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iChat Matte eliminates glossy iChat bubbles
Here's a nice piece of freeware. Now that Aqua's shiny buttons are all but history, the glossy balloons in iChat really stand out. If you would prefer something more subtle, check out iChat Matte. It replaces those eyesores with flat, matte bubbles that are more pleasant to look at. Version 2.0 is compatible with Leopard (there is a Tiger version as well), accepts custom colors and includes an uninstaller. iChat Matte is free. Now, if only I could do the same thing with SMS on the iPhone....
Zu Online alpha test goes live with 'big rewards'
Zu Online, a new, free fantasy MMO being developed by Onwind Digital and brought to the 'states by IGG, has entered its alpha test. Sporting a unique and surprisingly stylistic hand-drawn style, Zu is heavily-steeped in Chinese mythology, shirking the typical elves and orcs fare for a focus on Buddhist monastic tradition.Their website, which is curiously hard to navigate and chock full of good old fashioned engrish, claims that "hundreds of thousands" of people applied to be part of the alpha, and only five hundred made it in. Those lucky few will get an added treat from Onwind and crew this weekend, as all alpha testers will receive a princely 30 gold!And hey, for a free game, it sure is pretty. If they work on localization a little bit more, Zu Online could very well be a hit . We'll see.
GimmieSomeTune 4.0 is available
Earlier this week, Eternal Storms Software updated GimmieSomeTune, their iTunes utility (we've looked at GimmieSomeTune before). It grabs lyrics and cover art, plus adds new hotkey options, interacts with last.fm, supports remote control and more. Changes in version 4.0 include: lyricwiki.org and lyricsdownload.com added as lyrics sources last.fm and remote control support Album ratings New comments field Leopard-ready There's more, of course, and you can read the full release notes here. It's really useful, fun and...best of all...free (though it wouldn't kill you do make a donation, right?)! GimmieSomeTune requires Mac OS 10.4 (there is a 10.3.9 version as well) and is universal. Have fun!
GarageBuy 1.1 adds performance improvements, new image views
I don't eBay nearly enough to use a completely separate application just to browse through it, but if you do you'll probably be interested in GarageBuy, a free download from Iwascoding. They also make GarageSale, an eBay buying-and-selling program that I've heard good things about, but GarageBuy is committed specifically to browsing around eBay. If you want to browse for auctions without using eBay's old school (and frankly, clunky) interface, GarageBuy might be just the ticket.They've just updated to version 1.1, with a whole lot full of new features. There's a new view that features a cool color-coded price tag (to tell you whether you're winning the auction or not), a countdown timer to show remaining auction time, and a slick little sliding thumbnail view for the auction's images. Plus, there's a whole bunch of other performance improvements.And the best part is: it's all free. GarageBuy is freeware (and if you like it, check out GarageSale) over on the website.[via Macworld]
Determine your gaming specs with Aspyr Game Agent
Here's a cool freeware utility for Mac gamers (who love Aspyr especially). When you launch The Aspyr Game Agent (TAGA), it compares your machine's specs to the system requirements of their titles, and displays good matches. If you search for a game that won't run well on your machine (according to the system requirements, at least), TAGA suggests appropriate system upgrades.It's convenient and fun, though limited to a single manufacturer's catalog. It's also free (and Universal). If you're a hard core Aspyr fan, check this one out.[Via Twitter]
Rogue Amoeba releases free Ringtone Maker
Today brings a lovely treat from Rogue Amoeba, the makers of Audio Hijack Pro and Fission. They've posted MakeiPhoneRingtone, a free utility that converts any AAC file into an iTunes 7.4.27.4.1-compatible Ringtone. Drop the file onto its window and a second or two later, it appears in iTunes as a new ringtone. No file renaming, no special tricks. It just worked. I synced it over to my iPhone without any snags. Of course, Rogue Amoeba hopes that you'll use its Fission editor to make those ringtones. If you're like me and prefer non-music-ringtones, its Audio Hijack Pro may be a better choice for recording sounds like a knock on the door or the most annoying ringtone ever made.
Control iTunes from your Dock
Jonathan from Ripstyles.com sent along this easy little pack of apps, just like Dockables, that can be used to control iTunes from your Dock if you so choose. He confides in us that it wasn't that hard to put together ("just a few Applescripts"), and yes, it's true that there are now about five million ways to control iTunes out there, but what the heck, here's one more, just in case you haven't found your sweet spot yet.Actually, it would be awesome to control iTunes using Speakable Items! Has anyone done that yet? Then, you could make two recordings in Garageband that said "next track" and "previous track," import them into iTunes, and iTunes could control itself! Trippy!
Knytt Stories expansion pack ... for free?!
According to a recent forum post, Nifflas, the creator of Knytt and Within a Deep Forest, may release the expansion to his upcoming Knytt Stories for free. At first Nifflas was considering releasing the pack for a modest fee, but after considering the extra work required to charge players (not to mention the fact that the taxman will take notice if he turns a reasonable profit), he's now leaning toward releasing it for free or as donationware.Knytt Stories continues the atmospheric, exploration-based gameplay that Knytt brought to our attention, though this time there are more areas to discover and a few power-ups to find. Both the game and the editor have already been announced as free. Look for Knytt Stories at the end of August.%Gallery-3719%
Why not throw a bunch of freeware games in with Blast Works?
That's what Majesco and Budcat thought, anyway. They were already making a game based on a Kenta Cho freeware shooter, with no legal hoops to jump through. There's basically no reason for them not to throw a bunch more Cho games on there! It works out well for them, because it's bonus content, and it works out nicely for us, because we'll be able to play more great abstract shooters on our television, using our Wiimote!Siliconera played Blast Works at E3, and realized very quickly that they were just playing the original TUMIKI Fighters. The Budcat rep explained that it was an early build and that Blast Works would indeed be a new game. He also revealed that not only will TUMIKI Fighters be on the disc in its original form, but rRootage and possibly Gunroar and Torus Trooper will be bonus content as well.This means that you can go preview some Blast Works bonus content right now! It's like being at E3. Just like it. We recommend rRootage especially-- it's a parade of randomly-generated bosses.%Gallery-4821%
Fully playable Cave Story PSP demo released
That was ... fast! Just a few weeks ago homebrew demos were released of Cave Story ports for both the DS and PSP. Looks like ufo_z is nearly finished with the PSP version and has unleashed release candidate one, playable from beginning to end with a few minor bugs due to the stretched screen size. It's not the final version, and at the speed things are going it might be a good idea to wait a few days for the bugs to be squashed. But it's free, the game's creator has given it a thumbs up, and if you have PSP capable of playing homebrew games, the thought of a portable Cave Story will probably make you too giddy to wait.
Winners of the N+ level design contest announced
After the indie platformer N was announced for Xbox Live Arcade, PSP, and DS (known as N+), a level design competition was launched to tap the collective creativity of the N community. Special versions of the N editor (Ned) were released and levels are specific to each platform, meaning even the biggest N fans would, in theory, have to buy all three versions of N+ to play every single level. Over 80 new levels were chosen from the submissions, and each one is listed with a full screenshot on the SUBLiME web page.And for those of us too cheap/lazy to wait for and buy N+, the original N is still available for free, complete with editor and hundreds of custom levels to play.
Gus Mueller makes FlyGesture free
Gus Mueller of Flying Meat software, maker of popular apps like VoodooPad and FlySketch, has decided to reduce FlyGesture's price to free. For those who haven't seen it: FlyGesture enables your Mac with the power to open files, run Automator apps/AppleScripts, type text and more - all with the gesture of your mouse over FlyGesture's guide layer that you can toggle like Exposé and Dashboard. For anyone who made a FlyGesture purchase within the last 60 days, Mueller has issued a refund.
Cave Story demo released for PSP, DS
Two homebrew programmers have just released demos for DS and PSP versions of the freeware PC game Cave Story. A previous attempt by Variant Interactive to publish the game commercially has apparently fallen through, though the company has not officially confirmed this. Fortunately for us, dedicated homebrew programmers aren't content to let the masterpiece remain computer-bound.Ufo_z, working on the PSP incarnation, has received approval from Pixel and has finished coding up through the first boss encounter. Working on the DS game is ravenworks who has taken a slightly different approach and is re-writing the game to fit the DS system's hardware. Both attempts show a lot of promise and run well on the actual systems or an emulator. Download the DS demo and PSP demo.
Cave Story patch allows you to switch main characters
A new patch by Efraim Siounis for the freeware platform adventure Cave Story lets you play as one of nine different characters from the game. Simply grab the pbm file from Efraim's site, rename it to "MyChar.pbm", and drop it in the /data directory under the Cave Story folder. When you start the game all main character sprites will be magically switched. Currently you can play as Curly, Toroko, Jenka, Sue, King, Crown, Booster, or a dog. It doesn't change the game much, but you'll have something new to stare at as you discover another excuse to play through the game ... again.
Turrican remake released, rocks you like a Hurrican
German programmer Poke 53280 has just released a freeware remake of the classic Commodore 64 game Turrican for the PC. The Metroid-esque title (that feels a lot like Contra at times) Hurrican is packed with vast, non-linear levels filled with weapons to find and swarms of enemies to use them on. The control scheme is a bit complex with several button combinations to memorize, but us old-school gamers are used to putting in effort to squeeze more fun out of our games. Download Hurrican (40MB, Windows).
Indie devs huddle in the dark for three days at TO Jam
Three days, 62 programmers, and we can assume at least three dozen cases of Jolt Cola. The second Toronto Indie Game Development Jam (T.O. Jam ... get it?!) has come and gone, leaving in its wake nearly two dozen games created by programmers from across the continent. T.O. Jam is aimed at stirring creativity and helping game developers get the most out of their coding time. It isn't a competition, it isn't a seminar, it's just a bunch of geeks writing code for three days. Only seven of the 20 games have been released, but already a few gems have surfaced. Especially worth checking out is Xiq, a clever combination of Qix and Vectrex.
Video walkthrough released for freeware adventure La-Mulana
Created to celebrate classic MSX games such as Maze of Galious, La-Mulana is one of the most difficult platforming adventure games in the freeware world. Think Cave Story meets Metroidvania with an Indiana Jones theme and the difficulty level ramped up three or four notches. It's a long adventure filled with mysterious puzzles, dangerous temples, and tense exploration. It's frustrating at times, but boy is it fun.Until now, clueless adventurers have had only a translated item/location guide to go by. Now, thanks to DeceasedCrab and a little YouTube magic, a complete video walkthrough of La-Mulana has been released. There are more than 50 videos containing over seven hours of hand-holding spoilers and cheesy narration. Each video walks you through a specific part of the game, so do yourself a favor and only start watching when you're stuck.Download the game and English translation patch courtesy of Aeon Genesis.[Via Independent Gaming]
Acidbomb 2 gets a commercial release as ShellBlast
Dave Galindo of Vertigo Games dropped a few hints in our recent interview that Acidbomb 2: Rearmed could be going commercial. Now it's official: casual gaming publisher Oberon Media will be distributing an enhanced version of Acidbomb 2 next month. The commercial version will be renamed ShellBlast and include content from Acidbomb 2 (which will remain free until the day Jack Thompson joins Mensa) as well as a few exclusive game modes: Virtual Bomb Simulator - create your own bombs and try to disarm them Endurance Mode - a gigantic bomb with seven quadrants and more pistons as you progress Vertigo's next game, King of All Cooks, will also be released commercially later this year. No word on pricing for either game, though expect it to cuddle up to the magic number $19.95.
Freeware downloads site GameHippo sold
Nearly a decade old, freeware PC game download site GameHippo has recently changed owners. Founder and writer Boson (who apparently can't blow bubbles with bubblegum) made the announcement over the weekend. GameHippo features only legit freeware games, unlike many of the sketchy sites lurking in dark corners of the web. No demos, no shareware, and no ruddy Mac titles (all eight of them). The purchasing party was not revealed, though Boson did say "he's just a good old guy like myself". The site has been stagnant over the last few months, so the first order of business will be to push a few new games onto the front page.[Via Independent Gaming]
Unraveling the Indie - Acidbomb 2
Every other week on Unraveling the Indie we'll sit down with an independent developer to unearth the dark secrets of indie game creation: Terrorists have scattered bombs across the country. It's your job to disarm them. Acidbomb 2: Rearmed is everything a sequel should be: bigger, badder, and infinitely more polished. Combining elements from Minesweeper and Picross, Acidbomb is a challenging puzzle game with the added tension of watching a bomb's timer tick down to zero. Using latitude and longitude-like information, you must determine which areas of the grid are pistons (bad) and which are safe. Mark them with the corresponding symbols, then watch the countdown and hope you got it right. If not ... kaboom. We recently sat down with Dave Galindo of Vertigo Games to get some inside-information about Acidbomb 2. Read on for the full interrogation.
