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Following Tuesday's release of the PC version of Bungie Studios' Halo: Combat Evolved, Westlake Interactive has updated their project status page, and has officially upgraded their project of the legendary first person shooter to Beta.

As previously reported here at IMG, with the PC code locked, it is expected that programmers Duane Johnson, Ken Cobb and Phil Sulak will make quick work of completing the conversion and getting it sent off the game's final round of approvals. Although the PC version was released only Tuesday, Gearbox is already hard at work at coding a patch to resolve certain issues players have reported. We fully expect that this and any additional patches issued from Gearbox will be included in the Mac version of the game.

Also announced in Wednesday's status update, MacSoft's Age Of Mythology has also been upgraded to Beta. Ensemble Studio's mythological real time strategy game currently has the low requirements of a 450 Mhz G3 or G4 CPU, and a 16MB video card. The game will run in OS X only.

While the minimum system requirements of the game may change before its official release, what hasn't changed is the porting company's resolve to get the game finishes, approved, and sent off to duplication as quickly as possible in an effort to get the new game on store shelves in time for the Christmas season.

Also new in Wednesday's update - the expansion Zoo Tycoon: Marine Mania has been declared Golden Master, and has been sent off to the original developers for the game's final round of approvals. Aspyr Media's The Sims: Superstar has also been declared Golden Master, a major feat considering the game was upgraded to Beta stage less than three weeks ago.

And finally, at the bottomw of their project status page, Westlake has quietly added a new port to their roster, code-named Chalk. Rumors have started flying regarding the new project's real identity - check out IMG's forums to add your two cent's worth, by clicking on the links below.

Westlake Interactive's Project Status Page

IMG Forums: Westlake's new project Chalk

Halo: Combat Evolved

Age of Mythology

Zoo Tycoon: Marine Mania

The Sims: Superstar

Buy Age of Mythology

Buy Zoo Tycoon: Marine Mania

Buy The Sims: Superstar

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