Mac computers have always been shamed by their lack of support from game developers. It’s one of the key arguments against the Mac operating system in all “Mac vs. PC” debates, and there’s nothing anybody can say back. It’s the truth.
Well, it WAS the truth. It’s quickly becoming a decent competitor in the gaming world.

The most recent and amazing victory in the realm of Mac OS X gaming is the announcement that popular gaming platform Steam is coming to Mac, along with Valve’s game catalog, which will run natively using OpenGL. This is great, because it will also help advertise the fact that OpenGL is an amazing cross-platform alternative to DirectX, which is used in most modern games (and is the primary reason that the majority of large game releases are for the Windows platform, as DirectX is Microsoft’s software, and is not available for Mac OS X). For more information on why this is a great thing, see this article, as well as this comparison between DirectX and OpenGL.
This alone will blow the door wide open for the Mac gaming community. Valve’s games include the Half-Life series, Portal, Counter-Strike, Portal, Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead, and Portal. Did I mention Portal? Speaking of Portal, the second iteration of that fantastic game series will be the first to have a simultaneous release on Mac OS X, Windows, and Xbox 360 when it hits later this year.
As for Steam on Mac, that’s happening next month. Plus, if you’ve bought a game for Windows on Steam, you’ve bought it for Mac, too. No need for separate purchases.

That’s just one of the upcoming contenders in the very open and very welcome marketplace that is gaming on Mac OS X. Next up on the list is OnLive, which has a June 17 launch. This service will use streaming to play video games instead of installing them directly onto your machine (as I wrongly expected Steam would, when it inevitably came to Mac). This makes it so that essentially any machine with high-speed internet access can play the newest and highest-quality of games. It will be available for Mac, Windows, and as a standalone console. Looks pretty sweet, but I’m skeptical, mainly due to the possibility of major game-breaking lag with even single-player games, since the game is never actually running on your computer, but is being run on a remote server and streamed to your computer live.

Now, all of that isn’t to say that the Mac gaming community has been completely dead. It’s gotten support from lots of independent game developers, such as 2D Boy with the wonderful World of Goo, and Amanita Design’s Machanarium, as well as some of the big-wigs, although normally those are ports that come after the launch (such as Modern Warfare and Bioshock).
There is also an unofficial game porting community that primarily uses TransGaming’s Cider software to emulate a Windows operating system to allow the game to run. This is referred to as a “Cider port,” and often has issues, be it with sound, visuals, or otherwise (although there are some perfect ports).

On another spectrum, we Mac users with somewhat newer machines that have Intel processors have the ability to run a Windows operating system on a separate partition from our Mac OS, dual-booting with the help of Apple’s Boot Camp. This allows you to play any Windows game on a Mac, but you’re also running Windows, so it sorta defeats the purpose and is not nearly as awesome as developers supporting the operating system.

I’m not saying that the Mac gaming world is going to blow up overnight, but it’s definitely working toward greatness and possible equivalence to the support that Windows has. Someday. *Looks off in the distance*

After the first teaser that was shown to the public  in 2005 at the E3, it has finally arrived: The new installment of the famous Final Fantasy series: Final Fantasy XIII.

Freshly released for multiple gaming platforms yesterday, in Europe and the United States, already there have been 5 million units, shipped worldwide, which is only one million short of the lifetime sales estimate, published by Square Enix in September 2009. With numbers like this the game is set to smash all expectations, and more.

The total units shipped also include the Final Fantasy XIII units that were sent to Japan, where the game was launched in December 2009 as a PS3 exclusive. On its first day the game sold one million units over there. In the western world, Final Fantasy XIII is not a PS 3 exclusive and is also available for the X-Box 360. How many of each version were shipped was not disclosed.

Unit shipments of all Final Fantasy games now total approximately 96 million units worldwide, since the first release of the famous RPG game in 1987 on the Nintendo NES. The new installment of the series is the first to come out for multiple gaming platforms simultaneously.

For buyers of the game Square Enix also has released extra content for both the PS3 and Xbox. All copies include a redeem code which entitles the owners of the game for a male or female Avatar PSICOM Soldier uniform. Square Enix also disclosed a Final Fantasy XIII themed apartment, and other themed items, that gamers can purchase for their game.
And if that is not enough; besides the Final Fantasy III extras, buyers of the game will also get a sneak preview of some footage that will be in the upcoming Final Fantasy XIV, the next installment for this famous game series.

See larger image Final Fantasy XIII (Video Game) List Price: $59.99 USD New From: $53.95 In Stock Used from: $58.99 In Stock Release date March 9, 2010.

Following this thread on the Ubisoft website about the issue shows that this issue started many hours ago and is currently ongoing. This is bound to outrage many people and is reminiscent of another recent outage in the gaming world.

What does this downtime mean? Well, the DRM put in place by Ubisoft on Assassin’s Creed 2 (as well as Silent Hunter 5 (whatever that is)) requires a constant connection between the user and the server. If the connection is broken for any reason, the games lock up. They don’t allow you to play or save. With this server being down, the connection cannot exist, and so all of the people who went out and legitimately purchased these games cannot play them. At all.

I feel sorry for the customers here, who are being victimized by a ridiculously obscene amount of piracy protection, but I can’t help but smile at this situation. Goes to show how much this kinda stuff just fails and should never be attempted, ever.

Take that, Ubisoft.

In-browser gaming has never been very impressive… Flash games get old after a while. Luckily, services like InstantAction have been stepping up to fill the gap.

If you’ve been following the OnLive gaming service, InstantAction is sorta like that, just to a lesser degree. Whereas OnLive will be a paid service that allows you to play very high-quality games from any computer, InstantAction is a free service that allows you to play pretty good games on any browser.

The games aren’t full-game quality, but they’re definitely better than Flash. It’s run by GarageGames, probably most popular for their Marble Blast series.

There are five games available… All of them are free, and run amazingly well for the graphics that they’ve managed to throw in there. All of the games require an initial download before playing, but all of that’s done in the browser. You don’t have to agree to any download or run any files, it just happens, and it happens quickly. Once that’s done, you never have to go through it again, unless you play from another computer.

The two most impressive games on the service, in my opinion, are “Fallen Empire: Legions” and “Marble Blast Online.” Fallen Empire is a first-person shooter (yes, an FPS in your browser) that runs really well, and is actually a good bit of fun. To make it all the more immersive, you can even play full-screen.
As for Marble Blast Online… I’m a huge Marble Blast fan, so this game was a hit for me instantly. I’ve only ever played Marble Blast Gold, though, and Marble Blast Online is… Significantly better. The graphics are stunningly improved, the gameplay feels more fluid, and I just love the game.

The other games available are Rokkitball (sport kinda game, similar to basketball, sort of), Think Tanks (combat kinda game), and Zap! (top-down shooter). These are all decent, but didn’t hold my attention for nearly as long as Fallen Empire or Marble Blast. Both of those games have stunning visuals for an in-browser game, as well as addictive gameplay that make them really worthwhile.

Although this service isn’t particularly new, I’ve just discovered it, so I figured I’d bring it to your attention.
I’m impressed, and waiting for the next big service like this. Bring it on, technology.

Edit: Ryan Hoover, marketing analyst over at InstantAction, sent me a link to a survival guide video for Fallen Empire: Legions. You can check it out here. He says, “Although this video is outdated, it has some good beginner tips,” so it’s probably worth a look. Gonna give it a watch myself.

A few weeks ago, we talked about Ubisoft’s new DRM and how insanely ridiculous it was. I also mentioned something about… *Rubs chin* What was it?
Oh yeah. If pirates want something for free, THEY WILL GET IT. This DRM hurts nobody but the paying consumer.
And now that statement has been proven.

Assassin’s Creed 2, bearing the new over-the-top DRM from Ubisoft, has been cracked and uploaded to warez sites, torrent sites, and newsgroups far and wide. Yes, the PC version. You know, the one that’s not supposed to even hit shelves until March 9th? Pirates cracked the DRM and uploaded Assassin’s Creed 2 several days before the game was even released.

Silent Hunter 5: Battle of the Atlantic, another new PC game that got the DRM treatment from Ubisoft, has also been cracked and uploaded to the ‘tubes.

This means that pirates, who obtain this media at no expense, have a better experience than the people who go out to the store and buy it (or enter their credit card numbers into a website for a legal download). The DRM restricts legal customers from being able to play the games if they’re not connected to the internet… If your connection kicks out for any reason, the game locks up.
However, the cracked versions of the game (which, again, are obtained for $0.00) are completely free of any of this. You can play Assassin’s Creed 2 on a plane if you wanted to.

Now, I’m not saying to go out and pirate the games. That’s up to you (although I can’t necessarily condone that activity here). What I’m saying is that people (specifically Ubisoft) need to realize how absolutely ridiculous DRM is. When you go to the store and pay for a game, what do you feel like you’re paying for? The game? Or a license to play it? Because, according to the big wigs at the publishing companies, you’re only purchasing a license.

I read an argument the other day somewhere (I forget where, or I’d link)… It was about CDs, but it works here, too.
If you buy a game, you can’t install it on more than an allotted amount of machines, because, they tell you, “You didn’t pay for the disc, you paid for the license.”
Doesn’t that mean that you legally own a copy of the game? Fair enough.
But if the disc breaks, and you call up the publishers, they’ll tell you “Sorry, you paid for the disc, not a license.” So, even though, by their own logic, you’ve purchased a license to legally play that game, they don’t have to hold up to their end of the license by helping you in obtaining a new copy once the physical medium (which is, after all, not what you paid for) is broken.
It’s ridiculous.

It’s time to rub Ubisoft’s nose in their mess.

The famous developer of games: American McGee, has started working on a gory version of  Little Red Riding Hood, and has published concept art for this new game in progress.

On his Flickr page the games creator posted:

“This is something Ken Wong and I have been working on for years – a concept built on “Little Red Riding Hood”

Truth be told, this Little Red Riding Hood kicks butt! The imagery that was shown, comes from the folks at Spicy Horse Games Studio, and was created by the hands of graphical artist Luis Melo, another legendary name in the gaming industry, and features our ‘Little Red’ as a small white haired girl wielding a giant Axe, while driving it deep into the skull of a giant bad ass looking Wolf. After looking at this we will be anxiously awaiting news on the game-play, and weapon combos that will be put into the game. From the looks of it, there are lots of possibilities in that area.

If this is how Sweet Little Red Riding Hood looks, we can’t wait to see what they will do with the character of the hunter!

This game, based on the fairy tale, promises to be a lot more grim than the movies, and certainly will not be Disney material! Lots of blood and gore, if the concept art published is anything, like the game is going to be.

No information was given about release dates, or through which company the game would possibly be released for that matter. American McGee is currently hard at work on his second adult Alice In Wonderland game, and expressed hope to be able to get to work on Little Red Riding Hood, after finishing Alice 2. The only concrete information given was that discussions with several publishers are still in progress.

Oh my, grandmother what a great weapon arsenal you have!

Sony said in a blog post Monday that the problem was most likely caused by a bug in the system’s clock functionality, which is reminiscent of the Y2K bug a decade ago. So far this glitch is only affecting older PlayStation 3 models, with their newest slim PS3 version being unaffected.

The company urged customers not to use the older PlayStation 3 systems until the problem is resolved, warning that doing so could cause errors and make it impossible to record gaming achievements and restore some data. Sony would not comment on how many users were affected by the bug, which comes just as PlayStation 3 sales are picking up.

Some of the problems resulting from this unforeseen glitch that PS3 users started experiencing this Sunday include:

• The date of their systems being reset to January 1st 2000.
• An error message saying that the user has been logged out of the online game network
• When a user tries to sign in to the PlayStation Network, the following message appears on the screen; “An error has occurred. You have been signed out of PlayStation Network (8001050F)”.
• When the user tries to launch a game, the following error message appears on the screen and the trophy data may disappear; “Failed to install trophies. Please exit your game.”
• When the user tries to set the time and date of the system via the Internet, the following message appears on the screen; “The current date and time could not be obtained. (8001050F)”
• Users are not able to play back certain rental video downloaded from the PlayStation Store before the expiration date.

Sony has advised its users with PS3 models older then the new slim PS3 to not use their systems until the issue is resolved. They expect to resolve this glitch within 24 hours.

Hopefully Sony can indeed resolve this issue quickly as promised since the last thing they need is a bunch of angry gamers who can’t play their games and have lost their achievement data.

Heavy Rain is a popular recently released Playstation 3 game that plays out as sort of an interactive movie. You make choices that affect what goes on in the game and, ultimately, how it ends. It’s got a runtime of around nine hours altogether – time enough to explore all the details of the plot and develop the characters to a point where you actually feel for them.
But how would this work in a 2-2.5 hour-long scenario, on the silver screen?

Well, while probably not in the near future (if at all), we might just find out. The development company that made the game, QuanticDream, Inc., made a deal with New Line Cinemas back in 2006, giving them rights to a full-length movie, based around the happenings of the game.
This, of course, takes out the whole interactive aspect, and makes it a much more linear experience. Which is why I’m wondering whether or not it would work.

I’ve only played the demo of the game so far… I might be picking it up soon to give the whole game a run-through (you can probably expect a review soon after I beat it), but until then, I really don’t know how great this plot is. Do you think it could hold itself up as a decent movie?

Obviously, nothing’s concrete yet… This just means that New Line has the rights to it, so no other studio can product a Heavy Rain movie. But hypothetically, if it were to happen, I’m not quite sure if it would be a worthwhile endeavor.
This game isn’t widely hyped for its great gameplay, it’s hyped for the great story it can tell. It’s hyped for you being able to actively contribute to the story, and for being able to actually affect people emotionally and force you to make tough decisions.
The only part of that that would stick with a movie is the story. And while I’m sure the story in the game is great, I bet that the main reason it’s so great is that you have something to do with it. You control what happens in that story, and how it ends. I’m not sure it would be nearly as satisfying just watching it on a screen for two hours.

What are your thoughts?

See larger image Heavy Rain (Video Game) List Price: $59.99 USD New From: $50.49 In Stock Used from: $45.98 In Stock Release date February 23, 2010.

PopCap Games is a relatively popular game company, their most well-known games being Peggle, Bejewled, Plants vs. Zombies. Well, the first two had been ported to the iPhone/iPod touch quite some time ago, and Plants vs. Zombies has just made its way onto the platform.

PopCap has made their roots in the PC gaming industry with their roster of games, but they’re not shy to huge success in the App Store, either… Both Bejeweled 2 and Peggle have been on the #1 spots. But nobody could have predicted the huge and instant popularity of their newest mobile game.

Plants vs. Zombies hit the App Store ten days ago, on February 15th. It has just been announced today that the game was the highest-grossing launch in the history of the App Store. They’ve already stacked up more than 300,000 downloads… Each download is $3. That means there has been a total of $900,000 made from this game. After Apple’s cut of 30% (or $270000, in this case), that means PopCap Games have made $630,000 in just ten days, from one game in the App Store.

That is an enormous amount of money in such a short amount of time… I applaud PopCap Games for their overwhelming success on the App Store with this title.
I personally haven’t picked it up yet, but… There we are. Just bought it. I’ve never played Plants vs. Zombies on any platform, but I love all the other PopCap games that I’ve played, so there’s not much doubt I’ll enjoy this one.

Judging by the success alone, I recommend you check this game out. It’s only $3, and it’s holding steady a 5/5 rating on the App Store. You can find the game here if you’re interested.
I’ll be spending some time with it very soon.