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Alchema can make homebrew cider your next DIY habit
We've seen devices for brewing beer with ease at home, but what if you're more of a hard cider drinker? Well, you may soon have a countertop option that turns fresh fruit into the adult beverages as well. This is Alchema: A $299 device that takes your favorite fruits, sugar, water and yeast and transforms them into your very own craft cider. The company, which goes by the same name, calls the gadget a "smart homebrewer," a connected setup that uses an iOS app to help you select recipes and keep tabs on the fermentation process. What's more, Alchema can make cider in 1-2 weeks, mead in less than a week and wine in about 4 months.
Students get iOS apps running (slowly) on Android
Running apps from one mobile platform on another is theoretically great for boosting your app selection, but it's not a trivial task -- even BlackBerry's Android support is rough. However, some Columbia University students have managed the daunting feat of running iOS apps on Android with their Cider compatibility layer. This isn't a regular emulator or virtual machine, like you might expect. Instead, it simply tricks apps into believing that they're in a native environment: they adapt code on the fly to make it work with Android's kernel and programming libraries. Even 3D benchmarks run properly.
Hands-on: League of Legends for the Mac
Defense of the Ancients is one of the most interesting stories in all of gaming -- it was originally a player-created mod for the Warcraft III real-time strategy game, and it completely revamped the RTS game into a RPG/hack-and-slash mashup, where the player controlled a champion character that fought to turn the tide of battle on a player-vs-player map. The mod proved so popular that game companies are now creating their own official versions of it, and League of Legends is one of those -- a "DotA"-style mix of hack-and-slash gameplay combined with a few RTS elements created by Riot Games. "LoL," as players are calling it, actually has the best pedigree of all the DotA clones -- two of the mods' designers were (and still are) involved in the games' development. Now LoL is coming to the Mac -- Riot Games invited me to come and see the game this week running natively on their MacBook Pro. The game uses a free to play model, so if you're running Boot Camp, you can go and download it right now and play to your heart's content. But Riot is convinced that "there's millions of gamers out there" who want to run their game natively, and so sometime later this year, it'll be available in OS X. I got to check out the game on official Apple hardware, ask them if they had any problems porting it over, and poke them a little bit about how RTS games might work on the iPad. Hit the link below to read on.
Dragon Age: Origins coming to Mac as a digital download December 21st
Gamepro's got the news that Electronic Arts is fast-tracking Dragon Age: Origins for release on the Mac -- they're now saying that it'll be out as a download as soon as next week, on December 21st. I've been playing the game on PC (it came out for both PC and consoles in November), and it is excellent -- an instant Bioware classic, and definitely the best roleplaying game of the year, especially if you enjoy good Baldur's Gate-style epic. Of course, you can pick up the PC version right now and play it in Boot Camp, but given that we've been needling developers to hurry up with their Mac versions, we have to give EA credit for this one. A month late is much better than, say, a few years late. We'll also point out that this version will use Transgaming's Cider wrapper technology for the port, and they don't exactly have the best track record for quality Mac releases. But again, an A for effort on the release date. If you want to play it natively on the Mac, you'll be able to buy the game in either standard or deluxe versions, with the deluxe including extra bonus content and the "Warden's Keep" downloadable content pack (both versions come with the "Stone Prisoner" pack already, and the content packs open up more quests and items in the game itself). December 21st is the listed date: look for a link on their website then.
Mac gamers to enter the Dragon Age on Dec. 21
It's a much-better-than-usual day to be a Mac gamer: EA and Transgaming have announced that they're bringing BioWare's downright fabulous Dragon Age: Origins to OS X on December 21. The game will be released via "popular online digital retailers" including GameTree, Direct2Drive, GamersGate, GameTap and Best Buy as a download only (sorry, packaging-philes). Two versions of the game will be offered up: Standard and Digital Deluxe. Both will include the Stone Prisoner add-on content and Blood Armor, while the later grows that list with the Warden's Keep expansion, wallpapers and in-game items. They'll run $49.95 and $64.95, respectively.
Star Trek D-A-C coming to M-A-C
Paramount has announced that it's bringing the downloadable Star Trek D-A-C -- based on the recent film -- to the Mac. The game will be released with the help of TransGaming, meaning it will utilize Cider, software that allows PC games to be run on Macs. In other words, your hopes of experiencing the mediocrity of Star Trek D-A-C in an Apple native format have just been dashed. Sorry. The game is scheduled to launch this December and is currently available for pre-order at GameTree Online.
Warhammer Online coming to the Mac
More good news for MMO players on the Mac: Warhammer Online has joined the ranks of EVE and of course World of Warcraft by announcing the release of a Mac-compatible client. Most of you already interested were probably playing with Boot Camp, but that hasn't stopped Mythic from working on a Mac client. It's in beta now (and free to current players, with a free trial available for those who haven't stepped inside the MMO yet), and they're aiming for a release in the Fall. And how nice is this: Mac players will get two titles of their own, as well as an exclusive in-game trophy. Unfortunately, the client doesn't run truly natively -- Mythic is owned by EA, so, you guessed it, Transgaming's Cider is behind this port, too. Cider isn't always the best way to run games (native would be the way we'd like to see it), but many of the problems we've seen with the technology are a few years old now, so hopefully it's gotten better (and that's likely what this beta is all about) -- hopefully they can work out all the kinks before the official release in the Fall. Warhammer Online is an excellent MMO, especially notable for its heavy PvP elements and its innovative Public Quests and Tome of Knowledge feature (kind of like achivements, but even more in-depth). It's a little late coming to our platform, but it's good to finally see another big game take on Mac support.
CCP Games drops Linux client support for EVE Online
One of the nicer aspect to EVE Online, in terms of accessibility, is that you can play it across the trinity of operating systems: Windows, Mac, and Linux. The latter two have been made possible through the CCP Games partnership with TransGaming Technologies, via their Cider and Cedega technology, respectively. Unfortunately, while the Mac client has attracted (and retained) a number of users, the same cannot be said for the EVE Linux client. We received word from affected players over the weekend that CCP is dropping support for the Linux client, but it's official as of this morning. CCP Whisper stated, "I am sorry to announce that from the 10th of March onwards CCP will no longer be officially supporting the Linux operating system. The low amount of users of the Linux client did not justify the degree of additional complexity having three operating systems imposes on our development and release schedules." He states that he and CCP Games are fully aware of the disappointment this will cause but the resources the company has devoted to Linux support could be put to better use elsewhere, in ways that benefit more players.
Next EVE Online expansion named Apocrypha, launches March 10
The other day we picked up on a video interview with the CEO of CCP Games, who announced a firm March 10th release date for the next EVE Online expansion -- but until today, that expansion wasn't given a name. CCP Games announced the "Apocrypha" expansion this morning, and a bit of what it'll bring to EVE.The Apocrypha feature page isn't up yet -- so more details are likely to emerge -- but thus far they've confirmed two new game mechanics will be coming to EVE in March. Wormhole exploration is an upcoming feature that will allow EVE's explorers to discover new technology, used to create the next iteration of ships in New Eden -- Tech III. These modular ship designs will potentially allow for thousands of different configurations of ships to suit different purposes, and are a far cry from the Tech I and Tech II ship hulls currently flown in New Eden. In addition, Apocrypha will bring Epic Mission Arcs. The release states: "These branching, far-reaching mission strings are full of meaningful stories and more intelligent and deadly adversaries."
City of Heroes making the MMOve to Mac
Better late than never? Coming just days after Apple's roll-out of new MacBooks with mightier gaming capabilities, NCSoft has announced that its superhero (and villain) MMORPG, City of Heroes, will be released for Mac in partnership with Transgaming.According to NCSoft, the Mac version of CoH – really the PC version in Transgaming's Cider "wrapper" for Intel-based Macs – will go into beta around the same time as the latest game update, "Issue 13: Power and Responsibility," releases (currently slated for fall). NCSoft is planning the full release for "pre-holiday" in digital form, available from its online store and GameTree Online. There are no plans for a boxed retail release.Following its release, "the Mac version will parallel the developments of the PC version, providing all game updates, new features, and storylines simultaneously on both platforms," said Vikas Gupta, Transgaming's president and CEO. Excelsior!
City of Heroes to get Mac Special Edition
NCsoft just announced that City of Heroes will soon have a Mac client, joining the likes of World of Warcraft and EVE Online as MMOs that can played on OS X. It'll be made possible through partnership with Transgaming, the creators of the Cider portability engine, which acts as a 'wrapper' for the standard PC client, allowing it to run within OS X on an Intel Mac. While Blizzard's Mac client for World of Warcraft was written from the ground up, NCsoft's newest City of Heroes 'Good vs. Evil edition' client will be playable through Transgaming's Cider, and thus will be the same client gamers are accustomed to on the PC. This method of bringing the PC client to Mac without porting or rewriting is the same avenue CCP Games took with their EVE Online client for OS X. The City of Heroes Mac Special Edition includes two exclusive items:
Mac and Linux client improvements roll out today in EVE Online
EVE Online has a much smaller playerbase than some of the other top-tier MMOs on the market. Despite this fact, CCP Games was willing to provide an even smaller subset of players -- Linux and Mac users -- with an EVE client, via Transgaming's Cedega (Linux) and Cider (Mac). While the 'premium' Trinity graphics are only supported on the Windows client, this writer can attest that the Mac client has improved a great deal since its release. That said, there have certainly been some issues with providing a stable client for multiple operating systems. The Empyrean Age 1.1.2 patch for Mac and Linux, which was scheduled to deploy during downtime today, should bring with it numerous small fixes to these clients. On the Mac side, Empyrean Age 1.1.2 changes how autopatching works, improves issues with international keyboard layouts, and especially resolves the issue with how station interiors display. If the changes go through smoothly, this funky anomaly will be no more. This gallery may be a last look at the black, translucent interiors of stations that some Mac users have been reporting:%Gallery-33952%
Transgaming to use SecuROM for Cider games
As if Mac gaming needed more problems getting off the ground. Transgaming has proudly announced that in the future, their games will include Sony's SecuROM digital rights management software. They don't mention which games will be getting the extremely restrictive DRM (that some folks have compared to malware), but we're guessing all of them, which means the Mac version of Spore will be on that list, as well as those upcoming Ubisoft titles, and anything else produced with the Cider technology.Bummer. Why is it a bummer? Because all the evidence we can see actually shows that DRM hurts sales. While Transgaming is obviously proud of this decision, claiming that SecuROM will help them prevent piracy and unauthorized copying, most of the evidence shows that piracy will happen in spite of, and sometimes even because of restrictive DRM setups like Sony's. Transgaming is making a serious mistake here -- they want to protect their games, which is fine. But choosing DRM, especially SecuROM, as a way to do it is a mistake. It'll cause more problems for the company and their users before it prevents piracy in the way they think it will.[via IMG]
Transgaming makes deal with Ubisoft
First EA, and now gaming giant Ubisoft has inked a deal with Transgaming to wrap their titles in Cider and port them over to the Mac. Which seems like great news -- Ubisoft has a huge number of quality titles, and bringing those to the Mac must be great for gamers who appreciate a better operating system. But not so fast.First things first, Cider hasn't exactly proven itself in terms of making great games, or even ports for that matter. And apparently Ubisoft is taking it slow -- rather than bring us games like Prince of Persia, Assassin's Creed or the great Rainbow Six Vegas series, we're getting... wait for it... Catz and Dogz. Oh, and CSI: Hard Evidence, which was hardly a blockbuster on game shelves.It's definitely good news that Mac gamers are getting more to play, but if this is all we're going to get, they can keep it. If they wanted to port us Far Cry 2 when it comes out, or maybe even the long-awaited Beyond Good and Evil 2 whenever it's done, awesome. But if all we're going to get is years-old bottom-of-the-barrel crapware, we'll stick with original Mac game developers, thanks.[via Big Download]
Will Wright: Mac users will love Spore
Well, who won't, right? If you haven't read a single gaming blog this week (you serious worker bee, you), then you may not have heard the big news: Will Wright's rumored-to-be-a-masterpiece Spore has gotten a release date. It's hitting stores (for both PC and Mac simultaneously-- now that's what I like to hear) on September 7, 2008. Which means that later this year, PC and Mac users alike will be playing God, and creating creatures that virtually evolve from amoeba form all the way up to space travel.Mac|Life got a chance to sit down with Will Wright himself, and not only did he reveal some fun news about the game, but he thinks it will especially appeal to Mac users-- they expect the creative creature creator to do great things with Mac minds. Unfortunately, the game is a Cider port, and it's being released by Aspyr (that's right, I'm breaking my informal press boycott on them to talk about Spore-- don't disappoint me, Aspyr *see update below) but Wright sounds like he's expecting quality from this release, so I guess we should, too.And just like all the other great developers out there, he's very interested to see what happens with the iPhone SDK -- Wright is apparently an iPhone owner, and would love to get Spore on there. Believe me, Will -- I'd love to play it.[Via IMG]*Update: Aspyr has contacted us to say that they are not publishing the game. And at first I was confused, because Lucy Bradshaw specifically mentions Aspyr in the interview. However, after reading it a few times, it seems that Bradshaw is actually giving reasons for why they decided not to go with Aspyr-- their native ports come out too late, and EA wanted to release Spore simultaneously on all platforms.Aspyr also notes to us that they only do native ports, not Cider ports. So I guess my informal boycott against Aspyr is still on, but we're still not guaranteed to get a good game out of this: Madden '08 was created using Transgaming's Cider, and that didn't turn out so well. Wait and see.
Madden and the iMac: a story of woe
Mac | Life wasn't content to just read about Madden 08 on the Mac-- they tried to actually run it. And for all of us Mac gamers out there, I'm sorry to say the experience didn't go well.Now, we already knew that neither Madden nor Tiger Woods would run on any Mac with the GMA950 graphics processors in it, so the Mac mini and the MacBook were already out of the question. The screenshot above came from an iMac, though. Clearly the text is bungled up beyond readability. The same problem appeared in the menus for the game, and even during play-- the scoreboard had overlapping graphics problems as well. Unbelievable. Did they (or Transgaming, whose Cider technology was supposed to be how EA ported these games) have their QA team play this thing even once on a Mac? This is what Apple was showing off at WWDC?For their part, EA blames Apple's drivers, and says a driver update is coming "later this month" (M|L wisely suggests that means Leopard). Poor form, EA. Not that we expected much (EA games are often plagued with release problems, on any platform), but this is not how you bring gaming back to the Mac.
Hoor-EA! Mac games hit Apple store today
That's what they say. Publishing monolith EA has announced that four of its Cider-powered Mac OS X titles are now available to purchase on Apple's online store today. The initial burst looks to satisfy a variety of Intel Mac gamers, including those who are partial to waging futuristic war (Battlefield 2142!), owning totally sick rides (Need for Speed Carbon!), casting ex-crucio-ting spells (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix!) and, uh, waging even more futuristic war (Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars!). The games will also materialize on minimalistic shelves within Apple retail stores, with Potter and Need For Speed arriving on Tuesday, 21 August. Battlefield 2142 and Tiberium Wars should arrive the following week on 28 August. Though the tardy titles, namely Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 and Madden NFL 08, were promised to arrive on the same day as other systems at WWDC, you can now expect their respective balls to come crashing through the "September/October window."
Oh EA, where art thou?
Remember back at WWDC when EA announced they were coming back to the Mac in a big way? Well several of our readers did, and have written in to point out that it's the end of July and EA on the Mac is nowhere to be seen. Back in June Macworld reported that EA would be bringing four popular franchises to the Mac starting in July, and that these would be released simultaneously with their PC counterparts thanks the the Cider technology. Well Peter Cohen at Macworld recently noticed that Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is shipping for the PC, but the Mac version is nowhere to be found (it's not even listed among the options on platforms page). This sets a very bad precedent for the return of EA to the Mac. And so Mac gamers are forced to ask: oh Electronic Arts, where art thou?Thanks to everyone who wrote in!
Gears of War, UT3 coming to Macs
At this rate, it's becoming difficult not to play Cliffy B's roadie-running extravaganza. During an interview with Game Head's Geoff Keighley, Epic VP Mark Rein revealed that Gears of War is in development for Mac OS X, along with Unreal Tournament 3. This news follows Epic's E3 announcement that Gears is in development for PC, with additional features not seen in the Xbox 360 version.No development details or release dates were mentioned. Given the casual nature of this announcement, however, one can assume that both Gears and UT3 will be ported from the PC to OS X using Cider, rather than being developed natively. No love for PowerPC users; though it might be time to consider that Intel-based Apple you've been eyeing ...[Update: It appears these are coming to the Mac natively, not through the magic of Cider, according to this comment from MacSoft's Ryan Gordon: "And no, neither game is using Cider." Impressive. Thanks for the link, David!][Via X3F]
GameTap on Mac looking lickably good, coming soon
The Mac launch of GameTap Lite is less than a week away, and several members of GameTap's design team have decided to tease us with a gorgeous screenshot of the app in action. And running in Leopard, no less!Joystiq first learned about the OS X version of GameTap in a recent interview with GameTap's David Reid and Rick Sanchez. GameTap Lite is set to drop on June 28, but for Intel-based Mac users only -- old-school PowerPC people will have to continue to make due with emulators game cartridges and discs purchased legally from retail stores.
