Click to enlarge

The December newsletter from busy Mac publisher Aspyr Media hit electronic mailboxes recently, bringing a flurry of holiday gaming news to thousands of Mac gamers.

First up on Aspyr's plate is the news about Otto Matic from Pangea. The game is now available at a very affordable $35 price, and the newsletter even gives details on how schools can obtain full site license upgrades for free. This is an amazing deal for cash-strapped schools wanting a blood-free game that plays and looks great. If you're an educator, check out the newsletter or email promotions@aspyr.com for more information.

In a battle of the print-to-movie variety, Spider-Man and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone are both getting very close to release this month. While it seems Spidey, just declared Final Candidate, will probably win the race, Mark Adams at Westlake is making good progress on Harry Potter, and the newsletter gives the scoop on this game's system requirements for the first time:

• Mac OS 8.6 or later
  
• Mac OS X compatible
  
• 300 MHz or faster
  
• 96 MB of memory
  
• 4X CD-ROM
  
• Hardware 3D acceleration required (ATI 128 or later)

After some last minute efforts by Brad Oliver, it seems the Elite Force Mac OS X patch is due to be released at the end of the week. More than just Carbonization, this update will bring multiplayer support up to the same network standard as the Expansion Pack so players can fight each other online. Here's a clip with more info:

For those playing Elite Force for the Mac, full version 1.1, this patch has two major components. In single player, it adds the Jeri Ryan voice pack. This will update the original game to use dialogue for Seven of Nine performed by Jeri Ryan, who plays the character on the show.

In multiplayer, this updates the Holomatch engine to version 1.2. This will allow players who do not install the Expansion Pack to compete against players with the Expansion Pack for Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Capture the Flag games. A number of new multiplayer skins are included as well, including Borgified Captain Janeway.

Thanks to the folks at Aspyr for all of their hard work, and be sure to check out IMG's recent articles below for the goods on these titles.

IMG Preview: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

IMG Preview: Otto Matic

IMG Preview: Return to Castle Wolfenstein

IMG Review: Star Trek: Voyager—Elite Force

Inside Aspyr Media

Pangea Software (add to watch list)

Westlake Interactive (add to watch list)

Buy Harry Potter

Buy Return to Castle Wolfenstein

Search for other Mac games news stories or browse our Mac Games News Archive.