ATI has a very vivid presence at MWSF this year, with a large booth showcasing a variety of demos, including the graphically impressive Wakeboarding Unleashed and the upcoming Unreal Tournament 2004. ATI seems optimistic about the future of the Mac market, noting that demand has started to outstrip supply, and that their relationship with Apple is better than ever, with their market share seeing large growth.

ATI's flagship announcement for MWSF is the upcoming bump to its current top of the line card. Dubbed the Radeon 9800 Pro Mac Special Edition, this card doubles the onboard memory to 256MB, sports AGP 8x, and includes both ADC and DVI ports. Retailing for an estimated $469 and available only for the G5, the card will be available intially as a BTO upgrade, and then later as a separate retail purchase. The current initial availability is hoped to be around mid-February.

When asked about its G5 exclusivity, ATI responded that they feel the current installed base of G5 users is large enough to support the release of a powerful G5-only card.

ATI reaffirmed their commitment to the Mac market, stating that they want to provide "good gaming solutions across the board," including Apple's laptop line as well as its desktops. They also expect to have more announcements in the near future. As always, IMG will be bringing the news to our readers as soon as we hear more word on their plans.

ATI

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Continuing the rounds, IMG managed to snag David Stephen for a few moments to discuss the upcoming plans of Feral Interactive. The company has recently released both Total Immersion Racing and Rayman 3 to the Mac, with both titles being on prominent display here.

As reported earlier, one of Feral's recently announced titles is Bionicle. This title, which falls under the Lego empire, features both action and puzzle-solving in a science fiction setting.

Another title currently in progress is Republic: The Revolution. Described as a title for the thinking gamer, Republic puts players in the role of a leader of a small faction. With the goal being the ousting of the current government, players can interact with politicians, shadow factions, and corporations as they make deals both on and under the table.

Feral is also setting an aggressive schedule this year, and plans on releasing one title a month for this year. Two more titles are expected to be announced this week at MWSF, so stay tuned to IMG for details.

Feral Interactive

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In an impromptu sit-down meeting this morning, IMG staffers got a chance to talk with Freeverse Software's president, Ian Lynch Smith, about his company's upcoming titles.

First off, Ian mentioned that Freeverse has secured the North American publishing rights to e.p.i.c. interactive's stand-alone adventure strategy game Northland. The game, which details the story of the Viking God Loki who tried to take revenge on Godfather Odin for his banishment from Asgard to Earth, is currently in publication, and is expected to be shipping by the end of January.

Next, Ian showed us an early demo of Wingnuts 2, the sequel to the popular overhead flying game. Although the game is in its very early stages, it features OpenGL-rendered textures maps above which players soar in their battle through time to beat the Baron.

Also demo'ed was Freeverse's upcoming sequel Airburst Extreme. The gaming engine for this bubble shooter has been completely re-written to take advantage of Apple's OpenGL implementation. The gameplay has also been completely revamped, and we even got a look at the between-level cutscenes, which feature anime-style characters challenging each other to duels. Both Wingnuts 2 and Airburst Extreme are in the works, with no published release date (yet).

On the practical application side, Ian showed us BumperCar, his company's kid-friendly web browser. Built on an OmniWeb license, and featuring the speedy rendering of the Safari engine, BumperCar was designed to cater to the needs of parents worried about their kids surfing the web unsupervised. The browser features several configurable safety technologies, including white lists, detailed filters and advanced security options, designed to keep children away from unsavory websites. The game, featuring a fun look and feel, also includes a number of Freeverse's games that have been built into the browser's interface. BumperCar is expected to ship by March of this year.

Finally, Ian hinted at several upcoming titles in their roster that are too early to talk about in public (hee hee). Stay tuned to IMG for more MWSF news as it happens!

MWSF 2004

Freeverse

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GarageGames also has a presence at MWSF, and IMG had the opportunity to chat with Jay Moore of GG and Justin Mette of 21-6 Productions to discuss their current and future plans.

One of the games currently being shown off is Dark Horizons: Lore. Currently in development by Max Gaming Technologies, this mech combat game is reminiscent of Battletech and features a variety of factions, combat zones, and mechs to choose from. The build we saw in action featured a blasted city landscape, where light mechs used jump jets to hop across the rooftops, using a variety of missiles, lasers, and sniper rifles to attack.

DH, which is an online multiplayer game, will not have a monthly fee attached to it in which to play. Future expansion packs are also being planned for it in order to keep the content flowing.

The folks at 21-6 were also showing an early build of GravRally. At first glance appearing to be a standard hoverbike racing game, this perception changes when it becomes apparent that players can race across any surface, zooming up walls and ceilings with impunity. GravRally will also feature several game modes, including Checkpoint Racing and Rabbit. 21-6, taking a page from Orbz, plans on supporting a strong player community for this one with the introduction of competitions, add-ons, and other goodies.

Jay Moore is quite enthusiastic about supporting the Mac market, noting that around 50% of GG's sales are Mac-based. He adds that GG is committed to bringing quality titles to the Mac platform.

Dark Horizons: Lore

GarageGames

21-6 Productions

MWSF 2004

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Previously mentioned in Steve Jobs' keynote yesterday, today Feral Interactive officially announced the development of the Macintosh version of Bionicle. Currently being ported to the Mac by Zonic, the game is an action adventure epic of good versus evil, with combat, collection, puzzle-solving and exploration.

Playing as the Toa, Toa Nuva and finally the 7th Toa, you must explore the six elementally-themed regions of Mata Nui - a tropical paradise of high mountains, great lakes and mighty volcanoes - rescue the scattered Matoran and break the spell of darkness sent by the evil Makuta. In doing so you will face danger in equal measure from the islands many environmental hazards (including falling rocks, rainforest winds, icicles and lava falls) and the foul minions of Makuta.

Bionicle for Mac will be for OS X only and should be released shortly. Feral also plans on announcing two more titles, one on Thursday and one on Friday. Be sure to stay tuned to IMG.

Bionicle

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In a quick meeting with Pangea Software's Brian Greenstone, IMG staffers got a progress update and a chance to check out the latest developer's build of Pangea's upcoming sequel Nanosaur 2.

According the Brian, the coding for the game is all but complete, and the Pangea team are focusing on putting the finishing touches on the game's artwork, music, and character animation. Although Brian couldn't give us a definite shipping date, the game looked to be moving along nicely - Brian booted up his Powerbook and demo'ed one of the game's early levels, where the hero character swooping down through a forest of highly-detailed trees, blasting futuristic canons and good ol' dinosaurs with the hero's arsenal of lasers and missiles.

As for his future plans, Brian hinted at starting work on a sequel to the immensely-popular puzzle game Enigmo once his jurassic game hits the shelves. Stay tuned to IMG for an upcoming video preview of Nanosaur 2 once we get a few free minutes to process the footage and post it to the web.

Pangea Software

Nanosaur 2: Hatchling

MWSF 2004

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IMG got a chance to talk to Epic's Ryan Gordon at Macworld Expo San Francisco about the company's upcoming first-person shooter, Unreal Tournament 2004. According to Gordon, the game is on track to be released simultaneously with the PC version next month. In fact, MacSoft officials hinted that the game may be released before the PC version, due to the smaller amount of CD's that would be required to duplicate the game (versus the PC version).

Gordon gave IMG an in-depth demo of the latest beta and we were practically in shock by how good and smooth the game ran. The first thing that struck us was the use of vehicles in the game, which adds a totally new element of gameplay to the game. In addition to ground-based vehicles such as the Goliath Tank, Hellbender (3 seater), and the Scorpion (or as Gordon liked to called it, the Halo rip-off vehicle), UT 2004 features impressive flying vehicles such as the Raptor (again, think Halo), Manta (a hovercraft-like vehicle), and Phoenix (bomber).

UT 2004 features an impressive 95 maps (about half of which are new and half are from UT 2004), 32 new characters, and three new weapons including the mine layer, grenade launcher, and the turn a redesigned sniper rifle from the original Unreal Tournament.

UT 2004 will also feature the return of the Assault Mode, which features teams facing off to defend and attack fortified bases. A new team mode, Onslaught, pits teams against each other as they capture and hold strategic points in order to attack and destroy the enemy power core.

Gordon also mentioned during our conversation that UT 2004 Mac will also feature Voice over IP support.

Gordon also hinted that a Mac demo will be released (provided a PC demo is created, which is highly likely). The game will be published, when completed, by MacSoft.

[Updated: No bot voice-recognition will be available in the Mac version]

MWSF 2004

Digital Extremes

MacSoft

Epic Games

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Aspyr today announced its second new game, Black Hawk Down, in as many days at Macworld Expo San Francisco. The title is being developed by Aspyr's internal development team and is currently at the Alpha stage of development. During our conversation with Aspyr's Glenda Adams yesterday, she said the game should be completed and released by May.

In late 1993, the United States launched dual military operations in Mogadishu Somalia. Delta Force Operatives and Army Rangers were sent in to capture Somali warlords and restore order. As a Delta Force operative you participate in a number of daring and intense raids against the oppressive Somali warlords in and around Mogadishu.

Here's some more key features of the game:

• Insertion by MH-6 helicopter transports, Black Hawks and ground based transports. An AI system that drives friendly teams and enemies to carry out strategic, lethal combat maneuvers.

• Guard fallen squad members until CSAR (Combat Search And Rescue) team arrives. In multiplayer, players can use hand signals to direct their squads, taunt opponents or celebrate victory.

• An arsenal of authentic weapons as used by US Special Forces during Operation Restore Hope and Task Force Ranger. Nonstop, large-scale multiplayer action over LAN or via NovaWorld.

• Engage in Close Quarters Battle in a maze of city streets or snipe across the plain with Delta Force’s signature long-range engagements.

• Open fire from heavy weapons mounted in Black Hawk helicopters or on Military Vehicles. Gear up with an arsenal of authentically modeled weapons used in the streets of Mogadishu.

ª Fight through a variety of compelling missions, each with multiple objectives. Powered by a new game engine optimized to showcase the latest 3D graphics and processor technology.

• Developed with direction from Special Operations Forces advisors on realistic tactics, situations and details.

Aspyr Media

Delta Force: Black Hawk Down

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Day one of the MacWorld Expo saw new G5 Xserves, a revised Xserve RAID, the 4 GB iPod mini, and a slew of updated Apple software, including the new iLife '04 music creation appication GarageBand.

We got a chance to sit down with ATI and demo'ed the upcoming Radeon 9800 Pro Mac Special Edition graphics card. Over in the Gaming Area of the conference, we got hands-on experience with the upcoming releases of MacSoft's Unreal Tournament 2004 and Nanosaur 2, as well as a slew of current titles from Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy to Wakeboarding Unleashed.

Click the link below to access the image gallery, and watch for further updates as MacWorld Expo progresses.

MWSF 2004

IMG Feature: MWSF 2004 Photo Diary - Day One

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