Will Valve Revitalize Mac Gaming With Steam For OS X?

Valve is in the midst of a media blitz at the moment — not that you'd notice, since their idea of a media blitz is secretly launching a complex alternate reality game , or emailing single novelty screenshots to six different media outlets. You could be forgiven for expecting a full-site skin for 1UP, or a week-long series of "developer diaries" on IGN — that's what every other game company out there thinks makes games sell. At any rate, GDC is coming up and the expected announcements are Steam on OS X (definite) and possibly a peek at Portal 2, Half-Life: Episode 3 , or both (speculative). Of course, the idea of Steam on the Mac makes fanboys of all stripes froth delicately at the mouth — but while an excellent game-distribution client like Steam would be welcome on the Mac, it may not be the gaming renaissance people are hoping for. It's worth taking a bit of time to look at, since gaming is increasingly a major source of revenue and a wedge to increase market share . Let's take a look at what Steam is up against.