Steam Mac Versions Likely, Portal ARG Still Alive March 4, 2010

Valve is currently beta testing a new GUI for Steam with several of its users.  Many have been suprised when looking into the beta’s code that the Internet Explorer framework which has been present in almost all versions of Steam has been removed in favor of its own web browser.  But more than that it would free the Steam GUI from being Windows exclusive and allow the possiblity of a Mac version.  Valve has since released very iconic promotional images to various websites including Kotaku and Macworld with references to previously released Valve games including Half-Life 2, Team Fortress 2, Portal and Left 4 Dead 2 in very apple-esque images such as the TF2 Demoman using an iPod and Alyx, the female lead of Half-Life 2, replacing the main character in the iconic 1984 Mac announcement commercial.

Yesterday, in a very interesting turn of events, Valve released the second patch to Portal 2 in two years.  The previous patch, done three days ago, added a very obscurely referenced achievement, which lead to a puzzle people have been closely following for days.  Many working on the puzzle are convinced this ARG (Alternate-Reality Game) is to promote a sequel to Portal.  The recent Portal update actually changed the ending to Portal, showing that instead of being freed from the Company, several automated robots offscreen pulled the Protagonist away against her will.  Valve called it in the patch notes “Valuable Asset Retrieval”.

Portal 2 has not yet been announced nor has a Mac Version of Steam, although both are more likely to be announced within the next coming days.  If they are announced you can be sure to get the full announcement here.