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MacSoft has officially announced the Macintosh version of Unreal Tournament 3. Licensed by Midway Home Entertainment and developed by Epic Games. Unreal Tournament 3 will feature improved graphics, new vehicles, new weapons, new game modes and "the deepest single-player campaign in the series to date." It is scheduled to hit a Mac near you in early 2008.

“MacSoft couldn’t be happier to bring Unreal Tournament 3 ’s insane fast-paced action and brutal weaponry to the Mac,” said Peter Tamte, president of MacSoft parent company Destineer. “We have a long history of bringing the Unreal series to Mac gamers, and with its expanded campaign mode and killer vehicles, Unreal Tournament 3 is the biggest, best and bloodiest game in the series yet.”

Created with the groundbreaking Unreal Engine 3, Unreal Tournament 3 brings unparalleled visual fidelity to the Macintosh, and new gameplay additions including an enhanced single-player mode with a branching mission structure and wickedly intelligent enemy AI make this the deepest, richest entry in the franchise. Also featuring new gameplay modes like Unreal Warfare, two distinct vehicle rosters including devastating machines like the Necris DarkWalker and all new gadgets like the hoverboard and grappling beam, Unreal Tournament 3 is poised to take the Mac gaming community by storm!

Mac system requirements for Unreal Tournament 3 are still undetermined. With Epic’s native Mac code, the game could perform similarly to the PC version, using a beefy computer but paying players back with stunning graphics. The Mac-specific engine should give better results than the emulation technology some recent Mac games use. Those titles automatically buffer and translate Windows code for OS X and the Mac hardware, instead of being rewritten by programmers. The difference is sometimes like comparing a language translation between Babelfish and a human interpreter.

Even though the engine won’t rely on emulation, MacSoft thinks UT3 might still require an Intel computer. Al Schilling, general manager of MacSoft says, “There’s nothing in the code itself that would prevent it running Power PC. However, we’re not sure that there will be a suitable number of Power PC Macs with a video card capable of running the game. As we get closer to final code, we’ll be able to assess that to determine if we want to build a Universal app.”

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Mac|Life: UT 3 Exclusive

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Inside Mac Games has posted a review of Harmonix's rhythm game for game-capable iPods, Phase. Here's a clip from the review:

Now as for the actual gameplay, it is more similar to Harmonix’s Playstation 2 games, where songs are broken up into segments, lengths vary on the song. To progress through each checkpoint, you have to earn a minimum star rating, from one to four. If the rating is not attained, you loose a heart, starting with four in total. If all the hearts are lost, game over. They can be regained in songs if segments are played well, especially if you achieve a high multiplier. The gameplay works, and is well suited the iPod. On higher difficulties, remember, two thumbs are better than one.

IMG Review of Phase for iPod

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