	"Origin is quite similar to Valve's Steam." What's the point then? There's already Steam and the App Store. Unless this turns out to be a more stable and less annoying version of Steam (which I don't use because it's CRAP), then it's dumb. I've also used just one EA thing on a PC before, and it was a horrible experience. But all their software for game consoles is good.
	0

Feb 7, 2013, 10:41 PM	#15
Illusion986 macrumors regular Join Date: Mar 2009	Said it before, will say it again..."EA" enough said
	4

Feb 7, 2013, 10:44 PM	#16
Fatalbert Banned Join Date: Feb 2013	Just wondering, what has EA done that makes everyone hate it so much? I honestly don't know because I haven't experienced much EA on a PC besides the Harry Potter games and a horrible avatar system for PGA. When I think of EA, I think of SSX3, NASCAR '07, Need for Speed Underground, Harry Potter, and Harry Potter 2, which are good games. Last edited by Fatalbert; Feb 7, 2013 at 10:52 PM.
	4

Feb 7, 2013, 11:03 PM	#18
jicon macrumors regular Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Victoria, BC	Some pretty ridiculous prices... $20 for Peggle, and $20 for Bejeweled 3? No thanks.
	0

Feb 7, 2013, 11:34 PM	#22
SoldOnApple macrumors member Join Date: Jul 2011	Their servers are crawling. ---------- And I see Bookworm isn't free anymore, at least in Australia. Doubt I'll ever buy a single thing from this store, unless the new BF is Mac compatible.
	0

Feb 7, 2013, 11:37 PM	#24
Dainin macrumors regular Join Date: Sep 2009	Origin will never be on my Mac, and never on my gaming PC for that matter.
	1

Feb 7, 2013, 11:46 PM	#25
SteveLV702 macrumors regular Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Las Vegas, Nevada	"EA Sports We Rape Your Wallet"
	0

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