by Jason Whong
I've fallen in love with the NATO alphabet recently; part of it is the latent wannabe militaristic boy that never left me, although I maintain my pacifist viewpoints. The other advantage is that you can meet other people who are obsessed with such protocols merely by using the NATO alphabet in everyday speech.
Well, enough about that - on to what's november echo whiskey... I mean, what's new.
Lots of things are going on with EVO and Mars Rising - they're available in a special holiday season bundle from the Mac Zone. The bundle, which ships in its own jewel case with printed booklet, is Ambrosia's first appearance in a major catalog. Additionally, at a $30 price point, you save $15! If you're looking for the perfect gift, check it out - it's sure to please!
Speaking of EV Override, after its 4 1/2 mouse review in November's MacWorld, it was inducted into the Mac Game 1998 Hall of Fame in the December issue. Wow! I wonder if that means we'll need to build a trophy case - we're already out of shelf space!
Delver.com, the website of Cythera, got a redesign recently. The new site features screenshots, a guide to some of the characters you'll meet, and a special page about the history of the enchanted island. Cythera is still in beta, and Glenn Andreas has been working around the clock to prepare the game for its release. Each internal build looks better than the last!
Ben Spees is still hard at work on Ferazel's wand, preparing the game for beta. If you've been dying for an original sidescroller for Mac, reminiscent of classic 8-bit NES games, but with superior graphics and sound, look no further than this game. It will rock your world.
For screenshots of Cythera and Ferazel's Wand, check out our Sneak Snapz section in this issue.
Slithereens is now officially in beta testing, and we're hoping to release the game shortly. The game has come a long way since we started playing it internally this summer, and we're all pleased with its progress. Simply put, it's a mighty tasty treat! For more pics of the jive-talkin' wise-crackin' snake game for 1 or 2 players, check out our Sneak Snapz scrion in this issue. Also check out slithereens.com, the funky website we put up recently for screenshots and more.
MacOS 8.5 is here, And we've got it running on every Power Mac in the office. We haven't had many problems with the new OS as of yet, and all of our utilities work fine, aside from a cosmetic problem in ColorSwitch Pro, which we quickly fixed - look for ColorSwitch Pro 1.2.2 at a shareware mirror near you!.
Also noteworthy is Apple's successful FY1998, its first profitable year in a long time. The new Apple really is different, and we're all glad to see the company become successful again. We're dancing in the hallways every time we hear more good news. Congratulations, Apple! Oh, and if any of you Apple.com types are interested in helping us get bundled on iMac, drop me a buzz. :)