Aspyr announced today that Star Trek Elite Force II is shipping for the Macintosh. In this sequel to the critically acclaimed first person shooter game, players resume the role of Alexander Munro, chief of the Hazard Team, Starfleet's elite security unit. Now assigned to the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC 1701-E, players will explore strange new worlds, battle against both new and familiar civilizations and go on the most dangerous assignments in the galaxy. Star Trek Elite Force II was developed by Ritual Entertainment and the Macintosh conversion was done by Westlake Interactive.

The Adventure Company and TransGaming Technologies announced today a partnership to produce an Apple Mac OS X version of The Omega Stone. The Omega Stone is a classic adventure that sends intrepid explorers on a quest to prevent a terrible disaster prophesized by the ancients. Beautiful rendered scenery from Stonehenge, Easter Island, and the Lost City of Atlantis sets the tone for this evocative mystery.

Sony Online Entertainment Inc. (SOE) is pleased to announce that EverQuest Macintosh Edition is now available at retail. For the first time, over 25 million Apple Macintosh gamers running OS X will be able to experience the leading massively multiplayer online role-playing game. EverQuest Macintosh Edition carries a suggested retail price of $49.99 and includes a 30 day subscription to the game.

Mark Rein, Vice President @ Epic Games posted following information on Infogrames Unreal Tournament 2003 forum:

Ryan Gordon let me know this morning that he has sent a version of the Macintosh UT2003 demo to Macsoft that is ready for large scale testing in the hands of Mac users everywhere. Macsoft will be doing some testing on this and creating an installer for it but hopefully this week the Mac demo of UT2003 will be released. Once the demo is out Macsoft will be collecting bug reports and feeding them back to us so we can promptly fix them and finish the game for retail release.

You will definitely want to update to OS 10.2.5 to take advantage of the latest Mac OpenGL code - especially if you're using an ATI graphics card as prior versions of OS 10.2 had performance issues with ATI cards when running UT2003.

Media Inc. announced today that they will co-publish NASCAR Racing 2003 Season for the Macintosh. The Macintosh conversion of NASCAR Racing 2003 Season is being completed by Westlake Interactive and will feature teams, drivers, sponsors, and every track of the 2003 NASCAR Cup Series. NASCAR Racing 2003 Season features new 3D graphics, an enhanced physics model developed with the input of official NASCAR team engineers, and informative driving aids for both seasoned and novice drivers.

Playnet and Cornered Rat Software have released a major update to the massively multiplayer online game, World War II Online and announced an exclusive free trial for Macintosh users at Inside Mac Games. Version 1.8 has introduced several new features including updated terrain, new special effects, network update rate increase for better playability and the introduction of French, German and British 1941 vehicles to the European Theater of Operations. The Hawker Hurricane IIc, Supermarine Spitfire MkV, German Panzer III H and Daimler Mk I Armored Car are just some of the vehicles included.

Sony Online Entertainment let us know that registrations are now being accepted to participate in the EverQuest for the Macintosh beta test. The first phase of testing is scheduled to begin soon. Check out the beta test website and see what you'll need and to fill out the application.

Paradox Entertainment has licensed the British developer Virtual ProgrammingLtd the right to convert the award-winning historical strategy game Europa Universalis II to Apple´s PowerMac. The game will be released for the christmas season.

Simply connect to Battle.net to download the (1.09) patch. If you have trouble patching from Battle.net, you can also download it here. For more information on the 1.09 Patch go here.

Max Payne, Tropico, Myth III, and several other games for the Macintosh platform will be released by the publisher MacSoft. Get the full story at the official MacSoft Web site.