Mac News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

Earlier this year, developer Kojima Productions and publisher 505 Games announced Death Stranding Director’s Cut for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, giving the game a 2023 release window at the time. 2023 is almost over though, and as some may have anticipated, the game has been hit with a delay. A new release date for the game will be announced early next year.

Death Stranding's iPhone, iPad and Mac release has been delayed.

Resident Evil 4, the acclaimed 2023 remake of the survival horror classic from 2005, is now available on the iPhone 15 Pro and select iPad and Mac models. The game released on compatible Apple devices on Wednesday. While RE4 is listed for free on Apple's App Store, accessing the full title would require in-app purchases. RE4 remake originally release for PC and consoles on March 24 and received critical acclaim for the visual and mechanical improvements it brought to 2005's Resident Evil 4. The remake also earned three nominations at this year's The Game Awards, including the top prize for Game of the Year.

Bloober Team, developers of Layers of Fear, The Medium and the upcoming Silent Hill 2 remake, have added another notable name to their plans for the next few years. The horror-focused studio is working with the creators of zombie comic book-turned-TV show The Walking Dead on a new video game adaptation.

We've reached the last month of an incredible year in gaming, closing the season with a final rush of exciting titles as the Christmas holiday period fast approaches. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora — out now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series S/X — is easily the biggest launch in December, transporting players to the never-seen-before Western Frontier of Pandora, teeming with awe-inspiring creatures and luminescent vegetation. It's a bit reminiscent of the James Cameron movies, in the sense that you awaken as a Na'vi orphan and are thrust into battle against the Resources Development Administration (RDA), the corporation looking to harvest natural resources from the beautiful alien moon planet.

Blizzard have revealed their approximate update plans for the next year of arthouse oddity World Of Warcraft, which if I remember correctly is a "massively multiple-player" experience of some antiquity that involves Orcs - a kind of always-online Baldur's Gate, if you will, or a strictly fantasy-themed Fortnite with dungeons instead of forts. Seems far-fetched, but let's roll with it.

Blizzard has laid out its 2024 roadmap for World of Warcraft, nailing down a launch window for upcoming expansion The War Within, plus other updates and seasonal content.

Valve's making a list, and checking it twice; it's gonna find out who's naughty and nice. And if you happen to be on its Naughty List — which pretty much applies to any one of the «thousands» of DOTA 2 players now identified as being dirty, filthy cheaters — you can expect a cheerfully gift-wrapped lump of toxic coal and a permanent ban in your stocking as your festive treat for 2023.

Valve has revealed the shortlists for this year's Steam Awards.

Epic have won a victory in their attempt to argue that Google violates antitrust laws, as a jury has agreed that the Google Play app store and Google Play Billing service constitute an illegal monopoly. The decision comes three years after Epic first attempted to bypass Apple and Google when selling in-app purchases within Fortnite, leading to the game being yoinked from both the Apple and Google app stores and Epic filing lawsuits against both tech giants.

Epic Games has won its antitrust case against Google, after the jury gave its verdict yesterday.

Epic Games is still keen for its rapidly-growing gaming metaverse to include characters from the world of Nintendo — but it has also acknowledged that securing characters from the Mario maker in Fortnite has proven extremely difficult.

Fortnite Festival — the game's new rhythm-based mode developed by Rock Band studio Harmonix — will let you use your plastic guitars and drums in the future.

Dredge, the sinister fishing game from Black Salt Games and publisher Team 17, has teamed up with Mintrocket's Dave the Diver for a new crossover.

Squashed as it was between The Game Awards, a dozen or more game announcements, and the release of The Finals and The Day Before, you can be forgiven for missing the release of the latest expansion for The Sims 4 on December 7th. For Rent adds multi-family lots to the aging dollhouse 'em up, and with it the ability to be a landlord or renter within apartnment buildings.

Ready for another new Fortnite game mode? After yesterday's big launch of Lego Fortnite, today brings Rocket Racing — and, again, you can play it for free right now.

Daniel Mullins — the creator behind the acclaimed likes of Inscryption and The Hex — is back with a sequel to his celebrated 2016 oddity Pony Island. It's called Pony Island 2: Panda Circus and is coming Steam at some currently undisclosed future point.

Fortnite’s much-touted crossover with Lego is almost upon us - and it’s showing off a pretty darn impressive transformation. Lego Fortnite won’t just add a few minifig skins or some blocky guns, but a completely new co-op survival and crafting game mode with more than a touch of Minecraft about it.

The Day Of The Devs showcases are always some of the brightest spots in the biannual trailer'thon gauntlets, and this year's inaugural edition for The Game Awards is no exception. There were 20 fresh-faced indie games highlighted in tonight's 90-odd-minute stream, and cor, there are some right old gems in here, too, with brand-new game announcements from the devs behind Genesis Noir, Kind Words and Tangle Tower to name just a few. We also got more in-depth looks at some of this year's most intriguing indie games that previously only had an enigmatic teaser snippets attached to them. So come and join us below, where you'll find a digest of all 20 announcements from this evening's showcase, as well as the stream in full if you'd prefer to watch it all as it happened.

Insurgency developer New World Interactive are the latest Embracer Group-owned studio to lay off staff, as part of the Swedish conglomerate's efforts to reduce their debts after a series of reckless studio acquisitions. It's not clear how many people have been affected, but New World Interactive's direct corporate parent Saber Interactive have revealed that one unannounced project has been cancelled.

Stellaris Nexus hinges off one of the downsides of the Paradox space game’s epic scale - the amount of time it takes to finish a match - to present a bite-sized side dish of 4X nibbles if you only have an hour to play instead of, say, a day. Now that plate of nibbles is offering up, er, a basically identical plate of bite-sized nibbles that you don’t have to pay for right away, as the game has seen its early access release date - planned for tomorrow, no less - replaced by a last-minute week-long open beta.

Wondering how Peter Griffin got in shape for Fortnite? Well, wonder no more.

The first official glimpse at Fortnite Chapter 5 is now available to watch online, and shows a host of new upgrades available on an all-new battle royale island.

Fortnite's original map will return again (again) in 2024, following its impending destruction (again) during tonight's The Big Bang live event.

Fortnite’s devouring of all pop culture into its gigantic maw continues apace, as leaks suggest that next on the menu for the IP-gobbling battle royale shooter is Metal Gear Solid’s Solid Snake and Family Guy’s Peter Griffin. (Don’t worry, The Maw is safe from the maw, for now.)

Family Guy's portly Peter Griffin and Metal Gear Solid star Solid Snake are set to star in Fortnite as part of the game's next season, according to marketing for the game now visible on Xbox consoles.

Apple has announced the winners of the 2023 App Store Awards, listing the 14 best apps and games across different categories. Fitness-focussed hiking and biking app AllTrails has emerged as the best app on iPhone this year, while miHoYo's latest RPG gacha title Honkai: Star Rail has been named as the iPhone Game of the Year. Other winners include machine learning-powered editing app Photomator, souls-like action RPG Lies of P, and curated film streaming platform Mubi. Last month, Apple had announced a list of 40 finalists, based on their technical and creative achievements, for its annual App Store Awards.

Among Us developer InnerSloth has announced its biggest ever cosmetic collaboration for its social deduction game, featuring crossovers with six beloved indie titles.

To celebrate The Sims 4's upcoming expansion pack, For Rent, EA is inviting you to «become the ultimate property mogul» and join Llandgraab & Sons Estate Agents for a day to sample what it's like to be on the other end of a tenancy agreement.

A rating for Prison Architect 2 has popped up in Korea.

Battle royale shooter-turned-virtual music festival Fortnite is amping up its next musical collaboration - and this time, it’s bringing rapper Eminem back to the world of the video games for the first time in years.

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has claimed Google offered him what «seemed like a crooked arrangement» in order to persuade the company to release Fortnite in the Google Play Store rather than through its own website.

Sega and Sonic Team have released the opening animation for Sonic Dream Team, its Apple Arcade-exclusive platformer that’s out next month. Directed by Tyson Hesse and animated by Powerhouse Animation with music by Tee Lopes, it sees Sonic, Amy, Tails, Knuckles, Cream and Rouge battling against Eggman and his latest schemes. Check it out below.

Widely embraced/feared search engine business Google - hello, Google! Please top-rank our Best Of features, if you'd be so kind - considered buying out Fortnite and Unreal Engine creator Epic in partnership with Tencent, according to documents revealed as part of Epic and Google's on-going legal battle over whether Epic should be able to sell stuff within the Android version of Fortnite.

Fortnite has put a date on its next big live event — its first for a full year — now formally named as The Big Bang.

Court documents from the ongoing Epic Games vs Google antitrust case reveal the internet giant wanted to take over the Fortnite and Unreal Engine developer, and was willing to work with shareholder Tencent to complete a buyout.

Epic Games has promised fixes to remedy early issues with Fortnite's newly introduced age ratings system, which has left players frustrated after many popular cosmetics have become unusable in certain parts of the game in order to meet ratings requirements.

Beloved indie outlet Annapurna have made their first-ever acquisition in the video game space, snapping up the studio responsible for co-developing a number of their biggest hits.

Fortnite has added the ability to submit voice recordings when reporting players for violations of the game's community rules, which cover instances of abusive or inappropriate behaviour.

Fortnite, which is currently riding high on the nostalgia of a generation pining for the good old days of five years ago, is extending its Icons line of cosmetics this Friday, 17th November, with the arrival of celebrated F1 driver Lewis Hamilton and his bulldog Roscoe.

Apple has announced the 2023 App Store Award finalists. Each year, the App Store's editorial team select and spotlight some of the best apps across categories on Apple's Storefront. Apps and games on App Store are recognised for their technical and creative achievements. This year's App Store Award finalists include over 40 app and game developers across 10 different categories. Awards are given out to apps across Apple's lineup of devices, including iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Watch. Popular apps like language learning tool Duolingo, professional video editing software DaVinci Resolve, and film streaming platform Mubi have made the cut this year.

If it's indies you want, you're in luck (as long as you're specifically wanting them on Switch); Nintendo has aired another instalment of its Indie World showcase, this time bringing news of a canceled Shantae revival, plague-themed turn-based tactics, a launch date for developer Inkle's gorgeous hiking adventure A Highland Song, news of Outer Wilds' long-awaited Switch release, and more. If you're looking to catch up on the excitement, or simply need a reminder, you'll find a full breakdown of everything featured during the show below.

World of Warcraft's expansion pack The War Within, out next year, comes in several flavours. There's the standard version of the pack, which includes access to previous expansions, currency for cosmetics and a level 70 character boost. The Heroic edition gives you all that plus a mount, a pet and extra in-game cash. And then there's the most expensive Epic edition, which includes a pet, two toys, 30 days of game time... and three days of early beta access to the game, yours for $89.99 in the states.

World of Warcraft director Ion Hazzikostas has confirmed there's «no long-term advantage» for players willing to pay for early access to the next expansion.

Braid: Anniversary Edition is finally on the way. Originally announced back in 2020 with a 2021 release date, the revision of the classic puzzle platformer will finally release on April 30th, 2024. Aside from completely re-painted artwork designed for modern resolutions, it also has fifteen hours of developer commentary.

It's been over three years since developer Jonathan Blow announced his critically acclaimed, time-manipulating platform-puzzler Braid was getting an Anniversary Edition, but, finally, a release is in sight; it's coming to Xbox, PlayStation, PC, and Netflix mobile on April 30th, 2024.

Humble has announced the line-up of games for Humble Choice this month, which includes our 2021 game of the year Unpacking and has a bit of something for everyone.

In September, Capcom made the surprising announcement that Resident Evil Village and its remake of Resident Evil 4 would be getting native ports for iPhone 15 Pro and iPad devices, and with the former having launched a week ago, the latter’s release date has also now been confirmed.

People who play videogames want "new content literally almost every single day", according to Blizzard president Mike Ybarra - indeed, "they want new stuff every day, every hour". I do not want new stuff every day, every hour, Mike. Frankly, the idea makes me want to burn my possessions and go spend the rest of my life under a pine tree.

Fortnite returned to its map circa 2018 (or Chapter 1 Season 5 if you prefer to measure time that way) last Friday, reviving locations like Tilted Towers, Loot Lake and Greasy Grove and unlocking the battle royale game’s vaulted weapons, vehicles and items in a four-week nostalgic event dubbed Season OG. As it turns out, with the old map and items came a whole lot of players, setting a new all-time concurrent player record for the multiplayer shooter that surpasses even its previous heights in the pop-culture zeitgeist.

Award-winning singer Adele has revealed she made her son a Rust costume «from scratch» for Halloween.

Fortnite broke its own concurrent player record over the weekend, hitting an astonishing 6,172,463 users yesterday (Saturday, 4th November).

Blizzard has revealed that it considers bringing World of Warcraft to consoles «all the time».

Many World Of Warcraft expansions add a new continent, but The War Within, announced at Blizzcon this weekend, is a little different. It's set in a new subterranean world beneath Azeroth - and it kicks off a three-expansion story arc Blizzard are caling The Worldsoul Saga.

Greg ‘Ghostcrawler’ Street, the influential developer with credits on both World of Warcraft and League of Legends - including the MOBA’s unreleased MMO - is working on a new MMORPG under his own studio.

Fortnite’s nostalgic latest season has kicked off, bringing back a slew of weapons, vehicles, items and cosmetics from the battle royale game’s first chapter. The truncated Fortnite Chapter 4 Season OG - which will last just four weeks, rather than the usual three months - has also restored the game’s original map as seen in Chapter 1, meaning the return of places like Tilted Towers, Loot Lake and Greasy Grove.

The Sims 4 has long offered millennials the unattainable fantasy of owning their own home. On December 7th, it'll instead offer something much closer to reality. That's when the For Rent expansion will launch, adding multi-family lots so you can construct apartment buildings, rent out your spare basement, or have an authentically terrible time as a tenant.

Owlcat Games have whisked the wrappers off Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader's co-op functionality, explaining how you and up to five other players can team up to navigate the Games Workshop RPG's 100-plus hours of grid-based combat, violent religious differences and unrepentant planetary colonisation.

The Sims 4 team has lifted the lid on its upcoming expansion pack, known as For Rent. As you may have surmised given its title, this pack will allow players to give property ownership a whirl, and become a landlord.

The wave of artificial intelligence (AI) has taken the world by storm. Over the last few months, we've seen significant developments in the field, ranging from AI chatbots, and image generators to essential tools for various sectors. AI-integrated apps offer more functionality with smart features, enabling users to get their work done more efficiently while keeping the quality high. Consequently, people are preferring AI-based apps over non-AI apps. A recent report has revealed that even Mac users are welcoming AI-powered apps with open arms, and the majority of them believe them to be superior to other apps.

Listings for Resident Evil 4 remake's iOS and iPadOS ports have gone live, showing a placeholder date of December 31. However, the mobile version is rather expensive, costing Rs. 3,599, matching the same default price tag as the mainline PC port. The game will be available with support for Universal Purchase, meaning the same app can be accessed across other Apple products you own, including the Mac. Similar to other Capcom titles, players will be granted a free trial/ demo before being asked to purchase the game for full content, hence it says ‘Free' download on the App Store page.

Baldur's Gate 3 is prepared to receive its massive third patch, which will finally allow players to change their in-game character's appearance. Fans have been desperately requesting this feature since launch, and it's scheduled to go live later tonight, September 22, alongside fixes for the performance issues in the densely-populated Act 3 segment. When the update goes live, the game will add a Magic Mirror to our camp, a stationary tool that can be interacted with to presumably open up a limited version of the creation menu. Patch 3 was originally due on Thursday, but developer Larian Studios decided to take an extra day for ‘thorough testing.'

Owlcat Games’ Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader releases on December 7th worldwide. Along with PC and Mac via Steam and GOG, it’s also launching for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on the same day. Check out the release date trailer below for the latest gameplay.

If you are a Mac user who spends a lot of time browsing the web, Safari extensions can be incredibly useful tools. These browser add-ons can make tasks like spell-checking your writing or saving a screenshot to your notes app much easier. Here are some of the best Safari extensions for Mac users to enhance their browsing experience.

WhatsApp is one of the most popular instant messaging platforms in the world, and it has changed the way we communicate. It has even replaced traditional SMS for many and has made staying connected easier with not only its instant messaging but also its media-sharing, calling and video-calling features. Not just on mobile devices, but users can take advantage of most of these features on desktops too.