Tagged: apple

Minecraft coming to an iOS device near you

MinecraftLogo
Minecrack Minecraft, a soul-crushing, infinitely playable indie game will be released for the iOS platform later this year. This includes iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad. If you have enemies that you want to clear away for the year, buy them this game.

Mojang, the studio behind this madness, founder Markus Persson noted that the iOS version will not receive the same updates as the PC version, which, quite interestingly, is still in beta. It will only receive updates that “make sense” for touch-screen devices.

No release date or price was given.

PlayStation Games on iPhone

iPhone users will have one more thing to do on their expensive sets: play PlayStation games. Apparently, an independent developer is hard at work on a PlayStation emulator for the Apple phone, though he states that it will also run on iPod Touch. A beta testing stage is due sometime in the near future, though donators will get early access.

EA Releases Four Mac Games, Delays Two

Mac gamers, as rare as they are, can now purchase four EA games from the online Apple Store. The four games – Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Need for Speed Carbon, Battlefield 2142 and Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars – will also be available from stores starting tomorrow.

Interestingly, this lineup previously included Madden NFL 2008 and Tiger Woods PGA 2008, both of which have been delayed. They are now slated for release in September/October, according to Macworld, who has more information on this deal.

Mac Gets Bone

Vanbrio has announced that it has released Bone Act 1: Out from Boneville for the Macintosh platform. Already available for the PC, Out of Boneville is the first installment of an episodic interactive adventure based on Jeff Smith’s acclaimed Bone series.

The adventure begins with three cousins – Fone Bone, Phoney Bone and Smiley Bone – who become separated in a vast, uncharted desert. One by one, they find their way into a deep, forested valley filled with wonderful and terrifying creatures and new mysteries that await them. The Bone books have been hailed by reviewers and educators alike as engaging for all ages.

A free Mac demo is available from Vanbrio’s website; it can be unlocked to the full version for $13 without any additional downloads.

Microsoft Working on "iKiller"

According to this Reuters report, Microsoft is planning on releasing a music and video player by this Christmas season, dubbed the “iPod killer” due to obvious comparisons to Apple’s tremendously popular iPod.

The Microsoft player will, unlike the iPod, allow users to download music and videos over the air; it will also employ the iTunes model, letting users buy individual tracks or whole albums. They also have a number of other things going for it to be a real threat to Apple.

So what’s this got to do with gaming? Apparently, this device was reported far earlier, although it was erroneously reported to be a “portable Xbox”. The main man behind the Xbox 360, J Allard, is behind the development of this “iKiller”; he has been out of the spotlight for quite some time now, and this just might be the reason why.

Microsoft would neither confirm nor deny the Reuters report. But it would be very interesting to see if the world is ready for a Microsoft music/video player.

X360 Controller on a Mac

If you’re one of those rare breeds of Mac users and happen to own a Xbox 360, you just might want to check this out. Someone has created a USB driver for the Xbox 360 controller to make it work on an OSX machine; it also includes support for the Apple Force Feedback library and is licensed under the GPL.

The driver currently supports only a few games on the OS, including Halo and MacMAME. The author plans on updating this driver to support Microsoft’s USB dongle to allow the wireless controller to work with the Apple OS.