Mac Games and More The Blog

You deserved a day off so why don’t you play a game or more? This week’s game picks are here: mac games.

Below are new releases of mac software from the week:

BeFit 1.0 – Track your caloric intake in the everyday foods. (Demo)
BootChamp 1.0 – Quickly boot into Windows via Boot Camp. (Free)
Slimtool 1.0 – lowers the size of apps down by stripping those unneeded architectures.
NowPlaying Mac 1.0 – displays the current playing track (name/artist/duration/artwork) in the menu bar.
TickerMenu 1.0 – Makes it simple to keep an eye on current stock prices by displaying them in your OS X menubar.
NavigX 1.0 – Converts between Ordnance Survey Grid References and Latitude/Longitude coordinates.
PreferenceCleaner 1.0 – a utility which aims to simplify the task of deleting preference files. PreferenceCleaner allows you create and store batch lists of files to be deleted in the event that you need to remove the same files repeatedly.
Dock Changer 1.0 – toggles the 3D dock, so you can get rid of the 3D dock, and you can summon it back again.
Motype 1.0 – Text animation plug-in for Final Cut Pro/Express, Motion, and After Effects based on FxFactory. (Demo)
Circle 1.0.3 – Uniquely intuitive audio synthesizer. (Demo)
Lighthouse Keeper 1.0 – Brings the Lighthouse issue tracker to your Mac. (Shareware)
iClockr 1.0 – Simple and powerful time tracker. (Free)
Dictionnaire 1.1 – French dictionary widget. (Free)
Livestation 1.0 – Watch the world’s leading TV channels in the highest quality and for free, plus your favourite web channels, all in one player.
Archibald’s Adventures 1.0 – action puzzle game.
Formatted Text Control for REALbasic 1.0 – Canvas based control that implements word processor capabilities. (Demo)
Keep Your Word 1.0.1 – Helps you learn new languages. (Shareware)
BombDunk 1.0 – Minesweeper with the cross-checking logic of Sudoku.
moneyGuru 1.0 – Personal finance management application. (Shareware)
Salling Media Sync 1.0 – Synchronizes iTunes playlists, music, podcasts to some mobile devices. (Demo)
Sea Copter 1.0.1.24 – Use a helicopter to attack ships at sea. (Demo)

Have a good week!

From wired:

“You can fix the hole by remapping the “Home” button. In the iPhone’s Settings/General/Home Button, assign double clicking the Home button to “Home” — not “Phone Favorites.”

iPhone’s 2.0.2 firmware allows almost full access to your iPhone even when it’s under password protection, according to a report in MacRumors. Access can be gained through the “Emergency Call” keypad that appears on the passcode entry screen, allowing unrestricted use of Safari’s browser as well as access to Mail, SMS, Contacts, Maps and more.

Here’s how it works:

1. On the passcode screen hit “Emergency Call” button at bottom left.

2. In the Emergency Call screen, hit the “Home” button twice. You’ll be taken to the Favorites screen.

3. From there, hit the blue arrow next to a contact’s name.

4. You can now access all the iPhone’s functions by selecting their email address, homepage URL or address.

5. For example — hit the contact’s “Homepage” URL — and you are straight into Safari.

6. Hit the email address, and you enter Mail. Cancel the message, and you have full access to the iPhone’s email.”

A new chocolate-y mac sim game!

The Great Chocolate Chase – The Baumeisters are back. Continue exploring the deliciously rich world of Chocolatier, now with an adventure game twist. Join Evangeline Baumeister and your favorite Chocolatier characters, making and serving chocolate treats to international customers in a series of exotic chocolate shops around the globe. With the help of Klaus Werner’s creative inventions, you’ll face new challenges at every turn to get new chocolates into the eager hands of hungry customers. Download it for free below.

Chocolatier and Chocolatier 2

From the latimes:

“By creating games and other programs for the iPhone, software developers hoped to find millions of new customers. But they didn’t expect to feel muzzled.

The software development kit that Apple Inc. distributed to programmers bound them to not discuss the process of creating programs for the iPhone. Companies typically waive such legal restrictions once the product in question launches, but Apple didn’t. And it won’t say why.

As a result, iPhone developers — and businesses that cater to them — say they are prohibited from asking technical questions or sharing tips anywhere in public. On Apple’s official support website, moderators remind visitors that they are bound by the nondisclosure agreement and should mind what they say or ask.

Conference organizers are trying to figure out how to plan sessions for iPhone software developers when they’re not allowed to talk about iPhone software. Book publishers are sitting on how-to manuals, afraid that if they ship them Apple will sue.

And software developers are forced to make applications for the iPhone in an information vacuum, without the help of a developer community that is used to openly sharing tricks of the trade. Quality may suffer.

The Cupertino, Calif., company is famous for tightly controlling its products and image. But even professionals who for years have made products and services to complement Apple’s are startled by the information clampdown.

Many had hoped to make big money off the much-hyped iPhone franchise, and many developers are. Apple recently said that customers have downloaded more than 60 million games, productivity tools and other widgets through its iPhone App Store, which lets programmers sell software or give it away.

But many Apple enthusiasts are left in the cold.

“We can’t talk about our problems,” said Jeffrey Long, a developer for Banterability who is working on a satellite radio program for the iPhone. “At the same time, we can’t talk about the problems we’ve fixed.”

Apple did not return calls seeking comment.

When it launched the iPhone last year, Apple decided it would be a closed platform — developers could create programs that ran on the device’s Web browser but not programs that could be downloaded to the device itself, as they can for computers.

After a backlash, Apple opened the iPhone to programmers in March and began selling their programs through its App Store in July. Apple says it sells about $1 million in iPhone programs each day.

But to get the software needed to create iPhone programs, developers had to sign a nondisclosure agreement. They expected Apple to lift the restrictions on July 11, when the new version of the multifunction gadget, the iPhone 3G, hit stores.

Many developers say they are erring on the side of caution. They interpret the agreement to mean they can talk about the programs that they make, but they can’t discuss the Apple developer tools used to make them, even with friends.

They also believe they’re barred from…….” Read the rest

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Find this week’s picks here: mac games.

Find this week’s new mac software and more below:
Commenteer 1.0 – Batch file comments utility. (Demo)
Podcast Assistant 1.0 – Writes the hard part of of your podcast: XML code.
kingsend.eu 1.0 – send messages world wide with kingsend.eu sms sender.
Keep Your Word 1.0 – build your own dictionary, classifying and grouping the terms exactly how you want to, while helping you to learn the longest list of words thanks to its different exercise modes.
Reference Tracker 1.0 – tool for writers, researchers or students.
Snake and Fish Bone Folder Icons 1.0 – 84 folder icons to make horizontal or vertical animals in 6 different colours, you can have collections of folders making up the length of a snake or a fish, with different colours for different categories or just mix and match to make it look just how you like.
Imprint Studio 1.0 – Makes poster printing available for everyone.
DashPing 1.0 – Ping utility for your Dashboard. (Free)
Symmetries 1.0 – Create a wide range of shapes. (Shareware)
Metameter 1.0 – Widget to check latest movie ratings from the Metacritic database. (Free)
Vocab 1.0 – Helps you learn words in any European language and Latin. (Free)
Burn A Disc 1.0 – Allows the user to convert any folder to a CD with a single click.
Syrinx 1.0 – a customizable app supporting searching, bookmarking and configurable colors.
Liquid Defense 1.0 – game where you must eliminate all of the incoming water, gas and oil.
Funtastic Photos 1.0 – Photo editor with one-click styles and effects engine and more. (Demo)
Keyword Master 1.0 – Helps you to work with keywords for your photos. (Free)
MiTimeZones 1.0 - Displays time for many time zones and locations in a single window. (Demo)
Time Machine Buddy 1.0 – Widget organizes and displays Time Machine logs. (Free)
Fantasktik 1.0 – Taskbar app that displays open windows grouped by application. (Demo)
Oops! 1.0 – Board game of skill, cunning, and regret. (Free)
Nova 1.0 – set of 17 free, 3D icons in PNG, TIFF, ICNS, ICO and Mac folder formats.
Steelers 08-09 Schedule 1.0 – Pittsburgh Steelers 2008-2009 schedule.
Comic iPhone Icons 1.0 – 16 icons in comic style inspired in Apple’s iPhone icons.
Ultimate DVD Player 1.0 – Ultimate DVD Player will playback “DVD-Video” discs and will allow you to change the speed (50% – 150%) and pitch (+/- 2 semitones).
Pry System 1.0 – 195 system replacement icons with 4 folder types crafted in aluminum. (Free)
TickerMenu 1.0 – Keep an eye on current stock prices in your menubar. (Shareware)

Have a good week!

Read about it at Wired.

A new seek/find (hidden objects) mac game for the weekend!

Blood Ties – Caught up in a mystery surrounding the disappearance of members of a secret society, you must search for clues hidden in various locations across the city. Help private detective Vicki Nelson investigate the crime scenes to solve the mystery and unearth hundreds of items in beautiful and unique locations to discover the dark secrets behind this mysterious cabal. Enjoy an immersive storyline and sinister plot, inspired by the Blood Ties television series on Lifetime. Download it for free below.

From gizmodo:

“Business Week is citing an internal Apple source today who is hinting at the company’s upcoming manufacturing plans for the 3G, and they’re huge—between 40 and 45 million phones by this time next year kind of huge. The numbers are necessary, obviously, to cover for the impending Best Buy availability and the additional 20 countries that make up the second phase of the international launch starting today (with over 70 launches eventually, China rumored to be among them). But, wow. How about some perspective?

That’s just under the total number of…….” Continue reading

From reuters:

“When Apple Inc rolled out its iPhone in the United States, some fans paid big money to be among the first to get their hands on the device. In Poland, people are getting paid to line up.

There were no queues at T-Mobile’s Era stores, which will also due to launch the iPhone on Friday.”

New mac game! WHOOOOO HOOOO! Turn the music you love into an exciting experience with Music Catch. Catch the colorful shapes to earn medals, win achievements, unlock new songs and more. Grab colorful shapes that appear when the music plays. Yellow shapes give you a bonus and multiply your points, but watch out for the red ones. The more shapes you get, the closer you’ll be to earning medals, winning achievements and unlocking new songs. Play original songs from such games as Build in Time, Airport Mania, The Great Tree and more, or import your own MP3 songs and play along with them.

Yup. A new mac game for you. Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos mixes seek and find (hidden objects) games with find the difference and other mini games, which will take you to places like Moscow, London, Hollywood and Tokyo, to name a few. Your mission: stop the evil Dr. Chaos as he embarks on a global initiative of doom and destruction. Jeopardizing classified data, the mad doctor’s criminal exploits grow by the minute. Locate all the items that he has corrupted, and use your intuitive investigative skills to bring him to his final justice. Download it for free.

New mac game! Pictures + Letters + Your Quick Wit = PictoWords. How fast can you combine pictures and letters to create words? Each level offers fun pictures which you must blend with letters to fill out the word list. Solve them all to earn bonus points as you play though hundreds of levels. See if you can earn even more points for finding the longest words, fastest solutions and staying away from hints.

This week’s mac game picks are up! Here they are mac games. Have a great week, everyone!

Below are newly released mac software, widgets, etc.:

SAPO Messenger Mac 1.0 – A free Jabber/XMPP client.

Pointy Guys Icon Set 1.0 – Cute little pointy guys mac icons with horns. Free.

Par2 For Mac 1.0 – Repair usenet downloads that are accompanied with par2 files. After repair the archive can be safely un-archived with popular apps such as Stuffit Expander.

Calcul Engine 1.0 – a user-friendly calculator which evaluates expressions with parentheses, basic functions and variables.

Collaborative drawing for iPhone, iPod touch – a full-featured vector drawing app which allows users to sketch in real-time with friends on multiple iPhones.

Invoy 1.0 – Easy to use invoicing and more. (Shareware)

RoboRail 1.0 – Watch how your Mac attempts to write a computer program that steers a robot on a track. Will it eventually succeed? The machine learning experience for your coffee break turns you Mac into an AI lab.

Reference Tracker 1.0 – Create documents to store citations and references. (Demo)

Mathusalem 1.0 – Unintrusive backup system for Leopard. (Free)

iPhone apps for travelers – travel info on the go.

Eternal Lands 1.0 – Massive multiplayer online role playing game. (Free)

PhotoCalc 1.0 – a utility for iPhone and iPod for photographers to calculate exposure reciprocation, depth of field, and flash exposure.

HD Quick Look 1.0 – lets you view the first frame of your AVCHD (mts and m2ts) files without even opening them. View multiple files as a slide show, as an index sheet or full screen – all with a single click.

Xray Vision 1.0 – Make files invisible on your computer. (Shareware)

PsychWidget 1.0 – Latest psychology news from around the world, with search function. (Free)

Just released. Yay for a gaming weekend! With Stone Loops of Jurassica, take a trip through the five colorful realms of Jurassica – from wild jungle, through endless glacier, to the edge of a blazing volcano. Own and upgrade 5 different houses and collect 24 trophies in this crazy, action-packed adventure. 75 handcrafted levels, three modes of play and a vast number of powerups make StoneLoops! an incredibly fun game for both fans of a strategic challenge and those who just want to let off some steam and smash some stuff.

Stone Loops will definitely appeal to the gamers who liked playing the old but super fun original Zuma and the more recent and awesome game called, Sparkle. Stone Loops is incredible and you will not be disappointed by it, I’m pretty sure of it. Download it for free below.

From businessweek:

“I still remember how excited software developers were on July 10, when Apple launched its iTunes App Store, which offers iPhone applications from third-party developers. Many programmers figured Apple would allow them to finally make the big bucks off of their craft.

Some developers tell me their software has been rejected for reasons they don’t find satisfactory. In several cases, one application might get rejected, while another one — just like the first one — gets approved. There’s no consistency. No one seems to know the criteria Apple’s reviewers use to give a thumbs up or thumbs down. That’s troubling, and this problem has to be corrected, fast. Or, as fast as the software industry embraced Apple, it could turn to someone else.”

New mac game!

The Race is a new adventure that combines hidden object (seek/find) fun with reality TV.

Do you have what it takes to compete against 5 cut-throat teams in a worldwide contest that spans 30 locations? Are you ready to search for whatever we can throw at you? Or do you like to travel at a more leisurely pace and see the world? Experience different places and cultures with our World Explorer Mode.

Check out the article at Macworld.

From yahoonews:

“Apple CEO Steve Jobs has confirmed that the iPhone 3G has a kill switch that can remotely remove software from the devices.

Jobs told The Wall Street Journal that Apple needs the capability in case it inadvertently allows a malicious program — such as an application that steals user’s personal data — to be distributed to iPhones through its App Store.

“Hopefully we never have to pull that lever, but we would be irresponsible not to have a lever like that to pull,” Jobs said.

Switch Not Used

Jobs’ statement reveals Apple hasn’t used the kill switch yet, but the company did remove an application from the App Store last week.

Apple removed the $999 “I Am Rich” application, which had the sole purpose of showing people the owner has money. The program creates a red icon that sits on the iPhone deck with a the words “I Am Rich” underneath. After the user activates the application, it glows on the handset like a ruby.

Apple initially approved the application, which bumps up against the pricing limit for applications sold on its App Store. The company was not immediately available for comment on why it decided to pull the plug.

Disappearing Acts

But the real controversy started when Jonathan Zdziarski, author of the books iPhone Open Application Development and iPhone Forensics Manual, discovered a URL buried in Apple’s firmware. That URL links to a file dubbed “unauthorizedApps” where malicious or simply bad apps might go once they disappear from the App Store.

According to Zdziarski, I Am Rich isn’t the only app to disappear. BoxOffice (renamed to Now Playing) and NullRiver’s NetShare were also removed. But removing the applications from the App Store and removing them from a consumer’s iPhone are two different issues.

“The kill switch is a very controlling gesture. I am not sure why Apple didn’t disclose it up front as simply a security measure,” said Avi Greengart, an analyst at Current Analysis. “Consumers will accept an awful lot if you let them know what they are accepting.”

What Else is Apple Hiding?

In the past, Jobs has said he wants to be careful not to allow applications to bring down the network. Greengart doesn’t see that as a major threat, especially since Apple is approving the applications.

However, Greengart said he’s less concerned with the “heavy-handed and Big Brotherish” kill switch than the fact that Apple didn’t disclose it in the first place. As far as he knows, no other mobile phone has a kill-switch capability.

“To my way of thinking, the issue is that you don’t really know what your phone might be doing or not be doing,” Greengart said. “I am not 100 percent sure what the capability is or is not. That is the problem. What is the capability? When might they use it? When wouldn’t they use it? Is there anything else Apple is not disclosing?”

New mac game! ArchMage is an action game set in a fantasy world where you ride a dragon or a unicorn and destroy hordes of evil monsters to rescue the Lake Shire. Rescue a small lake kingdom from evil and fight as a young mage with his mighty dragon or a young witch with her mystical unicorn, and destroy horrible monsters. In 35 action levels, you will battle giant Orcs, monstrous insects, huge cyclops, gruesome gargoyles, and a host of other diabolical beasts before eventually facing the Demon King himself.

New mac game! Grab the colorful puzzle pieces and place them together to fill up the train cars. The more you fill up the car, the more of the picture you get to see. There’s two game modes to play and new pictures are downloaded automatically so you may never see the same picture twice.