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| 10-29-08 / 11:20 PM : Deus EX 3 : bad choices ? (cjed) |
| The blog Le joueur se lève states that Deus EX 3, that has been in development at Eidos for a year, could loose its soul and the originality that made the first opus a success, due to decisions leading to reduce character management complexity and underline mission plots, what would make it a classic FPS. |
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| 10-29-08 / 10:07 PM : Blizzard Echoes of War : orchestral themes (cjed) |
 Blizzard announces Echoes of War, a 70 minutes soundtrack CD (15 songs) from their games musics (including some from upcoming titles : World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, StarCraft II and Diablo III), newly arranged by the Eminence Symphony Orchestra. The CD will be available November, priced 30$ (a Legendary Edition, priced 50$, will add making of and interviews videos).We can listen to 4 sample songs. |
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| 10-27-08 / 10:25 PM : Codeweavers CrossOver : free day (cjed) |
| Codeweavers announces the avaibility of CrossOver and CrossOver Games for free tomorrow (October, 28), for american people. |
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| 10-23-08 / 11:51 PM : iPhone : JellyCar, MazeFinger & iBall3D (cjed) |
| Among the new free games for iPhone on the AppStore, we notably find : JellyCar (from the same authors as Trace, the principle is used here to move a car), MazeFinger, PacMan Lite (only one level), and iBall3D (classic labyrinth game with 3 completely different levels/environments). |
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| 10-23-08 / 11:35 PM : X-Plane 9.0.3 : instruments and ILS navigation (cjed) |
 A 9.0.3 update to X-Plane (iPhone version) is available. We can read the full new features description (and see new screenshots) here. The map (added in the settings pages in version 9.0.2) now provides NAVAID frequencies, and we can display an instruments panel (full screen), in order to set an auto approach (ILS). |
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| 10-23-08 / 11:19 PM : Bugdom 2 & Nanosaur 2 : weekly rebate (cjed) |
| Pangea Software provides this week (ends tomorrow) a huge rebate on Bugdom 2 (-75%, only 0,99$) and Nanosaur 2 (-50%, now only 1,99$). Updates are also available : Bugdom 2 version 1.0.2 (improved controls, minor bug fixes and performance enhancements), Enigmo 1.2 (small performance improvements, and now the savegames are stored on the OSX user Documents folder when synchronizing the iPhone). We can also download a strategy guide for the 10 levels of Bugdom 2 (maps, hints). |
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| 10-22-08 / 12:02 AM : New MacBooks game performances (cjed) |
| As new MacBooks include a new QuickTime extension (AppleVAH264HW.component) that allows hardware decoding of HD H264 videos through the NVIDIA chipset, MacWorld provides benchs of these new macs in games, compared with the older models and an iMac. On the new MacBook the CPU frequency (2.0Ghz or 2,4 Ghz) has no impact on the framerate, that is from 4 up to 6 times the fps experienced with the older MacBook (Intel GMA 3100 chipset). The MacBook is even slightly faster than a 2,4Ghz imac fitted with an ATI Radeon HD 2400XT (except in UT2004, as the Unreal engine has always been better optimized for ATIs cards). Finally the new MacBook Pro with its GeForce 9600M GT can double or triple the fps compared with the new MacBook (at max resolution - native -, there is less difference - about 50% - in lower resolution). The GeForce 9600M GT 512Mb brings less than 10% additional fps to the 256Mb. Then the entry models are the best choices for games, and the new MacBook can now really play recent games (35 fps at max resolution in Doom3 in high quality, and 30 fps in CoD4). The MacBook Pro reaches 90fps in Doom3... to compare with the (at best) 20fps with an old G4 1,25Ghz with Radeon 9000 (and in a lower 1024*768 resolution in medium quality). The older MacBook with Intel chipset provided only 8fps at that resolution, but in high quality. |
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| 10-20-08 / 11:39 PM : FlatOut2 review (cjed) |
| Macworld provides a review of FlatOut2, an arcade type racing game that uses a complex physics engine. It also features multiplayer game through network. |
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| 10-18-08 / 12:20 AM : Nanosaur 2 online / CubicMan Lite 1.4 (cjed) |
| Nanosaur 2 for iPhone is finally available on the AppStore (2,99 euros, as for Budgom 2 now - that was however 1,59 euros one week ago...) We can also find an 1.4 update to CubicMan Lite, that fixes the freeze problem experienced with 1.3 on loacalized systems (required to switch to US language in the global preferences). The first 3 levels walkthrough is available here. |
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| 10-17-08 / 12:34 AM : iPhone MarbleMash Full free / X-Plane 9.0.2 (cjed) |
| The full version of MarbleMash for iPhone is now available for free (MarbleMash Full 150 levels). The previous Lite version only provided 15 levels. For AquaForest that special time lasted only few days. Finally we can find a 9.0.2 update to X-Plane : it brings 3 airports (only one previously) and an onscreen map (draggable and resizable). |
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| 10-17-08 / 12:13 AM : iPhone free Touch Hockey / Lux Touch (cjed) |
| The two new free games of the week for iPhone are : Touch Hockey (a hockey game with 3D mallet rendering, a 60 fps graphics engine, 9 single player levels... and even multiplayer game through Wifi !) and Lux Touch, a limited version (only one map) of Lux Delux (a Risk like game). A deluxe version (not free) is planned (will bring more maps and graphics, etc.) |
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| 10-16-08 / 11:19 PM : Jedi Knight on Intel mac without Windows ? (cjed) |
| On a 233 Mhz G3 from 98 fitted with a 3dfx Voodoo 1, we were able to play, thanks to Virtual PC 2, Jedi Knight (Dark Forces 2) at 20 fps, without really any slowdown (only a slight one every few seconds). The gaming experience was huge in terms of rendering and smoothness compared with the software rendering (if no 3Dfx card) : the later provided very poor graphics and only one or two fps. Virtual PC 3 then added stereo sound (mono sound in VPC 2) while keeping same performance. All that video performance was possible thanks to the 3Dfx endian ordering, the same as for PC processors (then game's code), that avoided translating (PowerPC endian was opposite). On Intel mac, if we don't want to install Windows (so no BootCamp nor Parallels/Fusion) we have the choice to use CrossOver (derived from WINE, that is a from scratch implementation of Windows APIs) or Cider. However Jedi Knight is said to perform really bad under CrossOver (perhaps even worse than on a G3 under VPC in software mode) : Star Wars Jedi Knight (Dark Forces 2): Installed fine. Menu UI doesn't update properly and becomes unreadable very quickly and cutscene video renders wrong. 3D support does not work, only software rendering. I can navigate the menus somewhat blindly and get into a new game. The framerate is maybe 1-2 fps - unplayable. This seems strange as some more recent (more complex) games perform well with these software compatibility layers : Half Life 2, etc. |
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| 10-14-08 / 10:48 PM : DFMod : video walkthroughs for the 6 levels (cjed) |
| If needing help to complete the 6 levels of DFmod for JKA, we can watch full video walkthroughs on youtube : level 1 level 2 level 3 level 4 level 5 level 6 |
| 1 comment |
| 10-11-08 / 04:39 PM : FieldRunners, Trace and Toy Bot Diaries Free (cjed) |
 FieldRunners is a new strategy game (of Tower Defense type) for iPhone (4,99$), probably the best at this time in that category. We can watch a video here. We can also find an original and free game, Trace, that provides 6 worlds and 120 levels : the purpose of that adventure game is to draw (with touch) the elements that allow to reach the goal (the end of the level) ! A demonstration video is provided.Finally a free (lite) version of Toy Bot Diaries (some sample levels) is available at the AppStore (the full game is priced 3,99$). |
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| 10-08-08 / 11:38 PM : Nanosaur 2 for iPhone soon (cjed) |
 Following Bugdom 2 release for iPhone, Pangea Software announces that an iPhone version of Nanosaur 2 is due soon. We can look at screenshots here. The graphics look good, despite being far more less detailed than the mac version (that also added a stereoscopic view mode). |
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| 10-07-08 / 12:48 AM : Bugdom 2 and Kroll on iPhone (cjed) |
| Following X-Plane 9, two new games fully exploiting iPhone capabilities appeared at the AppStore : first, Pangea Software managed to port Bugdom 2 on iPhone (this is the full 3D game, the same as the mac version). The archive weights 63,2 Mb and the game is priced 2,39 euros only. Then we find Kroll (82,5 Mb, priced 5,99 euros), an adventure/fighting 3D game.s |
| 2 comment |
| 10-01-08 / 11:49 PM : Mystic Mine video (cjed) |
 Koonsolo announces the development of Mystic Mine, a game where the player has to guide a car through a mine, and to switch rails with the mouse in a proper manner (and quickly). A video is available. This is such game we would like to see on the iPhone. For now it is announced for MacOSX, Windows and Linux. It will include 200 levels and will feature many objectives/missions : Collect coins, Goldcutter, Blowup, Race, Drop the rocks, Collect diamonds, Collect frenzy, Goldrush
Hold the lamp. |
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