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Your Xbox Live buddies are only an F12 away

Posted on May. 2, ’08, 9:52 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Software

XBL WidgetThe power of the Internet continues to amaze me—much like the power of cheese. A few months back, my longtime friend and partner-in-crime Jason complained on the blog my friends and I share that he was disappointed with all the existing Mac solutions out there for keeping track of one’s Xbox Live gamer buddies. And the Internet, my friends, answered.

Our friend Jacob mocked up a solution, which was then taken up by the industrious Andrew Baldwin. The result is a very handy Dashboard widget that lets you add the Xbox Live friends (or, potentially, enemies) you want to keep tabs on; it’ll then display their gamertag, gamer icon, and online status (or when they were last online). Now I can see how many of my pals are deeply ensconced in GTA IV.

I’ve been using beta versions of the widget for a couple months now, and I have to say that I find it to be the best thing since sliced cheese. If you’re looking for an easy and Mac-friendly way to keep track of your Xbox 360 buddies, give it a try (download link).

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Alumni Apple executive shows up at Immersion

Posted on Apr. 25, ’08, 6:38 AM PT by Derik DeLong
Category | Games

Richardson We love to see former Apple executives show up in other companies. Why? World domination. Clearly these former Apple guys will pump some Mac into their new employers. The latest Apple executive to reemerge is Clent Richardson, who has shown up at Immersion, who you may remember as partnering with Apple to enable force feedback controllers in OS X back in 2002.

I can see it now, Immersion mandating Mac support by all their licensing customers. Yup. Don’t bother me with “reality” and “facts”. Anyway, Richardson is replacing Vic Viegas as President and CEO, but Viegas will stay on as chairman. Maybe now we can get force feedback enabled Photoshop. Imagine a little vibration every time it thinks you made a mistake, just making problems worse.

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Macworld stands on the precipice…of darkness, rain-slick

Posted on Apr. 10, ’08, 8:27 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Games

Penny Arcade AdventuresMy enviable colleague Peter Cohen has gotten his damn dirty ape-like paws on an early version of the forthcoming first title in the Penny Arcade Adventures series, On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness. The RPG-style adventure lets you take the part of a character of your own design, who sets out to take on the mechanical creations wreaking havoc on your neighborhood. Along the way, you’re joined by Penny Arcade characters, such as Gabe and Tycho, in your quest.

We’ve—okay, I’ve—mentioned the game a number of times in the past, but that is only because we anticipate great things from it. It’s being released online for Windows, Linux, and Mac simultaneously, and will run on both Intel and PowerPC-based Macs. Of course, as you might expect from the PA duo, the game merits an “M” for Mature rating, and is aimed at adults, despite its cartoony appearance.

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Follow up: Don’t hold your breath for Quake 3 on iPod Touch

Posted on Apr. 9, ’08, 3:30 PM PT by David Dahlquist
Category | Games

quake3.jpgWhen a video of multiplayer Quake 3 running on two iPod Touches began circulating the internets earlier this week, it left many Mac gamers with a sense of wonder, astonishment, but also with a lot of questions. Who’s behind this brilliant melding of touch screen, accelerometer, and rocket launcher? And where can we get a copy?

GameCyte, after some sleuthing, was able to get somewhat to the bottom of this mystery. Turns out, the creative force behind this port is a small start up called HermitWorks, who are working on their own iPhone game Space Trader. From the looks of things, the Quake 3 port was just a test by these experienced programmers, and they don’t seem to have any intention of releasing it. Bummer. Mega bummer.

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iTunes consolidates, narrows iPod game selection

Posted on Apr. 8, ’08, 9:12 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | iPod Software

iPod gamesAnnoyed by having to figure out whether or not a particular iPod game is available for your model iPod? It used to be that games were only available for the fifth-generation iPod, but with the introduction of the third-generation iPod nano and the iPod classic, that field was broadened. At first, the iPod games section of the iTunes Store was divided into two separate sections; now Apple has consolidated them back into one, as all the available games now work with any model of iPod.

Unfortunately, it seems that some games have gotten lost in the shuffle. iLounge reports that seven titles appear to be no longer available: Bejeweled, iQuiz, Lost, Mahjong, Musika, Royal Solitaire, Vortex. iQuiz and Vortex both ship on the 3G iPod nanos and iPod classics, but the rest appear to be MIA for the present—though, strangely enough, the direct links (iTunes link) to the game pages are still up. I’d suspect that these games are probably also being updated to work with all the iPods and that we’ll see them return to the virtual store shelves shortly.

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Quake 3 + iPhone/iPod Touch = win

Posted on Apr. 7, ’08, 4:35 PM PT by David Dahlquist
Category | Games

quake3.jpgIn what’s gotta be the coolest demonstration of gaming on an Apple touch screen yet, clips of multiplayer Quake 3 running on either an iPod Touch or iPhone (reports vary) with full accelerometer support has surfaced on the ‘net.

While not too long ago, people were wondering if the iPhone could run Doom (the answer is yes), this demo seems to blow all reservations of the iTouch or iPhone as a gaming system out of the water. Of course there’s the cynics who believe this video to be a well rehearsed fake, complete with two perfectly synced videos of Quake 3 gameplay on each iPhone, but I for one, have the faith. No word yet as to when/if this will be available to the masses, but we hope it’ll be sooner than later.

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Aspyr’s Game Agent is updating your games

Posted on Apr. 3, ’08, 7:03 AM PT by Derik DeLong
Category | Games

Game Agent I’ve always found Aspyr’s Game Agent an interesting piece of software. It looks at your hardware and lets you know what game are compatible and will run well on it. It simplifies the process, particularly for users that don’t really know what they have running under the hood.

Once you looked for game that first time and you’ve bought what you wanted, is there a motivation to leave Game Agent on your disk? I personally couldn’t see one. It was a one off.

The latest version of the hardware evaluator adds a software update component. This justified a spot in my Applications folder by itself. Like Apple’s own mechanism, updates are checked for manually and can be ignored if desired.

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On the Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness will cost more than a penny

Posted on Mar. 28, ’08, 10:06 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Games

Penny Arcade AdventuresI really can’t remember how many years I’ve been reading Penny Arcade—I think I started back in 1999 or something. In that time, I’ve seen them grow from a mere comic strip to one of the most important wholly Internet-based properties. I was at the Penny Arcade Expo in 2006 when Jerry and Mike (aka Tycho and Gabe) first announced that they were developing a game based on the strip, and I rejoiced when it was revealed that it would be made available for the Mac as well as the PC.

Now, Hothead Games, the developers of On the Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness, have released further information on the title, including the price and the system requirements. The game itself will cost $20 on Mac, PC, Linux, and Xbox Live Arcade. If you’re looking to run it on your Mac, here’s what you’ll need:

  • Mac OS X v10.4 or v10.5
  • G4/1.0GHz or better (including Intel)
  • ATI Radeon 9500, Nvidia GeForce FX 5200, or GMA 950 or better 3D graphics with at least 64MB VRAM
  • 512MB RAM
  • 350MB of hard disk space
  • available Internet connection for download and one-time authentication
    • Sweet, my MacBook and its GMA 950 just squeak in under the wire. Although, I have to admit, I’m strongly tempted just to download it to my Xbox 360 instead. I know, I know: I’m a heretic.

    The game, which is rated M for Mature, is the first episode in what is intended to be a series of adventures and it’s hopefully due out sometime this year.

    [via Macworld]

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    The MacBook wants to game

    Posted on Mar. 17, ’08, 7:15 AM PT by Derik DeLong
    Category | Games

    MacBook Peter Cohen writing at Macworld has taken a look at part of the reason Mac gaming is till lacking. More specifically, the video in the MacBook just isn’t up to the task. Herein lies the problem. The MacBook is one of the most popular Macs. College students buy them by the pallet. College students also like playing games. Ironically, the MacBook is the least equipped Mac to actually be used for games.

    While their PC using counterparts have real, honest to goodness video cards living in the guts of their machines, MacBook users have integrated chips. Now, they do fine for most things outside gaming and as such are normally a suitable choice, but when that student finds that Mac port of a Windows game only to discover the horror of how it runs in comparison, what impression is that going to leave? That’s right, it perpetuates the stereotype that Macs are just horrible gaming machines.

    I remember a time when Apple took pride in shipping standalone graphics cards in every Mac. They poked fun at the competition. They may not have been the best cards ever and the integrated stuff beats what we had then, but by now, isn’t it time for Apple to bring back the cards, even if they’re low end?

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    CrossOver will finally do what everyone actually wants

    Posted on Mar. 5, ’08, 12:09 PM PT by Dan Pourhadi
    Category | Games

    crossoverGames1.jpgLet’s be honest: nobody uses Windows-on-Mac tech for anything productive or important. There’s all this nonsense about running Windows-only business apps, or taking advantage of Microsoft technologies like Windows DRM, or ensuring better file compatibility with coworkers and friends. But that’s crap. There’s only one thing people want from Windows virtualization.

    Games.

    Pretty futile to try to play games on something like Parallels or VMWare — too much overhead from running two operating systems at the same time. Boot Camp works pretty well for that: my brother is a Die Hard Gamer and spends more time in Windows on his MacBook Pro playing Windows-only games than he does in OS X doing whatever it is non-gamers do on their computers. Everyone had high hopes for CodeWeavers’ CrossOver, an app that lets you run Windows apps on your Mac without actually needing Windows: it mimics the APIs, tricking programs into thinking they’re on Windows, allowing you to run them right inside OS X.

    Unfortunately, it didn’t work too well. Too many graphics technologies and other complications I pretend to understand made it difficult to ensure compatibility with many Windows games. But CodeWeavers knows where its priorities should be, and has quietly announced a private beta of their new game-focused product, CrossOver Games:

    The plan is for CrossOver Games to be more ‘bleeding edge’ than CrossOver itself. That is, we will release early and often to bring the very latest in games to our users, while keeping the main CrossOver releases on a more stable timetable so that we continue to focus on stability and reliable use of productivity applications in CrossOver itself.

    They’re currently working on ensuring compatibility with Steam games — Half Life 2, Portal, Civilization 4, etc. — and popular multiplayer games like World of Warcraft and Guild Wars. Haven’t seen a timetable for a public release, or potential cost — but it looks promising so far. The final argument to use PCs — more games! — is slowly slipping away. Which is great, really, because games are all that really matters…right?

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