Have you ever dreamt of a world where there is only one gaming platform? Where what hardware you buy or what platform a certain game is for doesn't matter. Where you don't miss out on all the amazing games on the other platforms? Or, pehaps most important of all, where there are no fanboys knocking your taste in games?

I know I have.

We all know this dream to be an impossibility, something that will never happen no matter how much we wish for it. It is incompatible with reality, and as much as we might wish for it, it might also end up being bad for us consumers in the end.

Yet today, we are closer than ever to having such a system. I am of course, as you will have surmised from the title and the topic, talking about the launch of Steam on Mac. It might not seem like a big and earth moving launch if not for one tiny little detail.

Any game purchased on a Steam account works and can be played on both Mac and PC, regardless of which version you purchased (assuming the game is released on Mac, naturally. Not very many games are).

The reason this little detail is important is because it's the first time a gaming platform spans over competing hardware borders. I'm sure there have already been tons of editorials about this, but it was only recently that I realized the potential here. What if this move to Mac would only be the first step?

What if, and now I'm taking a leap into dreamworld, what if Steam some day moved on to consoles, or even handhelds as well. All games compatible with your console, or consoles, that you have purchased over Steam now playable in front of the television.

Yes. I can see the problems in front of me. First one being licensing fees. But enough of that. I want to dream. It's such a nice dream.

I figure the biggest reason we have seen this historic move is because Steam is the first big gaming platform that isn't owned by a gaming hardware manufacturer. Since Valve makes no hardware, only sell software, they are interested only in selling as many games as possible. Making gamers buy the game is the important part, not what platform they are playing on. And this attitude could well mean Valve would be very interested in releasing Steam on other platforms, if allowed to.

A neat thing resulting from Steam on different platforms would be that all backwards compatible games would be automatically transfered once you make a hardware upgrade. Just imagine that.

So what do you think would be the benefits? And the drawbacks? Which would be the most likely next target for any new hardware Steam would want to go to?

I don't know about handhelds and consoles, but the different operating systems from Windows, OS X and Linux is certainly something. It's pretty sweet that if you own it on Windows, then you can log into your accoutn on OS X and (probably soon to be) Linux and download a supported game.

It'll be interesting to see what happens.

that is one hell of a dream you have there but I think by the time such a dream is viable (unless of coarse the fact that Portal 2 for PS3 supports steam features like steam cloud for svegames means that steam will soon be available for PS3 and you will only have to buy the game once to play it on Windows, Mac and PS3) my dream of quantum entanglement for the instantaneous transfer of information leads to high speed lag free Internet anywhere on earth allowing all content to be streamed to me via a service like OnLive (in 1080p HD or higher of course) may be a reality. But your dream may be more likely than mine so you know whatever.

Wouldn't be necessarily better, the competition between the PS3 and the 360 has given us, the consumer, a much better service - games, bundles, prices, etc. But I understand you, it would be awesome to play Super Mario, Halo and MGS on the same console.

Besides, I thought Valve wanted to implement Steam on the PS3, and Sony was going to let 'em... Or did I dream? =O

I'm hoping for Steam on Linux. Would be very nice just to have the messanger so I can talk to my friends easier. Even just source engine games would be huge for not needed to switch over to Windows though. I wonder if they'll let you use WINE to try a Windows game on Linux or support Dosbox games through the Linux version of dosbox?

You're completely right about the competition being good for the consumer. If it wasn't for that, capitalism wouldn't work... Which makes my dream a little backwards.

But as far as I understood it, Portal on PS3 was going to use Steamworks, which isn't necessarily the same as Steam. It's a set of tools for building online gameplay. I think. I better check it up more properly.

It's not that great, but it IS a first step.

Yes, it's going to use Steamworks. But you would still need a Steam account if you want to have the achievements registered. I think you'll be able to login to a Steam account on the PS3 version.