Inside Mac Games: Reviews & Previews eBook

In the summer of 2003 I joined the online writing staff at Inside Mac Games (IMG). Inside Mac Games was founded in 1993 as a floppy disk-based magazine. Since its inception, IMG has been at the forefront of the Mac gaming scene, providing news, previews, and reviews to hundreds of thousands of readers throughout the world.

Today IMG is published on the web and to subscribers via the MacGames DVD. With an installed base of over 100,000 readers and 350,000 unique visitors per month, IMG is among the most popular gaming sites on the Internet. Sponsors include Aspyr Media, Inc. and Feral.

Since I left IMG, much has changed in the Mac gaming world: The iPhone and iPod touch were launched and Apple has broadsided competitors with its vertically integrated App Store. If anything, the desktop environment is no longer as important! We’re witnessing a paradigm shift towards mobile as the dominant platform of the future.

Over the following pages you can read my previously published video game reviews, and previews, which were written during my tenure at IMG.

Download my free eBook (PDF).

Universal Jedi

Although my gaming coverage has been frugal of late.

On January 23rd 2004 my review for Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy was published on Inside Mac Games (IMG). Now, nearly three years hence, Aspyr is providing a Universal Binary at no additional cost to the consumer. Like Blizzard they should be applauded for embracing such an ideology.

Aspyr Media's promised Universal Binary update for Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy has been released, giving owners of Intel Macs the chance to enjoy the popular action game. The patch also fixes network gaming and adds support for Apple's version of OpenAL, a 3D audio library.

In Jedi Academy players assume the role of a student who must choose between the light and dark sides of the Force while facing a new threat to the Jedi Order.

Here are the release notes for the patch from Aspyr:

• Jedi Academy is now a universal binary. Mods that use code DLLs will likely have to be rebuilt as Xcode-based universal binaries.

• The multiplayer app now disconnects from servers properly, and no longer forces you to quit and relaunch.

• Now uses Apple's version of OpenAL, which allows for true 3D audio.

I haven't played Jedi Academy for sometime. This might be the motivation I need to enroll for the Fall/Winter semester.

Old Year's Night

Tonight's post is a 'review lite' of the year.

This week's 'flying visit' to East Anglia, home of my Father's family, has left me emotionally 'jet lagged'! Had a fantastic time (tinged with the bittersweet) indulging in retail therapy. Colchester's pace of life is exaggerated by its London commuter belt status. And now I can't wait for 2005 to arrive!

Most of my time has been centered around very serious personal matters. However, highlights of 2004 include (but are not limited to):

*Writing for Inside Mac Games
*Launching Nick Smith's site and blog
*Being featured in Bournemouth University's Alumni Association magazine The Talbot
*Alias magazine
*Classic arcade gaming
*Gmail
*Blogger
*Google AdSense
*Adding new affiliates to my site
*Saying farewell to Friends - could comedy BE funnier?

Looking towards 2005. Bloomberg beckons and Apple may finally launch the missing piece in its 'i' strategy, the 'headless pizza box' iMac, and secure the home Media Centre/Server crown once and for all. I'll be keeping a space underneath my Plasma in eager anticipation of MacWorld - San Francisco.

Art of Revenge

In the lead up to the release of Star Wars Episode III, Lucasfilm has begun to offer subscription-only content to non-Hyperspace members. Tellingly there is a QuickTime documentary entitled "Video Village", which illuminates the strengths and weaknesses inherent in George Lucas' directorial style. The words 'remote' and 'direction' have new meaning when read together!

At Inside Mac Games we've teamed up with Aspyr Media for our latest giveaway. And it'll be worth entering!

American Idol

The Sun keeps on shining in the South West of England!

Aspiring Mac-based musos using iLife '04 should update GarageBand! Version 1.1 “addresses isolated performance and stability issues, allows per-track Echo settings similar to other effects, supports loop libraries in other disk locations, supports importing unprotected AAC audio files in addition to AIF and MP3 files, and addresses issues with ReWire support, moving GarageBand songs between different computers, Help support, fixing the timing of individual notes (as well as entire regions), and dragging entire tracks in the timeline.”

So, grab a bite from SUBWAY®, launch GarageBand 1.1, record, mix and export (in AAC format) your opus and send to Simon Cowell and the AI team! If only Apple's audio application had been available when I formed Def Track at Exeter College! The "joy" of 8-track and an Amiga A500.

At Inside Mac Games we've extended our subscription service IMG Pro to include further "value-added" features. For more details on IMG Pro, please visit here. IMG Pro costs just $19.95 for one year. A two year subscription costs $39.90.

Seattle sans Frasier

I'll start this entry by bidding bon voyage to Frasier, Niles, Daphne, Martin and Roz! Tonight it's "Goodnight, Seattle" for the last time! Life without Frasier will be a little poorer. Michelle Branch articulates this sentiment best in her emotive ballad "Goodbye To You..."

Thanks to the ingenious invention that is sky+ (PVR), last evening I watched Sunday night's all-new episode of Alias, which guest starred Canadian director David Cronenberg (Rabid, The Dead Zone, The Fly and eXistenZ)! His cameo follows in the footsteps of silverscreen luminaries Quentin Tarantino, Ethan Hawke and Olivia d'Abo. Conscious was so good - a postmodern homage to the cinematic oeuvre of Cronenberg - that it commanded a repeat viewing!

Readers of the official Alias Magazine, published by Titan Magazines, can read my series comments in Issue #4's Dead Drop section. Look for Psychological Profile, which ties in with Frasier! On newsstands now!

The spring issue of The Talbot, Bournemouth University's Alumni Association magazine, arrived this morning. In the next edition they're focussing on careers in the media and are seeking contributions. So, it would be remiss of me not to respond to their clarion call!

As you may already know, I am a staff writer for Inside Mac Games (IMG). Currently I'm on the waiting list to join the beta test for Blizzard's upcoming World Of Warcraft - an online role-playing experience set in the award-winning Warcraft universe. In the meantime I've attempted (and failed) to download the latest patch (1.15) for The Frozen Throne! Blizzard is suffering from FTP overload! However, the game is one of my favourite (RTS) titles alongside Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds and Clone Campaigns expansion pack! So, I'll keep trying... A new Neutral Hero, the Goblin Tinker, has been added to the game and many more enhancements.

Browser company Opera has released version 7.50 of its popular flagship application. However, I was disappointed to note that several bugs made it into the GM! The smart money is still on Firefox and Safari 2!

As I write, iTunes 4.5 is playing Life For Rent on shuffle play! Dido's lyrics are replete with rich narratives, which transforms, via iPod, my personal space when traversing the urban landscape!

Inauguration Day

Nothing important happened today other than this! 😉

Started watching new time-traveling drama series Tru Calling on Sky One! Initially, I was averse to the series due to my disappointment at Eliza Dushku's reluctance to sign-on for a second sequel series to Buffy! Faith. However, Tru Calling is a pleasure to watch and the notion of Groundhog Day meets The X-Files is seductive! This show has, as they say in Hollyweird, legs!

Another US show that has become a guilty pleasure is The OC on E4! Now that Dawson's Creek is over (the series should have ended after 4 seasons) I was in need of a witty dose of angst and a cute brunette female fix! The sultry Summer Roberts, played by Rachel Bilson, fits the bill!

Just finished writing my second review for Inside Mac Games (IMG). This time it's Feral Interactive's Mac port of Worms 3D that comes under my literary microscope! Hope that it gets posted over the next few days! Does it need a rewrite? I sincerely hope not, because "real world" activities take precedence! Friends know what I'm alluding to!

Time to 'fire-up' GameRanger and play Jedi Academy MP!