The Week in Games

MacCentral covers major news from the Mac game industry every day, but on the weekends we try to clean up with other game-related announcements and info that you may not get a chance to see otherwise. It’s the retrospective we call The Week in Games.

Side scrolling fun with Lunar Siege 3D

Aeon Defined Software has released a side-scrolling game that features 3D rendered imagery called Lunar Siege 3D. At US$10 it won’t break the bank, and if you’re looking for some old school fun, you should take a look.

Combat Mission gets improvements

Big Time Software and Battlefront.com have posted a new update to Combat Mission, the turn-based World War II-era strategy game with a 3D rendering mode, too. The improvements to Combat Mission 1.12 are too lengthy to list here, but bugs have been fixed, tanks use better hull-rotation logic, gun accuracy is higher at long range, and firing ordnance while moving is less accurate. There are many other changes, too.

Shadowbane goes beta

Wolfpack Studios announced this week that its massively multiplayer online game Shadowbane has gone beta. The company is presently developing the game to be released by Gathering of Developers once it’s done. The beta test is small in scope — only about 50 players are expected to be involved in the first phase, to test character creation and advancement systems.

UTilities for Unreal Tournament fixes bugs

Rich Wynne has posted a new version of UTilities for Unreal Tournament, version 2.6. The new update fixes bugs associated with file handling in the Cache. UTilities enables UT fans to help organize and maintain add-on files for use with the popular MacSoft game Unreal Tournament.

Get bitten this May

Mac game publisher MacSoft is reporting that its Mac conversion of the 3D role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade — Redemption is set for a May release. Players take the role of Christof, a fallen Crusader, in a story that spans centuries.

Oni goes to Europe, Australia via Feral

The folks at Feral Interactive are reporting that they’ve secured the European and Australian distribution rights to the Mac version of Oni, the Bungie-developed 3D fighting game recently published by Gathering of Developers. Look for more details from Feral coming this Wednesday.

OniTools 1.1 released

Speaking of Oni, Ian Patterson has released a new update to OniTools, version 1.1. The utility enables you to view many of the resources included in the game. The new update fixes bugs, offers more complete editing, is compatible with the final version of Oni, and supports new resource types.

Elsewhere on the Web

The folks at Inside Mac Games have previewed Escape from Monkey Island, the new title from Aspyr licensed by LucasArts; Gamesmania has posted a cutting review of Rune, the Viking hack ‘n’ slash game. You might also want to check out MacGamer’s interview with Marty O’Donnell, the sound guy behind Oni and other Bungie hits.

Closer to home

MacCentral had no shortage of games content this week, either. It’s not directly games-related, but road warriors fond of games might want to read up on ATI’s Mobility Radeon announcement; Blizzard released a new patch for Diablo II; Epic Interactive says that TopWare’s bankruptcy won’t affect its plans to publish two of their games for the Mac; Westlake say that Monkey Island is beta and Monopoly Casino is gold; a demo of the multiplayer RPG Lance is in circulation; Kabuki Vision is looking for beta testers for a new 3D game currently in development; and Humongous has a new Freddi Fish game on tap for this summer.

And that’s only the first half of the week. Check MacCentral’s news archives for the rest, and stick with us every day for more important news!