Apple has written up a huge new article covering the awesome state of Mac gaming for the rest of the year. They focus on the recent E3 and WWDC events, as well as looking at a number of OS X titles being prepared for release soon. Also mentioned in the article is a bit about Peter Tamte's just-announced company, Destineer, and the games to be released under their Mac label, Bold. Monday's announcment reaffirmed they will be bringing a number of Microsoft games to the Mac, but the Apple article suggests both Age of Empires 2 and Links 2002 will be out before the end of the year. They also mention Halo for Mac being published under the Bold label. Here's a clip:

Also prowling the halls of E3 was well-known Mac game publisher Peter Tamte, whose new company Destineer will be releasing Microsoft’s Age of Empires II and Links 2002 for the Mac later this year under the brand Bold by Destineer. Along with other games from Microsoft and original cross-platform titles, Tamte’s company will be publishing the Mac version of Bungie’s epic, Halo.

Destineer is certainly not the only Mac company mentioned. OmniGroup is given credit for their work with Id on Quake 3 for OS X and other ports. Aspyr is mentioned for Tony Hawk 2, Alice, and more. Blizzard is noted for their big sequels Warcraft III and Diablo II: Lord of Destruction. Dreamcatcher's many adventure titles are a nice inclusion, along with GraphSim's newest games; Summoner and Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast. Lastly, the big two entities MacPlay and MacSoft are given recognition for their many awesome titles heading to store shelves this year.

Looking back on all these companies and games, you can really see why the second half of 2001 will be a great one for Mac gamers. The article does a nice job of wrapping up this massive chunk of entertainment, much of which will be coming to OS X. Also check out the two pages of screen shots and expo images at the end.

IMG News: Tamte Announces 'Destineer Studios' and 'Bold' Mac Label

Mac Gaming Explosion

Apple

Majesty Dragon has posted the transcripts from a recent chat with Cyberlore, creators of the acclaimed fantasy strategy game, Majesty. It's quite a long chat, as a number of Cyberlore employees showed up to speak on a variety of topics. There are even a few hints dropped about the possibility of a sequel for the title:

{Jay_Adan} We put together a new proposal for Majesty 2, and have been talking to publishers about it. There's nothing solid there yet though.

{Jay_Adan} On Majesty 2 suggestions. I personally have been keeping track of the suggestions and bringing them forward in our meetings about it.

Majesty Chat Transcript

Download Majesty Demo

MacPlay

Majesty

Click to enlarge

Gathering of Developers and Remedy have unveiled their new Flash-heavy site for the realistic third person shooter Max Payne. The site contains some very nice new screen shots as well as the E3 video, in case you missed it. It also gives a good rundown of the game's features, so be sure to have a look if you're interseted in seeing what the title will be all about.

A new preview and interview with Remedy's Markus Stein and Henri Blaring;field has also been posted recently at Payne Reactor. It's a very nice piece which looks at all elements of the game, including the impressive graphics, John Woo inpirations, and weaponry. Here's a clip explaining more about Bullet Time:

We asked Markus Stein how the slow-motion works in Max Payne. "The slow motion is called "Bullet Time" in Max Payne and it's used as a gameplay element. You will get a slight edge over the enemies as you'll have more time to react and aim as well as a slightly increased rate of fire. "Bullet Time" is tied into some of Max' action moves, like the shoot dodges, but the player also accumulates it as he takes out enemies. At any point in the game, the player can choose to switch on "Bullet Time" to help him through more difficult combats." This in practice means that you will get an advantage over the quick-thinking AI.

Official Max Payne Web Site

Max Payne Interview/Preview

MacSoft Web Site

MacSoft

Remedy Entertainment

Westlake Interactive

Max Payne

Buy Max Payne

Click to enlarge

The Myst series of games has been one of the most popular gaming franchises ever created. Both Myst and Riven have sold millions of copies and Myst III: Exile promises to be as popular as its predecesors. But the latest Myst is the first game in the series that wasn't created by its original designers. Could Presto Studios, the company that took over the reigns for Myst, capture the same kind of magic of the previous two games?

Today IMG has posted a review of Myst III: Exile, authored by our very own AppleMaster, Michael Phillips asking that very same question. Here's a snippet from the review:

Exile features the same extremely clean point & click user interface as in the previous Myst titles with 1 very unique change, the ability to rotate your view 360 degrees. We’re not talking grainy QuickTime VR rotation as seen in other games, while rotating in Exile; graphics remain crisp and beautiful. This rotation feature adds a whole new level of immersion to the Myst series. In order to find puzzles and clues, the player must look in all directions, including to the sky and ground. To further add to Exile’s realism, players are able to rotate their view while movies and animations are playing. Thus, you’re not forced to sit still while things happen, the world feels alive and breathing, not static and cold.

Myst III: Exile Review

Presto Studios

Ubisoft

Myst III: Exile

Buy Myst III: Exile

Click to enlarge

GameSpy scored five new screen shots of the upcoming Myth II-based title Green Berets. The new images show off some of the explosive power in the game, as well as some large helicopters dropping off your men. This tactical squad game will take you through the jungles of Southeast Asia as one of the army's elite soldiers.

Since the game will essentially be a large total conversion of the Myth II, they will also be including a full of that title in the box as well. Here are a few of the features of Green Berets from its web site:

Tempt the enemy into a trap or attack them head-on in 10 missions through rice paddies, underground tunnels, rivers, and many other detailed terrains!

Secure landing zones with M16 gunners, Huey Helicopters, and medics, but beware of enemy Snipers and Mortar crews - over a dozen units in all!

Rescue POW's, locate downed pilots, sabotage enemy communications, and seek and destroy enemy supply dumps!

Obliterate enemy bases with intense explosions, engage the enemy in blinding firefights, call in devastating air strikes, and more - all powered by the Myth II engine!

Stalk through the dense jungles with M60's, grenades, med kits, and radio equipment to call in an awe-inspiring air assault!

E3: Myth II: Green Berets Announced

Green Berets Screen Shots at GameSpy

Green Berets Web Site

Take 2 Interactive

Myth II: Green Berets

Italian site Games4Mac let us know they posted a new interview with Mark Adams, president of Westlake Interactive. As you probably know, Westlake is responsible for porting a huge number of very popular titles like Unreal Tournament, Deus Ex, The Sims, and many more. Recently, it was announed Westlake would be taking over the Playstation 2 port of Deus Ex as well. While they're definitely not abandoning the platform, this will give them some console experience and hopefully a bit more spending cash as well. The interview addresses this topic, as well as other general Mac questions. Here are a couple of excerpts:

G4M: Which are the main difficulties or differences in the development of Deus Ex PS2 version than Deus Ex Mac port?

MA: The PS2 is a whole different world than the Mac or PC. There are many limitations (much less RAM for instance), but some benefits (the exact same hardware configuration on every unit sold). Our experience on Deus Ex on the Mac is definitely helping out.

G4M: Are you planning a Carbonized version of UT? If so, What stage of development is UT in?

MA: I've been working on Carbon UT in my spare time, but its kind of stuck right now. The latest versions of CodeWarrior have some problems with it, and I can't debug the OS X code under the older CodeWarrior's. So I'm waiting for an update from Metrowerks.

Mark Adams Interview at Games4Mac

Last week we wrote about Delta Tao working on a new title, Spaceward Ho! 5. While this game will be based upon the previous incarnation in the series, it will sport many improvements. A thread in the comp.sys.mac.games.strategy Usenet group continues with Joe Williams of Delta Tao taking requests/comments about what people would like to see changed. He lately gave a nice summary of the features they are currently considering. Here's a clip:

We're kind of nailing stuff down. We're going to have our hands full
rewriting the networking and UI, so we're probably not going to make
super substantial gameplay changes (we already know it's fun!).

Stuff we're pretty sure about:

tcp/ip play.

we'll assume color and 800x600 screen, which will allow us to
substantially revamp the user interface.

we won't be on floppy, so we can have a lot more and nicer graphics and
sounds.

we'll probably focus on a downloadable and unlockable version.

Delta Tao Software

IMG News: Spaceward Ho! 5 in the Works

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