Slim Down for Summer with That's Fit
Posts with tag mac-gaming

Feral releases Tomb Raider Anniversary


Lara Croft is back on the Mac. Feral Interactive let us know that they have released Tomb Raider Anniversary for our favorite architecture.

There are a few hitches-- it's Intel processors only at this point (though a Universal binary is due next year), and like most 3D games lately, GMA video cards are out. 10.4 is listed, there's no indication of whether the game works in Leopard or not. The good news is that while a lot of Tomb Raider games lately have been terrible, this one is supposed to be a nice return to the spelunking of old. The Windows version got reviewed favorably, but there's no word yet on exactly how the Mac version looks. We've heard good things about other Feral ports-- maybe this kind of release is just what Mac gaming needs a lot more of.

Aspyr delays Guitar Hero III, they are now dead to me

Man, remember how excited we were that Guitar Hero III was coming to the Mac at a reasonable time? Yeah, well, guess what. Aspyr has no love for Mac owners. Our friends at Joystiq say that while the PC version is sitting happily on shelves, we're still waiting on the Mac version. "Later this year," Aspyr says. I'll believe it when I see it.

I don't want to get off on a rant here, but who the hell put Aspyr in charge of Mac gaming anyway? Their incompetence has reared its ugly head time and time again. They deliver late, buggy ports all the time, and yet game companies still seem to flock to them for development and publishing jobs.

There is something rotten in the state of Mac gaming, and it is Aspyr Media. Have they ever kept a promise for release? Have they ever delivered a worthy, on-time port? Or have they continually and constantly profited off of placing junk on Apple Store shelves, forever confining Macs to the bottom of the list for gaming platforms? I won't tell you what to buy, but I'm done seeing Aspyr's name on Mac games. Until they show that they actually have the capacity to release a game that even slightly compares to the PC release version (or even shows up on time -- I'd settle for punctuality at this point), the Aspyr name is a complete dealbreaker for me in terms of both interest and purchases. As far as I'm concerned, they're out.

ChipWits lives on

Back in the days when Apple pretty much owned the educational market, the Mac was new and Oregon Trail was the pinnacle of edutainment, there existed a little program called ChipWits. I played on my Laser 128, but there were versions for the Commodore 64 and Macintosh. Now some 20-odd years later ChipWits makes a triumphant return as an Adobe AIR app, so you can get your robot on with a Windows machine or a Mac (and hopefully Linux someday).

ChipWits is a programmable robot game. You build and program your little robot dude to travel through various environments (called rooms). Each one has specific rewards and risks, which makes programming the robot guy interesting. That may sound dry as toast, but your robot eats pie and drinks coffee. He can see, smell and touch. He can zap bugs but isn't too happy with bombs. The bit of whimsy thrown in with the robot-building makes for a really enjoyable game. Plus, it's surprising how fun debugging your robot can be.

The big improvement in what the authors are calling ChipWits II is that you can now create your own missions. If something like Desktop Tower Defense is your bag, the Mission Editor will appeal to you. Currently you can try ChipWits 15 times and buy it for $14.95. The release price will be $19.95, and the authors are donating 10% of their profits to 3 non-profit organizations.

Bungie says Mac games are still a possibility

Macworld has a quick chat with Bungie after this morning's big announcement that the company is "evolving" away from Microsoft a bit, and the good news is that a new Mac release from our favorite game developer (before they were bought out by the Evil Empire, that is) is not out of the question.

Spokeman Brian Jarrard plays pretty loose with the announcement, and says that while Bungie and Microsoft are going to retain their developer and publisher relationship, his company won't "rule out anything going forward." He says the move will let Bungie "[control] our destiny, and that puts us in a position where we could put ourselves back on the [Mac] platform definitively again."

We can only hope. EA and id games made a big appearance at this years' WWDC, and I think I speak for many, many Mac gamers when I say we'd love to see Bungie announcing a brand new game at Macworld in a few months.

TUAW Features

iphone app store tuaw tests
Mac 101 ask-tuaw
Mac News
WWDC (251)
.Mac (64)
Accessories (639)
Airport (75)
Analysis / Opinion (1358)
Apple (1659)
Apple Corporate (561)
Apple Financial (190)
Apple History (48)
Apple Professional (54)
Apple TV (162)
Audio (447)
Bad Apple (120)
Beta Beat (152)
Blogging (85)
Bluetooth (17)
Bugs/Recalls (56)
Cult of Mac (873)
Deals (219)
Desktops (115)
Developer (262)
Education (99)
eMac (10)
Enterprise (139)
Features (403)
Freeware (386)
Gaming (376)
Graphic Design (33)
Hardware (1286)
Holidays (37)
Humor (578)
iBook (65)
iLife (235)
iMac (184)
Internet (334)
Internet Tools (1321)
iTS (977)
iTunes (814)
iWork (22)
Leopard (370)
Mac mini (112)
Mac Pro (53)
MacBook (202)
MacBook Air (79)
Macbook Pro (220)
MobileMe (35)
Multimedia (445)
Odds and ends (1450)
Open Source (279)
OS (915)
Peripherals (210)
Podcasting (182)
Podcasts (91)
Portables (197)
PowerBook (135)
PowerMac G5 (50)
Retail (594)
Retro Mac (48)
Rig of the Week (42)
Rumors (633)
Software (4344)
Software Update (417)
Steve Jobs (252)
Stocking Stuffers (50)
Surveys and Polls (97)
Switchers (112)
The Woz (34)
TUAW Business (242)
Universal Binary (281)
UNIX / BSD (61)
Video (905)
Weekend Review (83)
WIN Business (47)
Wireless (85)
Xserve (39)
iPhone/iPod News
iPhone (1620)
iPod Family (2065)
App Store (81)
SDK (19)
Mac Events
One More Thing (27)
Liveblog (1)
Other Events (226)
Macworld (489)
Mac Learning
AppleScript (3)
Ask TUAW (103)
Blogs (85)
Books (26)
Books and Blogs (62)
Cool tools (445)
Hacks (464)
How-tos (486)
Interviews (44)
Mods (187)
Productivity (590)
Reviews (112)
Security (156)
Terminal Tips (59)
Tips and tricks (567)
Troubleshooting (168)
TUAW Features
iPhone 101 (34)
TUAW Labs (3)
Blast From the Past (17)
TUAW Tips (144)
Flickr Find (36)
Found Footage (86)
Mac 101 (94)
TUAW Interview (31)
Widget Watch (198)
The Daily Best (1)
TUAW Faceoff (5)

RESOURCES

RSS NEWSFEEDS

Powered by Blogsmith

Sponsored Links

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) bloggers (30 days)

#BloggerPostsCmts
1Cory Bohon844
2Robert Palmer5839
3Steven Sande5423
4Dave Caolo480
5Mat Lu4010
6Erica Sadun333
7Scott McNulty320
8Mike Schramm201
9Brett Terpstra191
10Michael Rose1221
11Giles Turnbull80
12Christina Warren821
13Chris Ullrich30
14Joshua Ellis23
15Kent Pribbernow10
16Jason Clarke10

Featured Galleries

Macworld 2008 Keynote
Macworld 2008 Build-up
Apple Vanity Plates
DiscPainter
Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D
Macworld Expo 2007 show floor
Apple Texas Hold 'Em
The Macworld Faithful in Line
iPhone First Look

 

    Most Commented On (7 days)

    Recent Comments

    More Apple Analysis

    More from AOL Money and Finance

    Other Weblogs Inc. Network blogs you might be interested in: