Here is a new developer diary entry from one of my favorite iOS shops. I highly recommend you check out their other games, and this looks like a winner as well.
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A very cool visual representation of the history of video games.
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I'm lucky enough to be in the closed beta of the upcoming Lego Universe MMO. I've been playing it on a PC at home, since it launched without a Mac client. Recently they did bring it to my platform of choice, and I've been excited to play it on my brand new Mac Mini I have hooked up to a monitor with serious real estate.
I recently patched the game with a new update, and was greeted by this confirmation screen. It seems that the developers, NetDevil, are using a code translation technology called "Cider" to help port the game to the Mac. The developer of the engine, TransGaming, describes the platform as a wrapper for PC API calls that doesn't require the developer to modify the game's source code.
This means that the game isn't running truly natively on the Mac platform. The real questions is whether or not this will cause a performance hit. There is a possibility that Cider could make a similar argument to Wine and claim that the advantages of the platform make up for a potential speed tax that the extra layer causes. Ultimately, the only way to be sure is to play the game extensively on both platforms and run some benchmarks, which is a task I'm more than happy to do.
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Hasbro announced a partnership with NetDragon, a Chinese online game developer, to release a Transformers-themed MMORPG in Asian markets. While I hadn't heard of the studio until today, they have worked with Disney and on a version of Ultima Online.
No screenshots have been released, nor any specifics about the design direction of the project. So unfortunately, no one knows whether this will take inspiration from the classic show or borrow from one of the more recent incarnations. Additionally, while the press release alludes to other territories, it doesn't mention the US, so this game may never be playable stateside. You can read the entire release here.
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This Friday, Party Scammers is throwing "Clash of the Tetris", a Tetris Tournament and party at Vine Bar in Hollywood. I attended their rock/paper/scissors tournament last spring and it was one of the zaniest times I have had since moving to LA. I'll definitely be there, and you should drop in (pun intended).
Clash of the Tetris
Friday, April 25th
9pm
Vine Bar: 1235 Vine St.
