Aspyr Media has announced the release of a new patch for the Mac version of Civilization V, as well as a new interview with Civilization creator Sid Meier about the popular series and its latest incarnation. The update brings the game to version 1.0.0.621a and introduces a variety of bug fixes and additions to the game.

3. It seems like every game series with a devoted fanbase has to cut the difference between pleasing hardcore fans and accessibility to newcomers. How does Civilization handle that challenge?

SM: In making Civilization games for 20 years now, we’ve learned a lot about what keeps people’s interest in the game and how to ease them into the kind of rich experience you get in Civ. In our minds there’s no disconnect between pleasing the long-time fans and making a game that will draw new fans in. We’ve made great strides in the user interface design in Civ V, so new players can quickly get into a game and play their way into the epic world of Civ that veteran players have loved for a long time.

4. Moving from squares to hexagons seems like one of those tiny details that could have a lot of impact on how the player approaches tactical gameplay. What was the motivation for that?

SM: We realized early in the design of Civ V that hexagonal tiles would enable us to create the visual world we wanted in the game – a beautiful, living world with photographic landscapes and realistic movements. Hexes also helped us to create the tactical combat system we wanted for the game. They allow units to move naturally around the world and create more realistic battle situations.

Civilization V Patch Release Notes

Aspyr Interviews Sid Meier

Aspyr Media

Civilization V

Buy Civilization V

Valve Software has released a new trailer showcasing gameplay from the upcoming first person action puzzler, Portal 2. The video shows Atlas & P-body as they prepare for testing.

Portal 2 is due for launch on Mac, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Windows the week of April 18. For more information visit the page below.

Valve Software

Portal 2

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Apple has announced that the Mac App Store will open for business on Thursday, January 6. The Store will be available in 90 countries at launch and will feature paid and free apps in categories like Education, Games, Graphics & Design, Lifestyle, Productivity and Utilities.

“The App Store revolutionized mobile apps,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We hope to do the same for PC apps with the Mac App Store by making finding and buying PC apps easy and fun. We can’t wait to get started on January 6.”

The Mac App Store lets you browse new and noteworthy apps, find out what’s hot, view staff favorites, search categories and read customer ratings and reviews. Like on iPhone®, iPod touch® and iPad™, you can purchase, download and install apps in just one click and start using them immediately. Purchased apps can run on all of your personal Macs and updates are delivered directly through the Mac App Store so it’s easy to keep all of your apps up to date. The Mac App Store is available to Mac OS X Snow Leopard® users as a free download through Software Update.

Mac developers set the price for their apps, keep 70 percent of the sales revenue, are not charged for free apps and do not have to pay hosting, marketing or credit card fees. To find out more about developing for the Mac App Store visit developer.apple.com/programs/mac.

Apple

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Mac|Life has posted a new review of Blizzard Entertainment's Cataclysm expansion for World of Warcraft. Cataclysm allows players to adventure as two new playable races, bring their characters to level 85, take on challenging quests and dungeons in all-new zones, and experience dramatic changes to familiar aspects of the game in the wake of a world-shattering disaster. Mac|Life gave the expansion a score of 4.5 out of 5.

In the past, creating a new character might have felt familiar, but became more of a chore than a journey. Cataclysm has taken a different approach to this, offering a better tutorial system with cut scenes interspersed throughout and introductory movies providing essential information for playing with new races such as the Goblins and the Worgen. This functions act as a combination of both an improved tutorial system and storytelling.

The Cataclysm expainsion also excels in perpetuating that highly social element of MMORPGs. Tools like the Dungeon Finder make it easy to state which dungeon you’d like to run through to other players and designate which role you’d like to play in the party (tank, healer, etc.), and there's a search engine that offers an estimate as to how much time it’ll take to find that one item you’re looking for. With this criteria, the game can then assemble the party, warp them to the beginning of the dungeon and let you work through the raid. In years past, a player might have had to contact friends and nearby players if they wanted to take on a dungeon, cajole them into forming a group and then try to keep the group organized. But the Dungeon Finder handles most of the workload over the course of a few minutes. The end resul

Mac|Life: WoW Cataclysm Review

Blizzard Entertainment

World Of Warcraft: Cataclysm

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