Blizzard Announces WarCraft III! Blizzard entertainment recently announced WarCraft III, yet another sequel in their enormously popular WarCraft series of real-time strategy games. WarCraft III has many new features, including what appears to be a true 3D playfield with fully 3D characters, and elements of role-playing games integrated into a real-time game. Although blizzard is a PC company first and foremost, we must remember that every game they have made has come out for the Mac, though the wait was a bit more than we would have liked. Late is better than not at all! Here is the official press release: Irvine, Sept. 5, 1999 - During a press conference today at the European Computer Trade Show, Blizzard Entertainment® announced what promises to be its most highly anticipated title ever. Departing from the current generation of real-time strategy games, Blizzard is developing Warcraft® III as a 3D RPS, or Role-Playing Strategy game. By introducing role-playing elements to the Warcraft universe, Blizzard intends to elevate strategy games to a new level of interactivity. Instead of focusing on resource gathering and accumulating massive numbers of expendable units, Warcraft III will immerse players in a dynamic world, making the game environment much more compelling. Players will control smaller, more powerful forces as they adventure, complete quests and interact with non-player characters, while simultaneously devising strategies to succeed in the overarching mission of defeating opponents. Key features in the game include: Six different races to command including Orcs, Humans and Demons, each possessing unique units, magical abilities and weapons of war. Legendary heroes lead powerful forces while completing quests, gaining experience and acquiring special items. Fully interactive world that incorporates non-player characters; wandering monsters; neutral towns, strongholds and temples; and environmental effects. Skeletal and skinning animation process allows infinite frames of animation resulting in true fluid movement of 3D models. Advanced world design tools allow players to customize every aspect of the game including tile sets; character art; quests; mission objectives; and unit types, AI, attributes, special abilities and spells. Expanded multiplayer options over Battle.net™ including a larger number of players per game and multiple game types including team play and questing. Said Mike Morhaime, president and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment, "With the release of StarCraft, we felt that we reached the pinnacle of what could be accomplished in the current generation of strategy titles. Our goal with Warcraft III is to carve out a new direction for strategy games by incorporating the interactive dynamics present in role-playing games and applying them in a competitive strategic combat environment." The company's number-one selling Warcraft series has won industry acclaim and has shattered sales records. Since the original Warcraft: Orcs and Humans released in the 1994, the series has sold more than 4 million copies worldwide. Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness won multiple Game of the Year awards, as well as Best Multiplayer Game. Warcraft III is expected to release by the end of 2000 in Windows 95/98/2000/NT formats. The game will be available for about $55 at retailers nationwide and through the company's webpage at www.blizzard.com. Sigh, yet another game announced over a year before its release... We are sure the fan sites have already begun to pop up. Let the speculation begin! Tribes 2 Status of Mac port In his recent .plan update, Senior Programmer Rick Overman of Dynamix recounts his successful attempts to get the Mac version of Tribes 2 up and running: I'm finally full time on the new engine, ahhh... and just to liven things up I decided to port the platform dependant layer of the engine over to the Macintosh and see how things looked before we made too much more progress. We were all pleasantly surprised when I had the engine testbed app up and running after just 2 weeks time. (did I mention this is the first time I've ever worked on a Mac?) I spent a few minutes today testing OpenGL compatibility with Mesa OpenGL for the Mac and experienced no problems (MacG3 with Voodoo3-2000 and Mesa OpenGL). I'm hoping the ease at which the platform dependant layer ported to the Mac is an indication of how simple the Linux port will be. Oh yes, we can't wait for this one! Now, if only we can talk him into adding Velocity Engine enhancements.. Avernum Announced! For a long time Jeff Vogel's excellent 'Exile' series of fantasy role-playing games have been the benchmark of classic Ulitma-style gaming on the Macintosh, and have sold well on the PC side to boot. The depth, interlocking plotlines and 'old-school' graphics have brought many an adventurer back to their Ultima-IV-on-an-Apple-II+ days, and yet still offered refreshing updates such as detailed graphics, intuitive interfaces and tons of places to explore. Nethergate is no exception to the rule, and is a fantastic game in its own right (read IMG's review of this title). But now the author of all those great RPGs has a new one to announce: Avernum. Here are the details from the web site: You have been banished to the underworld, never to see the light of day again. You have been cast down into the dark, volcanic pits of Avernum, filled with foul monsters, constant warfare, and thousands and thousands of your fellow prisoners. This is your punishment for not fitting in, for speaking out against the powers that be, for being an inconvenience to the government of the cruel Emperor Hawthorne. You have been sentenced to life imprisonment in the caverns, eventually to die there, forgotten and unmourned. But you need not accept your fate. There are those who wish to struggle against this injustice, who wish to return to the surface world and to fight against tyranny. But first, they need a hero, they need inspiration, and, most of all, they need someone who can find an escape route. Can you help them? Will you be the first person to escape from Avernum? Avernum is a classic fantasy role-playing game, designed for anyone who longs for an epic quest, enjoys a fascinating tale, or misses the classic days of Ultima and Wizardry. It features beautiful 3-D, 16-bit graphics, 80 towns and dungeon levels, an enormous outdoors, and a fascinating storyline. Avernum is being written by Spiderweb Software, makers of Nethergate and the award-winning Exile series. Avernum will be available on CD-ROM. It will require either a PC or 100% compatible running Windows 95/98 or a PowerPC Macintosh. Minimum system requirements: 16 bit color, 8 MB free RAM, 20 MB hard drive space. Avernum should be available in early 2000. Essentially, Avernum is a reworking of the original Exile game, with much added in plot and all-new 16-bit graphics. You might notice the one departure from the previous series - this game will be published on CD-ROM, most likely due to the fact that 16-bit graphics will make a game too large to download. We definitely look forward to this one! Apple Announces G4 Systems In perhaps the biggest Apple news this year, besides the introduction of the iBook of course, Apple finally announced in Steve Job's keynote at Seybold SF what the rumor sites have been telling us about for months: Apple G4-based systems. In a really astounding set of demos that made it painfully clear the Pentium III is officially obsolete, the G4 crushed and munched more numbers than anyone has ever seen in a desktop computer before - at one point performing over 4 gigaflops per second (a gigaflop is 1 billion instructions, or commands executed by the processor.) The greatest moment of the keynote came when Jobs announced that the G4 systems had actually been classified as munitions, not for export to 'sensitive' countries by the Pentagon. There goes the sales in China! The G4 price points are very similar to the G3 price points: $1,599 for the low-end 400 Mhz, $2,499 for the 450 Mhz and $3,499 for the top-of-the-line 500 Mhz with many configuration options. AltiVec, the on-chip instruction processor that was supposed to be the MMX killer (but came out long after MMX was forgotten) has been renamed the Velocity Engine. Two disappointments: The AGP slot seems to only be x2, vs the x4 that some rare PC motherboards now have. Also, the graphics card is still the RAGE 128 16 MB card; we were hoping for the 32 MB Nexus. There are still only 3 PCI slots. Even worse, the AGP slot only seems to be available on the high-end systems, not the entry-level model. Also a big disappointment for us gamers: not one game was shown during the Seybold keynote, not even Halo or Oni. While this was a publishing conference, and pretty serious stuff, it still would have been very nice to see that Halo demo again :-) What are the implications of G4 for gamers? Well, we don't know as of yet. Obviously blazing processor speed cannot hurt in any way, but it isn't clear how many games will take advantage of the Velocity Engine or how this will really affect performance. With Voodoo4 cards coming out, and many games having no software engine at all in the future, it may be the card crunching numbers and not the processor. And frankly, with a 450 Mhz G3 and a Voodoo3 card you can get damn near 60 fps in many games already; a jump to 70 or 80 wouldn't be that noticeable. The major benefit of the new design is AGP support, but we don't know which PC cards (TNT2? We can only dream!) will get Mac drivers or support. The important thing about the G4 series for gamers is this: Apple once again jumps ahead of the pack and stakes out the future territory. The truth is, there is no game out there right now that would max out this system! Imagine having every game you play run at the absolute maximum frame rate all the time - wouldn't that be insane? Well, by the end of October (when the 500 Mhz 2x AGP model comes out) that may very well be a reality! Over the next few days we'll quiz developers as to the impact of the Velocity Engine on their current and future work, and tell you the results. Anyway, they are re-broadcasting the keynote around the clock, so if you have a 56k or better connection to the net, head over to Apple and watch that damn keynote to death! I recommend you fast-forward to about 3/4 of the way through, unless you missed the Macworld NY keynote. Wow. Another keynote, another killer hardware announcement, another jaw-dropping series of demos and another series of crushing defeats for the Pentium III. I can't wait to see what they cook up for Macworld San Francisco 2000! MacSoft Announces Macintosh-Software.com MacSoft has announced the grand opening of Macintosh-software.com, a new e-commerce site dedicated to selling MacSoft products. Developed by Digital River, the site enables Mac users from around the globe to order MacSoft titles such as Falcon 4.0, Civilization II Gold, and Unreal, among others. Ambrosia Releases Cythera In case you missed this over the weekend, Ambrosia Software released Cythera, the hotly anticipated RPG by creator Glenn Andreas. Here's the entire press release: The stone floor is cold, and its chill on your cheek slowly wakes you from your sleep. Before you stand two men: an older, distinguished gentleman in robes, and a hunchback, clothed in jester's garb. "Ah, good. You are about," says the older man, looking quite exhausted. "We were worried that you were harmed." He introduces himself as Alaric, the LandKing. His kingdom of Cythera is in grave danger, and Alaric himself is unable to maintain his magical bond with the land. Only a gifted outsider, summoned from Earth, can save the ancient island from certain doom. Cythera casts you as the legendary saviour of a violently divided nation. Sensing the impending downfall of the King, the ruling houses of Cythera struggle for political power in the ancient land. Some will stop at nothing to seize control. While the houses labor to increase their own power, the neutral mages struggle for a higher consciousness and the betterment of humanity. They envision a world free from treachery and deceit. These students of the magick arts anxiously await the return of Alaric's mystical powers, as well as the end of the land's deadly slide toward chaos. But even they are unaware of the underlying tragedy which prepares to strike the land. Your arrival in Cythera begins an immersive adventure that is sure to cause incidents of philosophical self-questioning and adrenaline-pumping suspense. Intriguing puzzles offer clues about the island's mythical history, and ultimately the origins of the people of Cythera. Glenn Andreas' imagination and love for classical mythology breathe life into the fictional world, and his work on the underlying Delver engine adds realism and ingenuity to what is surely the most advanced RPG in the Mac market. One strength of the engine involves interaction of inanimate objects in the game; as an example, water and flour yield dough, which, when baked, makes bread. Cythera proudly features an advanced GUI that mirrors the much loved MacOS interface. Drag an item into your inventory window to take it. To perform an action, you can use contextual menus. Of course, optional keyboard shortcuts make the game move a little faster for those in a hurry to rescue the land. Multiple windows abound, and when a window becomes irrelevant, it closes automatically to prevent onscreen clutter. Cythera requires any Macintosh computer with MacOS 7.6.1 or later, a 13" color monitor, and 12 MB of free RAM. A 68040 or PowerPC is recommended, as is a larger monitor. Certain features in the game require a one-time registration fee of $25. It looks like Jason Whong of Ambrosia is going to be munching bugs over this one; several serious bugs have been identified, including font problems and random Type 11 crashes. Increasing the memory partition of Cythera using the Get Info command is reccommended. Oh, and we hope that typos and spelling errors don't count as bugs ;-) Worms: Armageddon Coming to Mac OS! We at IMG are constantly striving to bring you the latest and coolest information on the Mac gaming front. And this is no exception... While inquiring recently on whether or not we might expect to see Team17's outstandingly addictive game, Worms: Armageddon, for the Mac, we discovered that a deal was in the works with GT Interactive. That deal has been finalized, and even though no official announcement has been made that we know if, it is a done deal. That's right Worms fans, GT Interactive will be publishing Worms: Armageddon for the Mac! This news means yet another great software title for the growing Macintosh gaming library... and some hellaciously fun gameplay is on its way to the Mac. To see what the hype is all about, visit Team17's website and check out the tons of info on Worms: Armageddon they have there... Or read GameCenter's review of this title. Then sit tight and practice up 'cause there's a war heading your way and it's either the Worms or you. And the Worms are armed to the teeth! (Do worms have teeth?) Here's some more info from the Worms: Armageddon web site. The laughs never stop as you are thrown into an addictive, fast-pased battle of Worm versus Worm! What happens when you lead a team of heavily armed Worm into action? WORMS ARMAGEDDON! Use your creativity and skill in this hilarious action packed strategy game. Position your Worm, select one of 60 wacky weapons, aim, and fire! Watch out, because now you're a target! Exploding sheep, mad cows falling from the sky, mole bombs, detonating old ladies - this can mean only one thing. WORMS ARMAGEDDON! Game Features • The Best Worms Game Ever - The Next Step After The Wildly Successful Worms 2 • Arm your Worms team with over 60 wacky weapons! • Run your own customized battle or play on one of the thousands of randomized landscapes. • Play it in a multiple of ways through campaigns, matches and training missions. • Take on your friends on the Internet via "Wormnet," with "IRC" style chat facility and World Ranking Scores. • Outlandish graphics and sound bring your Worms team to life. Oh yeah, we're 'squirming' with anticipation! Madden 2000 Aims for Mid-October Now that the PC version has gone Golden Master, Westlake Interactive has a clear path to finish the Mac version of Madden 2000 without worrying about more code changes to the PC version. We talked to Mark Adams of Westlake this morning on the status of Madden 2000 for the Mac: "We have received the final code from EA and are working to merge it into the Mac. There is still a lot of work to be done, but we hope to get to Alpha by the end of August. Currently we're aiming for a mid October ship date." Madden 2000 will be published by Aspyr, who began pre-orders a few weeks ago. [Deniz] Macally Introduces iShock Macally, known for their line of USB peripherals including their iStick joystick and their excellent iMac/G3 keyboard replacement has done it again. To satisfy the hungry Mac gamers out there, they have announced a new controller that is sure to please demanding game players. The new USB gamepad, dubbed the iShock, looks amazingly similar to the Sony Playstation Dual Shock controller. It features a translucent case with all of the familiar knobs and buttons that one would expect plus a few extras. The gamepad sports 2 rounded rubber analog joysticks, an 8 way directional pad, 4 "action" buttons, 4 shoulder buttons, the usual Select and Start buttons and 3 new buttons. Macally promises Plug and Play and full programmability for this new gamepad, meaning gamers can make it do exactly what they want. A definite plus when you get used to certain configurations on your controllers. I'm sure it will make an excellent controller for use with Connectix's VGS [ed note: VGS does not support Input Sprocket] the eventually upcoming Bleem! and any game you can get your hands on. The name itself instills a certain curiosity. After all, the PSX Dual Shock controllers do have feedback capabilities, but there is no word on whether the iShock controller will offer this to live up to its name. We will find out more on this once we get our grubby mitts on one to give it a run for its money. With all of the USB controllers that are emerging as of late, it is going to be interesting to see how this particular model fares. If it plays as good as it looks, it is sure to be a winner. We expect our test model to arrive sometime next week and will definitely give you the scoop on how it works and feels. Until then, you can read up on this new controller from the Macally website. The Macally iShock gamepad requires a USB capable iMac or G3 running MacOS 8.5.1 or higher. Take-Two Acquires 19.9% of Bungie In a surprising move, Take-Two announced yesterday that it had acquired 19.9 percent equity interest in Bungie Software. The deal will allow Take-Two to distribute Bungie's products in North America and Europe. In addition, Take-Two has obtained rights to publish video game console versions of Bungie's games. Here is the entire press release: Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. today announced that its has agreed to acquire a 19.9% equity interest in Bungie Software Products Corporation in exchange for an undisclosed amount of cash. Bungie Software is a critically-acclaimed independent developer and publisher of such popular PC and Macintosh games as the Myth and Marathon series. Take-Two also entered into an agreement with Bungie that will provide its Jack of All Games subsidiary with exclusive North American distribution rights to four upcoming Bungie titles, including Halo, Oni and two undisclosed projects. Additionally, Take-Two will co-publish these four titles in Europe and Australia, and Take-Two's Rockstar Games label has obtained rights to publish video game console versions of these games. Shown publicly for the first time by Apple Computer, Inc.'s interim CEO Steve Jobs during his Macworld Expo keynote just four weeks ago, Halo is already one of the most highly anticipated games scheduled for release during 2000. Next Generation Online said of Halo, ``It has the most impressive graphics and physics we've ever seen.'' IGN.com said, ``There is no doubt that this game will have as great an effect on the industry as Doom.'' CNN Interactive said, ``Halo will take players to new worlds.'' Oni, which was recently featured on two consecutive covers of Computer Gaming World, as well as other publications around the world, was named best action/adventure game of industry trade show E3 by many industry trade publications. Computer Gaming World said, ``Lara Croft may have opened the door for the third-person action game, but Oni's heroine could lead the charge to a whole new generation.'' Computer Games Strategy Plus called Oni ``fresh and unique... A standout.'' Alexander Seropian, President of Bungie, said, ``Our newly formed relationship with Take-Two lets us continue creating the kind of totally unique action games that can only come from an independent developer and publisher like Bungie while still giving us access to the strong distribution resources offered by Take-Two.'' Ryan Brant, Chief Executive Officer, stated, ``The opportunity to work exclusively with Bungie is a significant step for Take-Two. This deal continues our efforts to create relationships that give Take-Two content partners access to the Company's broad reaching global publishing and distribution capabilities, while establishing a strong portfolio of gaming content for Take-Two to draw from. We believe Bungie is poised to establish itself as one of the most important and successful independent publishers in our industry and we are thrilled to be able to aid in their efforts to grow their company.'' Neverwinter Nights Coming to the Mac Neverwinter Nights, the newly announced game from Bioware (the same people who brought us Baldur's Gate and Shattered Steel), will be coming to the Mac, according to the Neverwinter Nights web site. The game is a massive multiplayer online game, much like Everquest and Ultima Online. Neverwinter Nights, however, will be different in that it will mimic pen-and-paper AD&D, be free of a monthly charge. Neverwinter Nights (NWN) is a new Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) roleplaying game from BioWare, the developers of Baldur's Gate. Neverwinter Nights has not only been designed specifically for the online, multiplayer environment and the latest in 3D technology but it also allows you to experience all the magic of pen-and-paper Dungeon-Mastering on your home computer. Using Neverwinter Nights' powerful and user-friendly Solstice Toolset, you can create and populate entire new modular worlds and stories for others to adventure in. Even better, enter a multiplayer module as a Dungeon Master (DM) and you can alter the plot, possess characters, and manage combat from behind the scenes, all in real-time. In a recent interview with BG Chronicles, Producer Trent Oster had this to offer on the game's engine: NWN is using the BioWare Omen engine. Omen is a totally 3D engine with a ton of amazing features, such as resolution independence, a powerful particle system and dynamic lighting. Another feature is the huge number of player animations the animation system supports, with the ability to smoothly interpolate between them. Omen allows us to create an amazingly rich world, populated with impressively detailed creatures and environments. Neverwinter Nights should be released late next year, and looks to be a very promising title. Sim City 3000 Ships! Maxis today announced that it has begun shipping SimCity 3000 for the Mac and will be in stores by August 3rd. And for a limited time, you can get a FREE Strategy Guide when you purchase SimCity 3000 for the Mac from the Electronic Arts Online Store. According to the EA spokesman we talked to at Macworld Expo last week, sales of SimCity 3000 Mac will be a key factor in Maxis' decision on future Macintosh titles. The System Requirements for SimCity 3000 are as follows: Macintosh 200MHz PowerPC® or G3 Operating System 7.5.6 or higher Operating System 8.1 or higher for G3 32MB RAM (Minimum) 64 MB RAM (Recommended) 128MB Virtual Memory 4x CD-ROM drive QuickTime® 3.0 (provided on CD) 260MB of hard disk space for installation 100MB of hard disk space for Virtual Memory Recommended Configuration: 64MB RAM or higher We have to admit, those requirements are a bit steeper than we imagined! But the game seemed to play perfectly well on an iMac at Macworld Expo New York... Giants Upgraded to 'Strong Possibility' In our E3 report, Tuncer and I babbled incessantly (well, at least I babbled) about how cool the upcoming Interplay title Giants: Citizen Kabuto was going to be. Well, the game is really evolving now and nearing completion, so we thought we would check in with the folks at Planet Moon and see if a Mac version was in the works. Here is the reply we got from Tim Williams, creative director of Planet Moon: No, were still continuing on with the PC version of the game. I'd say there's a strong possibility we'll be doing a Mac version around the completion of the game. 'Strong possibility' eh? Sounds pretty good to us, and a lot more likely than it sounded at E3. No word on whether they will be doing a port in-house or handing it off to our growing pool of capable PC-to-Mac porting houses. For more information about this gorgeous game, visit the web site or read this preview. But we should be careful, this game is not a sure thing as of yet! In fact, I'd say it is a great candidate for one of those famous Mac gamer petitions (hint, hint!).