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Spiderweb Software has released their January newsletter. Now that the RPG Avernum 4 has been released for the Mac, and the Windows version expected to reach completion in March, the company hope to devote more time to other projects. One of these is the overhaul of Avernum and Avernum 2 in order to make the games native to the OS X environment. The announcement of their other project, Geneforge 4, is sure to delight fans of the series.

The newsletter offered some clues to the storyline in Geneforge 4:

And what will be coming when Avernum 4 is settled? I don't think it'll be a big surprise. We have begun preliminary plotting for Geneforge 4. The epic tale will continue.

It is still way early to say much about Geneforge 4, but some things are settled. It will take place not long after the events of Geneforge 3, and a devastating war will be taking place. And, unlike the earlier Geneforge games, you will NOT play a Shaper.

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Aspyr has posted a patch that brings Stubbs The Zombie to version 1.0.1. The following issues have been addressed in the patch:

• Fixed a memory leak that would lead to degradation of the game performance over time.

To download the 1.75 MB patch, head over to our sister site, Macgamefiles.com.

MGF: Stubbs The Zombie 1.0.1

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Inside Mac Games has posted a new feature called WoW: Life After 60, penned by David Peck. Here's a clip from the article:

Millions will argue that World of Warcraft (WoW) is MMORPGing at its finest. Since its retail release in November 2004, the majority of my gaming energy has been spent playing this game. As of December 2005, WoW had amassed in excess of five million subscribers worldwide, including over one million in the U.S. WoW is the most compelling fantasy game world I've ever explored.

IMG Feature WOW: Life after 60

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Brad Custer our resident desktop guru wanted everyone to know that Custer's Desktops will return next week after an extended holiday break. So, be sure to keep those requests coming in.

Until then, stop by Custer's Desktops to check out the dozens and dozens of already available desktops.

IMG Desktops

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Macworld's Game Room has posted a review of Virtual Programming's Gangland. Using a combination of role playing, real time strategy, and third person action, Gangland allows players to step into the role of a Mafioso as he attempts to make his way to the top of the criminal heap. Problems with the AI and the game's derivative storyline prevented Gangland from receiving more than 2 out of 5 mice from the Game Room.

From the review:

Sadly, the AI that controls your henchmen is ridiculously underdeveloped. My hired guns waded right into the middle of a gunfight as if nothing was happening, took as much damage as they could manage, and then keeled over dead. Yeah, real helpful.

The game’s 3-D environment comes in handy during gunfights; you can crouch and hide behind furniture, walls, vehicles and other obstructions. But be warned—it’s easy to tick off the regular civilians of Paradise City. More than once, I found myself getting into gunfights with regular Joes and Janes just walking down the street.

Macworld Game Room: Gangland Review

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Buzzscope has posted an interview with legendary game developer John Carmack. Though the article focuses mainly on Doom RPG for cell phones, it does touch on the impact of next generation gaming consoles and his reaction to the recent Doom movie.

HB: DOOM the movie…What do you think? If you had the opportunity would you have rather been the director of that movie or had more control with the production?

JC: I liked it. I had intentionally kept myself completely away from the movie production, because I wanted to see the completed work for a valid first impression, and I don’t have any notion that I am qualified to be a movie director. I liked the first Mortal Kombat movie and the Resident Evil movies, and I put the Doom movie in with them instead of the miserable game movies like Mario Brothers and Double Dragon.

Buzzscope: John Carmack Interview

id Software (add to watch list)

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Macologist recently announced that Titan Onslaught, hosts of the 32 player Unreal Tournament 2004 server community, has released the Titan Onslaught Map Pack Volume 1. The pack includes 16 customized Onslaught maps, custom load screens, and wallpapers. The maps are designed for better performance and entertainment for 32 player games with the addition of more vehicles and reworked weapons lockers.

The Titan Onslaught Map Pack requires the ECE Bonus pack for Unreal Tournament 2004 and can be download from one of the sites listed on the Atari forum page below.

Macologist: TOMP Vol. 1

Titan Onslaught

Atari Forums: Map Pack Download Links

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