Every week MacCentral brings you the latest news and info from the Mac game industry, but there are always stories that fall between the cracks. That’s our excuse to bring you this weekly retrospective, which we call The Week in Games.
Cocoa Invaders released by Freeverse
Freeverse Software, that purveyor of fine card and board games and other Mac gaming oddities, has announced the release of Cocoa Invaders. It’s a project developed using Mac OS X’s “Cocoa” environment created by Freeverse intern Alex Golovinsky and the company’s co-founder, Ian Lynch Smith. You can download it online — Freeverse notes that it takes a long time to run the first time, so don’t panic. Developers or hobbyist programmers who have ideas for how to improve it are encouraged to e-mail their ideas — if the idea is approved, you’ll get the project source code and you can work on it yourself.
Jazz Jackrabbit 2 bundle deal from IFD
Ideas from the Deep is now offering a bundle deal on the side-scrolling action game Jazz Jackrabbit 2. You get the full retail CD-ROM with jewel case and insert, along with a stuffed Jazz Jackrabbit 2 doll for only $20. And just for what it’s worth, the company is continuing to donate 50 percent of purchases to the Red Cross until Nov. 1.
Master of Orion III “eye candy” revealed
The official Master of Orion III Web site recently posted some “eye candy” from the art department showing some shots and renderings from the new game, still in production at Quicksilver Software. MacSoft is to publish the game.
Myth desktop image contest afoot
The Mill and evihcra.com are sponsoring a Myth desktop contest between now and Sunday, Oct. 28. The sites are encouraging artists with a flair for desktop wallpaper to enter — four winners will each receive a Myth game; their choice of either “Myth2 Worlds” or “Green Berets.”
Warbirds III free for a few days
The iEntertainment Network is offering folks a chance to play Warbirds III for free for several days next week and through next weekend. Warbirds III is the latest version of their popular World War II era aircraft dogfight simulator — the new version is a big step forward for Mac users, who can now play with hardware-accelerated 3D graphics.
Elsewhere on the Web
MacGamer reviewed Strange Flavour’s arcade game offering Airburst. MacGamez is the latest game site to take a crack at interviewing the ever-gregarious president of Westlake Interactive, Mark Adams. Inside Mac Games has posted a review of Fly! II. Brad Cook with Apple has gotten up close and personal with Sacrifice, a new game conversion in development at MacPlay.
Closer to home
MacPlay announced that Aliens vs. Predator Gold Edition shipped, and they’ve also announced that their OS X-exclusive game, Giants: Citizen Kabuto has gone gold master. MumboJumbo Games’ Andrew Meggs has provided More details about Myth III’s Mac status. Essential Reality notes that the software development kit for its P5 glove gaming peripheral is expected to be released next month — it’ll be compatible with Mac OS X. Graphics chip maker Nvidia announced a licensing and patent exchange deal with military simulator maker Evans & Sutherland; CyberExtruder announced their CyberX-3D technology works with Mac OS X — it puts your face in popular 3D games. All the Best MacGames 2002 was released. There’s more, too — check our News Archive page for details.
As always, we encourage you to drop us a line if you have ideas for ways we can improve our Mac game coverage, or if you have a Mac game-related product or service you’d like to see mentioned on MacCentral.