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Work seems to be continuing apace on the Mac version of BioWare's D&D-based title Neverwinter Nights (NWN). The latest update to the "Current Status" page is particularly enticing, with the main bit mentioning they are working on the installer and that a pre-release build may be available to a lucky few sometime in the future:

Additionally, we are working on making some sort of pre-release build that some select few can get their hands on. Now we don't know in what form, or in what timeframe that this might occur. Additionally, we are looking at ways to make this more widely available.

In related news, Neverwinter Nights Stratics has posted the results of an online chat with members of both BioWare and FloodGate Entertainment that focused on various NWN-related topics. Included among these were community project support, technical questions about NWN, and the status of Mac server:

Question from H2orat:

I would like to know the status on the Mac Server. Any ETA???

Response from BioJay:

The following statement was made today in a meeting: "Mac is looking very good indeed"

We want to show it off early in the new year and so we are getting very close to starting some serious testing.

I believe it was actually "wow, the Mac is looking great"

There are a few issues remaing but they are being looked at. Hopefully nothing strange will pop up.

Neverwinter Nights - Mac Version

BioWare

MacSoft

Neverwinter Nights

Buy Neverwinter Nights

In our continuing effort to keep our loyal MacGames CD subscribers informed, we thought we'd pass this little bit of information along. Today IMG began shipping out the ninth MacGames CD to subscribers, so be on the look out for the CD soon.

What's included in the MGCD? Hot new demos of Jedi Knight II, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon, Payback, F1 Championship Season 200, and more. Plus we've included dozens of new updates, shareware games, and much more.

As an added bonus, we're offering a FREE copy of Fallout, Escape from Monkey Island, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2, Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force, Giants: Citizen Kabuto, American McGee's Alice, or Rune & Heavy Metal FAKK 2 with every new subscription (all you pay is the shipping and handling).

If you haven't subscribed to the MacGames CD, there's still plenty of time to subscribe. Be sure to visit our IMG Web Store for more details on ordering a subscription and exclusive special deals just for subscribers.

Inside Mac Games

The holidays are now upon us, it’s time for joy, cheer and presents, SO MANY PRESENTS! With so many games and peripherals, it can be quite tricky to pick out the right gift for a special Mac game fan.

However, wouldn’t it be nice if somebody could lend a little advice on choosing the right gift for a Mac game freak? Well, we here at IMG are prepared to do just that! We've just published our 2002 Holiday Gift Guide...

Here's a clip:

That’s right, Warcraft III is full 3D RTS, replete with copious amounts of OpenGLgoodness™. This game is absolutely gorgeous! Environments are full of hills and valleys, ice and snow, and lovely running streams. The many characters in WC3 are also very nicely animated, right down to little flies buzzing around the Undead’s most powerful melee unit, the Abomination.

Of course, beauty is nothing without substance, just look at Jennifer Aniston. Gameplay in WC3 is top-notch. Combat centers around Hero characters that possess special powers and abilities. Heroes gain strength by earning experience points through leading their army into battle.

IMG Feature: 2002 Holiday Gift Guide

Pangea Software this week is turning 15. The company, headed by Brian Greenstone, has produced hit titles such as Nanosaur, Bugdom, and the recently-released sequel, Bugdom 2.

Greenstone sent out an email to the Mac community this morning to give his thanks:

This week marks the 15th anniversary of Pangea Software, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to say "Thank You!" to those who have helped make it all happen.

I formed Pangea Software in December of 1987 as a company for developing games for the Apple IIgs, and by 1992 the switch to Macintosh had been sealed. We were one of the first Mac game developers, and now we are the only Mac game developer still only doing original, commercial development on the Mac and only for the Mac. I take a lot of pride in that, and when people email me asking "Is there a version of Cro-Mag Rally that can run on my Dell?" I am always thrilled to say "No, we don't do Windows." Some of our games have been ported by third parties to the PC, but Pangea Software is a Macintosh game developer, and will always be that way. I'd rather sweep dirt than have to program on that God-awful excuse for an OS called Windows.

Most important of all I want to thank all of our customers who have supported us over the years. Pangea is a very small company in a very small market, and believe me, every single sale counts. I personally read every registration card that comes in, and respond to every support question that comes across the wire. The types of games that we do here are mostly based on feedback that you give us despite the fact that I always have that primal urge to do a nice blood and guts game for a change (actually, there's a little bit of blood in the game we're working on now).

Secondly, I would like to thank the three people who are most responsible for Pangea Software existing today. At the top of the list is Tuncer Deniz of Inside Mac Games. He is the person who first noticed the Mac work we were doing and really encouraged me to take the company to the next level. In addition, he was responsible for getting Apple interested in what we were doing.

Eric Klein is next on the list of people to thank. He was a Games Evangelist at Apple, and the most dedicated games-guy that Apple has ever seen. He provided Pangea Software with all of the Apple resources that we needed to get going, and along with Tuncer he helped us find publishers for our first few games. Eric was a great motivator, and really helped to encourage much of the original development that Pangea is known for.

Finally, Chris Bentley from ATI deserves special thanks because if not for him Pangea could have never made the transition to 3D games back in the mid-90's. Chris is one of the most well-known and respected people in the Mac game community thanks to his relentless efforts in making sure that every developer got what their games needed. Never before in this business have I met anyone as hard working as Chris.

Hopefully, Pangea will still be around in another 15 years; still doing Mac games of course. With the continued support of our loyal fans and customers I have no doubt that it is possible. We are currently working on our next game which we expect will be released by early spring, and that will be our 10th Mac game in about as many years.

Pangea Software

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Ambrosia Software this morning released the long-awaited update to Escape Velocity: Nova. Now at version 1.0.3, the new updates includes a number of bug fixes and also adds some new features.

Here's a complete list of of bug fixes/new features:

41 Scenario fixes/tweaks

fixed problem that would not add combat points for ships with very low strength values

planets no longer fire at ships while they are entering the system

fixed problem that would cause looping some Quicktime movies to crash under OS X

fixed position of gambling movies

improved display of Jettison Cargo button

fixed behavior of keyboard shortcuts when communicating with certain ship types

removed rare loophole which would allow more than six escorts

Background popup menu in New Pilot dialog is hidden when all available chär resources are invisible

corrected behavior of "starts destroyed" flag in spöb resource

fixed bug that would sometimes cause Captain Hector to appear for registered users

IMG Review: Escape Velocity: Nova

Ambrosia Software

Escape Velocity: Nova

MGF: Escape Velocity: Nova 1.0.3

MGF: Escape Velocity: Nova Update 1.0.3

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Apple has posted a list of games that will be playable in their games pavilion during MacWorld San Francisco 2003. Mac gamers will be happy to learn that among the 30 plus games that will be demoed, Epic Games' latest first person shooter, Unreal Tournament 2003 is one of them. While this all but confirms the absence of Mac UT2003 from store shelves during the holiday season, it is nevertheless a good sign. Of course, the latest and greatest hardware from Apple, NVIDIA, and ATI will be powering it.

UT2003 will no doubt attract a lot of attention, but there are several other games that Mac gamers will want to get their hands on. Dungeon Siege, Enemy Engaged, Everquest, and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, just to name a few, will all make appearances in the games pavillion.

For a complete list of games, visit Apple's games page. Also be sure to read through Apple's new Holiday Hotpicks of games for gamers. If you're wondering what to get that game-lover on your list, they give a quick overview of the top selection of titles this holiday season.

Apple: Mac OS X Games at MWSF 2003

Apple: Holiday Hotpicks

Unreal Tournament 2003

Digital Extremes

Buy Unreal Tournament 2003

A Myst movie? According to a report at Jim Stephenson's Riven Unofficial Homepage, Steven Spielberg and James Cameron want one, and are willing to go to court over the movie rights to the game. A link to the article is provided below.

...the financial success of Lord of the Rings sparked the interest in Myst. James Cameron (director of Titanic) reportedly offered $3 million for the rights. His offer was initially accepted, but then rejected when Steven Spielberg offered $10 million. The article says there may be a legal battle for the rights.

Futher down the same page, Stephenson also reports on good progress being made with the fourth Myst title. Stay tuned to IMG for the latest on that and other Myst news.

Myst Movie Rights Report

Cyan Worlds

Presto Studios

Ubisoft

Myst III: Exile

Buy Myst III: Exile

Logitech, one of the leading makers of computer peripherals, is giving away 20,000 Cordess Navigator Duo Special Edition packages. According to a recent press release, Logitech has sold 30 million cordless peripherals (including mice, keyboards and gaming controllers) since their debut in 1992. To celebrate this milestone, they will be giving everyone a chance to win the mouse and keyboard combination on December 20th, 2002, between the hours of 12 noon and 5 PM EST. Visit Logitech's site for more information.

Logitech Cordless Giveaway

Logitech

M-Audio (formerly Midiman) has announced their new consumer sound card, the Revolution 7.1. As it's name implies, the Revolution will be capable of high definition, eight channel output. It is the first consumer audio solution to support SRS Labs' Circle Surround II, which enhances audio from a stereo source. The Revolution is M-Audio's second consumer product after many years in the professional market, the first being the Sonica. Here is an excerpt from the press release:

With output for up to seven speakers and a subwoofer, Revolution 7.1 rivals even the best movie theaters. Where a 5.1 format places speakers beside the listener, 7.1 places them both beside and behind them for a much more immersive and believable surround sound experience. Revolution 7.1 even lets users experience eight channels of high-definition 24-bit/192kHz audio simultaneously. The included Dolby Digital EX DVD player allows listeners to immerse themselves in today’s highest quality DVD surround sound. Revolution 7.1 fully supports stereo, 4.1, 5.1, and 6.1 formats as well.

M-Audio Revolution 7.1 Press Release (140 KB)

Revolution 7.1

M-Audio

Tonight on The Gamesome Mac, the weekly Mac gaming radio program, hosts Sean Smith and Omaha Sternberg talk with John Phelps, customer service manager of Aspyr Media, about the business of keeping the game customer happy: quality assurance, tech support, and customer service.

When we have to think about these things, it's usually because some problem is getting in the way of our fun. Tonight, we'll get to hear how John tries to make sure we never have to think about his work, and we'll also hear a little about Aspyr's latest games.

Sean and Omaha will also offer Mac gaming news, commentary, and reviews, and along with their guest will take questions from listeners and give away some great Aspyr games in The Gamesome Mac's live chat room.

The Gamesome Mac can be heard on Mondays from 6 to 8 pm Pacific Time, 9 to 11 pm Eastern (Tuesdays at 0200 UTC) on MacRadio.com. You can tune in live at The Gamesome Mac's web page, where you'll also find complete archives of past broadcasts. QuickTime 5 or 6 and a 28 kbps or faster Internet connection are required.

Aspyr Media

Creepy Mines, a breakout clone from DanLab Games has been updated to version 1.1. Although a breakout clone, Creepy Mines has plenty of original elements thrown in that make it into an original and addictive game.

Here's DanLab's description of the game:

You must remove all of the diamonds from the playing area by hitting them with the ball. Creepy mines has some surprises for you: Ventilo, big paddles, Mootshik, dropdowns to catch with the paddle.

Fixes/Changes
• stage 17 door bug fix
• add japanese support
• add pause key : P
• add quit key : Q
• add unloop ball key : ENTER

Creepy Mines 1.1

DanLab Games

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