gaming - page 46

The classic Grand Theft Auto 3 trilogy — including Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas — is finally coming to OS X later this year, according to Rockstar Games.

Look for the long-awaited release of the classic Grand Theft Auto Trilogy (Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas) for Mac – most likely later this year.  We’ll have much more info and a proper announcement soon. 

It’s about time, but don’t mistake the release of these titles as Rockstar finally getting serious about a commitment to Mac. The PC versions of the latest game we are talking about here — the superlative San Andreas — is well over five years old, which means it’ll run just dandy with a Wine translation layer on a modern Mac. Still, something’s better than nothing, although at this point, I’d be happier if they ported Bully.

Rockstar Games’ superb iOS entry into their infamous Grand Theft Auto series has finally hit the iPad with Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars HD, a native port that improves the already superlative game’s lighting, polygon counts and even the games’ already impressive explosions.

The biggest advantage, though, is the controls: while an up-sampled Chinatown Wars was technically playable (if ugly) before, the control scheme really needed some tweaking for more adept thumb control. The new iPad accomplishes that quite nicely.

Ultimately, it’s a fine update… but it’s hard to recommend because it’s not a universal app. Instead, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars HD is a whole new $9.99 to spend on a game you probably already own, if you were interested at all to begin with, on the iPhone, Nintendo DS and Sony PSP. If this is your first go at the title, though, Chinatown Wars is an easy recommendation: it’s one of the best games on the App Store.

iOS 4.1 is now live, and along with the much anticipated software update comes Game Center, Apple’s new Xbox-Live-like gaming service that brings officially sanctioned achievements and multiplayer matchmaking to supported iPhones and iPod Touches.

Game Center seems promising, but unfortunately, it’s been hard to figure out exactly what games have Game Center support and which ones don’t… making early testing of the service frustrating. To make things easier, Apple has just updated the App Store with a dedicated Game Center section, highlighting all of the apps that have baked in Game Center support so far.

Unfortunately, most of the games currently on display are a little lackluster, with Flight Control, Fieldrunners and Zen Bound 2 being the real standouts… but hopefully that will change sooner rather than later.

Along with the arrival of sexy new iPod Touches replete with pixel-packed Retina Displays, touch-capable iPod Nanos and rollback Shuffles, today should see the debut of iOS 4.1 as well as Apple’s new iOS gaming social network, Game Center.

As such, TUAW is reporting that Game Center has just gone live for iPhone developers, meaning that instead of being limited to a sandbox-only development environment, Game Center is now allowing global registry and asking for new login details… older accounts having been purged from the system yesterday.

Game Center’s reportedly having a few birthing paints, including some crashing issues and connectivity problems, but it seems to mostly be due to server problems, and everything’s working once you manage to get connected.

Since Game Center is the showcase new functionality in iOS 4.1, the server switch being flipped on is a good indication that we’re all about to see an update get slurped down through iTunes sometime soon.

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bBv1WkMUFs&feature=player_embedded

Valve Software’s transcendent physics and teleportation puzzler Portal already runs sublimely through Steam for Mac… as long as you have a modern MacBook Pro or iMac. But what if Portal wasn’t a modern game, but a classic Macintosh text adventure? This brilliant mock ad re-imagines Portal as a lost game rediscovered through a lost Saturday morning advertisement, complete with an appearance by a badly puppeted GlaDOS. Brilliant… although that green text really looks more at place on an Apple II, don’t you think?

To their credit, Aurora Feint has always been remarkably blase about iOS 4.1’s built-in Game Center, even though they currently run the business of the App Store’s biggest gaming social network and match-making service, OpenFeint. In fact, they went as far as to say they were “thrilled” about Game Center, boasting about big future plans for the service… despite Game Center’s seemingly direct competition.

OpenFeint’s plans in an iOS ecosystem with Game Center preinstalled on every device are now becoming clearer, and it seems like Aurora Feint have figured out a killer feature that only their service can provide to gamers: the ability to play cross-form multiplayer matches in games that are available on both iOS and Google Android.

The OpenFeint PlayTime network will not only let you play your buddy even if he is shackled to his Android phone, but the software supports real-time video chat, as well as bot support. That latter addition is particularly interesting, as it means that if a player drops in a multiplayer match, an AI-controlled opponent will seamlessly take his place.

This is a smooth move on the part of Aurora Feint giving developers who have titles on more than one mobile platform a strong incentive to bake both Game Center and OpenFeint support into their titles. I just wish, as a player, I could keep my achievement points in both networks synced.

Valve has done a lot for Mac gamers in the last few months: first releasing the popular Steam digital delivery service for OS X, then following by quickly releasing native ports of most of their catalog for Mac gamers to play. In fact, Valve managed to squirt all of their Source-engine games (including Half-Life 2, its’ episodic add-on packs, Team Fortress 2 and Portal)out the door, before their release schedule stalled due to performance issues inherent to OS X, leaving their two most resource-hungry games — the team-based zombie shooters Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead II in limbo.

Come Halloween, you’ll be blowing away zombies with the rest of your buddies, though. Now that Apple has ironed out the kinks in OS X through a graphics update, it seems like Valve is now getting ready to finally release the Left 4 Dead series to Mac gamers. You can now expect to be able to download Left 4 Dead and its sequel through Steam for Mac by October, along with the upcoming DLC mission pack, The Sacrifice, which bridges the stories of both titles and is fully playable under either game.

Keeping the dozens of keyboard shortcuts necessary to be competitive in Blizzard’s new multi-faction, space RTS Stacraft II mind mapped can be difficult for even the most caffeinated South Korean pro gamer, but if you’ve got an iOS device, pulling off a successful Zerg rush is about to get a whole lot easier, thanks to the Starcraft II Gameboard.

Developed by Daniel Hellerman, the Starcraft II Gameboard turns your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad into a dedicated control pad, from which you can easily issue orders and build new units. Essentially, it syncs with a program on your computer and allows you to send complicated keyboard hot key combinations just by tapping an icon with your finger. You can even look up information in a Starcraft II unit encyclopedia while you’re at it.

The Starcraft II Gameboard is expected to arrive in the App Store in September for $2.99. The only problem is, the client software needed for the program to run is for Windows-based systems only… which seems like a huge oversight, given Starcraft II‘s excellent native Mac port.

This week’s must-have iOS games features plenty of zombies, addictive games galore and some fantastic bargains guaranteed to keep you entertained this weekend. There’s also two retro classics thrown in for good measure. Check out Cult of Mac’s favorite games from the past week after the break!

If the main reason you’re hoping for Apple to announce the new, iOS-driven iTV is for the promise of some app gaming on your 50-inch plasma, you don’t have to bank on Cupertino. Accessory maker Griffin has a new dock in the works that allows you to hook your iPhone or iPod Touch up to your television and then use it to play multiplayer games with up to four players at once.

Don’t expect it to work with just any game: the Griffin PartyDock will only work with select Griffin games, which have yet to be announced and are of unknown quality, with no word yet if Griffin will open the PartyDock up to third-parties.

Download a supported game, though, and you can play an iOS game multiplayer without having to awkwardly hot seat it by passing your iPhone around. Instead, four included remotes allow you to control the action from across the room.

Obviously, a lot of this device’s niche could be filled by a $99 iTV, but if that doesn’t materialize next month — or doesn’t support apps — the Griffin PartyDock might be the only solution in town to treat your iOS device like a game console.

The iControlPad has been teased for so many years that the case — which promised to allow you to add physical gaming controls to your iPhone or iPod Touch — was the front contender in our own internal Vaporware awards. Heck, just a month ago, I wrote: “The sad fact of the matter is we’re never going to see the release of the long fabled iControlPad.”

So much for my soothsaying and shows what I know. After two and a half years of development, the very first iControlPad has finally popped off the production line as the sexy unit you see above. The first run of the device will be limited to 3,000 units, and orders should start being taken “soon.”

That’s great news for iPhone gamers, particularly emulation enthusiasts, but what impresses me most about the new design is its modularity: the bumpers actually pop off and can be changed to theoretically support another smartphone, or even an updated iPhone design.

Really neat. We’re glad to see the iControlPad’s long transition from dream to product finally nearing the end its final days.

Longing for the gaming arcade but stuck at your desk?  Well, the Pinball Magic [app]cessory from New Potato won’t fool you into thinking you’re at the real thing, but it looks like a cute way to kill both time and disposable income.  Slide your handheld iDevice into the mini pinball machine and Tilt Away:

Get ready for iPhone and iPod touch entertainment that’s in a class by itself! The Pinball Magic [app]cessory creates realistic and engaging gameplay, bringing classic pinball machine cabinet design and fun to iPhone and iPod touch. Pinball Magic, just like the classic cabinets (only smaller), works with the free Pinball Magic app to create a portable arcade experience, complete with flipper buttons and ball-launching plunger.

Perfect for entertaining miniature coworkers or family members.  Available soon at Best Buy for $40.

[via TUAW] [Chip Chick]

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNhxQ0SElwE&feature=player_embedded

It’s really rare that an App Store game can sell me with just four achingly beautiful words, but Deceased Pixel’s upcoming iOS action game Super Mega Worm has done just that… and those words are “Great Death Worm Wojira.”

The trailer embedded above gives a bit more details about the game. The Great Death Worm Wojira? That’s you, a Tremors-style nematode who needs to chew into great, spattering hunks the miserable humans who have wreaked havok on the poor skin of Mother Earth… all with a fantastic soundtrack and fun, rich SNES-era pixel sprites.

And yes, oh yes: just like the MegaShark, the Great Death Worm Wojira can take out planes. Heck, you can even take out satellites.

Look, Deceased Pixel. You can charge me anything you want for this one. Just fulfill your promise and get it out to us by the end of the month.

Pretty much every iOS game is played with fingers, but the (i)Pawn app from French studio Volumnique is trying to change that by employing a set of physical token that are each capable of being uniquely identified by the iPhone’s touchscreen. Click through for a video.

It’s a neat demonstration, but I’ll be honest with you: I’m not entirely sure how it works. Looking at the site, each token appears to be glued onto a different sized cell battery. Since the iPhone’s capacitive touchscreen works by using a layer of capacitive material to hold an electrical charge, and senses a touch when the amount of charge under your finger changes. If the bottom-loaded batteries on the tokens predictably change the amount of charge sensed by the touchscreen, this could conceivably work… but I’m not sure the iPhone’s touch software is that nuanced. Any developers out there who might be able to hand us their theories?

Either way, it’s a neat demonstration, an even if (i)Pawn looks like a pretty boring game, it could have some neat practical merits. The iPad’s a great size for a game board, after all: a Monopoly app with mail-away top hats, locomotives, irons and terrier tokens could be a pretty satisfying experience.

Looking for something to keep you entertained this weekend? Let Cult of Mac’s weekly must-have apps & games feature help you out.

After some feedback on last week’s post, we’ve decided that this week we’re going to split up apps & games and give you a dedicated post for each.

So here’s are a few of our favorite games; check them out after the break!

We’ve all seen what id software has in mind as far as bringing their upcoming Rage to iOS as a 60 frames-per-second FPS, but what about id’s classic games? They’ve already released incredible ports of Doom and Wolfenstein 3D to the App Store, and id’s engine-building maestro John Carmack had promised to bring Quake to iOS devices too, as well as the mobile specific title, Orcs and Elves. What’s the hold up?

TouchArcade got a chance to talk to Carmack, and it doesn’t sound good:

Currently, id is completely focused on Rage, and John isn’t sure when they will get back to the classic games “even though it makes a lot of sense.” He also explained that while both Doom II RPG [$3.99] and Wolfenstein RPG [$1.99] have done well on mobile phones, their performance on the App Store has been less than ideal, leading to the decision to not bring the Orcs & Elves games over to iOS.

That’s disappointing news, because both Doom II RPG and Wolfenstein RPG are great titles. Moreover, when Doom Classic was released, Carmack promised that it would soon be updated to allow in-app purchases of the sequels, Doom 2 and Final Doom. That update still isn’t out.

Rage for iPhone looks incredible, but id’s doing the best FPS ports on the App Store, and their classic library of games is non-pareil. Let’s hope id software figures out a way to get back to the App Store in earnest.

Valve’s Source engine games run fantastically on the Mac already, but the performance hasn’t quite been up to the level of what they’ve come to expect under Windows, mostly due to issues inherent to Snow Leopard’s graphic drivers. We posted last month that Valve was working closely with Apple to remedy that issue, and now the fruits of their labors have been released, courtesy of a new Snow Leopard Graphics Update.

Here’s what the 69MB update fixes:

Addresses frame rate issues occurring in Portal and Team Fortress 2 by Valve, on iMac (Late 2009 and Mid 2010), Mac mini (Early 2009 and Mid 2010), Mac Pro (Early 2009), MacBook (Early 2009 and Mid 2010) and MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010) or MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2010) models.

Resolves an issue that could cause Aperture 3, or StarCraft II by Blizzard, to unexpectedly quit or become unresponsive.

Resolves an image corruption issue that may occur when disconnecting and reconnecting external displays while the system is running.

It’s really good to see Apple taking Mac gaming seriously enough to specifically call out new games in their patch notes. Cupertino’s long sent the message that it doesn’t really care about gaming under OS X, but perhaps all that was missing was a passionate advocate like Valve.

Apple keeps plugging away at getting their iOS-oriented social gaming network, Game Center, and the latest version in developer builds of iOS 4.1 include new parental features to the mix.

Joining other parental features like turning off access to Safari, YouTube, in-app purchases or location services, the new option will allow users to restrict multiplayer game settings per device. Given the amount of homophobia, racism and downright vile smacktalk that takes place in multiplayer games on other services like Xbox Live, it’s probably a wise addition.

Game Center’s probably nearing launch: Apple has tended to heavily tout the iPod Touch as a gaming device over the past year, and with a hardware refresh of that device likely to happen in September or October, we can probably expect Game Center to drop simultaneously, bundled in iOS 4.1.

[via Apple Insider]

With hundreds of thousands of applications and games already in the App Store, and more and more added daily, it’s often hard to notice some of the great apps that are available for your iOS device. That’s where Cult of Mac’s weekly must-have shortlist comes in: we’ll compile a list at the end of each week to showcase a few of our favorites and pick out the best of the bunch. Check out this week’s after the break!

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeXe_G0xmY0&feature=player_embedded

By all rights, id software’s John Carmack should be an engorged psychic brain floating in a tank somewhere: he talks like some kind of representative of a spatial robotic hive mind, and his ability to code next-gen graphics engines are often years ahead of their time.

Consider, for example, this demonstration Carmack gave at yesterday’s QuakCon 2010 keynote. What you see here is the id tech 5 engine, which will drive id software’s forthcoming next-generation post-apocalyptic shooter, Rage… except it’s running on the iPhone 4 at 60 frames per second , with Xbox or PlayStation 2 level graphics. That’s nothing to sneeze at… and Carmack promises it’ll

Sure, this isn’t an actual “game” yet, just a technology demonstration… but Carmack expects to see the iPhone version of Rage come to the App Store later this year as a smaller prequel game, with a more robust sequel to be released simultaneously with the console version next year.

Of course, where id software tends to fall over isn’t in the technology, but the actual gameplay, so who knows if Rage for iPhone will actually be worth playing. Either way, though, this is on track to be the best looking game on the App Store.

No need to resort to physical violence to escape from jail, just let an engrossing iPhone game do the work for you.  GamePron brings us of this tale of a gaming fix with a higher cost than usual:

Everybody knows that there’s a certain risk one takes when playing addictive, engrossing games when you’re meant to be doing something else.  The prevalence of awesome games on the iPhone hasn’t helped that risk – as a Philippines police officer has learned.

Five inmates recently escaped from a police precinct in Cagayan de Oro City, snatching up the officer’s keys where he’d left them while playing a quick few levels of Plants vs. Zombies.   Apparently, the convicts had no trouble getting the keys and gaining their freedom – although four of the five were recaptured shortly after.

A cautionary tale for those playing addictive games on the clock – though I suspect one (likely) former prison guard now has a lot more time to work on his high score!

[via SlashDot]

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zVmW4NYkwE&feature=player_embedded

Perhaps the most bizarre meta deconstruction of Oregon Trail for the Apple II ever made hit the App Store this week. So Long, Oregon! by BlinkBat Games takes the trappings and retro-style of Oregon Trail, but where the latter title is all about historical edutainment, resource management and not dying of dysentery, this one’s all about hurtling your team of bison over mountain ranges as you commit xenocide against the native fauna while batting back plagues, pestilences, venereal diseases and infections.

Not sold on the concept? One review in the App Store remarks, “[T]here is no way to improve upon this game. It’s a masterpiece of game design and modern thought.”

You can get So Long, Oregon! now as a universal app for just $1.99.

Osmos for iPad is a unique game for Apple’s new platform. It reminds me a little bit of Spore from Electronic Arts, but only a little. I got bored with Spore on my Mac and iPhone pretty quickly, but I cannot say the same about Osmos.

The app makes good use of the iPad’s graphic abilities, touchscreen interface, and audio hardware. The latter provides nice music and sound effects that make playing the game for long periods of time enjoyable. However, the rapidly changing game play, that made me feel immersed in a totally new gaming experience, was what really made me fall in love with this game.

Steam for Mac is great and all, but after an impressive launch of Mac titles, the stream of new OS X games has slacked to a mere trickle.

Don’t expect that to change anytime soon. In a new interview with Gamesindustry.biz, Valve says that we probably can’t expect developers to make a concerted effort to bringing their in-progress titles to the Mac until 2011.

“People are looking at their titles for this holiday and saying ‘a Mac version would screw with my schedule, or I’d have to ship it late. Neither of those is super-desirable. But the titles that I have in Spring of 2011 or in Holiday of 2011, let’s have a discussion and let’s see those numbers and start to figure it out,” said Valve’s Doug Lombardi.

The good news is that it seems game developers do want to support the Mac. The bad news is that Steam for Mac took them a bit by surprise, and so we’re probably looking at slim pickings in native Mac ports until sometime next year.

Serious>PC heavy, but if you game under Boot Camp, that shouldn’t be a problem, and there are numerous Mac titles like World of Warcraft, Civilization IV and Unreal Tournament 2004.

Other features of the G510 include custom-color backlighting, allowing you to truly tart up your keyboard according to your own chromatic specification, integrated USB audio for headset support, 18 programmable keys and simultaneous key input for up to five keys at once, allowing you to deploy some truly polydactyl shortcuts.

The G510 costs $119.99, and although it’s temporarily sold out, you can sign up to be notified when the keyboard’s next available over on the official Logitech website.