CodeWeavers, a developer of software products that transform Mac OS X and Linux into Windows-compatible operating systems, recently announced the release of CrossOver Mac 6.2. The latest version offers a variety of improvements and speed increases, but gamers are likely to be interested in the inclusion of support for Valve Software's newly released Team Fortress II as well as general speed improvements for other supported games.

Another major benefit conveyed through the upgrade is the fact that both the Mac and Linux versions of CrossOver 6.2 will support Valve Software’s newly released Team Fortress II. “We’re thrilled to be the only compatibility software on the market that will support Team Fortress II, out of the box, ” said Jeremy White, CodeWeavers’ chief executive officer. “Not only that, but gamers will find that CrossOver delivers much better frame rates in our supported game titles than other emulation solutions.”

For more information head over to the official website at the link below.

CodeWeavers

A few days ago Valve's Gabe Newell, in an interview with Kikizo.com, laid out some of the reasons why Half-Life 2 and some of the other company's titles aren't on the Mac platform. IMG Publisher Tuncer Deniz has his take on it and explains that the real reason why Valve's titles aren't on the Mac is not because Apple doesn't take the Mac gaming seriously but because Newell didn't get the big bucks. Here's a clip from the blog:

So I read the interview with Valve's Gabe Newell where he puts all the blame for the lack of Half-Life 2 on the Mac because of Apple (you can read the interview at kikizo.com). While I have no doubt that Newell has a few valid points about Apple's lack of focus when it comes to games, the real reason Half-Life 2 never made it to the Mac is because of Newell's outrageous asking price for the Mac port.

Tuncer's Blog: One Million Reasons Half-Life 2 Isn't on the Mac

Macworld UK has posted a new article about independent multi-platform game developer Isotope 244 and its desire to develop games for Apple's iPhone. Having recently released a new Sci-Fi RTS titled Machines At War for Mac OS X, Pocket PC, Windows and Windows Mobile platforms, the company's president James Bryant commented on Apple's tight control of the new multimedia phone.

Company president and game developer, James Bryant, explains: "I would love to make games for the iPhone, I was disappointed to hear Apple wasn't allowing third parties to develop games for it, but I wasn't surprised, everything Apple does is kept very locked down."

Bryant has been developing games since 1992, taking his company full-time six years ago. "I've never looked back, it was the best decision I ever made." Bryant enjoys the freedom to follow his own paths, and draws much pleasure from his customer's responses to the games he creates.

His decision to develop for the Mac was never a challenge, he believes the platform is in complete resurgence.

"They are everywhere these days. Their name recognition is stronger than ever. I love Apple because every product they make you can tell they spend their time on to get it right, their quality and usability are unmatched," he told Macworld.

Macworld UK: Game Developer Pleads For iPhone Chance

Machines At War

Isotope 244

Click to enlarge

Macsimum News has posted a new review of Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. One of several Cider powered titles recently released for Intel Macs by Electronic Arts, C&C 3: TW continues the award winning RTS series. Macsimum gave the game a score of 8 out of 10.

From the review:

C&C3 sports three modes, Campaign, Skirmish and Multiplayer. There are two campaigns available; you can either play as a GDI character, or you can play as Nod. In Skirmish mode, you play against one or more computer opponents, as a GDI, Nod or Skrin commander. Multiplayer mode offers the same play opportunities, except that your opponents are real people. There are two multiplayer options: network and online. With the online option, you can either choose a player manually, or you can have the server match you up with one or more players.

The graphics are good, if not exceptional (panoramic views are impressive, but details such as skin is less so). Ditto the sound effects and music. Also, load times are pretty slow, apparently because of disc verification (or so I’m told), EA’s efforts at copy protection. However the quality of the full motion video is really good and involve live actors (such as Billy Dee Williams) on impressive sets. Gameplay is pretty peppy, especially for a RTS game. New move commands, such as “attack move,” “assault move” and the “reverse move,” add to the fun.

Command & Conquer: Tiberium War runs fairly smoothly on a Mac, but not as smoothly as the PC versions I’ve played. The better your Mac’s specs, the better gameplay you’ll experience. If you only have the minimal specs (see below) you should implement the minimum video specs—and you can forget Mac minis and MacBooks with their integrated graphics. I ran it on a 2.8GHz Aluminum iMac and it was smoooooth as silk.

Macsimum News: C&C 3 TW Review

Electronic Arts

Command and Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars

Buy Command and Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars

A reader blog on the Seattle Post Intelligencer website has set the online rumor mill into motion once again. Quoting what is said to be an email from an unnamed Bungie insider, the blog states that Bungie has split from Microsoft to become a separate entity. Another website, GameInformer, backs up the blog with its own anonymous source.

Seattle PI Blog:

"So heres my big secret. You should google Bungie + Microsoft + separation this week.
You know that big ol BILLION dollar franchise Bungie has created for Microsoft, to show their appreciate Microsoft is letting Bungie leave. Of course Microsoft gets to keep all rights to the Halo franchise, but as today Bungie no longer part of Microsoft. Ask anyone who works there to search the global address book, they're no longer in there. Microsoft was supposed to release the press release today but if they wait till the 10/6 the impact wont effect the quarterly results. However today is the actual official date and the day the NDAs expire, however you still didn't hear this from me."

"Apparently MS just wants Bungie to make Halo for the rest of their natural days, and Bungie doesn't like how MS is constantly trying to "handle" everything they do; the way they market their games, the way they interact with their fans (basically the fact that they do appreciate their fans), and how stingie they are with the profits (comparable to the rest of the industry). So as of today they are their own independent entity. They'll probably make Halo 4 for Microsoft, however hey are also free to create new intellectual properties for whatever system they want. (Even though they prefer the xbox platform)"

Our source stated that Bungie is “tired of Making Halo, and didn’t want to do future Halo games.” For an unstated, but significant amount of money, Bungie shareholders bought the studio name back from Microsoft. Our source also revealed that even though Microsoft will retain the rights to Halo, Microsoft also has “the right of first refusal on future games.” This means that Microsoft has the first shot at publishing Bungie’s future titles. How this will come into play if Bungie decides they want future game X to appear on the PlayStation 3 and Wii alongside an Xbox 360 release will make things quite interesting.

We finished the fight. We're outta here.

We contacted Microsoft, and their boilerplate statement basically skirts the issue.

“There’s been no such announcement. We continue to celebrate the tremendous success of the global phenomenon that is Halo 3.”

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Blog: Bungie Leaving Microsoft

GameInformer: Bungie Actually Leaving Microsoft?

IMG Forums: The Bungie Leaving Microsoft Rumor

Bungie Studios

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