By – TPG News Beat

Origin-MacBeta

EA has opened its PC gaming doors to more users by introducing an alpha version of their gaming client, Origin, for Mac gamers.  You can grab the new Mac version by visiting the Demos page.  In addition, you can read up on the Mac specific FAQ.  In an odd move, the Origin store and many other features are not available to those who participate in the alpha.

While an alpha is still an alpha, the entire process seems a bit mismanaged and confusing.  Why release a product which, for the most part, cannot be used?  Yes, you are given a PopCap title, Bookworm, as something to play while testing, but that is it.  The alpha only appears to be for US and UK residents so the rest of the world will have to wait.  The EA statement can be read here.

Only time and user feedback will tell if this release truly was worth the minimal effort.

 

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  • http://www.handsometrustworthy.com/ Armaan Khan

    Fantastic news. Origin gets a bad rap, but if this means I can re-purchase The Sims 3 for my Mac, as well as get partially out of the tyranny of Steam, then I’m all for it. And, hey, free game to boot.

    • http://www.handsometrustworthy.com/ Armaan Khan

      To update on this: it turns out that because I registered all my Sims 3 serial numbers with EA on the Sims 3 website, I got free copies of the game and my owned expansions in Origin. That saves me a couple hundred dollars.

      • Adam Ames

        That is how it should be. In this case, asking someone to pay again for a different version of a product they already own is pretty cheap.

    • Tom K

      That’s not really a fair point, you’re still being shackled to some form of DRM – temporarily trading one for another isn’t technically ‘freeing’ you in any way.

      “seems a bit mismanaged and confusing”
      EA in a nutshell? =)