http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-20068736-248/apple-unveilings-at-wwdc-live-blog/?tag=cnetRiver
Check it out for you Mac OS news, right now they are on iCloud… good stuff, also makes me glad I still have my unlimited ATT data account, and worried for the future if ATT and Verizon don’t come up with unlimited for all. Also, MobileMe is DEAD :) all of the features are moving to iCloud, and will be free.
Introducing the World’s Smallest Heroes Mini Ninjas Comes to the Mac on June 11th
Prepare yourself for a Ninja adventure unlike any other as Feral Interactive announces the release of Mini Ninjas for the Mac on Friday, June 11th. Developed by Io Interactive, Mini Ninjas follows the young ninjas, Hiro and his friends as they travel through spellbound lands to do battle with a magical army of animals-turned-samurai.
Brimming with inventiveness and full of fun, Mini Ninjas offers delightful characters in a beautifully animated world. Whether you’re using Hiro’s magic, Futo’s might, Suzume’s stealth, or another path entirely, players are sure of an experience that is enticing, exciting and funny.
With a charming visual style and gameplay that encourages exploration, Mini Ninjas offers younger players a light-hearted yet epic adventure, free of gruesome violence and high on magic.
“Mini Ninjas is such a beautifully imagined game that it makes you want to explore every nook and cranny of its world.” said Feral Interactive’s David Stephen.
“We are delighted to see Mini Ninjas arrive on the Mac” said Io Interactive’s Brand Marketing Director, Justin Hills “Its great style and appeal for younger gamers makes it ideal for the platform.”
The game will retail in North America for US $39.95, £29.95 (inc VAT) in the UK and €39.95 (inc VAT) throughout Europe. It is currently available to pre-order from Feral’s online store (http://www.feralinteractive.com/?section=buy&game=minininjas).
Minimum system requirements call for a 1.8 GHz Intel Mac only, 1GB RAM, 128MB VRAM graphics card*, DVD drive, 5GB of hard disk space and Mac OS X v10.5.8 or later.
In the coming weeks, Feral Interactive will release a Mini Ninjas demo and an additional preview trailer of the game. Consumers can get the latest details of these and other Feral announcements on our Web site (www.feralinteractive.com), on Twitter (twitter.com/feralgames), on Facebook (facebook.com/feralinteractive) or on YouTube (youtube.com/feralinteractive).
Indie game will be the first new title to launch on Steam with both Mac and PC versions available.
Today Guns of Icarus, an independent title from cross-platform developer Muse Games, will be the first title to debut on Steam in both the Mac & PC stores, alongside the launch of the new Mac Steam client. This high-intensity title lets a player or a group of players defend a mighty zeppelin against a myriad of enemies out to steal precious cargo, all within a richly detailed steampunk world.
“We’re so excited to join Steam in the launch of their groundbreaking Mac client, in addition to serving their vast PC userbase,” said Howard Tsao, CEO of Muse Games. “Today’s a great day for gamers & developers alike. ”
Guns of Icarus was developed using the Unity engine, allowing it to easily deploy to multiple platforms, including Mac & PC. This was a crucial ingredient in the development of an indie title like Guns of Icarus, where teams do not enjoy the man-power luxuries of larger studios.
“Tools such as Steam and Unity allow a small development team like ours to focus on what matters most, the game itself,” said Brian Kehrer, Technical Director for Muse Games. “Every minute spent porting means a minute lost from gameplay.”
Guns of Icarus is available starting today for $9.95 through the Steam store: http://store.steampowered.com/app/49800
For more information on Muse Games & Guns of Icarus, please visit www.MuseGames.com.
Guns of Icarus takes place in a dystopian future where the only way to transport anything is by airship. These mighty creations, amply equipped with six gun stations, must battle inclement weather and the vicious pirates that dot the skies. Players must cooperate to balance gunning down attackers and repairing their ship – without the right balance, your crew is dead and your cargo lost. As players progress they are able to upgrade their ship with more sophisticated weapons.
First look and pre-order for inaugural Puzzle Agent pilot now online at http://www.puzzleagent.com
Telltale Games, the leading independent digital publisher and developer of episodic interactive entertainment, announced today the creation of their new Pilot Program. With this program, Telltale can bring creative and innovative ideas to market more quickly through game “pilots,” similar to the entertainment industry’s television pilots. Through this program Telltale’s internal studios will explore new video game concepts, content and play patterns to complement the publisher’s current episodic projects. Successful pilots will be considered for migration to the company’s highly successful episodic gaming model.
“The Pilot Program is an excellent way to expand the boundaries of interactive entertainment and gaming by bringing audiences unique and interesting content they might not see otherwise,” said Telltale CEO, Dan Connors. “Our internal teams are filled with incredibly talented and creative people, and the Pilot Program will foster the exploration of ideas that will help us evolve Telltale’s product offerings.”
The first title in Telltale’s Pilot Program is Puzzle Agent. The title combines accessible Professor Layton-inspired puzzling with generous doses of Nordic folklore, enigmatic gnomes, and dark David Lynch and Coen brothers sensibilities. Puzzle Agent releases in June on PC, Apple Macintosh, iPhone/iPod touch, iPad and Nintendo Wii.
Telltale is creating Puzzle Agent in partnership with Graham Annable, the company’s first art director at the time of its founding. Players take on the role of Nelson Tethers, the lead (and only) agent in the US Department of Puzzle Investigation, sent on a rare field assignment to Scoggins, Minnesota to investigate why output at the town’s eraser factory has come to a screeching halt. The title combines brainteasers that include mazes, puzzles, logic and riddles, intertwined with an engrossing, twisted mystery story – all presented with Graham’s unique narrative and visual sensibilities and the distinctive Telltale style.
“It’s been great re-uniting with Telltale,” comments Annable. “It’s amazing to see how they’ve faithfully captured my art style and mood in the game. Working with the team to bring Nelson Tethers and Puzzle Agent to life has been amazing. Combining the original story and characters with one of my favorite gameplay styles is like a dream come true.”
Puzzle Agent pre-orders for PC and Mac are now available at http://www.puzzleagent.com for $9.95. All who pre-order will receive a coupon for 50% off any products in the Telltale Games store, including merchandise like Graham Annable’s new Book of Grickle from Dark Horse Comics, the full season of Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse, and more. Full pre-order details are available on the Puzzle Agent website. Purchase options for additional platforms will be available in the near future.
Authentic and emotionally-charged combat comes to the Mac with Feral Interactive’s release of the critically acclaimed Brothers In Arms: Double Time on Friday, April 16th. Developed by Gearbox Software, and now being released as part of the Feral Legends series, Brothers In Arms: Double Time comprises the first two games in the Brothers in Arms® series: Road to Hill 30 and Earned in Blood.
Brothers In Arms: Double Time has won wide acclaim as one of the most gritty and realistic battle adventures ever to come to a computer screen. Based on a true story, players lead a squad of soldiers from the 101st Airborne division of the US Army through an epic journey starting on D-Day and fighting through the first perilous days of the Normandy invasion.
Brothers In Arms: Double Time takes realistic military action to the next level; testing leadership, judgment and determination it offers engaging action in an authentic setting that challenges a player’s ability at every turn. Success depends upon how effectively a player commands their squad.
“Brothers in Arms approaches war games in an innovative way. We have been eager to bring these games to the Mac audience for some time. The focus on realism and their ability to engage your emotions makes them quite special,” said David Stephen, Feral Interactive’s Managing Director.
“We are delighted to see the Brothers in Arms series appear on the Mac and having a whole new audience enjoying these games,” said Gearbox Software’s President, Randy Pitchford.
The game will retail in North America for US $29.95, £19.95 (inc. VAT) in the UK and €24.95 (inc. VAT) throughout Europe. It is currently available to pre-order from Feral’s online store (http://www.feralinteractive.com/?section=buy&game=doubletime).
Minimum system requirements call for a 1.8GHz Intel Mac, 1.5GB RAM, 128MB graphics card, DVD drive, 8GB of hard disk space and Mac OS X v10.5 or later. The game supports the latest generation of MacBooks and Mac Minis with nVidia 9400M cards or better
Casual Games Leader’s Take on the “Zombie Survival” Genre Pits You and Your Front Yard Against Legions of Lovably Laughable Undead
PopCap Games today announced the immediate availability of Plants vs. Zombies™, a humorous action-strategy game suitable for all ages. Conceived and designed by George Fan, senior game designer at PopCap’s San Francisco studio and the creator of Insaniquarium™, Plants vs. Zombies pits you against legions of invading zombies bent on overwhelming your lawn and making their way to your front door. To defeat the hordes of living dead trespassing on your lawn, you must purchase and plant a wide range of lovable mutant flowers, vines, trees and other foliage that has zombie-combating powers and abilities. Plants vs. Zombies carries a retail price of US$19.95 and is available online for PC and Mac at www.popcap.com as well as other leading game portals including RealArcade, MSN Games, STEAM, Wild Games and Yahoo! Games.
“We love zombie games as much as everyone else, but unlike other undead offerings we wanted to create a zombie game that would appeal to both casual and hardcore gamers alike,” explained George Fan, senior game designer at PopCap. “It’s been great to see both casual and hardcore gamers in our beta test group get totally absorbed in the game, clicking intensely as the zombies chomp on their front yards.”
Featuring five different modes of play, Plants vs. Zombies presents you with a front lawn and encroaching zombies striving to reach your front door and defeat you. Choose from an ever-increasing assortment of specialized, zombie-battling plants to slow down, confuse, weaken and ultimately destroy the vegetation-munching undead before they can traverse your yard and reach your front door. Thoughtful selection of plants, judicious use of resources and clever planting/placement decisions are key to overcoming more than two dozen different kinds of zombies, each with its own combination of “skills” and behaviors. Additional obstacles and challenges in later levels include the setting of the sun, a creeping fog that obscures part of your view – even a swimming pool that takes up much of your lawn.
Features of Plants vs. Zombies include:
· Five different modes of play: Adventure, Survival, Puzzle, Zen Garden and Mini-Game Challenges
· 50 levels in the main Adventure mode and more than 50 more in the other game modes, with limitless replayability
· More than four dozen plants, from cherry bombs and peashooters to melon-pults, wall-nuts and sunflowers
· Dozens of different zombie types, including back-from-the-dead miners, businessmen, football players, even a zombie bobsled team!
· Suburban almanac tracks your progress and provides vital stats on plant and zombie types
· Crazy Dave’s trunk-o’-the-car shop where you can purchase special “power plants” and other zombie-exterminating tools as well as potted versions for your Zen Garden
· New fluid animation technology for prettier plants and zippier zombies
· 14 original musical pieces that dynamically adjust to the intensity of the game in real time
· So frighteningly fun you’ll soil your plants!
reat titles for PC and Mac available for download for half-off April 27th thru April 30th
Today marks the beginning of a four day promotional event for all PC and Mac games available at www.gameagent.com. All purchases made through gameagent.com will be automatically discounted 50% at checkout this weekend.
The sale encompasses all titles offered on GameAgent, from the recently-released Men of War, Cryostasis and PuzzleQuest: Galactrix on PC to the blockbuster title Call of Duty 4 on Mac.
PC Games
1701 A.D.
1701 A.D. The Sunken Dragon
Cryostasis
Death Track: Resurrection
futureU The Prep Game for SAT
Made Man
Men of War
PuzzleQuest: Galactrix
Stubbs the Zombie
Mac Games
Call of Duty® 4: Modern Warfare
futureU The Prep Game for SAT
Gameagent.com launched in September 2008 and has continued to expand its catalog in recent months with additional content for PC and Mac gamers. Look for new games to be added to the digital download site throughout the rest of 2009 and beyond.
To fall deeper in love with Aspyr and their amazing line of products, visit http://www.aspyr.com and see just how much fun you can legally have.
EGOSOFT’s final installment in critically acclaimed franchise now available
EGOSOFT announced today that the latest chapter of the X series, X³: Terran Conflict 2.0 – The Aldrin Missions, is now available at all major US retail outlets.
X³: Terran Conflict 2.0 – The Aldrin Missions features a host of new missions, new ships and much more – and is also available on Steam, a leading platform for the delivery and management of PC games and digital content with over 15 million accounts around the world. This updated version of X³: Terran Conflict is being published by IGS Interactive Inc.
“It’s been a long road, but it feels great to finally give US gamers a chance to go and purchase this fantastic final installment in the X series,” said Bernd Lehahn, managing director of EGOSOFT. “The critical response to X³: Terran Conflict has been nothing short of phenomenal, and we’re confident that X3: Terran Conflict 2.0 – The Aldrin Missions will only build on that success.”
As with the previous titles in the X series, X³: Terran Conflict 2.0 – The Aldrin Missions is a single-player space simulation featuring fast-paced first-person space combat, free-form open exploration of a huge dynamic universe, and large-scale management of the player’s own intergalactic corporation.
In X³: Terran Conflict (the predecessor to 2.0), the long-lost Terran colony of Aldrin was rediscovered. Now, after numerous years of isolation, the Terrans are keen to bring the Aldrans back into the fold as part of their massive effort to colonize areas of space thought lost or inaccessible. No colonization is easy, however, and you will be asked to not only help in the shaping of the new frontier, but will also be called upon to provide protection for the colonization effort against forces determined to oppose the Aldrin Expansion. New Terran stations and complexes, a new Terran ship and a host of other new features are introduced as you play a decisive role in the shaping of this new Terran frontier.
“As with X³: Terran Conflict, IGS Interactive is extremely proud to be publishing X3: Terran Conflict 2.0 – The Aldrin Missions,” said Paul Lombardi, CEO of IGS Interactive Inc. “This is an absolutely stellar title for both fans of the X franchise and newcomers alike. EGOSOFT has truly outdone themselves.”
X³: Terran Conflict was released in European retail outlets and on Steam on October 17, 2008. The reviews have been overwhelmingly positive and X³: Terran Conflict currently boasts a 78.2% ranking on Game Rankings. IGN, the largest and most influential videogame site in the world, said that “Clearly crafted by a design team on a mission and with a vision, X3: Terran Conflict is a pretty and impressively ambitious voyage into the heavens that should satiate the thirst of anyone who pines for life away from earthly confines.”
For more information about the X series, X³: Terran Conflict 2.0 – The Aldrin Missions or EGOSOFT, please visit www.egosoft.com.
EPISODE ONE OF PENNY ARCADE GAME AVAILABLE AT DISCOUNTED PRICE
Get all of the thrills, chills and combo kills at half the price! Hothead Games today announced that Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One is available on multiple digital distribution platforms at a discounted price now through April 12. Gamers may purchase the Windows, Mac and Linux versions via the indie digital distribution service Greenhouse (www.playgreenhouse.com) for under $10 and Xbox LIVE Gold members can experience the game named “Best Xbox LIVE RPG of 2008″ by IGN.com for only 800 Microsoft points.
Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One is an RPG-Adventure game set in the comic-book-meets-pulp-horror-meets-H. P. Lovecraft deranged 1920s universe of New Arcadia, delivered to gamers via accessible episodic releases. Players join Gabe and Tycho, the crime-solving team of the Startling Developments Detective Agency, to combat savage enemies and solve mysteries hidden deep in the sinister heart of New Arcadia. The game is the result of close collaboration between Hothead Games and Penny Arcade, featuring distinct artwork and characters designed exclusively by Mike “Gabe” Krahulik, story and dialogue by Jerry “Tycho” Holkins, and both brought to life by the Hothead team.
Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One is rated “M” for Mature by the Entertainment Software Rating Board for all platforms
Aspyr Media and Activision Publishing, Inc. have teamed once again to rock the computer gaming world with the announcement of Guitar Hero World Tour for Windows PC and Mac. Transforming music gaming by expanding Guitar Hero’ssignature guitar gameplay into a cooperative band experience, Guitar Hero World Tour for PC and Mac offers state-of-the-art wireless controllers to computer gamers for the first time, new online and offline gameplay modes and a Music Studio feature for composing and editing original rock and roll anthems. Guitar Hero World Tour is the most complete music game to-date with 86 on-disc tracks from music legends such as The Eagles, Van Halen, Metallica, Michael Jackson and The Doors and features in-game appearances by world famous artists such as Ozzy Osbourne, Billy Corgan and Travis Barker.
“Guitar Hero World Tour is the standard for music games on consoles and we can’t wait to unleash this incredible experience on computer gamers,” said Ted Staloch, Executive Vice President, Aspyr Media. “With full band play, support for the new wireless controllers, the ability to create their own music and an amazing array of customization options, Guitar Hero World Tour will be the definitive music game on PC and Mac. We are proud to once again be working with Activision to extend this powerful brand to an eager audience of gamers.”
Guitar Hero World Tour delivers more ways to play than ever before. Virtual musicians can live out their rock and roll fantasies by playing either a single instrument in-game, or any combination of instruments within the game, in addition to the full band experience. Building on all of the online gameplay modes from Guitar Hero® III: Legends of Rock, Guitar Hero World Tour introduces Battle of the Bands mode, which allows eight players to join online and challenge each other band-to-band to determine who is the best of the best. In the Band modes, up to four players can jam together, online or offline, as they progress through the game. In single-player Career Mode, players can jam on any of the instruments in-game utilizing the controllers in branching venue progression enabling them to rock out in the order of their choice.
The game’s innovative new Music Studio lets players express their musical creativity by giving them access to a full complement of tools to create digital music from scratch, utilizing all of the drum kit controller and guitar controllers, and then play their compositions in the game.
Guitar Hero World Tour for PC and Mac will be available summer 2009. The game is rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB.