The week in games

Another Sunday brings us another opportunity for The Week in Games, our weekly retrospective of Mac game news and info. We start out with news that didn’t make it into our regular coverage, along with a recap of game content from MacCentral and other sites.

Aquataxx released

Steve Klingsporn has released Aquataxx, a Mac OS X version of the classic strategy game “Ataxx.” The game requires Jaguar, as it uses textured windows and new progress indicator elements. It’s a Java-based app written using OS X’s Cocoa framework, and it supports single player play against the computer or multiplayer as well. It’s US$10 shareware.

Arcane Arena online RPG goes flat-fee

Freeverse Software has updated its massively multiplayer online role playing game Arcane Arena to version 1.0.5. The new version sports improvements, and the game has switched from incurring annual subscription fees to a one-time registration charge of $29.95.

ATI releases October driver update for retail cards

ATI Technologies Inc. has released an October driver update for its line of retail cards from the Xclaim GA all the way up through the Radeon 8500 Mac Edition. ATI said the new drivers offer performance improvements and fixes, anisotropic filtering, improvements for Quartz Extreme and more. Be warned, however, that some users have reported problems getting Radeon 7000 systems with the new drivers working properly with Blizzard Entertainment’s Warcraft III.

Bugdom 2 1.0.1 released

Pangea Software has released a new version of Bugdom 2, its just-released 3D action game exclusive for the Mac. The new version, available for download from links on Macgamefiles.com, fixes issues with various versions of Mac OS 9 and some other problems.

HextriX released for OS X

IllumineX has released HextriX, a new action-oriented puzzle game for Mac OS X. It’s also been included as part of the company’s iX Infinity Game PaX. HextriX is a falling blocks-style puzzle game featuring hexagons instead of squares; it includes five game variants as well. It costs US$14.95 to register or can be registered for $19.95 as part of the iX Infinity Game PaX.

KickOff 2002 1.1 available

Virtual Programming Ltd. has posted a 1.1 update to KickOff 2002, their top-down scrolling arcade-style soccer (football) action game for the Macintosh. It’s been fixed so that you can play custom .WAV files, a problem with saving highlights to the golden goals is fixed, and joystick code has been added for Jaguar users. KickOff 2002 is distributed in North America by Freeverse Software.

Links Golf Community adds Team Ladder for Links CE

If you’re a fan of Bold’s Mac conversion of Links Championship Edition, you might also be interested in the Links Golf Community, a group of like-minded enthusiasts. The LGC just added a team ladder. Members can also play each other in Alternate Shot, 2 Player Match and other games via the group’s Hotline server.

SilverCreator 1.0.2 game engine released

SilverNetworks has released SilverCreator 1.0.2, a new version of their free game development system. The new version fixes another 20 bugs, sports a rewritten eraser tool, improves documentation, adds an INPUT command, improves game examples, and more. SilverCreator works with System 7.5.5 or higher.

Elsewhere on the Web

Inside Mac Games has posted a post mortem interview with Pangea Software president Brian Greenstone to discuss his newest game, Bugdom 2. MacGamer.com has posted a review of Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix, the new 3D action game from MacPlay. Apple has posted a trailer for Pop-Pop, the trippy arcade action game from Ambrosia Software.

Closer to home

If you’re using Maya 4.5 for 3D character creation in your games, you might be interested in a new promotion to get Mental Ray 1.5 for free. If you want to eke just a bit more performance from your tray-loading iMac before you buy a new machine, check out Sonnet’s new deal on its Harmoni CPU upgrade. Pangea Software released Bugdom 2 and is selling it direct only — not in retail stores. PopCap Games and The Omni Group announced a partnership that will yield new Mac OS X-native games. Aspyr Media announced that Clone Campaigns has gone gold master and should be in stores soon. Bioware Corp. has posted screenshots of Neverwinter Nights running on a Mac and opened a new forum thread for discussions related to that work.

As always, we encourage you to drop us a line if you have ideas for ways we can improve our game coverage here on MacCentral, have a question we didn’t answer, or have a Mac game or related service you’d like to see mentioned.