Every day MacCentral brings readers headlines from the Mac game industry but there are always a few stories that don’t make it onto our regular news pages. That’s why we have this retrospective, called the Week in Games.
Aspyrworld coming next week
Wednesday through Friday of next week brings a special event — Aspyrworld, a private event sponsored by Aspyr Media. MacCentral has been invited, and we’ll make sure to bring you any announcements or news from the event.
Bloodrayne movie rights sold
A german movie company called Boll KG has announced that it’s acquired the movie rights to Terminal Reality Inc.’s Bloodrayne, published for the Mac by Aspyr Media. The company has also financed movie versions of other blood-soaked video games like Alone in the Dark and House of the Dead.
Doulber Gold trailer released
Phelios Inc. has posted a trailer of its forthcoming game Doulber Gold, which it says will appear on Apple’s Web site too. Doulber is an ant who has to make his way through a world filled with monsters, bats, lava and caves.
Neverwinter Nights v1.32 beta available
Neverwinter Nights developer Bioware Corp. has released a beta patch update to the game to bring it to version 1.3.2. It’s a beta, so don’t apply it unless you’re willing to backup your game data first and risk problems using it, but if that doesn’t put you off, have at it. The update fixes some game hacking problems, display issues and more.
SimCity 4 v1.0.1 released
Aspyr Media has released an update to SimCity 4 to version 1.0.1. The new version mostly fixes video-related issues for the game. Click on the link for more information.
Vivendi won’t sell games group
On news that its entertainment unit will be sold to NBC owner GE, French media conglomerate Vivendi Universal’s Chairman and CEO confirms his company won’t sell off its games business or its music business. Vivendi’s games division includes Starcraft and Warcraft developer Blizzard Entertainment, and possible suitors have included Microsoft Corp. Game enthusiasts have worried that a Microsoft-owned Blizzard might make games only for Windows or Xbox. Vivendi’s music division was, at one time, rumored to be a possible acquisition target for Apple (a rumor that Apple CEO Steve Jobs later refuted).
World of Warcraft beta test delayed
Sources report that Blizzard Entertainment has pushed back its planned beta test of World of Warcraft, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game based in the Warcraft universe. The game is planned for a Mac and Windows release, and the beta test should kick off later this year.
Elsewhere on the Web
MacGamer has posted a Neverwinter Nights Beginner’s Guide. Inside Mac Games has posted a preview of Ghost Master. Monday’s installment of The Gamesome Mac radio show will feature an interview with LittleWing Pinball. Apple’s Games site has posted a preview of X2: Wolverine’s Revenge, coming to the Mac courtesy of Aspyr.
Closer to home
MacCentral brought readers news that Feral Interactive will publish a Mac version of Ghost Master, a strategy game set in a haunted town. Pangea Software has re-released Otto Matic itself, publishing the game electronically. The GameShark Media Player enables Mac users to stream digital media — music, MPEG movies and more — through their PlayStation 2s through a network connection. Aspyr Media has announced plans to publish Wakeboarding Unleashed for the Mac, PC and Game Boy Advance. Feral Interactive has announced that Total Immersion Racing has reached its beta development milestone.
We encourage you to drop us a line if you have any questions we haven’t answered, ideas for ways we can improve our games content here on MacCentral, or games you’d like to see mentioned on these pages.