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IMG Heads to Macworld Expo
6:00 AM | Tuncer Deniz | Comment on this story
It's time for another Macworld Expo! IMG's Tuncer Deniz, Jean-Luc Dinsdale, Eddie Park, and Tim Morgan will be heading to San Francisco today. Macworld Expo will be kicking off at 9:00 AM Pacific on Tuesday with a keynote address by Steve Jobs. We're also expecting some exciting announcements from Aspyr and other companies. IMG will be providing 'round the clock coverage of the show, so be sure to come back often for updates! We will be providing news and images 'live' during the entire event. Woo hoo!
 MWSF 2004 (add to watch list)
Two California Game Bills Coming
7:45 AM | Lucian Fong | Comment on this story
According to Reuters, a California state legislator will propose on Monday two new bills designed to restrict the sales of "violent" video games to young children. Similar laws passed by other states have been declared unconstitutional by federal courts. The content of the two bills are as follows: The first bill will expand the "harmful matter" definition to include games where the player can injure another human character "in a manner that is especially heinous, atrocious or cruel."The second bill would require games with a "Mature" rating from the Entertainment Software Ratings Board, meaning they are not intended for children under 17, to be stocked above children's eye level and separately from other games. Stores would also have to display signs explaining ESRB ratings. This is the latest attempt at curbing the supposed effects of violent video games on children's behavior, following several violent incidents in the past several years whose apparent causes were video games, such as DOOM and Grand Theft Auto.
Reuters: CA Legislator to Introduce Games Bill on Monday
WWII Online Infantry Update, Q&A
7:45 AM | Lucian Fong | Comment on this story
A Cornered Rat Software developer talks about the infantry improvements planned for the next patch to World War II Online at the WWII Online Community Headquarters. He mentions improved prone death animations and concussion hits, remodled French SMG (MAS36) for first and third person view, fix rifle bolts, and remodeled arms and hands in first person view. The developer goes on to answer several gameplay-related questions from players. Here is an excerpt from the Q&A: Can we get a roughly aimed SMGs during sprinting?No. I have to disagree with you on this. Try sprinting and aiming a gun. I mean sprinting, not jogging. A full out sprint requires you to use your whole body to move at that rate of speed. You cannot effectively "sprint" while trying to aim a weapon. I served in the US Army, and was 11 Bravo. I am vaguely familiar with what you can and can't do, and it has been my experience that sprinting leaves no room for other activities. The "sprint" in WWIIOL is used for two things: fast advance, or fast retreat. That's why it burns ATP so heavily. If you are calculating "sprint" in your squad level tactics, then you need rethink your tactics. Follow the link below to read the rest of the question and answer session.
WWII Online Infantry Update, Q&A
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Cornered Rat Software (add to watch list)
Strategy First (add to watch list)
Age of Empires Creator Q&A
6:00 AM | Mike Apps | Comment on this story
A fan site for the PC game Empires: Dawn of the Modern World, recently got a chance to talk with one of the creators of the Age of Empires series. Rick Goodman left after the creation of Age of Empires to start the company SSSI, which created Empires: Dawn of the Modern World. The interview with him covers the creation of Age of Empires, along with talk about Real-Time Strategy (RTS) games in general. Here's a snippet: Before we were finished with AoE, I was already thinking of what we ought to do as a step forward to make something bigger and better than AoE. And it occurred to me one time – it was 3 in the morning after a long night of work and I was walking home in pitch-black – it occurred to me that why not do a much more epic game? The same style, but why limit it to the Bronze age, Iron age? Why not Bronze age, Iron age, Dark ages, Middle ages, and all the way though, maybe even [to] the future. To check out the full interview, follow the link provided below.
Age of Empires Creator Q&A
MacSoft (add to watch list)
Ensemble Studios (add to watch list)
Age of Empires II (add to watch list)
Apple Posts Command & Conquer: Generals Trailer
6:00 AM | Tuncer Deniz | Comment on this story
Apple has posted the first of 4 trailers of Command & Conquer: Generals, the upcoming real-time strategy game from Aspyr Media. Apple will be posting a total of 4 C&C: Generals trailers through the month of January. Here's a description of the game: In a time of modern war, recent military aggressions around the globe have many nations worried in Westwood Studio's and Aspyr Media’s latest title, Command & Conquer: Generals. Between the United States, China, and the Global Liberation Army, tensions run high. Are you up to the challenge? To check out the trailer, head over to Apple's web site.
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Apple: C&C: Generals Trailer 1
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Freeverse Ships Toysight, Backgammon Deluxe
6:00 AM | Lucian Fong | Comment on this story
Over the holidays, Freeverse Software shipped ToySight and released Backgammon Deluxe on their website. ToySight, developed by Strange Flavour, utilizes a FireWire camera (including Apple's iSight) as a game controller in a dozen interactive games and toys. The iSight is used to track the players' arm and hand motions, which are then translated to movement on the screen. ToySight retails for $34.95 (camera not included) and will be available at MacWorld San Francisco and stores where Mac games are found. Backgammon Delexe is one of eight classical board games that has been revamed by Freeverse. This release only features netplay, which is done through their GameSmith opponent-matching software. Version 2.0 will contain a single player mode and have a shareware fee.
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Jedi Knight II, Academy Re-patched
6:00 AM | Galen Wiley | Comment on this story
Over the holidays, Aspyr Media released a new version of Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast. The update brings the game to version 1.03b, and fixes the following bugs: Fixed visal glitch with About box
Added 'carb' resource for GameRanger
Fixed stability issues when switching maps or loading levels - hopefully for real this time.
MP app no longer draws the background to the Mac console window improperly on 10.3.x. In response to poor performance reports, Aspyr programmer Brad Oliver has also released a minor update for Jedi Knight II's sequel, Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. The update, deemed v1.01b, fixes a weather caching issue that made one level of the game unplayable. Here's what Brad had to say:I've seen enough reports about the stuttering issue in the 1.01a patch of Jedi Academy that it really made me wonder what the deal was, given that I know I fixed that in the patch. Well, it turns out that the 1.01a patch app only updates the version number and not the app itself. D'oh! The upshot of this is that if you ran the 1.01a patch, you effectively didn't update anything and are still really using the 1.01 "release" apps. Anyway, I've fixed the issue with the weather cache files that made the first Vjun level unplayable, so let's just skip this whole 1.01a patch nonsense and move on to the next one. :) With the holidays over, the new patch for Jedi Academy should be up on Aspyr's FTP server soon. Until then, users can download Jedi Academy v1.01b from Brad Oliver's official website. Links for both updates can be found below.
 Download Jedi Knight II 1.03b
 IMG Forums: New Jedi Academy patch - 1.01b
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Ryan Gordon on Mac AA Update, Postal 2
6:00 AM | Galen Wiley | Comment on this story
Programmer Ryan Gordon has updated his web log once more with new status updates on his current porting projects. America's Army version 2.0.0a, released for the PC on the 23rd of December, is now available for the Mac and Linux, complete with the newest official map, SFsandstorm. Unfortunately, Ryan was unable to get the update up on the major download servers over the holidays, but expect it to be available soon. It should be noted that Mac users should still be able to connect to servers running 2.0.0a trouble-free. Ryan also gave a small update on the Macintosh version of Postal 2: Mac version will be coming soon...so, so busy right now... For more information, check out Ryan's log, and stay tuned to IMG for more updates.
Ryan Gordon's Web Log
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Second Life Beta Born for Mac OS X
6:00 AM | Lucian Fong | Comment on this story
Linden Lab has released a beta of Second Life, a 3D massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG), for Mac OS X. Second Life gives participants an interactive world where a myriad of things can be accomplished. Here is a brief description from the website: Second Life is an expansive online society, lived in and built by its participants. Join a 3D world full of people, activity, and fun, where you and fellow residents can build a shared reality. You choose your own goals – travel and explore, claim and build on virtual land, make friends and socialize, or vie for status and wealth. Whatever you choose to do, your Second Life starts now. The Second Life trial is free for 7 days, after which a monthly fee of at least $9.95 USD is incurred. The system requirements of the beta are as follows:NVIDIA GeForce2 MX or better, ATI Radeon 8500 or better
1 GHz G4 or better, 512 MB of RAM
Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther)
Broadband (DSL/Cable Modem/LAN)To find out more about Second Life, visit Linden Lab's website and view Second Life's trailer at Apple's Games page.
Download Second Life Beta for Mac OS X (20 MB)
Apple Games: Second Life Trailer
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Recent Mac Games News Tuesday, December 23, 2003
Monday, December 22, 2003
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