Apple has released another game for its growing fifth generation iPod line up. iQuiz, a trivia game which challenges players to correctly answer questions on a variety of topics, is available from the iTunes store for the reasonable price of 99 cents. The main game comes with four built-in games and the ability to download new trivia packs to keep things fresh.

Aspyr Media has released iQuiz Maker, a freeware companion application for iQuiz which provides an easy method for players to create their own custom quizzes on their Macs before uploading to an iPod. The software also offers the ability customize the game's interface with new themes. Aspyr offers a collection of themes and quizzes to showcase iQuiz Maker's abilities.

iQuiz Maker is an easy way for you to create custom quizzes for the iQuiz game for the iPod. iQuiz Maker works seamlessly so you can write, create, package and test the smarts of people you know and even people you don't know. Download the free application today to begin putting the world to the test.

iQuiz Maker

Apple Store: iPod Games

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Aspyr Media (add to watch list)

Kudos for the Mac has been released and is available as a digital download from Macgamestore.com for $19.95.

Kudos is a new life-sim, a game of social relationships and choices. It's a turn based strategy game where you control someone's life. You decide where they work, who they hang out with, and what they do to relax. Do you want to be an alcoholic saxophone playing taxi driver? Or maybe a reclusive but brilliant astrophysicist? Kudos is not about flashy graphics or high polygon counts. Kudos is about exploring areas of gameplay you haven't seen in mainstream games. Above all, Kudos is pretty original.

A free demo of Kudos is available at Macgamestore.com. For more on Kudos, follow the link below.

Macgametore: Kudos

Aspyr Media's April newsletter offers updates on the lastest Sims news for eager Mac gamers. The next expansion, The Sims 2: Seasons, is currently in testing with the new weather special effects keeping programmers busy. Family Fun Stuff, the first "Stuff Pack" for The Sims 2, is finishing up and will add new furniture, clothing, and items for purchase to the game. Two more Stuff Packs, Glamour Life and Happy Holiday will go into production as soon as Family Fun is completed.

The Sims 2 Family Fun Stuff
In April we're finishing up the first of the Sims 2 "Stuff Packs", Family Fun. This adds new furniture, clothing, and more stuff for your Sims to buy and enjoy. Shortly after the Family Fun pack is finished we will start work on the Glamour and Happy Holiday Stuff Packs for Mac. This will definitely be the summer of Sims for Mac Sims fans!

The Sims 2 Seasons
This next expansion pack for The Sims 2 Mac is in testing. Seasons adds new weather effects, which have kept our programmers busy making sure the new special effects for snow, rain, and lightning bolts all work well on the Mac. We've also been spending development time making sure all of the new careers, activities and new objects in Seasons work correctly on the Mac. The ability to install a new expansion such as Seasons on top of several combinations of Sims 2 and previous expansion packs always gives us plenty to test and debug.

The Sims 2: Seasons

The Sims: Family Fun Stuff

The Sims: Glamour Life Stuff

Aspyr Media (add to watch list)

Aspyr April Newsletter

It's that time of the year again, the annual Myth World Cup has been announced. This year's competition may foster a few surprises as it is also the 10th anniversary of the original Myth: The Fallen Lords.

At this time, only a teaser page is up with a video created by a Myth gamer.

Myth World Cup 2007

Click to enlarge

Ankama has announced the released of a new comic book set in the world of Dofus, the company's popular flash based MMORPG. Taking place within the peaceful land of Pandala, the 96 page book of the same name tells the tale of young Pandhravan who searches for his parents' murderers, and features the hand painted art of Dofus' illustrator, Bertrand Hottin. The story is told entirely with pictures, apart from a short description and synopsis written in French.

This 96-page adventure filled of a crystal-clear silence is a treat to the eyes mixing beauty and action. This visual shock emphasizes the emotions of the tale, leaving the story for you to tell.
In search of the murderers of his parents, Pandhravan will travel up and down Pandala Island and will discover the cruel side of this wonderland.
His journey will take him away from his native village and childhood memories.

To learn more follow the links below.

Pandala Comic Book

Dofus Official Site

Ankama Games

Click to enlarge

Work continues on the Universal Binary update for Ambrosia Software's pop-pop. The game's progress log reveals that the current beta version offers speed improvements for Intel macs and functions on OS 9, OS X PPC, and OS X Intel machines.

The game is noticeably more responsive running native on my Mac Pro development machine than the current 1.0.4 release running in rosetta.

As of beta 2 the pop-pop application runs on MacOS 9, Mac OS X PPC, and Mac OS X Intel. The application is self contained and can be copied to a MacOS 9 or Mac OS X machine and it will just work.

what's done:
Network play is confirmed working between MacOS 9, Mac OS X PPC, Mac OS X Intel players
Local multi-player works
Local puzzle works

pop-pop Progress Log

Ambrosia Software (add to watch list)

Pop-Pop (add to watch list)

Worthplaying recently posted a review of the PC version of The Sims 2: Seasons, the latest expansion to the series which incorporates a variety of seasonal activities into the mix. The game is loaded with new activities for Sims including snowball fights, chasing fireflies, and playing in leaf piles. Worthplaying gave seasons a score of 8.7 out of 10.

The Sims 2: Seasons brings to the series what no other previous expansion pack was able to: real-time weather. Maxis even went beyond real-time weather and added each of the four seasons, so you can now have your Sim bond with the family while building a snowman or invite friends over for a nice summer barbeque. This expansion pack doesn't add dramatic gameplay enhancements, but after you play it, you will ask yourself how you ever lived without it.

The main focus is obviously the seasons. Depending on the type of environment in which the neighborhood is located, each season lasts for varying amounts of time, although neighborhoods don't require all four seasons. For example, in Riverblossom, the neighborhood supplied with this expansion, a long winter stretches on for 20+ days while spring only lasts for five days and summer doesn't exist at all. The seasons also blend together, so the beginning of winter will still feel like fall, but two or three days in, you'll likely have freezing temperatures and snow. The seasons also have a special relationship power that boosts a certain relationship factor and makes it more easily obtainable. For example, in spring, your Sim is much more likely to fall in love, whereas in the winter, your Sim is much more likely to bond with the family.

The full review is available at the link below.

Worthplaying: Sims 2 Seasons Review

The Sims 2: Seasons

Aspyr Media (add to watch list)

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