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Aspyr ships Rollercoaster Tycoon 3

Aspyr Media Inc. confirmed on Thursday that it’s shipping its Mac conversion of Rollercoaster Tycoon 3. The game costs US$49.99 and is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB.

The first of the enormously popular strategy game series to make it to the Macintosh, Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 puts you in charge of the construction, operation and maintenance of amusement parks. Featuring a 3D game engine, Rollercoaster Tycoon lets you build the park with more than 170 different rides, staff it with maintenance, operations and security people, create concession and souvenir stands and much more — you can even choreograph your own fireworks display.

The new technology that drives this game lets you see the park from a guest’s eye view, riding the rides in the CoasterCam. It features day and night cycles, simulated weather effects and more. You can lay down thrill rides, kiddie rides and more, including rollercoasters using pre-built designs, or you can create your own coasters from scratch.

A Career mode tests your skills as you try to reach various goals, such as revenue or attendance marks, lengths and excitement levels of rides and more. You can also opt for the Sandbox mode, which lets you play free of budgetary or logistical constraints.

System requirements call for Mac OS X v10.3.9 or later, G4/1GHz or faster, 256MB RAM, 2.0GB hard disk space, ATI Radeon 9000 or Nvidia GeForce FX 5200 or better 3D graphics with at least 32MB VRAM and DVD drive.