Every week MacCentral brings readers the latest info and news from the world of Macintosh gaming, but there are still some stories that don’t make it to our regular news pages. That’s why we post this weekly retrospective, called The Week in Games.
Bubble Trouble to be released for OS X
Ambrosia Software plans to update Bubble Trouble, one of its classic arcade-style games for the Mac. The company will update the game with OS X compatibility, according to a recent post made to the company’s Web bulletin board. Ambrosia boss Andrew Welch put out the call for testers for the OS X version, too. They plan to charge US$5 for the update for existing users; $15 for the full version.
Downfall 1.0 released
Norbyte has released Downfall 1.0, a new US$10 shareware game that the developer describes as a take on the “Tetris/Column genre one step further.”
Escape Velocity Nova final candidate testing continues
Matt Burch and Ambrosia Software continue to release new final candidate versions of Escape Velocity Nova, the newest game to wear the mantle of the epic space exploration/adventure/trading/combat classic. Burch noted on Sunday morning that fc3 is now in testing.
Freeverse offers OS X info page
Interested in which Freeverse Software games will or won’t work in Mac OS X? The company has posted the Freeverse OS X Whitepage, which serves exactly that purpose. Some software from Freeverse is Classic only, while other titles already run in OS X, and other still are being updated to support it. From 3D Bridge Deluxe to Virtual Viagra, you can get the lowdown there.
Harpoon 3 updated
Regular Week in Game readers already know by now — after all, barely a week goes by that we don’t mention another update — but Jesse Spears noted that a new version of Harpoon3 is ready for download. The new build fixes “most of the Cosmetic bugs, improved the responsiveness of the GUI, and also reduced the lag of the various game windows (Map, Zoom and Formation Editor Windows).”
illumineX updates OS X games
Shareware OS X game maker illumineX has announced the release of updates to its games, BabelBloX, MarbleX, and RoX. The new versions incorporate stability improvements, an improved Software Update feature, and other changes.
SigmaChess 6.0 Lite runs on OS X
Ole Christensen has released SigmaChess Lite version 6.0. The new version of the popular chess game adds support for OS X, and a number of other changes and improvements.
Team MacFPS calls for paintball players
Feel like taking your first person shooter skills to the next level, and living somewhere in the Northeastern or Mid-Atlantic US? Jason Whong has put out the call for players interested in joining Team MacFPS, which plans to gather players in Maryland and Pennsylvania in three paintball events this spring and summer. That’s right, paintball. Check it out.
WolfMP.com offers gathering point for RtCW fans
Looking forward to getting your hands on the forthcoming release of Aspyr Media’s Return to Castle Wolfenstein for the Mac? Been playing the OS X-only WolfMP test software for a while? You may be interested in signing up for the WolfMP.com bulletin board, which is dedicated to Wolfenstein.
Elsewhere on the Web
Inside Mac Games has posted a preview of Icewind Dale, the “Forgotten Realms” role playing game that MacPlay recently declared gold master. Over at MacGamer.com, Rufo Sanchez has taken a look at the gaming abilities of Apple’s Power Mac G4 1GHz Dual Processor monstrosity. Meanwhile, Brad Cook has taken a look at Aspyr Media’s 4×4 Evo 2 for Apple in a new feature entitled The Next Stage in Racing Fun.
Closer to home
MacCentral brought readers news about a new patch for Age of Empires II that fixes the multiplayer saved game problem. We also brought you word from MacPlay that Icewind Dale has gone Gold Master; it’s the new role playing game built using the Baldur’s Gate engine. Infogrames announced that Civ III and Backyard Baseball have garnered awards from the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences.
As always, we encourage you to drop us a line if you have ideas for ways that we can improve our games coverage. Let us know if you have a Mac-game related product or service you’d like us to let our readers know about, too!