Big changes to the Apple games catalog on the iTunes Store!

Zuma from PopCap has been added to the list of games compatible with Nanos and Classics… However (and sadly) many other games has had their section removed. These include: Bejeweled, Mahjong, Lost, iQuiz, Mini Golf, Musika, Royal Solitaire and Vortex.

The remaining games are hidden from the public, only available for download through your old backdoor links from different websites. I’m not privy to any of these old links… But by all means if you know of some, post them here as I’m sure many of our readers will want them (Including me!).

One can only suspect that with the new app store and 3G iPhone coming soon, Apple is busy cleaning up their games and other sections in the iTunes store prior to launch. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see these games pop back up again once the app store launches, but what the heck do I know. I certainly hope Mini Golf comes back, or at least a new, better version of the game comes out. That was always one of my favorites

[via iPodNN]

written by Mr. Mayor \\ tags: Bejeweled, iPod Games, iQuiz, iTunes, Lost, Mahjong, Mini Golf, Musika, Royal Solitaire, Vortex

Gameloft has confirmed that they will be developing 15 iPhone games for sale in the new AppStore via iTunes.

Gameloft currently has 4 games in iTunes (I believe) including ‘LOST‘, ‘Block Breaker Deluxe‘, ‘Bubble Bash‘, and ‘Brain Challenge‘. Did I miss any titles there?

If I could get one request in, I’d like to see an ultra-realistic Formula 1 racing game. The F1 season is underway and I’m quite pumped about it

For more info on Gameloft, visit their website.

written by Mr. Mayor \\ tags: Gameloft, iPhone, iPhone Games

Macgamestore and Encore software have announced the release of Jeopardy! Deluxe for the Mac. It is now available as a download… Previous versions were only available in a boxed format.

You can download the demo to try it out for free.

If you like it, you can purchase for $19.95 from Macgamestore.

Features of Jeopardy! Deluxe:

• Over 3,000 clues written by the TV show writers
• Sharpen you skills on three different levels of difficulty
• Daily Clue - a Jeopardy! clue every day of the year

System Requirements:

• Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later
• PowerPC G4/G5 or Intel Mac
• 256 MB RAM
• 50 MB hard drive space

Screenshots:

I’m going to try this demo out at some point today. Looks like fun!

written by Mr. Mayor \\ tags: Jeopardy! Deluxe, Mac Games

If you’re a Tomb Raider fan then you’re going to love this. Feral Interactive has released a playable demo of ‘Tomb Raider Anniversary’. You can get it at MacGameFiles.com (the demo weighs in at 273MB).

The anniversary edition goes back and retraces Lara Crofts’s original adventure. The game uses a brand new graphics engine. You will also find huge environments to explore… The demo will let you play through a part of the game set in ‘Lost Valley’ in Peru.

You’ll need a 1.83GHz or faster Intel-based Mac to play the game. Oh, and you’ll need 512MB RAM, 64MB graphics and OS X 10.4 or later.

For more on the game, visit Feral Interactive.

[via MacWorld]

written by Mr. Mayor \\ tags: Mac Games, Tomb Raider Anniversary Edition

Freeverse today released Big Bang Board Games 2.5.8, the latest iteration of the popular Mac games suite featuring Chess, Backgammon, Checkers, Reversi, Tic-Tac-Toe, Mancala, and 4-In-A-Row. The games now feature new 3D game pieces and animations. A new video chat mode also allows you to see your opponent’s face as you play. Sol and Luna are back as well to taunt and tease you while try and concentrate.

What’s New (from version 2.3.4):

• New 3D Models of all game pieces and boards
• Play online with streaming video of your opponent
• New Chess Artificial Intelligence
• Fully Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard) compatible
• Now fully Universal, with native support of Intel Macs
• Multiple stability and performance improvements

All of the games also feature a tight integration with Apple’s iApps giving you quite a neat experience…

Some of these features include:

• iTunes - Play and manage your iTunes songs within the games.
• Mail & Address Book - The games talk to your Mac’s email program making it simple to send game turns to friends.
• iChat - Your Buddy List appears in the game so its easy to invite a Buddy to a match.
• iSight - Share pictures with your buddies from within the game!
• GameSmith - Meet other players on the free GameSmith matching service.

You can download a free demo, or buy the whole package for $24.95 USD. This new version is a free update for existing owners of the game.

written by Mr. Mayor \\ tags: Big Bang Board Games, Freeverse

Today Ambrosia released some new information on the Mac port of Aquaria, an underwater adventure made by Bit Blot. They announced that a new build is almost ready for beta. Also this build is currently playable at their Macworld booth.

Also EA has announced that Spore, the much anticipated new Will Wright game, will be released simultaneously on Mac and PC.

With all the keynote news it is easy to miss the small Apple updates. While browsing the iTunes store I noticed a slight change. Near the bottom of the main page was a little icon that read, “Pole Position Remix: Game Just added”. Could this be an iPod version of the classic Pole Position arcade game? Maybe. So I clicked this button and headed to the iPod games section, which showed no Pole Position Remix.

Another game added today was Block Breaker Deluxe, by Gameloft. Which is mostly Brick with some special features. But doesn’t look like anything very special.

written by Jack \\ tags: iPod Games, iTunes