Today is the launch day for the mac steam client. Looks like they have 64 mac-compatable games in the steam store, which is more than I was expecting.
If anyone figures out a way to turn off the mac/pc compatability icons next to the game names please tell me since I find it mildly annoying.
Looking over the actual list of those games, it’s mostly casual games without too much good stuff. But maybe having the steam platform on mac will make more developers interested in codevelopment.
Valve made portal free for everyone (including mac users) for a few weeks, so definitely go about installing that. Torchlight for $10 and that Indie Pack with world of goo and osmos and 3 others for $20 seem like a good place to start.
To reiterate, PORTAL IS FREE UNTIL MAY 24 FREE FOR THE PC FREE FOR THE MAC
DOWNLOAD IT NOW
To be clear on the “free portal” thing, does that mean “Download it before May 24 and you can keep it forever”, or does it mean “download it now and you can keep on playing it until May 24”?
Looks like it’s temporary.
But it doesn’t take that long to finish, so you can complete it in that time span.
In my case, the catch is that I don’t yet have the computer to play it on. So it’s not just a matter of “click the button and play”; I have to wait until I decide on a computer and possibly get it delivered. Plus, of course, I like being able to pick up a game years later and re-play it. Then again, though, the regular price is only, what, $10 or so?
I assume Portal is free to keep forever, as long as you download it before the deadline.
Otherwise they would call it a “free trial.” Saying it is free means you get the same thing you would get if you payed for it: the ability to keep it forever.
Yeah, I think you’re right. I misinterpreted the page the first time. It’s somewhat vague though.
Log onto Steam on a friend’s computer and hit the button there. Or change your password temporarily, PM a SDMB friend you trust, they can log on and hit the button for you. Then you can change the password again.
If your hard drive dies and you have titles downloaded from Steam, there’s a record of your purchases and you can re-download them again for free…right?
Sure can! You can also back them up to an external drive or DVDs, so you can reload them quicker than downloading.
Yeah, it’s tied to your account.
Awesome.
Turns out that the bookstore had the model of computer I decided on in stock, so I was able to just go over and pick it up today. I’m currently (slowly) downloading Portal, but might have to wait til tomorrow to play.
I guess some devs are working quickly to port their games to Mac.
Finally made the leap. Downloaded Portal (only 30 mins!). I just started it, but so far it has blown my already high expectations out of the water. I love the little machine gun guys!
“I forgive you.” 
I won’t bump the thread to announce every time a new Mac game comes out, but they released the Half Life 2 series today and for 30% off. If you’ve never played any of the games, you can get The Orange Box which has HL2, episode 1 and 2, Portal and Team Fortress 2 for $21. It’d be hard to find a gaming value like that anywhere ever.
Thought I might bump this thread to tell everyone that Counter strike: source is now mac compatable and on sale for $6.80 for at least another day. It’s a pretty big deal because CSS is still insanely popular often with 70,000+ people on at one time playing (and another 70-80k for the original cs). If you’re interested in online shooters at all you should grab it.
Steam is also having a huge summer sale which is a good time for you to pick up games you might’ve been interested in, like the Valve complete pack (edit: I guess not that much of the valve complete pack is mac compatable, so nm) Anything that says “steamplay” works for mac too. [Here’s a list](Here’s a list). Today only there’s killing floor for $5 that’s steamplay compatable. There will be new daily sales each day, in addition to the general sales that last through July 4.