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A post made on an Auran web site forum suggests that a Mac version of Trainz, a popular railroad simulator for the PC, may be making its way to the Mac. A forum moderator has posted a screenshot of what appears to be the Mac version running on a Power Mac G5.

The moderator also had this to say about the Mac version when a reader posted about the Mac version:

Welcome aboard and stay tuned for further announcements about Trainz for the Mac

Trainz For Mac Screenshot?

Auran Forum Thread: Mac Version of Trainz

Trainz

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Our friends at Feral have released the long-awaited demo of Commandos 3, part of the upcoming Commandos Battle Pack. The demo, which weighs in at about 260 MB, is available for download from our sister site, Macgamefiles.com.

Here's a bit more info on the demo:

Welcome to the Commandos 3 demo. Your task is to stop a Berlin-bound train full of stolen art treasures. For this mission there are just three Commandos available, the Green Beret, the Thief and the Spy. Use them well to prise the Nazis from their plunder. To help you complete this task you have a tutorial level to remind you of your teams skills and weapons.

Known problem
The demo exhibits a slowdown on machines running OSX 10.2 with an nVidia graphics card. If you are running with such a setup, we suggest that you wait for the next version of the demo, which will be available on March 18th.

In related news, the IMG Store has begun to take pre-orders for the game. It is available for pre-order for $49.95. To place your pre-order, follow the link below.

Feral Interactive

Commandos Battle Pack

MGF: Commandos 3 Demo 1.0v3

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IMG has posted a hands-on preview of Feral's Commandos Battle Pack. Here's a clip from the preview:

Commandos Battle Pack is the first time any of the three Commandos games have seen the Mac. The last one, Commandos 3, was released on June 2003 for the PC and received acclaim within the press as the best of the series. To reward Mac gamers for waiting so patiently for this series, Feral decided to get the rights to the last two games in the series and sell them for the price of one game. Commandos 2: Men of Courage and Commandos 3: Destination Berlin are both included in the Battle Pack on one DVD. To make sure no space was wasted on the disk, there are five high quality desktop images included.

Be on the lookout for a demo of Commandos 3 a bit later today on Macgamefiles.com.

IMG Preview: Commandos Battle Pack

Feral Interactive

Commandos Battle Pack

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Aspyr Media today announced it will be offering a sneak preview of Star Wars Battlefront on Friday, March 18th at 7 PM at the monthly Aspyr game night at Apple's Austin store. The company will also be showcasing the recently released Medal of Honor War Chest.

The Apple Store at Barton Creek Mall hosts this free community event each
month to demonstrate the quality of Mac gaming with the latest Macintosh
games and the newest Macintosh equipment. Aspyr representatives Andrew
Brazell and Glenda Adams will give a short demonstration.

Aspyr Media

Brad Custer is back with another of his fantastic Mac gaming desktops. This week's desktop features Aspyr's hotly anticipated title, True Crime: Streets of LA, which will begin shipping next week.

Custer explains his latest creation:

True Crime: Streets Of L.A. from Aspyr Media recently went gold and will start shipping next week. And of course with this news the rash of requests for another desktop from this game have been flooding my inbox. I enjoy honoring all requests, so this week I return to the mean streets of L.A. With the help of Aspyr Media and with some broadband access I was able to create this week's wallpaper.

Custer's Desktops

One-time developing powerhouse Eidos is now on the brink of financial death, it appears. Industry website GamesIndustry.biz has posted an article detailing the company's dire financial situation.

Eidos released its six-month results today for the period ending December 31, 2004, showing an operating loss of GBP 29.2 million. Shares dropped of more than 30 per cent yesterday ahead of the news.

Eidos has been given until the 25th of this month to secure a buyout. If nothing is in place by then, the company will be forced to dispose of assets and intellectual property equal to facility cost plus additional fees.

In other news, the new Tomb Raider and Hitman titles have been pushed back to 2006, a financial decision based on its current condition.

Stay with IMG for further developments.

GamesIndustry.biz - Eidos on the brink as investors flee sinking ship

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Online gaming site Computer Games Magazine has posted an interview with World of Warcraft producer Shane Dabiri. The interview covers the current state of the game, the technological infrastructure behind the game, and some plans for the future.

Shane had this to say about reports of character class issues and adjustments that players believe need to be made:

You might have read forum postings from our designers on the official World of Warcraft site, but I’ll reiterate what they’ve said in case you have not had the chance yet. We felt our game is very well balanced, but of course there are some aspects of certain classes that we are looking at closely in an attempt to further fine-tune them. Changes are indeed in store for some classes, such as the warrior and the warlock, and they’ll hopefully address some of the concerns of players worldwide.

Computer Games Magazine: World Of Warcraft Update Interview

Blizzard Entertainment

World of Warcraft

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The folks at Blizzard have posted the final part of their guide to the new player-versus-player systems planned for World of Warcraft. The article deals with the Honor System and Rewards.

The article explains that when you kill other players or aggressive PvP-enabled NPCs (Non-player Characters), you receive an honorable kill. Killing random bystanders will earn a dishonorable kill. For each honorable kill, you gain honor, and as you gain honor, you move up in the rankings. As you move up in the rankings, you will receive rewards, such as discounts for weapons repair, new armour, and new weapons. Here is more on the rewards to be had:

Most of the items listed are self-explanatory, but they all offer tremendous bonuses that will make even the most diligent treasure hunter take notice. Stay tuned to www.worldofwarcraft.com, because in the next few weeks, we'll unveil more of the actual rewards themselves. The only item that does bear explanation is the battle standard. It is a special item that you can plant in the ground, like a shaman's totem, for an area effect benefit for you and your party.

WoW: PvP Honor System and Rewards

Blizzard Entertainment

World of Warcraft

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Developers GarageGames is showcasing their game development tools at this year's Game Developers Conference. Along with previously announced products like Torque 2D, Torque RTS Starter Kit, and Torque ShowTool Pro, they are also demoing a new version of the original Torque Game Engine, the 3D engine that started it all.

The new version of the engine, v1.4, is being featured with a new demo, "Tim Aste's Warzone". Torque Game Engine is GarageGame's flagship product, making it possible for independent game developers to develop professional 3D games for a fraction of the cost.

GarageGames also talks about IndieGamesCon:

GarageGames is dedicated to reinventing gaming... indie style. Every year in October, game developers from around the world gather in Oregon at IndieGamesCon. Sponsored by GarageGames, this summit-like meeting provides independent developers the opportunity to share. This year, IndieGamesCon will take place October 7-9th and will feature special events like the IndieJam Party, Saturday Night Live LAN Party, keynotes from industry veterans and much more. Visit GarageGames.com to find out more information about these tools and events.

Showcasing the Torque Platform at GDC

GarageGames

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