The week in games

Every weekday MacCentral brings readers the latest news from the world of Mac games, but there are sometimes stories that don’t make it on to our regular news pages. That’s why we have this feature, called the Week in Games. It also gives us a chance to link to other Mac game-related content around the Web.

glTron updated 0.70b1 released

A new version of glTron is available for download. GlTron is a 3D, OpenGL-based game inspired by the lightcycle racing scene from the movie Tron, available for free for multiple platforms. This new version adds a “turbo” key and wall acceleration.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets updated

Aspyr Media has posted a beta release of an update to their conversion of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Aimed specifically at Mac OS X users, the game fixes a problem with locking doors, corrects a loss of video issue related to the Skurge challenge, and also addresses a problem with the Bicorn horn door. Aspyr noted that problems related to performance will be addressed in the final patch release.

MacMAME 0.74u2 released

Brad Oliver has released a new version of MacMAME, the arcade game emulation software that’s now legal to use thanks to StarROMs. The new version is in sync with its PC counterpart and fixes a variety of issues.

MacPlay ships Hearts of Iron and MindRover

Following Virtual Programming’s October 1st news that it was shipping the World War II strategy game Hearts of Iron and the robot programming game MindRover, MacPlay has noted that it’s shipping those games in North America. You can buy them where MacPlay games are sold or pick them up from MacPlay’s online store.

Nvidia gains permanent OpenGL ARB seat

Graphics chip maker Nvidia Corp. announced that it has been elected a permanent member of the OpenGL Architecture Review Board (ARB). The OpenGL ARB (of which Apple is also a member) governs the development of the OpenGL specification itself. OpenGL is used by Apple for its 2D (via Quartz Extreme) and 3D graphics technology.

Shadowbane patched to 1.0.10.12

Wolfpack Studios and Ubi Soft have released a patch to Shadowbane, the massively multiplayer online role playing game/strategy game. The patch adds new chat filters, offers a reserve function for city asset management, makes lots of balance adjustments, and fixes a horde of major and minor problems.

Tranquility price cut through November 10th

TQworld is offering a birthday sale on their abstract, psychedelic platform jumping game Tranquility. Now through November 10th you can buy a “lifetime” membership for $10.

Elsewhere on the Web

MacGamer has posted a review of Burning Monkey Mahjong Solitaire from Freeverse. Inside Mac Games has posted a review of No One Lives Forever 2. Apple has posted a trailer of Wakeboarding Unleashed featuring Shaun Murray, Aspyr’s latest extreme sports title licensed from Activision. Last week the Gamesome Mac QuickTime radio show talked with emulation guru Richard Bannister.

Closer to home

This week MacCentral brought readers news about GarageGames’ release of the Torque Game Engine v1.2 release. We also noted the release of Hollow Ground, a Gauntlet-style game for the Mac. MacSoft announced plans to ship Age of Mythology on November 4, 2003. MacPlay said it’s shipping No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy In H.A.R.M.’s way. Aspyr Media announced that it has hired two programmers from Westlake Interactive: Mark Krenek and Brad Oliver. Aspyr also noted that Wakeboard Unleashed Featuring Shaun Murray has hit its beta development milestone.

As always, we encourage you to drop us a line if you have questions, comments or suggestions.