Heads up that we’ve got an abbreviated Roundup this week (namely, no general Apple news), but we’ll be back with a full slate next week!

Mac Gaming News

• Rome: Total War – Gold Edition Receives Long-Awaited Patch
• Mac Gamer HQ picks their 2012 Game of the Year: Borderlands 2
• Feral Games and the Mac Game Store tease a $20 6-game bundle
• MacLife looks at the 10 Best iPhone Tower Defense Games
• VG 24/7 takes a look and learns more about the upcoming Shadowrun Returns
• Is this Game of Thrones or Sims 3? EA launching Sims 3: Dragon Valley on May 30

Our Posts

• Music Monday: Borderlands 2
• Borderlands 2’s Krieg the Psycho Goes on a Mac Rampage

Roll Call: New on GameAgent

Borderlands 2 – Psycho Pack

What slices, dices, breathes fire and blows himself up? Introducing the newest Vault Hunter and 6th character class in Borderlands 2, Krieg!  Take a peek at Pandora from behind the menacing eyes of Krieg, the Psycho Bandit, an all-new character and the 6th playable class in Borderlands 2.  You’ve fought against them as enemies, now use that aggressive energy on the vault hunter’s side.  Slice, dice, light yourself on fire and blow things up – taking damage was never so rewarding – or so much fun!

Learn more…

Ravensword: Shadowlands

Ravensword brings unprecedented visuals to the role playing and adventure genre. Explore a vast and richly detailed world, gather powerful weapons, collect hundreds of items, increase your skills, and follow a deep storyline to solve the mysteries of the Kingdom of Tyreas.

Learn more…

Quicksave

Holy Mac discounts, Batman! There are many top-tier games on sale this week at can’t miss prices. See below for our top picks, but be sure to check out the Best Mac Deals page on GameAgent.com for the full list!

Borderlands 2 $39.99 $13.60

Civilization V $29.99 $19.99

Arkham City $39.99 $19.99

Sims 3: University $39.99 $19.99

Assassin’s Creed $29.99 $7.49

Tomb Raider $24.99 $12.49

The Walking Dead $24.99 $9.99

LEGO Batman 2 $29.99 $14.99

Vault Hunters! Please welcome the newest member of your ranks, Krieg the Psycho Bandit! Part of the Psycho Pack, which is available for purchase on the Mac today for $9.99, Krieg is looking to make some new friends after a rather less-than-pleasant experience at the hands of Hyperion and the bandits of Pandora.

Bringing completely new skill trees and playstyle to Borderlands 2, Krieg is unlike any Vault Hunter before him. Players can focus on the bonus-stacking Bloodlust tree, the melee and explosive damage-friendly Mania tree, the fire-breathing Hellborn tree, or a mixture of all three. Regardless of what skill path players choose, Krieg is also unique in that taking damage reduces the cooldown of his action skill, the Buzz Axe Rampage, which features a 500% melee boost and instant health regeneration for each kill! Think of him as a a fireball-spewing, TNT-throwing, Buzz Axe-slashing badass version of Brick.

As noted, the Psycho Pack is now available for download for $9.99 and can be found at the GameAgent Store, directly through Steam, and via other participating online retailers. Grab it today and start exploring Pandora for some FRESH MEAT!

It’s about time isn’t it? We’ve wanted to discuss the music to Borderlands 2 for quite a while. Thanks to fans on YouTube, you can listen to the entire thing, including the music from DLC. If you’ve been playing this game constantly for the past few months like we have, then most of this music is pretty familiar to you, but let’s take a step back and give it a listen on its own, without the frenzied action that usually accompanies hearing it. What you’ll find is an incredibly diverse and satisfying mixture of sounds and genres that create a textured and dynamic sonic experience. Give it a listen right here:

(more…)

Great news, Vault Hunters–Aspyr has just released the latest update for Borderlands 2 on Steam, bringing the Mac version back in sync with the PC version! The game should update next time you launch your Steam client.

Aspyr has released the update ahead of the upcoming Psycho Pack DLC which is scheduled to release on the Mac next week. The Psycho Pack will introduce a 6th playable character, Krieg the Psycho Bandit, with all new skills and playstyle.

In the meantime, head online and start exploring Pandora again with your PC buddies!

See below for the v1.5.0 patch notes.  (more…)

Borderlands 2 on the Mac App Store just got even more awesome! A new update has just been released that brings online multiplayer to the game, as well as a few additional features and Game Center support!

First, online multiplayer is now a reality for Borderlands 2 Mac App players. Mac App players can play online with anyone on their Game Center friends list, and sending and accepting game invites is super simple. There’s no Quick Match feature in this update, but Aspyr has set up a Borderlands 2 Mac App Facebook Group to get around this minor limitation. Mac App players can meet up in the Facebook Group and add each other to friends lists so they’ll always have someone to play with.

Update: Players can also check out this guide on how to get the most out of multiplayer and Game Center.

Mac App players also now have a set of exclusive leader boards through Game Center! These leader boards will track character levels and players’ Badass Ranks. In addition to rising to the top for glory, players will be able to send friend invites to others on the list. This is particularly helpful for players looking for a companion around the same skill or character level.

Achievements have also been added to the game through Game Center. These achievements are exactly the same as those on the Steam version. (Please note that these achievements won’t backfill, as they won’t count progress made prior to achievement support.)

Finally, all major pieces of DLC, including the three add-on content campaigns, are now available to Mac App players via in-app purchases. This list of DLC currently includes:

• Creature Slaughter Dome
• Mechromancer Pack
• Captain Scarlett and her Pirate’s Booty
• Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage
• Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt

And the best part of it all? The game’s currently on sale for only $29.99 (half off!)! If you’ve been holding out on the game, now’s the best time to get it!

Have any questions about the update or the Mac App version of Borderlands 2 in general? Let us know in the comments. Or you can head on over to the Borderlands 2 FAQ to learn more about what this awesome game has to offer!

Tally-ho Vault Hunters! With the release of a big software update today, Aspyr has integrated Apple’s Game Center into Borderlands 2 for the Mac App Store! That means that you can now finally experience some co-op excitement and take down Handsome Jack with a friend or two. Game Center is a very different beast than Steam, as we explained in last week’s Game Center article. This means grabbing friends to play Borderlands 2 with you is a different process than what you’re used to with Steam or even for other Game Center games for that matter.

To make sure you’re able to get started looting Pandora with friends as quickly as possible, we’ve assembled this article to explain the Game Center features now built into the game and how to use them to invite friends for a co-op brouhaha. (more…)

Tally-ho Vault Hunters!  Many of you have gotten cracking good at ransacking Pandora, reaching the upper-echelon of skills and levels. We wouldn’t want you thinking there’s nothing new to see or do in Pandora, so a new, FREE update for Borderlands 2 as well as other additional content is coming this week! We up the challenge and give added weapons and much more, but like a double rainbow we have to ask, what does it mean? (more…)

With the arrival of Spring, naturally Spring cleaning is sure to follow. We here at GameAgent wanted to clean up and streamline our delivery of sales and information on Fridays so we’re not bombarding you with multiple posts. Instead we will now give you the Weekly Round-Up. Here’s what it will contain:

• The Weekly Flashback feature detailing all the top Mac gaming and Apple news stories
• New games added to GameAgent in from our Roll Call feature
• A 3-day weekend sale to take the place of our Tuesday’s 20%. You will now have 3 days to get 20% off a great Mac game!

Mac Gaming News

• BioShock Infinite is coming to Macs this summer courtesy of Aspyr Media.
• Duke Nukem 3D and all its add-on content is now available for Mac via Steam.
• Successful indie platformer ‘Fez’ lands on PCs soon, Mac version in the works.
• Steam now offers “Early Access” to select games for Mac gamers.
• Bloody retro game ‘Hotline Miami’ now available on OSX.
• Blizzard discusses the economy and Auction Houses of World of Warcraft.
• Double Fine released a trailer for their rhythm game ‘Dropchord.’
• ‘Bastion’ creators Supergiant Games announced sci-fi RPG ‘Transistor.’
• Apocalyptic strategy game ‘Shattered Haven’ now available for Macs, coming to Steam soon.
• Indie RPG ‘Legend of Dungeon’ is now available for Macs.
• Screenshots for ‘The Elder Scrolls Online’ have made their way online.
• Apple released a video driver update for Retina MacBooks that should make gamers happy.
• Did you catch Borderlands 2′s ‘Luck of the Zafords’ weekend in honor of St. Patty’s Day? It was pretty cool.

Apple News

• Apple hires Adobe’s Chief Technology Officer. Cue the ironic Flash jokes…
• OSX 10.8.3 is now available with bug fixes and Safari update.
• iOS upgraded to 6.1.3 with passcode bug fixes, better Japanese maps. It also broke Jailbreak.
• Speaking of Japan, Apple launched an iBookstore in Japan.
• But some feel Apple discriminates against Chinese customers.
• Apple are now in a lawsuit with THX over a sound patent.
• ‘jOBS,’ the movie about Steve Jobs starring Ashton Kutcher, has been delayed.
• Intertrust is now filing a patent lawsuit against Apple.
• Apple may also face penalties over court conduct.
• Laptop Magazine has named Apple #1 in several categories and overall winner.
• And yet, some are suing them over these laptops for poor quality.
• MacWorld gives a detailed comparison between the iPad mini and Google’s Nexus 7.

Our Posts

• Mac Gaming 101: Getting the Most Out of Steam’s Offline Mode
• BioShock Infinite is Coming to the Mac and We’re Giving Away Free Copies!
• Music Monday: The Cave

Roll Call: New On GameAgent

DLC Quest

What happens when DLC practices go too far? An indie developer makes a game that mocks the industry and its foibles, that’s what! Defeat the bad guy, save the world and get the girl! But first you’ll need to find coins to buy DLC to enable animation, sound and even pausing.

Thankfully this is just satire and all the DLC is purchased with in-game coins. But consider it a cautionary tale for the future…

Learn more…

“Train your Brain” with Dr. Kawashima

If you want to stay young at heart, and sharp mentally, take a few minutes a day and train your brain!

Sly fox, studious student or brainy genius? How do you judge your „Brain Fitness“? Entertaining, yet with a scientific background “Train your Brain” with Dr. Kawashima will help you to keep your brain active or – if needed will get it moving again! Perform the “Daily Test“ and measure your “Brain Fitness”, climb to ever higher scales and eventually become a “Royal Brain”. Practice regularly and you will surely notice an increase in your “Brain Fitness”. Remember, daily commitment and continuity are key to keeping your brain active!

Learn more…

 Weekends now bring big savings! For our inaugural weekend sale, we want to give Vault Hunters more opportunities to explore Pandora! From now until midnight on Sunday (3/22/13-3/24/13) ALL Borderlands 2 DLC is 20% off! This includes:

• The Mechromancer Pack
• Captain Scarlett & Her Pirate’s Booty
• Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt
• Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage

What do you think of the new Friday blog post format? Do you like weekend sales better than Tuesday sales? Let us know in the comments!

Mac Gaming News

• Aspyr confirms Civilization V: Brave New World is coming to the Mac this summer!
• A new Vault Hunter is being teased for Borderlands 2! Expect more details at PAX East.
• F1 2012 gets 33% discount to kick off new FORMULA ONE™ season. Check it out now on GameAgent!
• Feral Interactive announces new Mac racing game GRID will be available March 28. 
• Freemium games with micropayments are becoming increasingly popular. Where do you stand on the issue?
• A new Shadowrun game is in the works for the Mac! Check out the Kickstarter page to see some early in-game footage.
• StarCraft II: Heart Of The Swarm is now available on the Mac!

Apple News

• Apple patents unlikely SmartCover wireless charging system
• CBS launches an iOS app to stream full episodes of some shows
• Phil Schiller Goes on Offensive Against Android and Samsung

Our Posts

• Mac Gaming 101: How to Learn More About Your Mac and Why It’s Important
• Roll Call: New on GameAgent, March 15

• Civilization V Expansion ‘Brave New World’ Announced, Coming to Mac

Mac Gaming News

• The latest DLC for Borderlands 2, ‘Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt’ and a version patch are now available via Steam. A huge update for the Mac App Store version will arrive around early March.
• Lego Lord of the Rings is coming to macs February 21.
• Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition arrives for OSX February 22! (more…)