Feature

Aspyr Media talks porting games to OS X, Mac App Store & the future of Mac gaming (+ Borderlands 2 giveaway!)

Jordan Kahn

Aspyr-Borderlands2-Interview

The introduction of the Mac App Store, at least for the Mac’s biggest game publisher Aspyr Media, hasn’t been entirely smooth. Aspyr recently outlined some issues with bringing multiplayer to Mac games due to Game Center and sandboxing restrictions of the Mac App Store, and developing separate versions of games for Steam and the Mac App Store continues to be a hurdle. An example is Borderlands 2. It took Aspyr just two months to ship the Mac version, but the Game Center multiplayer won’t arrive until sometime early this year. However, executives at the company promise Apple’s enthusiasm toward gaming on Mac is stronger than ever thanks to the Mac App Store. Aspyr also said it has much planned for 2013 in Apple’s store and remains platform agnostic, despite running its own competitive GameAgent store.

9to5Mac recently had the chance to speak with Aspyr Vice President of Publishing Elizabeth Howard, with input from CEO Michael Rogers and other execs, about the process of porting games to the Mac App Store, the company’s relationship with Apple and publishers, and the possibility of bringing iOS titles to OS X.

In case you’re unfamiliar, Aspyr is one of the biggest Mac game publishers bringing PC and console titles to OS X. It regularly leads many of the top paid and grossing charts on the Mac App Store thanks to high-profile releases such as Borderlands 2, RAGE, Call of Duty: Black Ops, and much more. Go below for the full interview and a chance to win Borderlands 2 for Mac. Read more

Apps & Updates

Tweetbot for Mac, Turnplay, Batman: Arkham City, Kayak Passbook support, 25% off ANY Aspyr title, more

Jordan Kahn

Turnplay: Based on the classic Technics SL1200 turntable, which sold more than three million units worldwide, Turnplay is a new app aiming to bring a realistic turnable experienced to iPad. The app features pitch control, full realistic record control, and 33/45 buttons. The app is on sale for 50% off (99 cents) to celebrate its introduction.

The world’s most popular vinyl turntable which sold over 3.000.000 copies worldwide is now available on iPad!

Tweetbot for Twitter 1.1 (for Mac): The Tweetbot for Twitter Mac App Store app gets a big update today that brings new global hot keys for new tweets and “show/hide”, an “All Tweets” option for notifications on 10.8, keyboard shortcuts for Email, Tweet, and Read Later, and much more. Tapbots are also listing a ton of fixes in version 1.1 on the app’s iTunes page.

- New global hot keys for show/hide and new tweets available in preferences
- New “All Tweets” notification preference available (10.8 only)
- If you pin timeline to top in preferences it will now also pin other non-streaming columns to the top (searches, lists, etc)
- Added support for visual sync marker
- Keyboard shortcuts for Read Later and Email Tweet
- Trends now autorefresh if used in a column
- Clicking menu bar item rows will now open main window if needed. Will also go to correct space if main window is on a different space/desktop
- Moom and Tweetbot are now better friends

Kayak for iOSKayak version 24.0.0: Following an update to the pro version last night, Kayak’s free iOS app now games the same features including Passbook and Reminders support, a new itinerary management tool, the ability to book car rentals, as well as updated sharing options and hotel booking screens:

Edit events in Trips, our itinerary management tool.
View trips that have been shared with you.
Simpler, prettier, faster, better hotel booking screens.
Passbook support for trip events (iOS 6 required).
New ways to share travel info: Twitter, Facebook
Save searches in iOS Reminders (iOS 6 required).
Book rental cars directly with KAYAK.
Performance improvements and bug fixes.

Avengers Initiative version 1.05: Read more