Aspyr Newsletter

Newsletter Welcome
Welcome to August – the most uncomfortably hot month of the year. Quick updates - The Sims™ 2 Open for Business has moved to Final Candidate in development, and we expect to ship this expansion pack within the next few weeks.  Patches have been made available for Sid Meier's Civilization IV and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 2005 through macgamefiles.com, and a demo of Quake 4 was released.

Also, check out our feature section below for a full list of Intel-Mac compatible titles!

If you have recently purchased a new Intel Macintosh, or have found yourself considering it, we’re sure you've also wondered – which Mac games can I play on my an Intel Mac?

To satisfy your curiosity, we've compiled a list of Aspyr's Intel-supported Mac titles. Some of these titles were released as Universal binaries and are playable straight out of the box, while others require a one-time patch download.

Released as Universal binary (run natively on both PowerPC- and Intel-based Macs):

Quake 4™
Call of Duty® 2
Civilization® 4
Sims™ 2 Open for Business (coming soon)

Free downloadable Universal patches for these titles available now:

Doom 3
Shrek 2™
Sims™ 2
Sims™ 2 University
Sims™ 2 Nightlife
Spiderman 2

Here are the games we have patches planned for (these games all run on Intel under Rosetta, but new versions could run better):

Civilization® III: Complete
Command & Conquer™ Generals/Zero Hour/Deluxe
Rollercoaster® Tycoon 3
Simcity™ 4/Rush Hour/Deluxe
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast

In addition, several of Aspyr's older titles run on the Intel Macintosh under Rosetta, the software Apple ships in Intel computers to automatically translate PowerPC code to run on the Intel chip,. For a full list of Aspyr's catalogue of games, please visit the website.

What’s Hot
These exciting titles are currently in stores nationwide!

Call of Duty® 2
Command & Conquer(TM) Deluxe Edition
DOOM 3™
Gothic™ II Gold Edition (PC)
LEGO®Star Wars
Quake 4™
Rollercoaster® Tycoon 3
Sid Meier's Civilization(R) III: Complete
Sid Meier's Civilization® IV

SimCity™ 4 Deluxe Edition
The Sims™ 2
The Sims™ 2 Nightlife
The Sims™ 2 University
The Sims™ Complete Collection
Spellforce™ Platinum Edition (PC)
SpongeBob SquarePants the Movie Game
Stubbs the Zombie™ for Xbox, PC and Mac
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 2005
True Crime®: New York City (PC)
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland™ (PC)


What’s Getting Hot
These exciting titles are available for preorder!

The Sims™ 2 Open for Business

Development News

Work internally at Aspyr Studios has wrapped up on Sims 2 Open for Business Mac, which should be going Gold any day.  Much of our internal development is on unannounced projects, including two large PC games.  In addition, we have several exciting Mac titles in the works for Christmas 2006 and early 2007.  One of our goals for Mac development in the new world of Intel Macs is to ship more of our Mac games close to the release of the Windows versions, and we hope to have a couple good examples of this in the coming months. 

Patches & Demos
Recently released patches include the final Civ IV Mac Rev A patch and a Tiger Woods 2005 Mac patch.  Updates for the Mac that are still in testing and due to be released in August include Call of Duty 2 1.3, Civilization III Universal, Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 Universal, and Jedi Knight 2 & Jedi Academy Universal.   A demo for Quake 4 Mac was released in early August. 

Meet Aspyr

This month we would like you to meet Jessie Boyer.  Jessie works in Aspyr's Technical Support Department as a Compatibility Lab Technician.

ASPYR: What is your biggest pet peeve?

JESSIE: Writer's block

ASPYR: Do you have any nicknames?

JESSIE: None. Sad, isn't it?

ASPYR: Cats or dogs?

JESSIE: Cats, always.

ASPYR: Favorite cereal?

JESSIE: Kix will always rock in my book, but any cereal that you can use to make a necklace is just dandy. Nothing can beat a good Fruit Loop necklace.

ASPYR: What was the first concert you ever attended?

JESSSIE: Oy, I don't really remember. Either 311 or Stone Temple Pilots. It was a while ago.

ASPYR: What was your first car?

JESSIE: 1996 Toyota Camry, which was sadly totaled a week after I got it.

ASPYR: Who is/was your favorite Saturday Night Live character?

JESSIE: Christopher Walken, as Bruce Dickinson (more cowbell)

ASPYR: What store would you choose to max out your credit card?

JESSIE: Either Fry's Electronics or Best Buy

ASPYR: If you weren't working at Aspyr, what would be your dream profession?

JESSIE: I've always thought that being a special effects makeup artist or a prop builder for films would be awesome.  I went to school for visual effects and animation, so anything involving any of those fields would make me a very happy girl.

ASPYR: What has been your favorite work experience at Aspyr?

JESSIE: Any day we get new equipment in the QA room is fun for me. I get to play with all the new fancy gadgets before anyone else, who could ask for more?  No, really - any day the announcement is made to the QA room that something we have been working on has passed certification and is shipped, it's great hearing everyone cheer. It makes me feel like we have accomplished something.

Trivia

What country sent reinforcements in the form of "Division Azul" to aid Germany in its WWII attack on the Soviet Union?

Of correct answers, one winner will be randomly selected and will receive a copy of Sid Meier's Civilization IV.

To submit your answer, click here trivia@aspyr.com. Winners will be notified through e-mail and announced in next month's newsletter.

Congratulations to last month's winner Deidre B. of Medford, MA, who won a free copy of Sid Meier’s Civilization IV.

Elvis Presley has had some form of appearance in each Civilization title. What is a tribute to Elvis in Sid Meier's Civilization IV?

The clothes of the Great Artist units, from the Industrial to the Modern Ages, and the "Rock and Roll" wonder are tributes to him.

Aspyr Lineup Header
COD2 box IN STORES
Call of Duty® 2
TRAILER
DEMO

Doom 3 Box IN STORES
Doom3™
TRAILER
INTEL PATCH

DF Box IN STORES
Dreamfall: The Longest Journey (Xbox and PC)

Gothic 2 Box IN STORES
Gothic™ II Gold Edition (for PC)
Civ 3 Box IN STORES
Sid Meier’s Civilization® III: Complete
Sims 2 Box IN STORES
The Sims ™ 2 TRAILER
INTEL PATCH
Sims 2 University Box IN STORES
Sims™ 2 University

Spellforce Box IN STORES
Spellforce™ Platinum (for PC)

Stubbs Box IN STORES
Stubbs the Zombie™
For Mac & PC

VIDEOS
THAW box IN STORES
Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland™ (for PC)
Quake 4 box IN STORES
Quake 4™ (Mac)
UPDATE
Sins 2 Night Life box IN STORES
The Sims™ 2 Nightlife
Sims Complete Collection box IN STORES
The Sims™ Complete Collection
TC NYC box IN STORES
True Crime®: New York City (for PC)
TRAILER
CIV 4 box IN STORES
Sid Meier's Civilization® IV
TRAILER
CIV 4 box GOLD MASTER
The Sims™ 2 Open for Business