Origin alpha available for Macs, official release "launching soon"

[Rick]

Origin will be "launching soon" for Macs, their official blog states. Before the final release hits the web though, Origin has invited its Mac users to kick the tires on the latest alpha client. Don't get too excited though: the open alpha is only available to a "few thousand" users, so by the time you read this -- you may not be able to sign up. Origin is handing out PopCap's "Bookworm" puzzle game as a free party favor though, for those who do manage to get in.

The EA-owned digital game distribution service says its aims to make Origin for Mac as close to the PC version as possible, so users can expect a very similar experience. Despite the effort though, the Alpha is missing some key features though, most notably the Origin store.

Origin is the brain child of Electronic Arts, a company who certainly has its detractors. Even Origin itself is often dismissed here in the comments, presumably by loyal Steam followers and EA skeptics. But perhaps the biggest take-home message here isn't necessarily the expansion of Origin; rather, it's the increasing viability of Mac OS X as a gaming platform. 

Over the years, Macs have gained momentum as a platform fit for gaming. Although Macs are still far behind PCs in terms of title selection and highest-end hardware, Mac users have still been able to enjoy games like Dragon Age, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm and Starcraft 2. 

It's important to note that although Origin is coming to Mac, that doesn't mean all of your favorite EA games will follow. Prior PC-only titles published by EA (e.g. Mass Effect series) will remain PC-only until developers make the appropriate modifications -- a decision which EA and its undersigned game studios may or may not make. However, EA's push for Origin on Mac may imply an emboldened commitment to publishing future titles on the platform -- we'll just have to wait and see.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/51443-origin-alpha-available-for-macs-official-release-launching-soon.html

 

[captainawesome]

Origin is the BIGGEST piece of trash service I have ever (EVER!!!) had the hideously unpleasant misfortune of being forced to use.
I don't know how many of you play Mass Effect but I fell in love with the series from ME1. By ME3 I was so invested in the franchise that I would have played it on a cellphone.
Anyway, with ME3, they (EA) force you to play it through Origin. which HAS to be connected to the internet otherwise they deactivate your DLC. And that in turn borks your saved games.
Then, the Origin servers for multiplayer on ME3 are SOOO badly operated they go down in the middle of a round and then it kicks out entirely. Not to mention that it's SOOOO slowwwwww.

Sorry, I guess I really hate EA.

Please tell me someone feels my pain?

PS. Anyone see that South Park episode?

 

[captainawesome]

OH, one last things, Origin never has specials! Steam sold like a bajillion games throughout the Xmas season on crazy special prices. You know what Origin did? 1 game. Some crap Sims DLC or something. Not to mention they sell the games from new with non-included DLC that you have to pay extra for. PUKE. I flippen HATE EA.

Right, so there is my yearly rant out of the way. Y'all can go about your daily lives again

 

[Sniped_Ash]

When I told Origin to uninstall ME3, it opened Windows' uninstall programs section in the Control Panel. I promptly uninstalled Origin too.

 

[Chazz]

Origin is the BIGGEST piece of trash service I have ever (EVER!!!) had the hideously unpleasant misfortune of being forced to use.
I don't know how many of you play Mass Effect but I fell in love with the series from ME1. By ME3 I was so invested in the franchise that I would have played it on a cellphone.
Anyway, with ME3, they (EA) force you to play it through Origin. which HAS to be connected to the internet otherwise they deactivate your DLC. And that in turn borks your saved games.
Then, the Origin servers for multiplayer on ME3 are SOOO badly operated they go down in the middle of a round and then it kicks out entirely. Not to mention that it's SOOOO slowwwwww.

Sorry, I guess I really hate EA.

Please tell me someone feels my pain?

PS. Anyone see that South Park episode?

I feel your pain. I own BF:BC3 and star wars MMO(purchased it before it became F2P) and I consider those games as "thrown away" as I uninstalled origin and refuse to use it ever again. I own ME1 and ME2 on steam and I would really like to play ME3 but as long as it's on Origin, I'll never have access to it.

I really do not like that serive.

 

[lawfer]

Origin is fine. Stop spreading that FUD.

Multiplayer servers are not tied to Origin. That's a misconception I've been hearing ever since the BF3 beta. Origin, just like Steam, is simply a DRM-protected digital store that also functions as a matchmaker for friends. It also serves to authenticate your login to the server. If you're having issues with ME3 multiplayer, take it to their forums.

I play BF3 every other day and Origin has only gotten better. I prefer Steam, but that's a given seeing most games are put on there, that and most of my friends play there.

 

[bielius]

Guys, where's the hate from?
Let's look at how I use it:
I bought BF3 in a retail store here where I live, and read on the back of it that I'd need Origin to play the game. So I downloaded it, registered an account, and entered my game code in Origin. Then it downloaded, and that's it. I don't see Origin anymore, so how come you all complain so much about?

 

[PC EliTiST]

Origin is the BIGGEST piece of trash service I have ever (EVER!!!) had the hideously unpleasant misfortune of being forced to use.

You know what? A few days ago, I bought a new SSD. It was a good opportunity to leave Windows 8 behind and go back on my favourite Windows 7. So... A clean installation took place, and after I got the updates, disabled all the features/services I don't need, installed all stable versions of the drivers I needed... I had to install again my favourite online game -Battlefield 3.

My point is, I had a perfectly clean and functioning windows 7, but when I started installing the game, I realised how my PC became bloated in no time... Imagine, I started with Origin, which installed DRMs and other $hits, then the game, which downloaded tons of wasted GBs ( I have the limited version, not Premium, but nevertheless I've to download everything ). The game installed Punkbuster $hit which is always on and watching, supposedly in case you visit bad, cheating-related websites, and as if all these weren't enough, I had to install the ESN plugins which recently have been bought by EA.

In short, I'm coming to your words. "had the hideously unpleasant misfortune of being forced to use" and for a game, my PC became bloated with who knows what $hit exactly BF3 forced me to install. All this bloat just for one game. Imagine many more games, Steam etc.

Meanwhile, EA DICE hasn't release a single real patch, with true bug fixes. Only balance adjustments, which means, they play with numbers on a .txt file for an hour with their coffee. And even these came untested. Gamers keep buying... This is how we lost the "right" for a properly released game long time ago. Now, we ( the gamers ) are gonna lose the right even for after-sale support.

At some point you've to start wondering... Do such a corporation deserve my money, being on my clean PC and my sanity? EA DICE... You know, they've been merged and now are one company.

 

[mailpup]

Any comments from Mac gamers?

 

[Chazz]

Guys, where's the hate from?
Let's look at how I use it:
I bought BF3 in a retail store here where I live, and read on the back of it that I'd need Origin to play the game. So I downloaded it, registered an account, and entered my game code in Origin. Then it downloaded, and that's it. I don't see Origin anymore, so how come you all complain so much about?

If you have BF3 then you should know what a annoyance that game is. It's not just origin, it's EA and their failure to make proper features.

Launching BF3 out of a browser? Having to start a game or edit files in order to change your game settings.Having to install that stupid esn sonar **** but having the game insist on launching IE, instead of my Nightly Firefox. Then having to install the plugins again, only to find out it doesn't work because I was trying out 64 bit IE. So now I have to manually open Firefox and go to their website to play the game. It can't even auto launch.

There is no reason in hell I should experience that when all I want to do is play a game. Steam is a service, Origin is a inconvenience. Steam wants to work with the user while Origin just wants the users. What sales did Origin have for the holidays? What did Steam do?

Origin is a waste. There is no reason for it but to be there. I don't want that on my computer.

 

[captainawesome]

Guys, where's the hate from?
Let's look at how I use it:
I bought BF3 in a retail store here where I live, and read on the back of it that I'd need Origin to play the game. So I downloaded it, registered an account, and entered my game code in Origin. Then it downloaded, and that's it. I don't see Origin anymore, so how come you all complain so much about?

I believe BF3 works different to ME3 when it comes to multiplayer. ME3 multiplayer servers are defined by the Origin system. If the origin system cannot be reached even for a second, the multiplayer game stuffs out and often the whole game crashes. I don't know if BF3 works the same. Either way, why are we restricted to EA run servers. It's effing nuts. Also, throughout my time with ME3, I have only noticed it become less and less stable. But that could be because I switched to Windows8 upon it's release a few months back.

 

[oldikes]

Guys, where's the hate from?
Let's look at how I use it:
I bought BF3 in a retail store here where I live, and read on the back of it that I'd need Origin to play the game. So I downloaded it, registered an account, and entered my game code in Origin. Then it downloaded, and that's it. I don't see Origin anymore, so how come you all complain so much about?

Heres what I have to complain about, the fact that origin is down for some stupid official EA excuse 50 percent of the time I use it to play any game (which is rarely, like once a month or something), and it randomly drops out connection, and the fact that using a browser to find multiplayer games in my opinion is incredibly annoying.

 

[bielius]

Yeah, I see your reasoning clearly, I agree with you all.
Still, I don't really make a big deal out of it, I know that it's really annoying, but I want to play the game, not use Origin, hence why I don't care so much about it. And yeah, I found myself annoyed when I couldn't use Waterfox with the webpage... But oh well. Atleast we agree that it sucks.

 

[Guest]

As a Mac gamer, having Origin or Steam or any other game library/management service means exactly nothing. In fact, it's become worse news as of late.

I game both natively on Mac and via bootcamp on a 27" iMac and when I heard that Steam was coming to Mac I was really excited. I assumed I'd be able to run the native Mac-version of Left 4 Dead 2 as well on OS X as I could on Windows 7 but obviously that's not the case. I run L4D 2 at 2560x1440, max everything at 60 fps on Windows but the Mac version was running at 1080x720, medium settings at a depressing 30 fps. You could argue that it's OS X's fault...Open GL implementation et. al. However, since I can run Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 on both platforms at the same resolution and settings and the Mac copies only run 5 fps slower, I'm convinced Valve was just lazy and ported a messy copy.

Long story short, having an empty EA store isn't exciting to me. Having a populated EA store would be an impressive first step but to be TRULY successful, we'd have to see emulated/native titles that run and look fantasically well. Most iMacs and Macbook Pros have great graphics chipsets, and beefy Core i5/7s. There's NO excuse for bad performance.

Want to impress me EA? How about making Mass Effect 3 stop crashing on my Windows 7 install? Or how about you keep Origin to yourself until you start programming games capably in Open GL, where the wrapper can be swapped quickly to make the game run well on either Windows or Mac? Blizzard can do it over and over...what's your excuse?

I