Mac News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

Apple has announced five titles coming to the Apple Arcade service in April, including two spatial games for the Vision Pro Headset. New games Puyo Puyo Puzzle Pop, Super Monsters Ate My Condo+, and Sago Mini Trips+ will be available on April 4 across Apple devices. Meanwhile, Apple Vision Pro users will get Crossy Road Castle and Solitaire Stories on April 25. The Vision Pro mixed reality headset launched last month and boasts over a dozen spatial gaming experiences.

Epic Games has announced its pricing for the use of Unreal Engine by non-game creators, who will now typically pay $1850 a head each year to use the powerful development software.

A Stardew Valley player turned their farm shed into a cozy, little coffee shop after they saw other creative building layouts for the game and became inspired. The critically acclaimed farm life simulator that was released in 2016 is set to receive a major update soon that will add plenty of new content for players to enjoy.

Former Xbox, Sega and Electronic Arts executive Peter Moore believes that “serious questions” are being asked about the future of console generations.

After cracking open its virtual Pandora’s Box using the magical key of “shooting it with a lot of bullets”, Fortnite’s mythical next season is due to roll out later today. Chapter 5 Season 2 - or Myths & Mortals, if you prefer - will bring a pantheon of god powers, locations from Greek mythology and, uh, Korra from the Avatar: The Last Airbender sequel, who has a gun now I guess.

Today's long-awaited arrival of Greek gods and legendary lands on the Fortnite battle royale Island is taking a little longer than planned, developer Epic Games has now said.

Roguelike, rhythm-based dungeon crawler Crypt of the NecroDancer's multiplayer Synchrony DLC will release on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch next week.

The EU is stepping in to investigate the latest development in the feud between Apple and Epic, with European regulators now seeking answers from Apple on yesterday's news — that it had banned Epic's developer account.

Epic's plans to launch a version of its Epic Games Store on iOS in the EU have stalled after Apple terminated its developer account, calling the company «verifiably untrustworthy» — and the much-trumpeted return of Fortnite to iOS has been impacted too.

This weekend, Fortnite simultaneously did something it had never done before, and something it hadn't done in ages. On the game's storied battle royale Island, players looked on as a giant hand made out of rapidly-cooling lava burst out of the ground, clasping an enormous treasure box that then lay, danging, high up in the air.

«Explore Jonesy's whimsical chocolate factory!» says the tagline for Jonesy's Chocolate Factory Experience. Billed as appropriate for 3 years and above, and advertising fun and exploration, I used up 40GB of my precious, SSD space to install Fortnite and visit Jonesy's whimsical chocolate factory.

As any fool knows, the age of girlies bulk-buying silver wire and making their own crystal jewellery at home is over, but EA always arrives precisely when it means to. This weekend saw the release of the Crystal Creations Stuff Pack, a DLC for The Sims 4 that takes the ability to find crystals (already in the game) and straps on your Sims making them into semi-precious, semi-magic jewellery that can be charged up by the moon. What I find more interesting is that this launched with some official IRL Sims plumbob jewellery that you can buy and wear around your own precious, swan-like neck.

WWE 2K24 is out this week, and as our review suggests, it’s worth a purchase if you’re a wrestling fan.

Still looking for that perfect gift for Mother's Day? How about a curated selection of jewellery inspired by The Sims 4?

The two Ori games were gorgeous platformers that challenged your dexterity while tugging on your heartstrings. The next game from developers Moon Studios seems more likely to do the former than the latter. No Rest For The Wicked is a Souls-ish action RPG that apparently thinks you're extremely wicked.

Following reports last year that Embracer Group was considering selling Borderlands studio Gearbox as part of its ongoing «comprehensive restructuring programme», it's now being claimed a sale to a third party is in the «late stages» of being finalised.

If you, like the rest of the internet, have been swept up in the trainwreck that was the Willy Wonka Experience held in an empty warehouse in Glasgow last weekend, we have good news. While you may no longer be able to witness the real event in person, you can always relive it vicariously through your Sims.

If you were to buy every Stellaris expansion and content pack separately at full price, it would run you £227.62. To make that perhaps a little less daunting, Paradox have launched an optional monthly subscription service that gives you access to all the expansions. They've done this for several of their other grand strategy games before. It starts at £8.50 for one month then offers discounts for longer terms. While I can see niche uses for the option, I certainly wouldn't want to pay for this regularly. Would you?

Epic Games are investigating a claim that the Fortnite publishers have suffered a massive ransomware attack, with almost 200GB of data reportedly stolen including emails, passwords, full names, payment information, source code and more besides.

Fortnite maker Epic Games has reportedly suffered a ransomware attack, with almost 200GB of data stolen from the company.

Fortnite's partnership with Lego continues today with the launch of two family-friendly mini-games: Lego Raft Survival and Lego Obby Fun.

What the Car? is a zany racing game in which you are a car with legs that must race around various courses to get the best time possible. Except sometimes you’re not just a car with legs, you’re also a car with a jetpack. Or with wings. Or swimming. Or singing. It’s from the folks behind the similarly absurd What the Golf?, and it’s coming to Steam this year.

What the Golf? developer Triband is bringing its absurdist racing game What the Car? to Steam later this year, following its debut last May as an Apple Arcade exclusive.

Fortnite's next big collaboration will be with Avatar: The Last Airbender, the hit anime series that's now a live-action show on Netflix.

The indie studio behind last year's incredible Saltsea Chronicles has halted production entirely, citing difficulty securing funding.

Fortnite has begun teasing its next season — Chapter 5 Season 2 — in-game, with a series of intriguing changes.

What happens when you combine two great puzzle games? You get one puzzle game which makes me, an accredited professional fool, feel dizzy with noncomprehension. That game is Sokobond Express, which launched yesterday and combines the atom-shoving chemistry of Sokobond with the route-planning puzzling of Cosmic Express. So you have to draw paths around a grid to gather atoms to correctly build a desired molecule. That's all. Just molecular chemistry and pathing, at the same time. Oh, my poor foolish head.

The upcoming Cate Blanchett-fronted Borderlands film is the start of a «Borderlands Cinematic Universe», according to Gearbox founder Randy Pitchford.

Every few years, gorgeous action adventure Little Devil Inside re-surfaces with another stunning, exciting trailer. We last saw it at a PlayStation State Of Play back in 2021, where it was seemingly on track for a 2022 release.

After several years of silence, Little Devil Inside has resurfaced. You may need to cast your minds back to remember this one. Little Devil Inside first came to light — at least on Eurogamer — back in 2015, when the game achieved its Kickstarter funding goal, although trailers had floated about before then.

World of Goo 2 will be released on May 23, 2024, it’s been announced.

World of Goo 2 is set to debut as a Nintendo Switch console exclusive on May 23. Its release date and Switch console exclusivity have both been revealed during the latest Nintendo Direct, which also featured new gameplay footage from the sequel to one of the highest-rated Wii games ever made.

Paradox Interactive has announced a two-month delay for Prison Architect 2, with the management sim sequel now set to release on 7th May as developer Double Eleven opts for «extra time to identify more bugs and further optimise the game».

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, Microsoft are bringing Maneater back to Game Pass. Yesterday they unveiled the next batches of Game Pass additions and two are returnees, with the delightful fighty platformer Indivisible accompanying brutal shark 'em up Maneater. What's more important is that it's adding the game with the cutest little Nurglings, grimdark retro-styled FPS Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun. The rhetoric of 'purging xenos and heretics' surely doesn't apply to these darling babies. Read on for all the games coming to (and going from) Game Pass over the next few weeks.

Lady Gaga is coming to Fortnite, having famously once asked what «Fortnight» was all about.

Two new photos from the upcoming Borderlands film have been released.

A colossal new update for Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader launched last night, hitting the grimdark space-aristocrat RPG with so many changes that the patch notes are almost 17,000 words long. Fitting for a game that our Rogue Trader review called "engrossing, obscure and absolutely exhausting". It adds loads of new voiced lines, fixes everything from wonky abilities to broken quests, reworks balance, improves performance, and so much more. Enough is changed that developers Owlcat are giving everyone in your party a free respec to adjust to what the game has become.

If you're switching away from Apple Notes, want to share notes with someone, or just like to archive your notes, exporting all your notes is the first step in the process. Follow along as we look at a few different ways to do this on your iPhone and iPad, or Mac.

Do you see a "Steam Cloud Sync" error when launching a game through Steam? Without cloud sync your game saves won't backup properly, so let's get that error patched right up before you lose any progress!

Epic Games will begin developing a mobile version of the Epic Games Store for launch on iOS in Europe, the company has said, now it has officially received an Apple Developer Account.

Nearly ten years after the collection began, Nintendo has finally released the final character in the Super Smash Bros. Amiibo roster.

A new update for The Sims 4 has added options to give characters vitiligo, the autoimmune disorder which causes patches of skin to lose pigmentation. Rather than a handful of preset full-body patterns, The Sims 4's vitiligo impressively comes as loads of patterns for separate bodyparts, so you can create a wide range of effects. And no, you don't need to buy an expansion for it.

The Sims 4 has partnered with model Winnie Harlow and added a range of Vitiligo skin details to the game as part of a free update.

2K Sports has confirmed the majority of the matches set to appear in this year’s Showcase mode for WWE 2K24.

Inkulinati will leave early access later this month, on 22nd February, at which point it will become available for the first time on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation.

Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies has responded to the long-running rumours of a full-on Fortnite collaboration, saying they are a «myth».

Disney are taking out a $1.5 billion minority equity stake in Fortnite publisher Epic Games, and have announced "an all-new games and entertainment universe that will further expand the reach of beloved Disney stories and experiences". According to Disney CEO Robert A. Iger, it's "Disney’s biggest entry ever into the world of games". Friends, we are witnessing the birth of a franchising megamoeba of titanic proportions - a new, Unreal Engine-driven "persistent universe" of playing, watching, shopping and other content-tickling opportunities, featuring characters and stories from Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar "and more". Where are your puny gods now?

Elias Toufexis has said goodbye to his Deus Ex character, Adam Jensen, now that the franchise's in-development next entry has been canned.

Not to denigrate either the efforts of either the comms or dev teams, but when a game has been knocking around my consciousness for a while, eventually I just move it it from a mental box marked "in development" to "probably out now, innit" without any input from anyone else. Inkulinati, a turn-based strategy game where you play a medieval artist duking it out with another artist on the pages of an illuminated manuscript, is one such. It's been kicking about on Steam since at least 2019, and in fairness to me it did launch in January last year - it just went into early access. These factors contributed to me being sort of surprised at the reveal of the actual release date for 1.0, which is February 22nd.

Death Stranding Director's Cut is now out on the App Store on iPhone, iPad and Mac computers. The surreal package delivery game from Kojima Productions can be played on the A17 Pro-powered iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, and iPad models and macOS devices running on the M1 chip or later. Death Stranding, which first launched as a PlayStation exclusive in 2019 and later ported to PC, was first announced for Apple platforms at the company's WWDC event in June last year.

Elias Toufexis, voice actor for Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Mankind Divided's cyborg protagonist Adam Jensen, has bid a formal "goodbye, but hopefully not farewell" to the character, expressing hopes that somebody with a lot of money will buy the license and restore poor moody Adam to our screens. Toufexis also shared a few parting speculations about the unannounced Deus Ex sequel from Eidos Montreal that was reported cancelled last week. Toufexis wasn't involved with this one, and according to him, it likely wasn't a continuation of Jensen's story from Mankind Divided.

Edmund McMillen has discussed a potential Fortnite collaboration with Epic Games, the celebrated indie designer has said.

Fortnite maker Epic Games says it'll be launching a native iOS version of the Epic Games Store — and bringing Fortnite back to iOS devices — following today's announcement that Apple will soon allow sideloading and alternate marketplaces on its devices to comply with new EU rules. That's as Epic boss Tim Sweeney calls Apple's revised guidelines «hot garbage».

With new EU rules against anti-competitive practices looming, Apple has announced it'll soon be permitting developers to release Game-Pass-style catalogue apps, containing multiple playable and streamable games and programmes, onto its official App Store.

Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition will be released for PC on March 21, 2024.

Frontier Developments, the British developer-publishers behind Elite Dangerous, Planet Zoo and Warhammer games including Warhammer 40,000 XCOM-a-like Chaos Gate: Daemonhunters and last year’s Age of Sigmar RTS Realms of Ruin, will host a new monthly developer showcase starting next week.

Death Stranding, Hideo Kojima's surreal package delivery title that first launched as a PlayStation exclusive in 2019 and later ported to PC, has a new release date on Apple devices. The Director's Cut version of the game is arriving January 30 on iPhone, iPad and Mac, with pre-orders currently open, 505 Games announced Tuesday. The studio, which was also responsible for the PC port, will bring the Kojima Productions' title to compatible apple devices. These include the A17 Pro-powered iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, and iPad and macOS devices running on M1 chip or later. Death Standing was first announced for Apple platforms at the company's WWDC event in June last year, where Kojima showed off Mac gameplay and promised support for future titles.

Kojima Productions has announced that Death Stranding Director’s Cut will be making its way on to iPhone 15 Pro, iPad and Mac on January 30. The port, announced last year, will be available on every iPad and Mac running on an M-series chip, and iPhone 15 running on the A17 Pro chip.

As Fortnite continues its apparent mission to feature all other video games within itself in some capacity (until presumably it then puts itself in itself, including all other video games within), developer Epic Games has revealed Solid Snake isn't the only Metal Gear characer joining the battle royale line-up — with Raiden also set to appear as a new premium skin.

Sam Barlow — the developer behind acclaimed investigative FMV adventures Immortality, Telling Lies, and Her Story — has announced he's working on two new horror titles, including a third-person survival horror said to be for old school Barlow fans «that played Silent Hill: Shattered Memories back in the day.»

Death Stranding Director’s Cut has received a new release date for iPhone and Mac.

2K Sports has officially announced WWE 2K24.

A marketing campaign designed to promote recruitment in the British Army using a custom-made Fortnite map looks to have been taken offline.

Sony has revealed the next batch of titles bidding a fond farewell to its PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium subscription tiers in February, which this time include the likes of Resident Evil 7, Tekken 7, and Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown.

As The Elder Scrolls Online thunders toward its 10th anniversary this April, Zenimax Online Studios has whipped back the sheet to reveal the fantasy MMO's latest expansion chapter, Gold Road, which launches for PC and Mac on 3rd June with a PlayStation and Xbox release to follow a few weeks' later on 18th June.

Zenimax Online Studios has revealed this year’s content roadmap for The Elder Scrolls Online, including new DLC and the game’s next major expansion.

Your favourite beaver-based colony sim Timberborn's latest big update has arrived, and honestly, I'd say your poor beavers won't appreciate it one bit. The main reason being, it adds a new ecological hazard called Badwater, that doesn't only make your water bad, but your crops and beavers at risk of being bad. Still, there are plenty of new buildings to help you harness the power of the stanky water and errr, exercise halls for beavers to get their sweat on. I wouldn't recommend they rehydrate with the bad water, though.

After eight years of weekly releases, Rock Band 4's last dollop of song DLC will arrive next Thursday, 25th January, developer Harmonix has announced.

Yes, Paradox Interactive has increased the price of its expansion subscription to Europa Universalis 4 in multiple regions, but not to the extent some players were worried about.

Epic Games boss Tim Sweeney has vowed more legal action against Apple, just days after the US Supreme Court dismissed both parties' further attempts to appeal a 2021 California court ruling on the Epic vs. Apple antitrust lawsuit.

Whether you're creating an account or logging into an existing one on Steam, you may be asked to fill out a CAPTCHA. However, it can be impossible to proceed if you run into the "Your response to the CAPTCHA appears to be invalid" error message.

Popular jail simulator Prison Architect will get a 3D successor, and it'll release on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on 26th March.

After teasing a 3D sequel when Prison Architect received its final update last May, developers Double Eleven and publishers Paradox Interactive have announced that, yep, Prison Architect 2 is indeed a thing that is happening - and in 3D, no less. Prisons will now have multiple floors to police, as well as a whole new inmate behaviour system to navigate along the way that will feed into gang warfare, escapes and other budding management problems. It's coming out surprisingly soon, too, with its reveal trailer dating it for March 26th.

Combine the turn-based mech battles of Into The Breach with the rule-changing puzzling of Baba Is You and you have Mobile Suit Baba, whose launch I entirely missed right before Christmas. Pick a squad of mechs to field in different scenarios where you must push, pull, and slam your way to victory. All of which will be so much easier if you rewrite the rules by shunting around syntax blocks. And yes, Baba is piloting a giant Baba-shaped mech.

Do you like trapping innocent, extinct animals in diabolical, broken worlds of your own devising, miring them in a purgatory of genre comparisions from which they may never escape? Because Ark: Survival Ascended developers Studio Wildcard and Grove Street Games are promising/threatening to "put the power of unbridled game creation directly in your hands" with the game's next major dev kit update, which will release by the end of January.

A fan-made remake of Team Fortress 2 in the Source 2 engine has been cancelled after the ambitious project, three years in the making, ran into a double-whammy of recent development issues and a legal takedown from Valve.

Cast your mind back to May last year and you might remember EA canvassing The Sims 4 players to see if they'd prefer to see the game receive a Medieval Castle or High Tech Futurism themed building pack at some nebulous future point. Well, Medieval Castle (wrongly) won the vote, and some eight months later it looks like the DLC is ready for an imminent release.

Another month means a fresh heap of additions to Sony's PlayStation Plus Game Catalogue for subscribers of its PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium tiers, with January 2024's headliners including the Resident Evil 2 remake and Tiny Tina's Wonderlands.

Having marked its 10 year anniversary last year, survival shooter Rust is seeing in its second decade by adding the long-awaited ability to boost your inventory with a backpack. The update will continue what developers Facepunch Studios say will be even more updates and improvements throughout 2024, even as other long-requested additions slide back to 2025 or later.

Definitely-not-an-indie-game Dave the Diver has reeled in an impressive sales milestone, just six months after the mix of fishing sim, restaurant management game and slice-of-life RPG exited Early Access.