Really, Steam? I get *both* versions?!

[Catalyst6]

I booted up Steam to play a good old round of TF2 and was greeted by an ad for the weekend deal for Torchlight: Fifty percent off, AND I get to play it on Mac and PC!

...

Is it just me, or is this an obvious thing? I mean, I like Steam, I really do. But I had kind of assumed that buying one version of something would mean that you got to play all versions. Steam should have no need to advertise that you only have to buy it once to play on both platforms.

For example, let's say that a mac user bought Torchlight and, after a bit of playing, decided to move to PC. Was Steam really expecting him to buy it all over again? Or perhaps the opposite, where the hypothetical guy gets a brain tumor and decides to ditch his PC for a Mac. Is Steam this greedy?

I credit Steam for trying to include people with Macs, like you might invite the neighborhood gimp to play basketball with you. But were they seriously thinking of double-dipping for the poor bastards? Steam, I am disappoint.

 

[CopperBoom]

What a venomous, mean-spirited write up.
Why?

 

[Marter]

(Devil's Advocate Speaking)

I don't really see a problem with forcing someone to buy a game twice. If I only had an Xbox 360, and decided to switch to a PS3, I don't expect to be able to trade in my old copy of a game I had on the 360 for a new copy on the PS3. If someone wants to switch from PC to Mac, they should be willing to re-purchase the games that they had. Steam is doing an incredible service to these people by allowing them to download Torchlight on both a PC and a Mac.

 

[Cherry Cola]

I'm having a hard time understanding what your point is. Do you have to pay for both, do you not?

Write more sensible so I understand.

 

[Clobbertron]

I think the reason they advertise that you can play it on mac and PC is so you know which steam games are compatible with macs. So if you had a Desktop PC and a Macbook you would know which games you would be able to carry around with you.

 

[Amalith]

Were it a company like activision, they probably would charge you twice. Steam may be advertizing how nice they are, and maybe that's a little arrogant, but at least they ARE being nice.

 

[The Eggplant]

(Devil's Advocate Speaking)

I don't really see a problem with forcing someone to buy a game twice. If I only had an Xbox 360, and decided to switch to a PS3, I don't expect to be able to trade in my old copy of a game I had on the 360 for a new copy on the PS3. If someone wants to switch from PC to Mac, they should be willing to re-purchase the games that they had. Steam is doing an incredible service to these people by allowing them to download Torchlight on both a PC and a Mac.

Yes and no. XBox and PS3 reflect inherently different platforms entirely; on the other hand, call it a Mac or call it a PC--they're both computers. That said, I can see where the argument could be made that Macs are somehow substantively different from PCs due to differences in OS, programming functionality, what-have-you. I don't think it's "an incredible service," but I can see where a dev could make the case that due to the need to program two different game scripts for Mac and PC, a user should pay twice.

...Not really sure where I was going with that, since I think I basically just countered my own argument.

Oh, and with that said,

Is it just me, or is this an obvious thing?

It, uh, appears to be you.

 

[direkiller]

Dint steam just come to mac's?

its more of a thing for mac users saying hey you can play this game too rather then something you need to get workedup over

 

[Voodoomancer]

Maybe it's just specific wording, to draw people in, "Buy NOW, and you'll get the game for both platforms!", like saying "Buy your movie ticket now, and get free seating!". While technically true, something that you don't have to specifically state.

Or they might just actually be charging for the extra development time caused by 2 different platforms...

Who knows?

 

[Marter]

(Devil's Advocate Speaking)

I don't really see a problem with forcing someone to buy a game twice. If I only had an Xbox 360, and decided to switch to a PS3, I don't expect to be able to trade in my old copy of a game I had on the 360 for a new copy on the PS3. If someone wants to switch from PC to Mac, they should be willing to re-purchase the games that they had. Steam is doing an incredible service to these people by allowing them to download Torchlight on both a PC and a Mac.

Yes and no. XBox and PS3 reflect inherently different platforms entirely; on the other hand, call it a Mac or call it a PC--they're both computers. That said, I can see where the argument could be made that Macs are somehow substantively different from PCs due to differences in OS, programming functionality, what-have-you. I don't think it's "an incredible service," but I can see where a dev could make the case that due to the need to program two different game scripts for Mac and PC, a user should pay twice.

...Not really sure where I was going with that, since I think I basically just countered my own argument.

I wasn't really stating my opinion, just trying to stir the pot a little bit. I think it worked.

 

[Doctor VonSexMachine]

Um, Steam just came to macs today. They are trying to let players know which games will run on both platforms. That's why they mention it, not to tell you that you personally can play on both.

 

[Dienekes]

Or perhaps the opposite, where the hypothetical guy gets a brain tumor and decides to ditch his PC for a Mac. Is Steam this greedy?

I hope I don't have one, Because I'm considering leaving my pc to the dogs. :O

 

[The Random One]

Buying it twice to play on two platforms is one of those things that is obviously wrong to everyone but the people who are actually in charge of the distribuition of these things.

 

[Zwan]

You do realise they have to re-program their entire engine just to get it working on the new platform don't you?

Apps designed for windows don't work on Mac just to annoy us and to get more money.

PS: why are you gaming on a Mac you silly boy.

 

[Nerdygamer89]

Err, what? I'm not even sure what your point is here. Do you buy PC games and expect them to work for your PS3 or 360 as well, and then get mad when they don't? Like a PC to console conversion, PC to mac costs money to re-code to work on a different software/hardware structure.

Valve is THE most above board, highest quality game company out there right now. Hell, they just gave Portal away for FREE; are you seriously implying that they're greedy?

 

[TelHybrid]

To be honest, you shouldn't come to expect that.

That's like buying a 360 game and expecting to be able to play the PS3 version.

Valve are doing a good fan service here. As this guy says:

You do realise they have to re-program their entire engine just to get it working on the new platform don't you?

Apps designed for windows don't work on Mac just to annoy us and to get more money.

PS: why are you gaming on a Mac you silly boy.

Had to keep the "P.S." comment in, haha.

Don't be so negative about a company doing something good for once. Steam is probably the only bearable DRM there is these days, and this is another good thing. Try to focus your negativity towards a company that wants to fuck up the gaming industry such as Activision via the death of dedicated servers and mods and £55 RRP.

 

[Weaver]

I'd imagine they do this just for the developers to have a choice.

We can be sure pretty much all valve games are going to have both, but if some devs want to be greedy then steam gives them the option to.

However, I think this is something that a lot of developers will probably just throw on for free.

 

[Chunko]

I booted up Steam to play a good old round of TF2 and was greeted by an ad for the weekend deal for Torchlight: Fifty percent off, AND I get to play it on Mac and PC!

...

Is it just me, or is this an obvious thing? I mean, I like Steam, I really do. But I had kind of assumed that buying one version of something would mean that you got to play all versions. Steam should have no need to advertise that you only have to buy it once to play on both platforms.

For example, let's say that a mac user bought Torchlight and, after a bit of playing, decided to move to PC. Was Steam really expecting him to buy it all over again? Or perhaps the opposite, where the hypothetical guy gets a brain tumor and decides to ditch his PC for a Mac. Is Steam this greedy?

I credit Steam for trying to include people with Macs, like you might invite the neighborhood gimp to play basketball with you. But were they seriously thinking of double-dipping for the poor bastards? Steam, I am disappoint.

it's like whatever bro, you know what i'm sayin?

 

[guardian001]

But I had kind of assumed that buying one version of something would mean that you got to play all versions.

Really? That was stupid of you. Most other games that are multi-platform require you to buy bother versions. Heck, most games that aren't multi-platform require you to buy multiple copies for multiple computers.