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Project Magma has announced the release of Myth II: Soublighter 1.6 and the launch of The Tain, a user driven, moderated compendium of plugins, updates, tools and more for the series of Myth games.

Myth II version 1.6, adds native MacOS X map making tools along with a Universal Binary for OS X. Not to be left out the Windows version received some modernization that drastically cut down startup times, allows the game to be played in a window, and shares the CPU better with other tasks.

The Tain

Playmyth Announcement

Project Magma

Bungie Studios (add to watch list)

Myth II: Soulblighter (add to watch list)

Macgamestore.com has begun to take pre-orders for Feral Interactive's Colin McRae Rally for $39.95. The game is currently scheduled to ship in March, 2007.

Colin McRae Rally is the most complete and rewarding racing experience for the Macintosh. Choose from a wide assortment of cars and prepare to be pummelled through a staggering 300+ race tracks featuring unparalleled detail and visual splendour.

Macgamestore.com also has two new Mac games for sale including Victoria: Revolutions (digital download) and Slots Featuring WMS Gaming (boxed product).

Victoria: Revolutions is an expansion pack to the original game Victoria. Victoria focus on six different aspects, all interconnected, to provide a deep, yet easily accessible game-play; Diplomacy, Warfare, Economy & Industrialisation, Colonisation, Technological Development and Political Simulation. Victoria: Revolutions is available for $14.95.

Slots featuring WMS Gaming brings the casino home. Two entertainment powerhouses have combined to create the best video slot machine package available today. Harvest profits with Farmer Brown in Cash Crop, uncover alien mysteries in UFO Dough, play a movie critic in Roll Credits, spin music tracks like "Soul Man" and "Mack the Knife" in Off the Charts, and many, many more. Slots featuring WMS Gaming is available for $24.95.

Macgamestore: Colin McRae Rally

Macgamestore: Slots Featuring WMS Gaming

Macgamestore: Victoria: Revolutions

Apple Store Special Deals has exclusive deals on a variety of Apple Certified Refurbished products including: Apple Certified Refurbished 4GB iPod Nano for only $149!; Apple Certified Refurbished 1GB iPod shuffle for only $49; Apple Certified Refurbished 1GB iPod nano for only $79!; Apple Certified Refurbished 17-inch PowerBook 1.67GHz PowerPC w/SuperDrive for only $1,699!; and much more. Get all the details at the following URL: 

http://hotdeals.apple.com/specialdeals/index.php

MacConnection has Hot Deals on a variety of Mac compatible hardware and software products including: Sony CyberShot DSC-W100 8.1-megapixel compact digital camera for only $249.95!; Olympus FE-230 7.1-megapixel compact digital camera for only $199.99!; Photoshop Lightroom from Adobe for only $199.95; Corel Painer X upgrad from Corel for only $219.95!; Dreamweaver 8 limited time upgrade for Microsoft FrontPage owners for only $399.95!; Canon Pixma MP830 All-In-One multifunction printer for only $249.99!; Olympus Evolt-500 digital SLR two lens kit for only $679.99!; and much more. Get all the details at the following URL: 

http://hotdeals.apple.com/macconnection/index.php

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Oddlabs has released version 1.7 of Tribal Trouble for the Macintosh. The new version features optimized landscape rendering, improved movement of armies in narrow passages and adds distance fog.

Here's a complete list of fixes:

Optimized landscape rendering: The landscape is now rendered faster than ever
so the slow cards can play the game and the faster cards can set even higher
detail!

Improved movement: Sending a big army through a narrow passage has often made
the units wait for each other causing the army to get scattered. The units
are now more intelligent and move a lot faster by each other.

Distance fog: Object seen far away are now slightly covered by fog to give a
more realistic view of the islands.

Bug fix: The free quit time is now once again shorter for faster games.

Macgamefiles: Tribal Trouble 1.7

Tribal Trouble (add to watch list)

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Pokie Magic, an independent game developer that specializes in Australian slot machines games (Pokie games) has released their first game for the Macintosh, Totem Treasure 2.

Here's more from the press release:

Totem Treasure 2, following its predecessors Totem Treasure, and nearly 30
other games of this genre, sports a spiritual, Native American theme and feel.

Slot machine games from Australia differ a great deal from their U.S.
counterparts, in that they have far more depth of gameplay, have more
second screen features, and have many more bonuses and payout percentages.
This is certainly the case with Totem Treasure 2.

Totem Treasure 2 simulates a 5 or 6 reel slot machine on-screen, and to
play, gamers spin the reels. However, oftentimes players can deviate from
the reels and play a separate game of Roulette or a play a card game to
attempt chances at doubling their winnings.

Gamers can also be awarded bonus screens, where they can triple their
current winnings or even win a huge and ever increasing virtual jackpot!

Macgamefiles: Totem Treasure 2 1.0

Pokie Magic

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Freeverse Software today announced via its monthly newsletter that it is currently developing a new 3D card game for the Macintosh.

Here's more from the newsletter:

Freeverse has long been known for amazing card games like 3D Spades Deluxe and Burning Monkey Solitaire... well now we're taking a giant leap forward! In the works for a veeeerrrry long time, we've recently made some huge progress on a brand new 3D card game engine. We still have a lot of work to do, and you really have to see it in action to appreciate it... but here's a sneak peek. We'll be looking for some testers in the coming months to help us make the absolutely best card games the Mac, (or Windows), have ever seen!

Freeverse (add to watch list)

In a recent Wired Game|Life interview PopCap Games' Greg Canessa discussed his move from general manager of XBox Live Arcade to working with the casual games company. Interestingly Canessa mentions Apple TV when listing the devices which will feature PopCap titles in the future.

Apple TV is a device which allows users to wirelessly play all their favorite iTunes content from Mac or PC on a widescreen TV, including movies, TV shows, music, photos and podcasts.

G|L: So what exactly will you be doing for PopCap?

GC: I will help proliferate their titles on other consoles. It’s a broad in scope role. It encompasses everything from vision and strategy to execution and marketing. It will all be part of my group and charter. Business development will be part of that as well. It will be about taking the stable of franchises and games out of PopCap's studio and adapting, customizing it for different platforms -- adding multiplayer, new play modes, HD, customizing the user interface and display for Zune, ipod, Apple TV, Nintendo DS, PSP.

G|L: Where do you see the casual games market in the next five years?

GC: Casual games, gaming in general, will continue to penetrate into the psyche of the mass market public. We ain’t seen nothing yet in terms of where it’s going to be in the next couple years. More and more soccer moms and grandmas will play. It’s going to continue to grow into non-core demographics. This is relevant as it pertains to devices that are not currently earmarked as gaming devices: mobile, set-top boxes, Apple TV, MP3 players and other devices in the home that will reach the non-gamer -- people who don’t think they want to play.

Wired Game|Life: Greg Canessa Interview

Apple (add to watch list)

Joystiq has posted a new piece of promotional art for Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness. Developed by Hothead Games for Penny Arcade, the title will be released in episodic format and will be similar in form to the Lucas Arts' classic, Sam & Max.

Click the links below to check out the promo art.

Joystiq: Penny Arcade Adventures Promo Art

Penny Arcade Adventures (add to watch list)

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Blizzard Entertainment has updated the ever popular World of Warcraft to version 2.07. In addition to the usual bug fixes and balance adjustments, the patch offers the Mac specific "Stability improvements in Multi-Threaded OpenGL support on future OS X releases."

Here's a brief list of changes in the new patch:

Raids and Dungeons
-Players are no longer able to accept the quest "The Opening of the Dark Portal" while the Black Morass encounter is engaged.
-In the Black Morass, Chrono Lord Deja will now properly spawn during a Heroic Mode attempt.

Bug Fixes
- The talent "Combat Potency" no longer causes rogues to have a chance to gain energy when other players hit them with off-hand attacks.
- Players with multiple chat windows will no longer have fixed channels (ie. general, trade) added back to the main chat window every time they log on.

WoW: Patch Notes

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World of Warcraft (add to watch list)

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