The Drunken Lizard Pub

So I've got a question for the group...

Thanks to Inside Mac Games, I recently discovered a game I'd like to check out called Wargame: European Escalation.

However, if you look closely at the Mac Games Store page for the game, it indicates that Wargame: European Escalation "Requires Steam and a Steam Account to play."

Indeed, I've poked around, and I don't seem to be able to find any (Mac) version of this game (or demo) that is independent of Steam.

As somebody who doesn't have a Steam account, and who has no intention of signing up to to their service, is this something that I'm going to increasingly have to worry about - Mac games that are offered only via the Steam service? (I suspect that'll kill the Mac game market off rather quickly... )

Anyone have any ideas about this...?

not to mention more and more Mac games can only be gotten by going to the Mac Store. (which usually means no downloading for demo's) I refuse to buy a game I can't play a demo in. sigh.

Yeah, whether that was the creators of the game, or Apple, I feel like it wasn't the brightest of choices.
I respect your choice to not get Steam, though as a pretty strong Steam user, I'm just putting this out there:
Steam is free, and convenient. It's not that bad.

IJBall wrote:Indeed, I've poked around, and I don't seem to be able to find any (Mac) version of this game (or demo) that is independent of Steam.

That's just unnecessarily mean. While Steam has made gaming a bit easier, it has drawn most of the games inside itself.

steam is free to use. the games are what costs money. I love steam personally, and have never had issues beyond my own stupidity (forgot my password once).

I use steam and GoG as my two main sources of games these days. I think the only time I set foot in a video game store is when I want a wii U game these days.

Dragonlady wrote: not to mention more and more Mac games can only be gotten by going to the Mac Store. (which usually means no downloading for demo's) I refuse to buy a game I can't play a demo in. sigh.

Software piracy has its uses. Pirate the game first, then, if you like it, buy it. I've done that more than once.

leshpar wrote:steam is free to use. the games are what costs money. I love steam personally, and have never had issues beyond my own stupidity (forgot my password once).

I use steam and GoG as my two main sources of games these days. I think the only time I set foot in a video game store is when I want a wii U game these days.

Those may actually be the only sources I use these days. The last time I bought a game from a different souce was maybe Portal, which I bought from a GameStop in Helsinki about a year ago.

Lord_P wrote:

leshpar wrote:steam is free to use. the games are what costs money. I love steam personally, and have never had issues beyond my own stupidity (forgot my password once).

I use steam and GoG as my two main sources of games these days. I think the only time I set foot in a video game store is when I want a wii U game these days.

Those may actually be the only sources I use these days. The last time I bought a game from a different souce was maybe Portal, which I bought from a GameStop in Helsinki about a year ago.

My preferred route is to go directly to game developers' websites and download the game (hopefully in demo form, first!) and then pay for it there.

Indeed, I have in the past gotten ticked off when I can't get the game directly from the developer and have sometimes opted not to get the game as the result.

Hence my original post in this thread - if you force me to sign up to Steam just to get your game, I'm not going to sign up to Steam: instead, I'm just not going to get your game.

IJBall wrote:

Lord_P wrote:

leshpar wrote:steam is free to use. the games are what costs money. I love steam personally, and have never had issues beyond my own stupidity (forgot my password once).

I use steam and GoG as my two main sources of games these days. I think the only time I set foot in a video game store is when I want a wii U game these days.

Those may actually be the only sources I use these days. The last time I bought a game from a different souce was maybe Portal, which I bought from a GameStop in Helsinki about a year ago.

My preferred route is to go directly to game developers' websites and download the game (hopefully in demo form, first!) and then pay for it there.

Indeed, I have in the past gotten ticked off when I can't get the game directly from the developer and have sometimes opted not to get the game as the result.

Hence my original post in this thread - if you force me to sign up to Steam just to get your game, I'm not going to sign up to Steam: instead, I'm just not going to get your game.

Well said, and pretty much what I do too.

Selling games always seemed like such an interesting profession. I mean, if it's the 10% of the games which actually turn a profit, it's only the question of choosing the right ones to sell, right?