MacCentral rounds up Mac game news headlines from last week that didn’t make it into our daily coverage for this weekly retrospective. Also included are links to Mac game news on other sites.
Cosmic Encounter Online adds new alien
Cosmic Encounter Online, the online version of the popular board game, has added a new alien called the Parasite (with the Power to Infest). The new alien is available to paying players of the game, which runs on Safari and works using Flash technology.
Dominions II updated to 2.08
Illwinter Games and Shrapnel Games have posted an update to Dominions II, the turn-based strategy game that puts you in the role of a god competing against others for total domination. The new release adds weapons, improves the game’s AI and makes other changes.
Freeverse offers .3 update for card games
Freeverse Software coordinated a .3 update for a whole bunch of its card games: 3D Hearts Deluxe 7.3, 3D Bridge Deluxe 2.3, 3D Spades Deluxe 3.3, 3D Euchre Deluxe 2.3 and 3D Pitch Deluxe 2.3. The update is free and adds bot auto-substitution during network play, speech synthesis, support for XML-based puppets and much more.
GameSmith updated
Freeverse Software has updated its GameSmith game finding service to version 3.4.3. The new release incorporates a number of features like an auto-response when paging another player; support for new features in the .3 update for Freeverse’s card games, bug fixes and more.
Jedi Academy Game Server Configulator released
P-Edge media has released a “Game Server Configulator” for Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy from Aspyr Media. The software serves as an interface for users who want to run a dedicated Jedi Academy server without having to know Terminal commands or editing variables in the configuration file.
NOLF 2 updated, still no QuickTime fix
MacPlay released an update to No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy In HARM’s Way. The patch addresses a refresh rate issue for certain monitors. What it does not fix is the long-standing bug that makes the game not work correctly with QuickTime 6.4 or newer. MacPlay said it’s aware of the problem but didn’t offer an ETA on when that fix will be available.
The Sims Makin’ Magic goes gold
Aspyr Media Inc. noted that its newest expansion pack for The Sims, Makin’ Magic, has gone gold master, the final step before a game goes into duplication and hits store shelves. This expansion pack lets your Sims cast spells, hypnotize friends and more. It should be on store shelves by March 4, 2004.
Solitaire Forever debuts
Solitaire Forever is a collection of more than 100 solitaire games that runs in Mac OS X and Mac OS 9. The game features 3D card graphics rendering and other features. It costs US$25 to register.
Super Sleuth released
KewlBox.com has announced the release of Super Sleuth, their latest “advergame,” developed in conjunction with DirecTV and Court TV to promote Court TV’s new investigative programming. In this game you examine suspects and look at the crime scene to collect evidence. It runs on Mac OS X.
Elsewhere on the Web
Apple’s own Games site has posted a feature looking at Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates. Inside Mac Games has posted a review of the StarTech Video Converter. This past week the Gamesome Mac radio show interviewed Strange Flavour, the game programmers behind Freeverse Software’s ToySight, AirBurst and other games.
Closer to home
MacCentral’s weekly games coverage included news that the new Medal of Honor Breakthrough expansion pack is now at beta, and a site is up for Feral’s forthcoming Worms 3D game. CodeBlender has released Rally Shift, a new auto racing game. Aspyr Media plans to release Space Colony, a Sims-meets-Stronghold strategy game. MacSoft plans to release two Neverwinter Nights expansion packs for the Mac. GarageGames Torque Game Engine now has support for models created with the open source 3D modeling tool Blender.
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