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Macgamestore.com recently added Flyboys Squadron to its list of Mac game titles. Released by Entertainment Network the game is a World War I combat flight simulator based upon the MGM movie, Flyboys.

Inspired by the true story of the legendary Lafayette Escadrille, the first American fighter pilots, the Flyboys movie featured some of the world's top acrobatics pilots. The aerial combat flying maneuvers and dogfighting techniques and sequences lauded in the movie, are reenacted in this faithful Mac game.

The single player flight simulation and dogfighting game includes 12 missions with four different skill levels, more than 25 Instant Action missions that are different every time they are played, and the ability for players to fly in any one of 10 different terrains with more than 100 different planes and vehicles.

- Mac OS X 10.4 or later
- PowerPC G4, G5 or Intel
- 1 GHz CPU or better
- 256 MB RAM
- Radeon 9800 or better, 128 MB VRAM
- Joystick Recommended

iEntertainment Network

Flyboys Squadron

Buy Flyboys Squadron

Buy Flyboys Squadron

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Applelinks recently posted a new review of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the latest game incarnation of the popular book, movie, and computer game series. In Order of the Phoenix players must help Harry and his friends prepare for battle against the villain Voldemort. Applelinks gave the game a score of 3 out of 5.

From the review:

Thankfully, the setting for the game is huge, so there's certainly room for all of these characters in the school, if not in the plot. I found it easy to submerge myself into Hogwarts, as it really felt like a place one could visit, as opposed to most game settings that push you from one location to the next so you don't even see half of the world you're in. Fans of Harry Potter will have a lot of fun exploring Harry's universe.

At least, I hope they do, because there's a lot of exploring to be done in this world. It's so large that it's easy to get lost. The more you get into the game, the easier it'll be to remember how to get to certain locations. Until then, there are devices that'll help you on your way. A map can be pulled up to show your goal, and when you select it, footprints will appear before you to guide your way. However, this only works when you know where you're going. In some quests, such as hunting down the five talking gargoyles, you have to find them on your own. No footprints, no guidance from your friends. In fact, your friends (Ron and Hermione) are with you throughout most of the game, but they tend to be a nuisance more than a help. They were constantly getting in my way, forcing me to run in circles until they'd move to a different area so I could proceed. Even worse, they were constantly badgering me about my current mission. "Have you found the gargoyles yet?" "Have you found the gargoyles yet?" "Have you found the gargoyles yet?" Ron, you've been standing beside me the whole time. You know damn well I haven't found the gargoyles yet. Quit being a jerk.

Applelinks: Harry Potter & The Order Of The Phoenix Review

Electronic Arts

Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix

Buy Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix

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SC Legacy has released an interview with Blizzard Entertainment's Chris Metzen the eagerly anticipated StarCraft II , the long awaited sequel to the original and its expansion, BroodWar. The interview touches on a variety of topics related to the storyline of the upcoming game.

SC:L - During the lore panel at BlizzCon - you mentioned that all the Cerebrates had been destroyed by Kerrigan - does this include Daggoth? Many people on our sites are wondering this because he was such an independent and intelligent Zerg character - and they feel if he is dead it's quite the loose end.
Metzen - Daggoth is dead, along with the rest of the cerebrates. Kerrigan is the sole power behind the Swarm now. It’s possible that Daggoth could not sustain himself without the Overmind and other cerebrates to power him. We’ve suggested before that the Overmind and its cerebrates were symbiotically linked. The cerebrates were not designed to exist without their creator. That’s a partial reason behind the cerebrates’ merging into a new, singular Overmind during the early events of Brood War.

SC:L - In Omega (last Zerg mission in Brood War), Kerrigan sounds like she doesn't have any knowledge about Duran's true nature or whereabouts. Does she have any suspicions or knowledge about him, and how does that and his disappearance factor into her decision to remain quiet on Char after Brood War?
Metzen - Very good question. Suffice to say, there are few beings in the universe that know who and what Duran really is. Kerrigan didn’t have a clue. Her isolation on Char for these past few years has little to do with Duran. However, as our story begins to unfold, she may be starting to put some pieces together as to what he was trying to accomplish...

SC Legacy: StarCraft II Q&A

Blizzard Entertainment

StarCraft II: Wings Of Liberty

Buy StarCraft II: Wings Of Liberty

Gamasutra has posted a new article from game designer Juan Gril that examines the casual games industry. Gril compares today's casual games to classic arcade games of the past and puts forth his argument for a combination of incremental and radical innovations to shake up a market of copy cat titles.

It turns out that when you clean out the list, and only look at the hits, in most cases they have a unique feature. Curiously enough, no game that could be considered a "clone" (a game that doesn't have any new gameplay feature) enters the list. I invite you all to play these games -- after all, they are available online and are free for the first hour.

Of course, this is just incremental innovation over one particular genre of casual games. But interestingly enough, the casual gaming audience is doing what I did almost 20 years ago: they look at what is fun based on familiarity, and they try to find a new experience... as long as they don't take a huge risk.

Is incremental innovation the answer to the evolution of casual games? No, not completely. Every form of media (as this is not just tied to videogames) needs to invest in radically new ideas, hoping one of them will "click" among the audience and create a new genre.

Gamasutra: Innovation in Casual Games

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