Latest News
Added by BobiRoka, 09-03-2010, links to http://www.joystiq.com/2010/03/08/valve-confirms-mac-support-for-steam...
The Half Life developers have officially made history today, by opening up their back catelogue to the Apple Mac. Further stories today have clarified that these games are playable cross-platform, that games bought for either platform will work on the other, and that Battlefield will follow suit...
Comments
Post New Comment
Post New Comment
Those other breaking stories...
L4D multiplayer to work cross-platform:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/l4d-multiplayer-to-work-cross-platform
Bad Company 2 Might Go Mac As Well:
http://kotaku.com/5488955/bad-company-2-might-go-mac-as-well?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kotaku%2Ffull+%28Kotaku%29
L4D multiplayer to work cross-platform:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/l4d-multiplayer-to-work-cross-platform
Bad Company 2 Might Go Mac As Well:
http://kotaku.com/5488955/bad-company-2-might-go-mac-as-well?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kotaku%2Ffull+%28Kotaku%29
And on a personal note... this pretty much spells the end of everything PC for me when I next upgrade.
1. Only thing stopping me from owning a MAC before was the lack of games support, which I admit was starting to become less and less of an issue since I got a machine(s) specifically built for the purpose.
2. The cross-platform element sweetens the deal even further - I could still theoretically play against PC players.
3. World of Warcraft came out on both PC & Mac platforms at about the same time i.e. the disc worked in both machines etc. Dragon Age is available for Mac too. This suggests that The Old Republic will most likely come to Mac too, especially after the bombshell above.
4. If all else fails you can always bootcamp with Windows 7...
This is an epic win for Apple, who have traditionally kept well out of all things gaming. It was always gonna be down to the third party developers to make this happen.
Valve rule.
1. Only thing stopping me from owning a MAC before was the lack of games support, which I admit was starting to become less and less of an issue since I got a machine(s) specifically built for the purpose.
2. The cross-platform element sweetens the deal even further - I could still theoretically play against PC players.
3. World of Warcraft came out on both PC & Mac platforms at about the same time i.e. the disc worked in both machines etc. Dragon Age is available for Mac too. This suggests that The Old Republic will most likely come to Mac too, especially after the bombshell above.
4. If all else fails you can always bootcamp with Windows 7...
This is an epic win for Apple, who have traditionally kept well out of all things gaming. It was always gonna be down to the third party developers to make this happen.
Valve rule.
You have of course researched the a) cost of a Mac and b) the spec of the Mac.
Just because they make the iBandwagon doesn't mean they also provide a decent platform for mouse/keys gaming.
Just because they make the iBandwagon doesn't mean they also provide a decent platform for mouse/keys gaming.
You have of course used a MAC before right? It's > PC.
I've also heard many good things from people like you and I, who use Macs for developing. Some people absolutely swear by them... their laptops in particular are sexy as f**k.
I've also heard many good things from people like you and I, who use Macs for developing. Some people absolutely swear by them... their laptops in particular are sexy as f**k.
Greater than a PC? According to who? The fanboys?
Give church a go mate. At least the community there is long-running and cheap.
Give church a go mate. At least the community there is long-running and cheap.
Considering your well documented and enthusiastic support of PC Gaming over the last few years, I’m sure this news will be a bitter blow to the entire community.
I for one will miss changing my plans, racing home and logging in to await your comradeship only to find you were still having ‘just one more pint’ in a London pub.
We shall miss you.
I for one will miss changing my plans, racing home and logging in to await your comradeship only to find you were still having ‘just one more pint’ in a London pub.
We shall miss you.
Um. Did you mention Battlefield in there?
Battlefield as in 2142 "oh no, I can't install it" Battlefield?
The one you often say "yeah, I'll join you", then never do?
Dude, don't waste your money buying a Mac just so you can say the same thing but with a nice logo on your computer.
Battlefield as in 2142 "oh no, I can't install it" Battlefield?
The one you often say "yeah, I'll join you", then never do?
Dude, don't waste your money buying a Mac just so you can say the same thing but with a nice logo on your computer.
When it comes to 'desktop' gaming - as I guess we'll have to call it soon, the only thing I honestly care about is the forthcoming 'The Old Republic'. And TBQH, I'll probably just be getting a circa-£100 GFX card for that...
I only mentioned Battlefield there amongst the other stories to demonstrate which way the winds blowing since Valve's big announcement. Lots of 'me too' going on... honestly - it can't be hard to make games work on Mac too. Everything else gets ported.
I just think it's interesting how it's finally happening for the Appleists... And that - ya know - there's a much lower mental barrier to entry for me now. They cost a bit I know, but from everything I've heard they're pretty solid machines...
I only mentioned Battlefield there amongst the other stories to demonstrate which way the winds blowing since Valve's big announcement. Lots of 'me too' going on... honestly - it can't be hard to make games work on Mac too. Everything else gets ported.
I just think it's interesting how it's finally happening for the Appleists... And that - ya know - there's a much lower mental barrier to entry for me now. They cost a bit I know, but from everything I've heard they're pretty solid machines...
I've dramatically cut down the amount of weekday boozing I do, yet still I can't find the time for gaming during the week...
Like right now I can't be alfed to play Bioshock 2, even though I distinctly remember having a good time with it last time I played.
Maybe I just really am over FPSs...
Like right now I can't be alfed to play Bioshock 2, even though I distinctly remember having a good time with it last time I played.
Maybe I just really am over FPSs...
I spent a day and a half on a Mac in After Effects last week and can honestly say that I have never had a computer crash on me quite so many times in my life.
But it's not the computers I despise, it's the annoying unwarranted smugness and need to run PC's down of the "how do I do this? Oh, better give the IT guy a call" brigade that use them.
But it's not the computers I despise, it's the annoying unwarranted smugness and need to run PC's down of the "how do I do this? Oh, better give the IT guy a call" brigade that use them.
And if it's such a serious development tool, then where's the chuffing hash key? THAT REALLY WINDS ME UP! No - I DON'T want to press alt f3 every time I type in a Hex colour, you annoying gayly cased b*****d!
My boss reminded me today that as a Time Warner employee I'm entitled to a 10% discount on any Mac. And in related news, that onlive streaming games service also works on a Mac. Now there's the future of gaming if ever there was one. Soon the machine you play on will be irrelevant. All you'll need is a control input device, a video screen and a PHAT internet connection.
I actually like the concept of OnLive but while it works well in a test environment it has a large amount of technical hills to climb before its truly viable imho.
Server farms are all well and good, but serving up hundreds of thousands of simultaneous instances of HD gaming at a speed and response rate to keep everyone happy will require some ridiculous grunt and that ain't cheap.
I have a 20mb internet connection but at heavy load times that can drop to below the minimum 5mb threshhold for HD gaming. Even cable is contested. I know we are all supposed to be on uber fast connections by 2020 or something, but even then its the reliability of the net connection thats infuriating. There's also wireless drop out, routing locks all kinds of fragility in cloud gaming that need to be addressed. Its one thing to lose net connetcion while you are fragging away in BF2142 is irritating, but to lose your progress in an sp game if you haven't saved due to a net connection? Gah!
Lets also hope that isp's don't go down the route of forcing companies to pay for prioritising their data traffic, as is being seriously debated, or else your OnLive subscription goes up possibly considerably. Lets *also* also hope that heavy games can be streamed within the 'fair use' or GB data cap of your isp along with all that pRon, movies, music etc that you don't download becasue piracy is bad, m'kay? How many GB installed was Dragon Age?
Then there's the visual quality issue. To maintain the minimum latency to achieve smooth gaming there is some ferocious compression going on and as a result all the spangly crisp visual beauty we love is dulled and muddied. Whether thats an acceptable compromise, I don't know - thats a personal decision.
Like I said, i think OnLive is pretty interesting, but I don't think for a minute that its going to be replacing home platform based gaming anytime soon - at least not in the UK due to the crappy infrastructure we have at present.
It might be the future of gaming, but I see it being Georges future, not mine.
Server farms are all well and good, but serving up hundreds of thousands of simultaneous instances of HD gaming at a speed and response rate to keep everyone happy will require some ridiculous grunt and that ain't cheap.
I have a 20mb internet connection but at heavy load times that can drop to below the minimum 5mb threshhold for HD gaming. Even cable is contested. I know we are all supposed to be on uber fast connections by 2020 or something, but even then its the reliability of the net connection thats infuriating. There's also wireless drop out, routing locks all kinds of fragility in cloud gaming that need to be addressed. Its one thing to lose net connetcion while you are fragging away in BF2142 is irritating, but to lose your progress in an sp game if you haven't saved due to a net connection? Gah!
Lets also hope that isp's don't go down the route of forcing companies to pay for prioritising their data traffic, as is being seriously debated, or else your OnLive subscription goes up possibly considerably. Lets *also* also hope that heavy games can be streamed within the 'fair use' or GB data cap of your isp along with all that pRon, movies, music etc that you don't download becasue piracy is bad, m'kay? How many GB installed was Dragon Age?
Then there's the visual quality issue. To maintain the minimum latency to achieve smooth gaming there is some ferocious compression going on and as a result all the spangly crisp visual beauty we love is dulled and muddied. Whether thats an acceptable compromise, I don't know - thats a personal decision.
Like I said, i think OnLive is pretty interesting, but I don't think for a minute that its going to be replacing home platform based gaming anytime soon - at least not in the UK due to the crappy infrastructure we have at present.
It might be the future of gaming, but I see it being Georges future, not mine.
Valve are tw@s who stopped being good just before HL2. So they can release their overrated shat on a Dyson hoover for all I care.
Wait for the iHoover and the rantings of the Roka that go with it.
I actually recently re-installed HL2 and I have to say that it gets better with each play - I'm currently seeing how far I can get with carrying Dog's 'ball' - I've reached the end of Ravenholm so far and it's proving an interesting little subgame :-)
I came to the same conclusion Mr B. When the BGE hype has moved on and you just play it as "a game" its quite entertaining. Enjoyed Episodes 1 and 2 as well (although I left it halfway through the big finale piece of Ep2). Still don't think its the BGE (or was at the time) but I don't have such spite for it as I once did.
It's all about the Portal these days IMHO...
I've got the ball about half way along the highway level now, although it's starting to p**s me right off as it keeps shorting out the buggy's electrics - it's pretty good at distracting ant lions though.
Portal was the most enjoyable game definitely.
Hate ant lions. The whole beach thing was so contrived and flawed.
Hate ant lions. The whole beach thing was so contrived and flawed.
What? I thought it was the BGE...
For anyone who doesn`t have Portal, its currently free for a limited period on Steam!
Best thing on there imho!
....apart from Dragon Age which is rockin me RPG nubbins.
Finished Portal for the first time ever. How cool is it?
So it wasn`t a lie after all...
So it wasn`t a lie after all...
hacking my way back through ME2 with a view to acquiring Dragon Age at the end of June.
Watched a number of videos of it over the last week and was a bit, well, gobsmacked.
I have a pair of slippers and a pipe here somewhere
Watched a number of videos of it over the last week and was a bit, well, gobsmacked.
I have a pair of slippers and a pipe here somewhere
OMG. It speaks! Perhaps time to rename the site to unDeadalfs.
Dragon Age is great. I've had to park my 2nd playthrough about 42 hours in to play Alan Wake and Red Dead Redemption, the latter of which is out this friday!!! YEEEEHAAAAWW!!!
Dragon Age is great. I've had to park my 2nd playthrough about 42 hours in to play Alan Wake and Red Dead Redemption, the latter of which is out this friday!!! YEEEEHAAAAWW!!!
