News

MacScene Wants You...

mossy_11 on Monday, 05 July 2010. Posted in News

cranky-kong-wants-you2To write about old games.

We’re starting a new feature here called Retro Game of the Week (see the first entry here). The basic idea is that someone (you, perhaps) writes an article about an old game, then the MacScene the community discusses said game. Simple, right?

If it’s going to work, though, we need your help. I will organise everything and help the volunteers with their articles (if necessary). But that’s the thing -- this is a community feature, so it has to be community driven in order to work long-term.

I have created a forum thread that will list all games suggested for future entries. Go there to suggest a game for someone else to write about or to stake out your territory on the games you want to do.

If you are willing to write or contribute to a Retro Game of the Week article, you can send me a message, comment on an article, or post on the forums. I’ll be creating a forum thread for tracking the schedule as soon as there is one, so you’ll be able to check when you committed to helping out, or see when there is an opening that might suit you.

Hit "read more" for more information.

News Round-up: June 3 - July 3

mossy_11 on Saturday, 03 July 2010. Posted in News

ios4_icon_20100624The latest operating system for Apple’s iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch devices -- newly renamed as iOS 4 -- is now available for download from the iTunes store. It is a free update for 2nd-gen iPod Touch / iPhone 3G or newer, although some features are only available on newer hardware, such as the not-really-multitasking-but-still-called-it multitasking. There’s really no reason not to update, as performance has been improved all round.


The iPhone 4 is now available, sporting a high resolution 960-by-640 “retina” display, 512MB RAM, a faster processor, new camera, and a new hardware design. Apple has been heavily criticised over a design flaw related to the antenna placement that resulted in reduced reception unless the phone is held in a specific (and awkward) way. They have released a backhanded apology that blames the problem on an error in the algorithm that calculates signal strength.


mac-miniContrary to popular opinion, the Mac mini is not dead, with Apple releasing a new design and updated internals for its neglected child. Most notable for gamers is the addition of a faster graphics card (NVIDIA GeForce 320M) and HDMI. It’s looking more and more attractive as a dedicated MAME box. Check out the press release here.

Emulator updates after the break.

News Round-up: May 4 - June 2

mossy_11 on Wednesday, 02 June 2010. Posted in News

portalLeading digital distribution platform Steam finally made its way to the Mac on May 12, with around 50 launch games. The Mac Steam library now includes 96 titles, including newly released ports of Half-Life 2, Torchlight, and Portal. Check out the MacScene community’s reaction here, here, and here, in addition to a Portal-specific thread here.


As proof of a drastically changing tech landscape, Apple’s market capitalisation surpassed that of Microsoft last week, making it the largest technology company in the world. This marks one of the most incredible turnarounds in any company’s history, with Apple having been all but dead back in 1997, when Steve Jobs returned as CEO. Don’t celebrate too soon, though, because the happy folks at Microsoft are still way ahead on revenue.


In exciting news for Amiga fans, a new emulator called PUAE has been released. PUAE merges Richard Drummond’s E-UAE 0.8.29 with the latest version of WinUAE, and is available for Unix-based platforms. You can download the latest version from here, or check out Ultimate Amiga for more information.

GameTrailers.com's Pop Fiction

Niemann on Thursday, 27 May 2010. Posted in News

In what might be the most interesting variation of Mythbusters-style investigation, GameTrailers.com launched Pop Fiction.  This video series promises to show experts confirming or debunking some of video games' most popular myths.  Two episodes have aired so far, and while the first was a bit of a 'no duh' for anyone who's a Zelda fan; the second episode proved to be a nearly scientific look at a popular Super Mario Bros. myth.  So far the posts seem to be about three weeks apart, but the first two are entertaining enough to waste a few minutes watching.

Emulation on the iPad

Niemann on Wednesday, 05 May 2010. Posted in News

Emulation has come to the iPad (you owe me five coins if you didn't see this coming).  TouchArcade has pointed out a great YouTube video showing off an iPad playing Super Mario World using a Wiimote as a controller.  If that's not enough to get you excited, you can enjoy how much the person demoing the emulator sucks at Super Nintendo.

If you're looking for more information on how this feat is possible, check out Gizmodo's excellent coverage of iPad jailbreaking.  There is one slight catch; snes4iphone costs $5.99 .

News Round-up: April 8 - May 3

mossy_11 on Monday, 03 May 2010. Posted in News

gamebase64-browserA Mac-native version of GameBase64 Browser has been released. GameBase64 is a database of over 20000 Commodore 64 games, with detailed information and screenshots for each game. Setting up is not exactly intuitive if you do not already have the database file -- you’ll need to drag a folder (any folder) to the application, then it will tell you that the folder contains no valid database file. It will then allow you to download the database file from within the application. You can get screenshots and sounds packs here. It offers the ability to launch games in your C64 emulator of choice, but I couldn’t seem to get that feature working. Despite this strange configuration problem, it’s very impressive, so be sure to check it out (provided you have Snow Leopard installed).

A new version of the open-source IA-32 (x86) emulator Bochs was released on April 25. Release 2.4.5 implements X2APIC and Intel VMx2 extensions, fixes some CPU emulation bugs, reworks the configuration options, and more. Check the changelog for full details.

Those of you desperate for Steam on the Mac will have to wait just a little longer, with Valve announcing that it will be released on May 12. No word yet on what games will be available at launch, although you can be sure a few of Valve’s titles will be there.

More updates after the break.

Fashionably Late News Round-up

mossy_11 on Wednesday, 07 April 2010. Posted in News

Here’s some of the news you might have missed over the past month or-so:

Nintendo64In news from just a few days ago, the Mac-only Nintendo 64 emulator Sixtyforce has risen from the dead. After more than two years without an update, author Gerrit posted a new version on his birthday earlier this week. The update brings major improvements to the Cocoa interface, graphics and game compatibility, sound, and more. Download it here, and be sure to check out the MacScene discussion topic for more details (thanks erise for the tip).

123622-iphone_os_4_sneak_peekThe iPad launched in the United States less than a week ago, but is believed to have already sold more than 500,000 units alongside many favourable reviews. In less than 24 hours we’ll get a better idea of the iPad’s potential, as Apple will unveil iPhone OS 4.0 at an invite-only preview event.

steam_logo1In March, Valve officially announced that the Steam gaming service and Source engine would be coming to the Mac this month, with the Mac now considered a “tier-1 platform” by the company -- which means simultaneous release of future games for Mac and Windows. The announcement drove interest from other developers, including Gas Powered Games and DICE. Applications for the Steam on Mac beta are now open for anyone willing to tell Valve their life story (link). Check out the MacScene community's reaction here.

More emulator updates after the break.

MacTech: Fusion vs. Parallels

Niemann on Wednesday, 10 February 2010. Posted in News

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In what is one of the most complete and comprehensive comparisons between VMware Fusion and Parallels virtualization software for Mac, MacTech concludes that across the board Parallels outperforms Fusion.  Not only in start up times, normal application execution, disk activity, and compatibility, but also in 3D graphics and gaming.  If you're looking for a solid thorough comparison of these virtualization products, this is the best I've seen.  You can read the entire article here.