iGame Radio

I’m a big fan of history…both reading about it and writing in it (fiction). So, whenever a game comes out set in a historical setting, I always want to play it (damn you, Corey, for taking Rome: Total War from me!!). Anyway, when I saw this game mentioned via GamePolitics, I thought “coolness, a chance to play a game set in the early part of the first millennium of the CE!”

That is, until I sent an email to the developer asking about the platform choices and got this back:

“Thank you for your interest in our projects, unfortunately we do not support Mac Platforms. Best regards.”

Look, people, what is with you and your incessant need to support a platform that touts how wonderful it is that it’s most recent OS beta matches and sometimes exceeds the benchmarks in gaming of a previous OS years out of date, while ignoring an OS that has created wonderful advances in gaming, including the recent decision to work with NVidia to use an awesome video card that works especially well with the company’s most advanced hardware and software?

Oh, yeah. You don’t care.

/rant

Many of us may be tickled about President Barack Obama’s inauguration festivities yesterday, but that doesn’t mean that politics as usual still doesn’t operate on Capitol Hill. Right now, Congressman Joe Baca (D CA-43) has decided to introduce H.R. 231 which, if passed, would require a warning label be affixed to all games rated T or up by the ESRB, regardless of the content descriptors. The warning would read: `WARNING: Excessive exposure to violent video games and other violent media has been linked to aggressive behavior.’ Yeah, I know of some violent people who play violent video games. Violence tends to attract violence…like attracts like, you know? Unfortunately, many people will make the assumption that “link” means “causal link” which is a very different story, and not backed up by the scientific evidence.

The ECA is making a call for gamers to contact their congressional rep to oppose this bill, and I so definitely agree. First and foremost, we don’t need labels on video games (and indeed on anything else) that seeks only to confuse the issue further. This is nothing more than a scare tactic, rather than seeking to inform parents further about the content of video games. I mean, if a parent is going to buy an M-rated game for their 9 year old, putting this warning label on the game won’t change that one iota. That parent is still going to be, shall we say, less than competent at their job.

What I’m really afraid of is that this label is the first step at the Federal level in taking the job of parenting away from all parents with regards to video games. Once this label is affixed to the games, then a bill could be introduced that punishes retailers, or even parents, for allowing the purchase of any of these games if the end user is one day below the “recommended age” of the rating. Cause, you know, parents all over really don’t know their kids as well as their congressional reps on Capitol Hill.

 

Host Omaha Sternberg continues her Gaming Macworld 2009 series, covering Macworld Expo 2009 from a gamer’s perspective. Featuring an interview with Joy Kovaleski and Jeff Muncy of Psyclops, the online music creator that will soon allow teenagers to enter their avatars in music and dance competitions. Also, an interview with Blair Yakimovich and Lucas Smithen of Transgaming. We talk about what it’s like to port games to the Mac using Cider, City of Heroes, OpenCL and OpenGL 3, and the future of Cider technology.

Check out the podcast by clicking the player above or downloading from the rss feed.

 

Host Omaha Sternberg continues her Gaming Macworld 2009 series, covering Macworld Expo 2009 from a gamer’s perspective. Featuring an interview with Brad Gibson of Feral Interactive. Located overseas, Feral Interactive ported 6 titles for the Mac in 2008, including Fable: The Lost Chapters and ToCA Race Driver 3. A strong supporter of Mac games, we talk about the newest games announced, and what the future holds in store.

Check out the podcast by clicking the player above or downloading from the rss feed.

 

Host Omaha Sternberg continues her Gaming Macworld 2009 series, covering Macworld Expo 2009 from a gamer’s perspective. Featuring an interview with Pat Lee of VMware, the company that produces VMware Fusion. How well does VMware Fusion perform with Windows games for your Mac, and what does the future have in store for it? Also, an interview with Jeremy Brenner of Harman and AKG. AKG has been recently bringing their professional grade headphones into the commercial products. Which headphones should you as a gamer consider?

Check out the podcast by clicking the player above or downloading from the rss feed.

 

Host Omaha Sternberg continues her Gaming Macworld 2009 series, covering Macworld Expo 2009 from a gamer’s perspective. Featuring an interview with John Champlin of Ambrosia Software about publishing Aquaria, their upcoming game Multiwinia, and new iPhone games on the horizon. Also, an interview with JJ of Aerielle, the company that produces the i2i Streaming device, allowing users to share music and other audio wirelessly. Can this be used for gamers tired of wired headphones getting in the way, and wireless headphones that don’t perform?

Check out the podcast by clicking the player above or downloading from the rss feed.

 

Host Omaha Sternberg continues her Gaming Macworld 2009 series, covering Macworld Expo 2009 from a gamer’s perspective. Featuring an interview with Ned Coker of CCP and Blair Yakimovich of Transgaming about EVE Online, the new expansions, going to retail market, and what it’s like to maintain a Mac port. And are the rumors true about CCP leaving Iceland? Also, an interview with Keith Yankee of NEC about the giant 42 inch curved screen, and what advantages it has for gamers.

Check out the podcast by clicking the player above or downloading from the rss feed.

 

Host Omaha Sternberg continues her Gaming Macworld 2009 series, covering Macworld Expo 2009 from a gamer’s perspective. Featuring an interview with Brian Akaka of Freeverse about their iPhone games, and whether they are leaving the Mac game market. Also, an interview with Jon Parshell of Codeweavers about Crossover Gaming for the Mac, the Lame Duck Challenge, and what the future of CodeWeavers brings for Mac gamers.

Check out the podcast by clicking the player above or downloading from the rss feed.

 

Host Omaha Sternberg and Corey Tamas cover Macworld Expo 2009 from a gamer’s perspective. With Apple’s announcement of pulling out of Macworld after 2009, a haze of uncertainty about the future hung over Macworld. Omaha reports about the varied views about Macworld 2009, Macworld 2010, and the future of Macworld overall. She also talks about the IDG town hall, and what IDG thinks about Mac games.

The new 17″ Macbook Pro: what are the specs, and what can you play? Can you with the battery? What game companies attended, and what did it look like? And did Feral Interactive really have BioShock logos on their t-shirts??

Check out the podcast by clicking the player above or downloading from the rss feed.

Actually, I flew in from Macworld Expo 2009 a couple of hours ago. I just finished getting back from eating. Macworld was awesome, tiring, worrying, stressful, and full of surprises. Despite the fact that there wasn’t even a poor excuse for a game pavilion this year (game companies were scattered all over the place), and that several of the stalwarts that we associate with Mac games (Aspyr Media, MacSoft), weren’t there, there were still a significant number of gaming companies, both software and hardware, attending.

I chatted with CCP (EVE Online), Transgaming, Codeweavers, Freeverse, Feral Interactive, Software MacKiev, Ambrosia Software, and VMware. I also talked to some on the hardware side, including NEC about their giant curved screen (a new iteration is due out soon), and i2i Stream about the application of their technology to gamers.

All in all, I have a ton of interviews that you’ll be hearing over the next week or two, and Corey and I are set to do a recording tomorrow with a full overview of what Macworld was like…I’ll get it posted by tomorrow evening.

BTW, Feral Interactive, what was with the Feral t-shirts with the BioShock logo on the backs? They were all wearing them. I asked one of them why, and he said, “Well, we’re all just big fans of BioShock, we just wanted to wear our BioShock t-shirts today.” Yeah, and you’re publishing Black & White 2, but I didn’t see you wearing t-shirts with that logo on the back. Hmmm. A ton of food for thought there.