| Cult of Mac

Apple releases new watch band, wallpaper and more for Black History Month

By

Apple Watch with Unity watch face and band alongside iPhone with Unity wallpaper
Apple’s 2023 Unity watch band, watch face and wallpaper have a really cool geometric pattern using Pan-African colors.
Photo: Apple

Apple has released a special new Apple Watch band, watch face and iPhone wallpaper celebrating Black History Month. Apple has done this every February in 2021 and 2022.

The Black Unity Sport Loop is available today in the online store and in “select Apple Store locations beginning January 24” Apple said in its press release. It will cost $49, the same price as other Sport Loop bands. The watch face and iPhone background will be released in a software update next week.

Learn to develop games while you play them with this PlayStation Plus bundle

By

PlayStation Plus
Want to make (and play) games? This educational bundle includes a year of PlayStation Plus.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

It’s incredible when you get to make a career out of something that you love, especially if that passion is an artistic or creative one. If the thing you love is video games, there’s actually a great way to get an exceptional, creative career from playing all day long.

The Unity Game Developer Bundle featuring PlayStation Plus includes 10 different courses that show you how to develop your own games — all while you enjoy a one-year subscription to PlayStation Plus.

Animated avatar grooves alongside human in cool new ARKit demo

By

AR
Tim Cook is hella excited about AR. We can't disagree with him!
Photo: Normal VR

Another day, another great showcase of Apple’s new ARKit augmented reality platform, as created by ingenious independent developers.

This time round, the work is by New York developer Normal VR. Devs at Normal used Apple’s augmented reality tech and graphics engine Unity to craft a cool demo showing a cartoon avatar matching the movements of a human user. Check it out below.

Become predator and prey in multiplayer creep-fest, The Flock

By

Peter Dijkstra (right) and Jeroen Van Hasselt, two of the devs of creepy arena game, The Flock. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
Peter Dijkstra (right) and Jeroen Van Hasselt, two of the devs of creepy arena game, The Flock. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

SAN FRANCISCO — When I went to meet Peter Dijkstra, the business guy at Dutch game developer Vogelsap, I had to wait in line to see the small, indie team’s new horror game, The Flock. I wasn’t too upset, though, as the guy in front of my was none other than famed Doom and Quake developer, John Romero.

Dijkstra’s The Flock is an upcoming horror multiplayer game that takes place in one of three different arenas. Playing the game with three other people Monday at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco brought back memories of those long-ago sessions of Quake Arena, as well as more modern examples of asymmetric multiplayer like Left 4 Dead and Evolve.

The Audojo Case Adds Analog Sticks & Triggers To Your iPad [Kickstarter]

By

Audojo-iPad-case

I love gaming on my iPad, but for certain titles, virtual controls just don’t cut it. First-person shooters, fast-paced platforms, and even sports simulators are much better with physical controls. And there are plenty of them for iOS devices, but the Audojo for iPad could be the most convenient.

It’s a case with built-in analog sticks and triggers that turns your iPad into a real handheld gaming machine. But there is one thing missing.

Coming Soon: Snacksss, The First iOS Game By Dev Behind Everquest And Unreal Tournament

By

post-165710-image-3f30eb0b45ece4f6d83e1e02c6964e62-jpg

I’m expecting some really cool iOS/Android stuff to pop out of indy dev First Post. The year-and-a-half-old startup is run by Jacob Robinson, the former art director at Sony Online Entertainment (who had a hand in forming legendary titles like the EverQuest series, DC Universe, Star Wars Galaxies and Unreal Tournament). It’s also completely self-funded, “which is not an easy thing to do at all,” says Robinson.

First Post’s debut game, Snacksss, may not exactly be the stellar breakthrough title one might have hoped for; the cartoony, Sonoran Desert-themed iPhone game has lots of pretty artwork but needs help in the gameplay department, which has the player listlessly flicking a hungry snake at rabbits ad nauseam.