Click to enlarge

After several unsuccessful attempts by multiple publishers at getting the highly popular World War II strategy title Commandos 2 brought to the Mac, the ingenious folks over at Feral Interactive have announced that they've accomplished the seemingly impossible, and are bringing the long-awaited title to the Mac. Better yet, the publishing powerhouse is upping the ante, and are bundling both Commandos 2 and Commandos 3 in their Commandos Battle Pack.

Originally released in 2001, the Commandos series entrusts players with the lives of a small group of elite Allied forces deep, deep, deep behind enemy lines; their mission: to perform a number of clandestine missions crucial to the Allied Force's efforts against their enemies. The band of brothers will be forced to deal with German patrols or groups of Japanese forces in some of the toughest missions of WWII. Player's success will depend on smart planning, stealth movement, and faultless execution.

Here's a bit more info on the game:

Prepare to take the Commandos on their deadliest mission yet, as you venture deep into enemy territory across three extensive campaigns.

From the frozen ruins of Stalingrad, through to the forests of central Europe, and onto the beaches of Normandy, your men must use their skills to confuse and defeat the enemy.

Take your team of six elite Commandos through 3 varied campaigns, each one vital to the outcome of WWII.

Completely new environments and dynamic mission objectives will keep your squad on their toes!

An all-new tutorial system will make sure that you and your men are fully trained and ready for action.

For the first time ever in the Commandos series up to 12 players can engage in deathmatch and cooperative multiplayer combat.

Feral Interactive

Commandos Battle Pack

Buy Commandos Battle Pack

From time to time we update the "free game" offer that comes with every subscription to the MacGames DVD and IMG Pro. Today we've updated the free game offer with the addition of five new games to the line-up:

• Dungeon Siege (new)
• Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 (new)
• Star Trek: Elite Force II (new)
• Indiana Jones and the Emporer's Tomb (new)
• Star Wars: Jedi Knight II (new)
• Max Payne
• Tropico
• Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon
• Return to Castle Wolfenstein
• Baldur's Gate II

The MacGames DVD is a subscription service featuring the best in Macintosh game demos, shareware, updates, add-ons, trailers, cheaters and much more. Get 8 issues per year (delivered about every 6-8 weeks) and save big bucks! For a limited time, when you subscribe to MacGames CD, you can get a full version of one of eight games; all you pay is the shipping ($5 USA, $7 Canada, $12 International). Each subscription or renewal also entitles you to a store-wide discount of 10% off any products through the IMG Store.

IMG Pro is a new subscriber version of the Inside Mac Games website that allows you to turn off all advertisements, customize the homepage to show only the items you want, and set up a custom Watch List to notify you when new articles have been posted about items you're interested in. IMG Pro also features a choice of themes, and a new QuickSearch feature that lets you find what you're looking for, faster and easier. Best of all, an IMG Pro subscription gives you access to the same discounts as MacGames CD subscribers, and includes a free, full version of a game. Each subscription or renewal also entitles you to a store-wide discount of 5% off any products through the IMG Store.

For more information, be sure to visit the IMG web store.

IMG Store: MacGames DVD Subscription

IMG Store: IMG Pro

Click to enlarge

Inside Mac Games has posted a review of Massive Assault, the new strategy game from Virtual Programming. Here's a clip from the review:

In Massive Assault, players take on the role of General in the Free Nations Union (FNU), a group of countries who banded together after World War III to thwart the dreaded Phantom League. After WWIII, Earth’s resources grew scarce, thus we looked to space for survival. Despite constant strife between the FNU and the Phantom League, as well as the looming threat of World War IIII, scientists discovered six new planets suitable for human habitation. So began the mass exodus from Earth to the new worlds. New countries were formed, governments were installed and the Phantom League began their work to spread unrest in the new worlds. Through bribery and other subterfuge, the Phantom League formed secret alliances with many fledgling nations, inciting conflict from behind the scenes. Of course, the FNU soon adopts similar tactics, setting the stage for the first great war of the new worlds.

IMG Review: Massive Assault

Virtual Programming

Massive Assault

Buy Massive Assault

Pangea Software announced that they have begun shipping their new Mac game programming book, Pangea Software’s Ultimate Game Programming Guide for Mac OS X. The book was originally slated to be released on October 27th but is now available a few weeks early.

Here's more from the official PR:

Brian Greenstone, the developer who programmed Nanosaur, Bugdom, Cro-Mag Rally, Enigmo, Otto Matic, etc. reveals his Mac programming secrets in this indispensable book. The book covers all of the nuances dealing with various Mac OS technologies such as the HID Manager, OpenGL, OpenAL, Core Graphics, Rendezvous, Quicktime, and more. Readers will also learn how to write a plug-in for Maya, do stereo 3D rendering, networking, AltiVec optimizations, and even how to copy-protect their games. For developers interested in self-publishing their games, there is an entire chapter dedicated to marketing and sales strategies. Never before has so much critical Mac game programming information been available in a single book.

The companion CD that comes with the book contains Xcode sample projects including a fully functional Maya file exporter, networking code, Vertex Array Range acceleration, threading, and a whole lot more! All sample projects are written in C, and the book is designed for intermediate to advanced programmers.

“Pangea Software’s Ultimate Game Programming Guide for Mac OS X” is currently only available for order on Pangea Software’s web site (www.pangeasoft.net/book), however, it should be available from other vendors in the coming months as it makes its way through distribution. Orders placed on Pangea’s site receive a 20% discount off of the $49.95 cover price. This discounted price of $39.95 includes the book, the CD, and free ground shipping.

Schools and US military personnel may order the book at a highly discounted rate of 40% off the cover price. Teachers, administrators, and active servicemen/women can get all the details about this special pricing of just $30 by visiting this web page: www.pangeasoft.net/book/schooldiscount.html.

Pangea Software

Click to enlarge

Candella Software has announced Chariots: The First Olympics for the Mac, PC, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. Here's a bit more info on the game from the press release:

The game is set in 776 BC, the time of the first Olympics in ancient Greece. The Greek city states of Athens, Sparta, Macedonia, Elis, Crete, Troy, Thebes and Carthage have gathered at Olympia.

It is the last day of the historic event. The five full days of frenetic athletic activities are coming to an end. But the pinnacle of all the Olympic events is yet to commence. As one of the competitors, the expectations of thousands rest on your shoulders……..

• Choose from among eight different charioteers, both men and women, each with their own unique abilities
• Eight different chariot models with different handling characteristics
• Race through the countryside of the ancient Hellenic world through exciting race tracks which plunge from soaring snowbound mountains to verdant • Alpine meadows and meander through barren deserts.
• Marvel at the beauty of ancient monuments like the Lighthouse of Pharos, Temple of Zeus, the Acropolis and the great pyramids of Giza.

Candella Software

Chariots: The First Olympics

Click to enlarge

Aspyr Media's project status page was updated last night with the news that the port of True Crime: Streets of L.A. has reached the Alpha stage of development.

The game features the most intense fighting, shooting, and driving elements ever to be combined in a single game. Players will assume the role of Nick Kang, a no-nonsense undercover operative fighting to bring an end to the big crime syndicates of L.A. The game revolves around gunfights, driving missions, and martial arts showdowns across hundreds of square miles in Tinseltown.

True Crime: Streets Of L.A. is being ported by Trihedron, a new porting company run by Nate Trost, previously of Contraband Entertainment, and is currently scheduled for a January release. Head over to Aspyr's True Crime website for more information on the upcoming title -

True Crime: Streets of L.A.

Aspyr Media

Aspyr Media Projec Status Page

Buy True Crime: Streets of L.A.

Click to enlarge

The hard-working programming team over at Aspyr Media have just released version 1.0 of their Battlefield 1942 Dedicated Server application.

The software allows players to host BF1942 multi-player online battles without actually having to run the client software. The end result is the full power of a user's CPU can be dedicated to hosting games, allowing for snappier hosting performance, and enabling more players to join the game.

Although the application isn't pumping out high-resolution graphics, the dedicated server software still requires a separate 1 GHz G4/G5, with 512MB of RAM, and the latest version of the Mac OS, as well as a full copy of Battlefield 1942: Deluxe Edition for Macintosh. As the server takes up all the resources of the computer it's running on, a second Mac will be required for players wanting to join games they are hosting:

**THE SERVER WILL CONSUME 85 TO 100% OF THE CPU. YOU CANNOT RUN AN
INTERNET SERVER ON AND PLAY FROM THE SAME MACHINE. SERVERS MUST BE DEDICATED FOR OPTIMAL AND PROPER PERFORMANCE.

MGF: Download Battlefield 1942 Dedicated Server

Aspyr Media

Battlefield 1942: Deluxe Edition

Buy Battlefield 1942: Deluxe Edition

According to a recent report in The Washington Post's Technology section, the incidence of video game addiction is increasing in North America, in age groups starting as early as 6 years old.

According to the report, the most common video game addicts are 6-year olds having trouble adjusting to other children in school, 12-year-olds struggling with the transition to middle school, and teenagers struggling through high school, according to a licensed mental health counselor interviewed for the article. However, as noted by the increasing number of video game addiction reported on the internet, the problem isn't limited to children.

The article explains that the root of the addiction is two-fold. On one level, there's the stimulus-response aspects of the exciting new technology that appeals to children. On a deeper level, however, is the addictive draw of what video game manufacturers call "the God effect":

"You're the center of the universe" in more addictive role-playing games, McDaniel says. "Which is very attractive for teenagers without a lot of power, psychologically, in the world."

Addicted Gamers Losing Their Way

Click to enlarge

Programming heroes Uwe Fabricius, Christoph Freundl, and Thomas Pohl have recently released the Mac OS X version of their Worms-inspired arcade game Wörms Of Prey.

The new title plays as a multi-player real-time clone of Team17's original turn-based classic, where players control a tiny worm zipping around the playing field, trying to either score as many goals, or killing as many opponents as possible. The game features two different game modes, and offers players a large assortment of weapons with which to beat their opponents. The current version of the free game also features entirely new graphics, as well as all the sound effects from Team17's original title.

Wörms Of Prey is offered both in precompiled library or complete source package forms, and require users to acquire both the code and data files as separate downloads. Players will also require the latest version of the Simple Direct Medialayer libraries installed to enjoy the fast-action annelid fragfest. Specific installation instructions are included in the game's readme file.

Wänt tö höp ïntö thë äctiön? Gräb thë fïlës fröm thë lïnks bëlöw änd fräg äwäy.

Simple Directmedia Layer

Wörms of Prey

Click to enlarge

Never one to shirk his younger fans, Custer's Desktop for the week features the all-ages title Bionicle: The Game. The title is based directly off of the popular toy series from Lego.

Here's a clip of what Brad had to say:

Bionicle: The Game from Feral Interactive went to beta about 2 months ago and some of our younger viewers are patiently awaiting its release. I will openly admit an endearing letter from a child will always win me over so this week I honor the request for a desktop from the upcoming game. In this week's feature I wanted to create a wallpaper starring some of the fun characters from the toy series.

IMG Desktops

Feral Interactive

Zonic

Bionicle

Buy Bionicle

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