The Significance of Steam and Valve's Games for Mac

[MorphingDragon]

What? I'm not sure why you're wasting your time stating the blindingly obvious and ignoring my questions. Yes, you're average pc boots up from a motherboard bios too, same as back in the 80s...I'd still like to know why apple's implementation is better than this 'old technology' - it's not like they're using various EFI features that they could be anyway.

EFI - Hardware Level Memory Management
Drivers located on the Firmware

Both features windows does not support and apple doesn't utilize the memory management. If you want to learn more just go read the article on Wiki.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extensible_Firmware_Interface#Contents

'Fail' is an interesting response to the comment about GTK - does your linux knowledge stretch any further than the occasional fragment you've picked up on this site?

I have done the linux from scratch project and maintain a Fedora 10 cluster. I am paid thousands of dollars a month to wrote OpenOffice.org Macros. My other computer is my PS3 running Yellow Dog Linux.

You?

 

[zorinlynx]

How does Steam's DRM work? If I buy a game, can I run it on my Mac without connectivity; i.e. is Steam essentially replacing delivering the program via a CD? Most of my gaming is odne when I am not connected; so having to connect to play or start a game would make it unusable to me.

I've always been a staunch hater of DRM, but the thing about Steam is, you don't even *notice* the DRM.

You can still play games if you're offline just fine. Games update automatically when you're online.

Games tend to be so inexpensive on Steam that the fact I may lose them if the company goes out of business isn't a constant worry. I paid $15 for The Orange box, which contained SEVERAL games. I did this in 2007 and have been playing them on and off for years without an issue.

If Steam uses DRM, I don't even notice it. Hell, the DRM on retail games tends to be ten times as annoying; you often need the disc to play even when it's installed on your drive, and on top of that recently some publishers are being assclowns, like Ubisoft with your "must be online to play AC2" garbage.

In fact, I don't even know WHAT Steam does to prevent piracy. I assume they have some sort of hardware fingerprint check, but I've never run into it in three years of use and updating hardware.

Steam does it right.

 

[VenusianSky]

Not trying to be cynical, but I don't find this to be all too signficant. Only signficant to people that particularly want to play Valve games on a Mac. The thing is that the PC video game market is not mainstream. The consoles dominate gaming. I'd figure that most Mac users that are into video game playing own one of the big three consoles. As for video games and Apple, the iPhone/iPad seems to be the system for games. Yes, the graphics are no where close to what is possible on a Mac, but I would have to assume many more games are sold on the iPhone platform than the Mac these days. Computer gaming will always be around, but just not in the mainstream market.

 

[kiang]

I didn't know what steam or valve was. This is great news. Maybe Apple should buy this company so that google doesn't buy it and port it to android. This is precisely the kind of company that google would buy to deliberately kill just so apple couldn't have it and dominate the gaming industry.

Apple needs to invent a way to use you iPhone like a joystick to control whAt happens on your television screen.

Saying this makes you a complete idiot... Gaming on Mac is a big no-no, Apple knows that and no company would ever turn a succesful Windows platform to a Mac-only one.
Killing a company (such as Valve) like that way isn't just stupid, it's also illegal.

 

[CountBrass]

Its not the type of DRM that punishes legit users. Its really cool! All my Steam games are tied to my Steam ID. I can go to a friends house, download Steam, login with my Steam ID

That takes about 10 minutes, ok no big deal.

& download any of the games that I've purchased through steam & play right there!

And what will you do for the 3-6 hours it takes to download each game (assuming your friend and his family aren't downloading porn in the background)?

Compare this to you friend installing two copies of the game in advance of your arrival from those terribly old fashioned silver disk things so you can play as soon as you get there.

I've spent a fortune on buying games on Steam but I think you've let your breathless enthusiasm run-away with you.

 

[Sambo110]

I've always been a staunch hater of DRM, but the thing about Steam is, you don't even *notice* the DRM.

You can still play games if you're offline just fine. Games update automatically when you're online.

Games tend to be so inexpensive on Steam that the fact I may lose them if the company goes out of business isn't a constant worry. I paid $15 for The Orange box, which contained SEVERAL games. I did this in 2007 and have been playing them on and off for years without an issue.

If Steam uses DRM, I don't even notice it. Hell, the DRM on retail games tends to be ten times as annoying; you often need the disc to play even when it's installed on your drive, and on top of that recently some publishers are being assclowns, like Ubisoft with your "must be online to play AC2" garbage.

In fact, I don't even know WHAT Steam does to prevent piracy. I assume they have some sort of hardware fingerprint check, but I've never run into it in three years of use and updating hardware.

Steam does it right.

Valve have said that if they ever close down Steam, they will patch all of the games to work without it.

 

[kiang]

How about most people don't really care about playing the latest & greatest of every single game? How about they just want to be a casual player of these games like 90% of those who actually play any games?

how about 90% of users that don't have a mac?
And how about the 75% of mac users that also have a PC?
And how about the full 100% of gamers with a mac and a PC that use their PC, and NOT the mac, for the games because it has better hardware anyway?

gaming on Mac will NEVER break through. This is nice though: now I can use steam chat on my MBP

 

[thebeautyisfake]

Valve have said that if they ever close down Steam, they will patch all of the games to work without it.

Hell, they better do. I've spent a lot of money buying games from them.

Who cares? The hardcore gamer is merely a niche market now. Games like l4d don't cater to the hardcore as much as they cater to the casual gamer - Valve knows what they are doing here.

Super high end gaming rigs are in the same realm as audiophilia, if you ask me: a pornographic excess of consumption.

I made a joke about a word being split in two. How in gods green earth did you come up with that as a response?

 

[kiang]

Maybe this isn't just Steam coming to Mac, maybe Apple actually bought Valve? Apple has nearly $25 billion in cash, and I doubt Valve is more than $100 million.

This could be one of the "big, bold risks" Steve Jobs referred to.

shut up xD

Valve had a revenue of $70M in 2007, and it only went up after L4D1 and 2, one of the biggest hits in online FPSgames in recent years. Buying Valve would cost over a billion at the very least. But youa re right Apple COULD pull it off, but they won't: gaming on the mac is a joke, Apple knows that. If Apple were serious about gaming, they would at least have a mid-tower that allows you to change the GFX card yourself, and they would update their GFX chips more often in other models.

 

[sikkinixx]

My girlfriend almost crapped herself when I told her about all this. She plays tons of games (on MY pc and MY account ) because they won't play on her Macbook. If Steam goes on OS X she can play Peggle and Plants vs Zombies on her own machine

 

[Cymbol]

Great More Violent Games

That's all our Youth need , as if there is not enough already.

 

[kiang]

That's all our Youth need , as if there is not enough already.

So true: parents carrying guns and patronizing murder and war, that's OK because it's done in the name of 'freedom' and America. But hey, playing a game, THAT is ruining our youth!

 

[Schizoid]

YES! BRILLIANT!!

I can now play outdated, five-year-old games on my Mac!
I cannot wait! oh hang on, what's this Windows thing on my second partition...

 

[ph0rk]

I've never seen pornographic used like that before.

Audiophiles usually have prime hearing and most likely play a musical instrument. I would happily spend $200 on a pair of headphones just for less distortion.

You say prime hearing, I say they like to buy status with esoteric gadgetry. "Hardcore" gamers who drop many thousands on gaming hardware are little different. One group talks about golden ears, the other about being able to notice sub-5ms hardware display lag.

Neither group drives the mass market. Valve and Apple both sell to the mass market.

Hell, they better do. I've spent a lot of money buying games from them.



I made a joke about a word being split in two. How in gods green earth did you come up with that as a response?

You made a comment about the use of the term, or rather the legitimacy of an inappropriate use. The problem being that the hardcore gamer isn't really relevant to gaming as an industry anymore, so it doesn't really have much to do with the discussion.

Do you disagree?

 

[BothBarsOn]

That's all our Youth need , as if there is not enough already.

WON'T SOMEBODY PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN?

 

[VenusianSky]

WON'T SOMEBODY PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN?

Yeah! Instead of having adult characters in video games, they should make them all the children. You play as a child and you shoot other children.

 

[MorphingDragon]

You say prime hearing, I say they like to buy status with esoteric gadgetry. "Hardcore" gamers who drop many thousands on gaming hardware are little different. One group talks about golden ears, the other about being able to notice sub-5ms hardware display lag.

Neither group drives the mass market. Valve and Apple both sell to the mass market.

But the high end market advances the Mass Market technologically. Both are important. Technology companies aim for the high-end market. Then water out features for the mass market. Eg, Graphics cards. ATi started at the HD5870 then watered down to the 5670 then at the lowest, a 5350.

 

[thebeautyisfake]

You say prime hearing, I say they like to buy status with esoteric gadgetry.

Exactly where do you think you stand to be in a position to make such a ludicrous statement? Sweeping generalisations about groups of people make baby Jesus cry.
Could say the same about Mac users. You say "easier to use", some say they like to buy status with their overpriced starbucks-ready hardware. See what I did there? I can stereotype groups of people, too!

 

[ph0rk]

But the high end market advances the Mass Market technologically. Both are important. Technlogoy companies aim for the high-end market. Then water out features for the mass market. Eg, Graphics cards. ATi started at the HD5870 then watered down to the 5670 then at the lowest, a 5350.



Okay...

...



I agree kinda... I'm a little confused TBH. Are you babbling or trying to be serious?

Quite serious. Conspicuous consumption is a sickness, and the casual gamer drives the industry. A $5k gaming rig does not make someone an authority, it just makes them poor. Why should anyone care what they have to say?

It is obvious, really - the more accessible a product is, the more units will sell.

Exactly where do you think you stand to be in a position to make such a ludicrous statement? Sweeping generalisations about groups of people make baby Jesus cry.
Could say the same about Mac users. You say "easier to use", some say they like to buy status with their overpriced starbucks-ready hardware. See what I did?

The difference is: I don't get upset by your generalization - there isn't anything wrong with a sweeping generalization now and then when no one is really interested in discussing the specifics.

 

[Digitalclips]

Do I dare to say it? I do: this is the most significant thing to happen to the mac since the Intel switch.

You may well be correct. It may not be so much about just this one single event but that this event is the start, a major one, of a tidal wave of Mac acceptance in the future. The interesting thing will be if, as I bet they will, see the iPad and therefor games with full Apple multi-touch also being the future.

 

[thebeautyisfake]

The difference is: I don't get upset by your generalization.

I don't think anybody got upset over yours, either.

there isn't anything wrong with a sweeping generalization now and then when no one is really interested in discussing the specifics.

I can just tell you're a hit with the ladies.

 

[ph0rk]

I don't think anybody got upset over yours, either.

Upset enough to complain.


Do you have a specific argument to the contrary? Are the gamers that buy their hardcore status with copious amounts of high-end hardware an authority in the industry we should all be listening to?

I can just tell you're a hit with the ladies.

I'm not here to be your monkey.

 

[MattSepeta]

Portal

WOOOO PORTAL!!!

HALF LIFE SWEEEEEEET!

I hope this happens, and soon.

 

[thebeautyisfake]

Upset enough to complain.

I recall making a remark about your statement. I don't really recall complaining. Whatever gives you more man points, though.

Do you have a specific argument to the contrary? Are the gamers that buy their hardcore status with copious amounts of high-end hardware an authority in the industry we should all be listening to?

No, but saying that anybody who enjoys buying high-end hardware in any product range is an idiot (which is what you essentially did) is also an invalid statement. Sure, you will get the odd person who thinks their water cooled tri-sli overclocked i7 rig gives them ruling opinion, but my comment is regarding your generalisation. Not everybody thinks like that, and it's a bit lame to assume they do.

I'm not here to be your monkey.

What the hell do I do with this banana I bought you?

 

[ph0rk]

No, but saying that anybody who enjoys buying high-end hardware is an idiot (which is what you essentially did) is also an invalid statement. Sure, you will get the odd person who thinks their water cooled tri-sli overclocked i7 rig gives them ruling opinion, but my comment is regarding your generalisation.

Short of the rare individual that has enough discretionary income to not notice such an expenditure (which is obscene for different reasons), I doubt there are many examples of the individuals you describe. If there are, they aren't demanding that we listen to their "expert" opinion, in any case - though their expenditures are still on the ragged edge of stupid if we are still discussing a $5k gaming computer.

Spending money does not make you an authority.