Fighting a war on a different front, two factions have always been at each other's necks. On one side, we have the superpower called Microsoft, and across the border we have the alliance called Apple. Whichever side you root for doesn't change the fact that they've been delivering top quality games and gadgets for everyone throughout the years.

The Wire has had a chance to talk to Glenda Adams, director of development for Aspyr Games, a company responsible for bringing PC games such as The Sims 2 and Star Wars: Empire at War to the Mac. She talks about the perks and quirks of porting games from one system to another.

While the most difficult thing for making games for the Mac has always been the smaller market, her love and background with the Mac has always prompted her to go for this line compared to any alternatives.

Adams states that the difficulty in converting a PC game to the Mac isn't as hard as people think. The bulk of the work really relies on optimizing, debugging and finishing all the small details to make it compatible for the Mac is what takes up the most time. Especially now that the integration of Intel chips for the Mac has resolved more compatibility issues when converting games.

When asked about the pros of the Mac over the PC gaming-wise, she had this to say:

Installing games on the Mac is always easier than Windows, I think. And because Apple has tighter control over hardware, we have a much better chance to test and optimize our Mac games for all the hardware we support than on the PC. There are so many combinations of motherboards, sound cards, video cards, and peripherals on the PC that it can be a mess for a developer to make sure their game works on most configs.

Well, PC or Mac, it doesn't really matter in the end just as long as they deliver to us more goods to keep the gamer in us happy.

Although not especially high in Epic Games' priority list, interconnected multiplayer sessions between PC mouse-twitchers and PlayStation 3 analog-fumblers may be more than a probability now. Next Generation has reported that IGN's GameSpy has just signed a licensing agreement with Epic Games.

 

As a result, GameSpy's online multiplayer technology will now be incorporated into Unreal Engine 3, permitting the connectivity of PC (and therefore, also Mac) gaming's online infrastructure with that of the PlayStation 3's open network infrastructure. Along with the interconnectivity features, additional online helper applications, which include communication, statistical, and competition tools, will follow.

But more importantly, the licensing of GameSpy tech will now allow all other UE3 licensees to cross the Mac-PC-PlayStation 3 gap. That's a list that includes Codemasters' Turning Point: Fall of Liberty and Ubisoft's Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway.

GameSpy now joins a slew of other companies in Epic Games' Integrated Partners Program, while offering the quick solution to Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 networking capabilities. Director Todd Northcutt of GameSpy Technologies told Next Generation that Epic decided not to develop the engine's networking technology and searched for a third-party solution instead.

And yet the interconnectivity scenario continues to broaden. Despite the fact that Midway's Unreal Tournament III (Mac, PlayStation 3, Windows PC on DVD, Xbox 360) will not be supporting Microsoft's Live Anywhere initiative, GameSpy added that it would offer its own solution to bridge the Xbox 360, PC, Mac, and PlayStation 3 gap.

"We're huge believers in cross-platform play. It's something gamers would love to see, to be able to play with one unified community no matter what platform they're on. We certainly have the technology to make that happen," said Northcutt.

Now the only hurdle left is whether Sony and Microsoft would even agree to such a move.

If you're looking for some games to play on your iPhone, Jason Merchant has a couple of interesting ones up for download. If you like fish and you've got issues with Microsoft's Zune, you'll love these.

Aquarium v1 is a simple application where you can watch fish swim around, then feed them if you wish to do so. It's actually very relaxing to do this, and will probably kill a minute or two when you're stuck in traffic.

A more heart-pumping application is the Shoot the Zune wherein you play the role of the iPhone and launch missiles at hapless Zune MP3 players across the screen.

Please be reminded that you'll have to Jailbreak your iPhone first before these can be installed. They're written in objective C. Tweaks have been made from previous versions of the apps.

An iPhone without the Phone? Media Loper believes that this may be exactly what the new generation in iPods will be.

Here are some things they think would be included in the new generation of iPod:

• Big screen with auto adjustment - Here's the "true video iPod" for you. Big screen with automatic orientation adjustments. You can't expect the next video iPod to come out without this feature, it just wouldn't be right to call it a video iPod when you put it beside an iPhone.
• Touch screen interface - Well with a big screen where would the controls go? And if it has a touch screen, why not have all the things the iPhone has as well? It'd also be advantageous for Apple to have one common interface for their products. It'll make making decisions easier since you don't have to worry about familiarizing yourself with an unfamiliar interface.
• An iPDA? - Well why not? The iPhone is basically a tiny Mac. Why not integrate it into a new iPod / PDA hybrid.
• WiFi - If Microsoft comes out with a new gen Zune complete with WiFi, this would certainly be a kick in the balls profits for a new gen iPod. They can't afford not to put it in.

Theorists also believe that the next gen iPod might not be in the works, since it would compete with the iPhone. Apple would be stealing from its own cookie jar. But Steve Jobs answered this by saying that if there's going to be cannibalization of Apple, it might as well be by Apple. Imagine an apple biting itself and you'll see where that goes.

Watch out for official updates when we get them.

E3 is over and done with, leaving some of us hopeful for games queued up for the next couple of months. That doesn't necessarily mean we should turn a blind eye to this week's releases though. There are still a couple of gems not worth passing up.

While Nintendo doesn't have anything up for this week, it's going to be a busy one for the Sony and Microsoft camp as things heat up on the gridiron with All-Pro Football 2K8 and NCAA Football 08, both available on the 360 and PS3.

Over at the handheld side, we've got a rapping dog in the form of PaRappa the Rapper and Namco Bandai's latest Tales installment, Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology, for the PSP.

Desktop gamers also find a treat this week: the PC version of GRAW 2 is to be released, as well as the Mac OS X version of World War II Online.

On with the festivities then! We've got a touchdown to score.

All-Pro Football 2K8. Sports-buffs wanting to scratch their jock-itch for more football titles might want to give this a try. Boasting realistic football mechanics and, more importantly, a roster of football legends like Jerry Rice and Joe Montana could make this a sports title that competes with the likes of Madden.

• PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 - July 16, 2007
• US$ 59.99
• ESRB E (Everyone 10+)
• 2K Sports

PaRappa the Rapper. Kick-punch-block your way through this rhythm-based remake of the classic PSOne title. Help PaRappa rap his way to Sunny Funny's heart, as this journey into music will have you encounter a strange lot of characters, including a moose as your driving instructor, a Rastafarian frog at a flea market, and the ever-famous Master Onion.

• PlayStation Portable - July 17, 2007
• US$ 29.99
• ESRB E (Everyone)
• NaNaOn-Sha and Sony

Check out this week's "On Shelves" list by clicking on the Full Article link below!

Seems like a lot of people are having quite a riot over this rather ingenious anti-theft accessory. And we at QJ also think that humorous posts make for good leisurely reading in the weekend, especially after a torrential luge of E3 news. But moving on...

The Anti-Social has released an accessory that could prevent your precious iPod from getting stolen. And what better way to deter thieves than by showing them that all you've got... is a Zune. Hence, the Hide-a-Pod was born. It acts as a case to store your iPod, the case here being a mock-Zune skin.

We've linked the product page below via our Read link, and through there, you can check out the many features that the Hide-a-Pod has. There's an FAQ section as well, explaining other details regarding compatibility, custom colors, and whatnot. For example: "Can I choose my Zune color? Sorry, no. We only use brown Zunes for the maximum anti-theft protection." They've even extended the accessory to have an iPhone counterpart. You wouldn't want it to be stolen now, would you?

Now here's the catch. People should learn to read the fine print too, y'know. At the bottom of the website is a little caveat:

iPod and iPhone are trademarks of Apple and Zune is a trademark of Microsoft. We are are not associated with them in any way. This is all just a big gag and you couldn't order a Hide-a-Pod if you wanted to. So there.

Aaaw. It was fun while it lasted. If you check out the page, it's riddled with a lot of humor as well. A dash of wit, a pinch of LOL, and a healthy dose of Easter Egg giggles. But for those who aren't Apple fanboys, look on the bright side. "Imitation is the best form of flattery." Or maybe it's just... Oh. Snap.

Click the Read link to check out the Hide-a-Pod website.

By way of the US Patent & Trademark Office, we've picked up some interesting info on a prototype Apple gadget that the company has just filed a patent for. The new patent is for what appears to be a "Mouse with optical sensing surface":

A configurable mouse with an extended sensing surface, which provides the mouse a customizable, programmable or adaptable way of generating inputs, the mouse including an arbitrarily shaped grippable member having a 3D shape, a position detection mechanism that detects the movement of the mouse along a surface, a multi-point touch detection mechanism that detects one or more objects that are contacting or in close proximity to a substantially large portion of the grippable member, and a controller for processing signals generated by the position detection mechanism and multi-point touch detection mechanism.

In layman's terms, this means we're looking at a possible multi-touch mouse in the near future. Not much else is said about this new design patent - we'll just have to wait it out until Apple decides to provide more details for this news. A most timely patent announcement, given that Microsoft recently released information on their very own touch table...

As part of their Fun4iPhone website, MyNuMo has launched one of the first browser-based games for the iPhone.

The game itself is called iWhack and, being a simple browser-based game, it's not indicative of what the iPhone can do in terms of graphics and such, but hardcore Apple fans should get a kick out of it.

iWhack is basically a Whack-a-Mole game that replaces the mole with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's head. Ballmer has been one of the most vocal critics of the Apple iPhone.

We expect more developers to begin rolling out their own browser-based games for the iPhone soon. You can check out and play MyNuMo's iWhack game by clicking on the read link below.

A lot of talk on the net has focused on the iPhone's lack of support for the Microsoft Exchange Server, Research in Motion's Blackberry servers, and Motorola's Good Technology e-mail servers.

While there still has been no word regarding support for the Blackberry and Good Technology servers, ZDNet was able to get some information from a "reliable source" that the iPhone will be supporting the Microsoft Exchange Server.

Apple's promised big announcement this week is allegedly the confirmation that it has licensed the Exchange ActiveSync licensing protocol. If this holds true, we're going to be able to use Activesync to connect to Exchange Server and use its wireless messaging and synchronization capabilities.

Apple and Microsoft were asked about the said agreement and while the former has yet to respond, the latter gave a very cryptic answer, "we canÂ?t comment on (these) rumors. In general, Microsoft is always in discussions with other companies about licensing its intellectual property."

This shouldn't surprise a lot of people considering that a number of mobile phone developers such as Nokia, Palm, Motorola, and Sony Ericsson have already licensed the technology. Microsoft analyst Matt Rosoff spoke about this deal and downplayed it a bit, though he did hint that it is a step forward in the adaptation of Microsoft IPs.

Apple and Microsoft would sign a deal to incorporate ActiveSync into the iPhone, just as Nokia, Motorola, and PalmOne are doing.

So this wouldnÂ?t be anything new from MicrosoftÂ?s perspective, just a deal with a new telephone handset makerÂ?Apple. ItÂ?s in MicrosoftÂ?s interest for Exchange to be supported as widely as possible, even on what will probably be a consumer-oriented product.

If the incorporation of Activesync support on the iPhone is true, it should make the transition for those already using Activesync for their mobile phones easier. Could this be another selling point for the phone? We'll have to wait and see how the market reacts before we can really give anything definitive. We'll be keeping an eye out for more updates on this as it develops.

"We've never ever at Mozilla said that we care about Firefox market share at the expense of our more important goal: to keep the web open and a public resource. The web belongs to people, not companies." These were the words of Mozilla's COO John Lilly in a recent blog post of his. What prompted this statement though, is the real story.

For those who have been keeping up with the WWDC, Steve Jobs delivered his keynote speech and unveiled Safari for Windows. Now, this is a big thing because the Apple iPhone will be running web applications, and this is the manner that it will be interfacing with the PC. The simple fact that PC users will be getting another browser option for their systems is really great. So what's the problem?
 
Steve Jobs presented the way he wanted the market to look eventually and it showed a view that's, as Lilly put it, "out-of-date, corporate-controlled, duopoly-oriented, not-the-web thinking." A duopoly (a market controlled by two organizations) cuts out everyone else and leaves everyone at the mercy of the companies running it. Everyone saw the ruckus that was caused with the Microsoft anti-trust issue, adding in another big company to control the rest of the market may not be in the public's interest.

Lilly may have a point with this although there is no arguing Apple's success. It may precisely be that outlook that's driving them to the top. Still, we have to consider the consequences of a possible duopoly on the net and how it will affect the internet community as a whole. If you want to read the entire blog post, be sure to click on our read link. Keep checking back here for more updates on this issue.