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Aspyr has updated its game status page for Civilization IV to final candidate status. Civilization IV is the latest installment of the renowned world domination game series through turn based strategy. The game is expected to be released at the end of June.

Some of the game's features include:

3D Living World

Detailed environments where animals roam and smoke billows from small huts, set in a vibrant and colorful world.
Overhauled Interface

RTS style, intuitive interface allows you to manipulate units and cities with greater control and faster speed.
Multiplayer

Built from the ground up for multiplayer with Era Starts, variable game speeds, hot join, team play and a bevy of connectivity options: Internet, LAN, Play by Email (PBEM), hot seat and more. The best multiplayer Civ experience ever developed means hundreds of hours of gameplay for you and leaders across the world.
Customization

An unprecedented level of modding power allows you to customize the units, environments and gameplay to meet your vision, including: a WorldBuilder editor, XML and Python scripting language editing.

Civilization IV is currently available for pre-order for Macgamestore.com for $49.95.

Aspyr - Games Status page

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Bonnie's Bookstore is now available as a digital download from Macgamestore for $19.95. A free demo is available on the web site.

Link letters to form words in this exciting new word puzzle game! Bonnie has been running her bookstore for a while – now she wants to write her own books...

Help her write updated, best-selling versions of classic children’s tales by spelling words on the 50 unique levels. Pick up Wildcards and special bonus letters to spell extra-long words – but watch out for Writer’s Blocks – they’ll put your puzzle solving skills to the test!

Macgamestore: Boonie's Bookstore

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IMG has posted a review of Ragdoll Masters. Here's a clip from the review:

Ragdoll Masters is a game that should have been created 15 years ago, but woefully was not. The idea just seems so brilliant, it's a wonder no one came up with it earlier. The idea is simple: fly around in low gravity while trying to beat up the other player. Though this would have been the perfect arcade game back in the early 90's, it's still a great shareware game. And since it only costs $10, you can't go wrong!

IMG Review: Ragdoll Masters

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AudioMIDI has deals on a wide variety of Mac compatible products including: an exclusive Wave Arts' sale with special pricing on the best EQ and Compressor plug-ins available - like FinalPlug 5, MultiDynamics 5, TrackPlug 5 and Panorama 5 all for for only $135.00 each!; get an unbelievable price on an unbelievable audio controlled synthesizer with Antares Kantos for only $49.00!; get pristine 24-bit uncompressed recording to go with the Edirol R-09 Portable Recorder w/built-in stereo mic for only $399.00!; need a go to solution for quick adjustments on individual tracks that features Classic Compressor, Classic Eonsole Equalizer and Super DSP Efficient? - then get Classic Console Strip LE - Native from URS for only $149.00 - available as an electronic download only at this time; get a new breed of FireWire Interface w/onboard DSP, 24-bit processing, 4-inputs (2-digital), and 10-outputs (2-digital) with the Saffire audio interface from Focusrite for only $395.00!; how about another audioMIDI exclusive -  Synth Legends Nite DVD featuring commentary form Bob Moog, Tom Oberheim, and Dave Smith w/special guests Roger Linn and Marcus Ryle for only $19.95!; and much more.

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Blizzard Entertainment has released more information about the creatures players will face in the upcoming The Burning Crusade expansion pack for the popular World of Warcraft. The Fungal Giants and Ogre Lords are now available for viewing in the Burning Crusade bestiary.

More about the Ogre Lords:

It is believed that the massive, cyclopean gronn are the ancient ancestors of the ogres. If so, the ogre lords of Outland are the only ogres known to retain some of the physical traits of their gronn progenitors, such as the bony, calcified protrusions on their head and back, as well as a portion of the gronn's immense size and strength. Other unique characteristics possessed by the ogre lords are their intelligence and reasoning abilities, which are more acute than those of their ogre cousins. This combination of brute strength and increased intellect make the ogre lords worthy of both respect... and fear.

WoW: Burning Crusade Bestiary

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After suffering cancellation in 2004, Uru Live recently returned from the dead due to a partnership between Cyan Worlds and Turner Broadcasting's new Gametap service. Uru Live will offer Myst fans the chance to explore Cyan's universe in a massively multiplayer online format.

MMORPG.com has posted an interview with Cyan's Rand Miller about the upcoming game's content.

MYST was a very immersive game for players, how well do you feel it will translate to an online experience?

Rand Miller:
Uru is even more immersive. Think of ever expanding Myst ages that can be explored in real-time 3D with friends. In a live online experience there is opportunity to offer a much more "real" experience - the world itself comes alive. That living aspect happens in two primary ways. First is the idea of other real people that bring an unpredictable aspect to the adventure. There are other people taking the journey that I can share the experience with. And secondly (and just as important) is the idea of this world being dynamic. Because we have an online connection, the world is changeable and alive. New places can be added, old places can change.
The key is that every time I visit the worlds of Uru, I'm excited about what I might find.

MMORPG.com: What game features from the classic MYST series can players expect to find? Will there be lots of puzzles?

Rand Miller:
Uru of course will have puzzles that follow the Myst legacy. But because it's so vast and dynamic there is room to add other forms of gameplay and entertainment. There is potential for competitive play, as well as skill-based, and even simple social oriented games. In addition there is a story that flows in and around everything in Uru.

Q. Will there be Mac support?
A. While we always hope for Mac compatibility, this is yet to be determined.

MMORPG.com: Uru Live Interview

Uru Live

Cyan Worlds (add to watch list)

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RPGDot has posted a review of Avernum 4. Developed by Spiderweb Software, Avernum 4 features classic RPG elements with an ensuing storyline that puts you in charge of finding out what is going wrong in the subterranean society of Avernum. The review gave Avernum 4 a 7/10, with a variety of content, excellant storyline as its highlights, but linear gameplay and limited options as its pitfalls.

Although the main quest is linear, there is a large number of side-quests that can be obtained from the many NPCs or the job-board that can be found in towns and forts. The world really is enormous with over 20 sizeable settlements and many more mines, camps and other locations that make exploration enjoyable - exploring remote corners often yields the annoyance of single encounters with rats, goblins (or those damnable chitrachs) but you'll also discover hidden caches, underground lairs, hidden access to other locations, shrines and so on. All up, Avernum 4 manages to feel more open than the main quest suggests.

RPGDot - Avernum 4 Review

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Barefeats has released benchmarks for Quake 4, the latest sc-fi action shooter developed by id Software and published for the Mac by Aspyr Media. The game is benchmarked on several Macs with different video cards including PowerMac G5 and the new Intel Macs. In all the tests PowerMac G5s dominated the benchmarks with the latest nVidia video cards(7800).

INSIGHTS
Serious gamers with serious resources will want a Dual-Core or Quad-Core with the 7800 GT (or the mutant 7800 GTX).

The new Intel "low end" Macs have improved when it comes to contemporary 3D accelerated gaming. However, when it comes to Quake 4, they are no faster than a Dual G4 Power Mac or G5 Power Mac with a graphics card running at the same core clock speed as the Intel iMac's and the MacBook Pro's X1600. Before you gamers make the leap to an Intel Mac, you might consider upgrading your graphics card instead.

You can see that the Intel GMA950 GPU in the 13" MacBook puts it at a disadvantage to every other Mac included in the test.

Barefeats - Quake 4 Benchmarks

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Macologist reports Tremulous, a free open source Sci-fi action/strategy hybrid based on the Quake 3 game engine. In the game there are two races to choose from, the speedy Aliens or the gun-wielding humans. Furthermore, this game is multiplayer based and has no single player, despite an interestng plot available at the official website.

Tremulous, a free game based upon the GPL source release of the Quake 3 game engine, is now finally available to Mac users. For sometime, the game was only made available to Windows and Linux users due to incompatibility issues, but now, the wait is finally over thanks to a dedicated individual.

Tremulous is a free, open source game that blends a team based FPS with elements of an RTS. Players can choose from 2 unique races, aliens and humans. Players on both teams are able to build working structures in-game like an RTS. These structures provide many functions, the most important being spawning. The designated builders must ensure there are spawn structures or other players will not be able to rejoin the game after death. Other structures provide automated base defence (to some degree), healing functions and much more...

Macologist - Tremulous Released for the Mac

Tremulous

Tremulous 1.10 for Mac OS X

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