The week in games

Time once again for The Week in Games, MacCentral’s weekly retrospective of Mac game news and related info that, for whatever reason, didn’t make it onto our regular news pages during the weekdays.

Actionsoft needs beta testers

Actionsoft is looking for beta testers for its upcoming game Midnight Mansion. Testers should “have a lot of free time, good writing skills, and an eye for detail.”

Aki Mahjong 1.0.2 released

Ambrosia Software has released an updated version of Aki Mahjong, their tile-matching game. The new version, 1.0.2, sports several bug fixes and tweaks.

Bloxter 1.1.1 released

Norbyte has released Bloxter 1.1.1, an updated version of their 3D falling blocks puzzle game. The new version adds a drop key reminder, enhances graphics and fixes a mouse input bug.

Ghost Recon Mod Enabler available

Flax Software has released GhRME, or Ghost Recon Mod Enable. It’s a handy utility that enables Ghost Recon users to turn on and off mods — especially helpful for setting up online games.

Minions of Mirth coming

Minions of Mirth is a new single player role playing game being developed by Prairie Games.

Neverball 1.3.6 released

Neverball is a puzzle action game in which you move a ball through a maze (think Super Monkey Ball or Marble Blast, except you’re moving the maze, not the ball). The latest version, 1.3.6, is now available for download in a Mac-friendly version thanks to the efforts of Mac programmer Derek Arndt.

Oolite designed to appeal to Elite fans

Elite is the legendary space simulation that’s been around for years. Giles Williams has created Oolite to appeal to Elite fans, and it’s being offered for free under the BSD license. Version 1.10 is the latest release.

Elsewhere on the Web

MacGamer has posted a review of Delta Force: Black Hawk Down. Inside Mac Games has posted an interview with Aspyr VP Ted Staloch. Apple’s Games site has posted a trailer of The Incredibles, the upcoming action game based on the forthcoming Pixar movie.

Closer to home

This week on the pages of MacCentral, we reported on Feral Interactive’s development of Bionicle for Mac (now at beta) and its release in the US of Republic: The Revolution, a new simulation game set in Eastern Europe. Epic Games programmer Ryan Gordon offers details about his preliminary efforts to develop Unreal Engine 3 for Linux and Mac OS X, comments on Spider-Man 2, and talks about Apple’s efforts to develop OpenAL, a 3D positional audio sound technology. Aspyr Media said that Knights of the Old Republic is now at its beta development milestone. Sim City 4: Rush Hour, an expansion pack for Sim City 4, is shipping in September. And MTX: Mototrax, a motocross racing/freestyle game, is coming to Mac and PC in September. ATI released the Mobility Radeon 9800, a powerful new graphics chip for laptops, with improvements to gaming performance its central focus. Spider-Man 2 is coming to the Mac this month. And SkyFighters 1945 is back on the Mac, now for Mac OS X and available as a “preview” version.

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