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| Wednesday, April 28, 1999 |
 IMG Talks with Sierra on Their Return to the Mac
Sierra has a long history on the Mac. In its infancy, Sierra ported games like King's Quest and Space Quest to the Mac. But as the company grew and acquired companies like Dynamix, Sierra continued to only trickle out a few Mac games here and there, usually porting adventure games like Quest for Glory V and their popular pinball series. But with Half-Life's announcement, everything seems to have changed. Sierra wants to be on the Mac, big time. IMG talked with Sierra Studios' Director of Marketing, Jim Veeaert, about Sierra's sudden interest in the Mac.
IMG: Sierra pretty much shocked the entire Mac community by announcing Half-Life for the Mac. There have also been reports that Sierra would be committing more games to the Mac. Is this true? Is Sierra committed to bringing "all" of its games to the Mac?
JV: We are definitely planning to bring more games to the Mac as we are very excited about the new developments and recent growth within the Mac community. Although some of our products seem to be a perfect fit for the Mac platform, this isn't true for all of our titles. We're in the process of porting over Caesar 3, and we are looking into to other recent adventure and strategy games.
IMG: What was the biggest factor in Sierra's decision to create more games for the Mac? Did the success of the iMac have a part in Sierra's decision?
JV: The success of the iMac was the primary factor in recapturing our attention towards the Mac as a viable platform. The Mac has been the most successful with new computer users, which are an important audience to us. We create games like Half-Life and Caesar that have a very simplified user interface, yet are very intuitive in terms of game play. These products share a similar position to that of the Mac in that they are designed to immerse the player into an inviting world that isn't cluttered by complex mechanics.
IMG: In the past Sierra has, for the most part, ported over adventure games like the King's Quest Series and Quest for Glory V to the Mac. Will we see more action and simulations games like Red Baron 3D, Starsiege, and Tribes for the Mac?
JV: If we have additional titles that are as successful as Half-Life, then the short answer is YES. As far as the other titles that are referenced, that portion of the question needs to be directed to Dynamix.
IMG: We've heard a lot about Homeworld, it looks like it'll be a huge hit for Sierra. Is there a chance we could see this title for the Mac?
JV: Again, that's a tough call at this point. There are numerous issues involved in porting specific games over to a new platform. Homeworld is by far, the most technically advanced game ever developed and therefore presents new unforeseen challenges as the code is evaluated for the application to other platforms. I won't say that there isn't a chance, but I will say that it isn't very likely for the first Relic title to cross over to multiple platforms.
Well, tough news on Homeworld, but at least we get to play Half-Life! [Deniz]
IMG Chat with Westlake Tonight!
IMG is proud to announce our chat with Mac porting powerhouse Westlake Interactive tonight at 10 PM Eastern, 7 PM Pacific. Westlake 'big cheese' Mark Adams his wife Suellen, and Ken Cobb will all be joining us to discuss their ports-in-progress as well as possible future projects. The just-released Railroad Tycoon II will be also a major topic.
The chat will be held in the IMG Chat Room. All you'll need is a Java-enabled browser to join the chat! See ya then! [Daranciang]
ATI Thanks Mac Customers
ATI Technologies, maker of the Rage chips many of you have in your systems, released a long and boring information update yesterday. No news on Mac versions of the ATI Rage Pro line; however, the following tidbit caught our eye:
ATI wants to say "thank you" to all our customers that own Mac based products. The best way to say "thank you" is to offer cash rebates to those who want to upgrade their current cards. Another added bonus of the MAC Loyalty program, you get to keep your original card ! Visit http://www.atitech.com/online/atiaccelerator04 for more info.
We are going to assume this only counts for those who have actually bought an ATI product, not those who have ATI chips that came on their motherboard. Nevertheless, it is a wonderful sign of the close relationship Apple has with this OEM supplier, and a sign it will continue into the future. Luckily for us, ATI is once again on the cutting edge. [Eilers]
 Update on Civilization: Call To Power Port
Westlake Interactive are busy folks these days. Having just completed work on Railroad Tycoon II, the company announced that it has begun work on Civilization: Call to Power.
Westlake is proud to announce the beginning of development of a great new game for MacSoft, Civilization: Call To Power. Originally developed by Activision, Civ: CTP is takes the Civilization game series to a new level.
The new game has tons of cool stuff including: 16 bit high res graphics, new units, all new wonders, multiplayer support, and the ability to play until 3000 AD (with space based units and more!).
Civilization: Call To Power for Mac is scheduled to ship in time for Christmas 1999.
Wow, yet another empire-building game for the Mac! So this is what it is like to finally be in the big time... [Deniz]
"MesaQuake" Updated to Version b7
Developer Miklós Fazekas today released a new version of his MesaQuake library. This small download allows the hordes of people with Q3Test to use their 3dfx cards for acceleration. A small bug was fixed in this release - the library now reports the VRAM available as 4 megs, hopefully solving errors with 4 MB Voodoo 1 cards. We'd like to remind you again that this is not a supported method of running Q3Test and iD will ignore any bugs you report when using this library.
For more information on this and the Mac Mesa 3D Graphics Library in general, visit the official Web site. [Daranciang]
 Nethergate RPG Updated
Jeff Vogel, creator of the new RPG Nethergate and the excellent Exile series, has updated his game (and its demo) to v1.0.2.
From the press release:
(The v1.0.2 upgrade of the Nethergate demo and registered version are now available at http://www.spidweb.com/nethergate. The upgrade features a number of pleasing bug fixes. Thanks again to the many kind people who have registered.)
The time is 60 AD. The Roman Empire is at the height of its power, under the rule of the cruel Emperor Nero. The savage tribes of the isle of Britannia are in full rebellion against their Roman masters, as their Celtic warriors ransack city after city.
In the depths of the wilderness, the village of Nethergate, forgotten and ignored, is hatching a conspiracy. They will conspire with the faerie kingdoms and dark, secret forces to destroy their Roman conquerors. Magic is dying, but there is enough of it left to put an end to the Empire. Your job is to help them.
Or maybe, your job is to stop them.
In Nethergate, the newest role-playing game from Spiderweb Software, the makers of the award-winning Exile series, you can play as either the Romans or the Celts, experiencing both sides of this epic battle. The quests, puzzles, and the way characters react to you will be completely different. It's like two games in one.
No matter which side you play, Nethergate has 16 bit 3-D graphics, an elegant interface, a huge world, based on historical research, and dozens of cunning towns, fortresses, and dungeons. Nethergate has a multitude of characters and a whole novel's worth of plotting and dialogue, designed to immerse you in a lost, magical world.
For those of you who haven't tried this wonderful RPG yet, this should be your excuse to download the demo. Jeff's games are all about story depth and expanding classic RPG elements in new directions by combining plot elements with good old hack-and-slash. [Eilers]
 Nethergate Demo 1.0.2 (7 MB)
 Jewel of Arabia RPG Updated
Quarter Note Software, makers of a variety of shareware games, put up version 1.2 of its game Jewel of Arabia: Dreamers today. JoA is a role-playing game where the player takes on the role of leader during a bitter and fierce civil war, shortly after the fall of the Alexander the Great's empire. This release is believed to fix all bugs in the game.
To check out this and Quarter Note's other offerings (which include Ultimate Pool and Frog Xing, a Frogger salute) stop by their Web site. [Daranciang]
Jewel of Arabia 1.2 (8.3 MB)
Blizzard Works on Mac Starcraft Brood Wars
We may have Starcraft, but most of our PC opponents have moved on to the expansion pack for that RTS game, called Brood Wars. When will be able to join them on the battlefield? Here is the scoop from Blizzard themselves, quoted in an article at article at macgamez.com:
"How is the development of the Mac Port of the Starcraft Expansion Pack Brood Wars? Brood War is coming along nicely and should be done ahead of schedule."
If everything goes as planned the StarCraft Expansion Set should be out probably midsummer. So all you Starcraft players, start saving up your allowance money--you're gonna have a blast this summer! [Bailey]
Win a Date with Lara Croft?!
Win a Date with Lara Croft! Nope we're not fooling, this is the truth! Here is the word straight from the contest sponsor's mouth:
"Gamepro is celebrating their 10th year of delivering to you the best gaming news, reviews, and previews in the industry! To thank you for your loyalty, we've put together the biggest sweepstakes in our history.
Our mind-blowing Grand Prize is a date with the model who plays Lara Croft! As if that wasn't enough, we're giving prizes to over 400 winners!"
They continue with:
"It's true! No joking! To celebrate GamePro's 10th Anniversary, we're partnering with the great folks at Eidos Interactive to make a dream come true for one of a true game fan! And it could be you!
One lucky winner will spend a day with the model who plays the heartthrob heroine and ultimate weapon-wielding babe, Lara Croft, from the award-winning Tomb Raider series!
You could join her on a fun-filled day of adventures and get an exclusive sneak-peek into the behind-the-scenes life of a cyber-superstar. You'll be right in the middle of the action with the ultimate action heroine!
What makes her tick? Has she ever been in love? What caliber are her guns? Now you have the chance to ask the questions you've always wanted to ask, up-close and in-person!
Plus, you'll get the full VIP star treatment and come away with hidden treasures, official autographed Tomb Raider gear, the Tomb Raider III: Adventures of Lara Croft game, and much more!
Lara doesn't like slackers, so get it in gear and enter to win today! Don't miss this once-in-a-lifetime chance to meet the legend, available only through GamePro! "
Well, meet the real-life facsimile of the legend, anyway. Check it out at www.gamepro.com [Bailey]
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| In Other News |
MacWEEK Speaks: columnist Tony Smith has some interesting thoughts on the signifigance of Quake3Test's debut on the Mac.
Another Unreal Tournament Preview: Next Generation Online has a detailed article about Unreal Tournament, coming to the Mac this Spring.
Virtual PC Update: This minor update doesn't add any new features, just fixes bugs with Powerbooks and some Y2K problems.
New VillageTronic Drivers: VillageTronic has released new drivers for their NextGen MP850 graphics acceleration card.
Railroad Tycoon II Site: if you want an in-depth look at this upcoming game, visit the Station.
NoBeige previews new iMacs: they've got the scoop on the new, faster iMacs and when they will be available.
Even Columnists Like Games: Tom Lovino of the great Mac website About This Particular Macintosh confesses that he uses his Mac for games. Hey, is that so wrong?
UnrealFinder Updated: this utility for finding online servers for Unreal slaughterfests is now at 1.0.2 and requires Unreal version 2.2.0.
Get Games 4 your Mac: The Games 4 Mac Campaign website has ben updated with a new campaign to convince UbiSoft to bring the racing game Speed Busters to the Mac. Stop by and sign up, and sign their many other petitions while you are at it!
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