Sunday gives us a chance to catch up on some of the news from the Mac game business we didn’t cover during the week. This week we’ve got a few weeks’ worth of Week in Game entries. Here it is, the Week in Games:
Bloodrayne beta patch fixes Panther problems
Aspyr Media has released a beta-quality updater to Bloodrayne, their vampire action game, available for download from Macgamefiles.com. The new update fixes problems associated with running the game on Mac OS X v10.3 “Panther.”
BombSquad 2.0 released
Positive Spin Media has released BombSquad 2.0, a reformulated version of their minesweeper game for Mac OS X. The new release of the $5 shareware game gains many user-requested changes, including flexible board and grid sizing, features like Ghost Bombs, Crunch Time, Zap Clicks and more.
Burning Monkey Mahjong 1.1 released
Freeverse Software has released an update to their own mahjong game, Burning Monkey Mahjong Solitaire. The new release adds new tilesets and layouts, a layout browser, better speed and much more.
Combat Mission: Afrika Corps patched to 1.0.1
Battlefront.com has posted an update to Combat Mission: Afrika Corps the 3D strategy wargame set in North Africa during World War II. Its reliance on QuickDraw 3D made the relatively recently released game Mac OS 9-only. The new release features dozens of updates and changes.
CrossCards, X-Words updated to 3.0.4
Freeverse Software updated its tile-based board games CrossCards and X-Words to version 3.0.4. The new versions gain bug fixes, board balancing tweaks and other changes.
CryptoQuote 1.3.2 released
John Haney released CryptoQuote v1.3.2, a new version of his word puzzle game in which you guess quotes. The new version includes more free puzzles and enhanced CryptoQuote.com integration.
Downfall 2.2.2 available
Norbyte has released Downfall v2.2.2, a new release of their falling blocks puzzle/action game. The new version allows you to delete individual high scores and fixes a bug related to application switching during an alert.
KGA Golf 1.2 released
Karl Becker released KGA Golf 1.2, a game that he says was inspired by Game Boy Golf. This new releases features a new Target Golf mode, improved hole and course editor, more courses, improved high score list and much more. It’s $15 shareware.
Leipzig 1813 strategy game released
By Design Inc. has released Leipzig 1813, a new Napoleonic-era strategy game based on the Waterloo Campaign game engine. The game focuses on the largest battle of the Napoleonic era — three days in October, 1813. It runs native in Mac OS X or System 7 or higher, and costs $24.95.
SimCity 4 v1.0.2 released
Aspyr Media has released SimCity 4 v1.0.2, available for download from Macgamefiles.com. The release resolves compatibility issues with ATI cards, fixes color problems and terrain highlighting issues, and correctly displays city thumbnails.
Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness fix released
Aspyr Media has released a bug fix for Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness that corrects a problem in the Louvre Sewer level involving the “Distance Fog” option. It’s available for download from Macgamefiles.com.
ToySight v1.0.1 released
Freeverse Software and Strange Flavour released ToySight v1.0.1, a new version of their FireWire video camera-based action game collection. The new version provides NTSC television compatibility, support for multiple video inputs, ability to manipulate camera settings and more.
Twilight Mahjongg released
Red Marble Games has released Twilight Mahjongg, a classic mahjongg game with a sci-fi theme. The game offers twists on classic Mahjongg rules including a space card mode with special tiles, a memory match mode and two-player options. It costs $19.95.
Unreal Tournament 2004 demo planned
Epic Games programmer Ryan Gordon recently spoke out regarding his development plans for Unreal Tournament 2004. You’ll recall that Gordon focuses his attention — among other things — on the development of the Mac version of UT 2K4. He noted that MacSoft’s UT 2K4 will be a “(near) simultaneous” release with its PC counterpart, and that demo versions for all platforms the game supports (Mac OS X, Windows, Linux) will be posted within hours of each other. He estimated the release schedule for the demo as “‘two weeks,'” which is something of a running joke, so you may want to take that with a grain of salt.
World of Warcraft beta enrollment closed, open beta planned
While Blizzard Entertainment closed enrollment for its beta test of its forthcoming game World of Warcraft last week, a company official noted in Blizzard’s discussion forums that an open beta — that is, a beta that everyone can participate in — is planned for some time before the product ships. So if you missed your chance now, fear not.
Elsewhere on the Web
MacGamer.com continues its piracy series with its How to get games legally installment. Inside Mac Games reviewed Law and Order: Dead on the Money from Aspyr Media. Apple’s Games page has posted a preview of Feral Interactive’s forthcoming Republic: The Revolution along with trailers for Sim City 4: Rush Hour and Burning Monkey Casino. The Gamesome Mac recently spoke with composer Andrew “Digital Droo” Tokuda, who’s composed the music for Freeverse’s Active Lancer and much more.
Closer to home
Game-specific content on MacCentral this past week included info that Cyan Worlds’ Uru: Ages Beyond Myst will come to the Mac; CodeBlender Software plans to release its third Mac-only game, Rally Shift, a car racing title; news from ATI about its new Mobility Radeon 9700 graphics processor; and word from Aspyr Media that its Mac conversion of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King has reached its Alpha development milestone.
Feel free to drop us a line if you have comments, suggestions or questions we didn’t answer.