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Klingon Honor Guard goes Gold
Klingon Honor Guard has gone gold! The final CD's have been sent to duplication by MacSoft, so if manufacturing goes as planned the game will be on sale at MacWorld in San Francisco (Jan 5). It should be in stores in early January or so.

Klingon Honor Guard allows you to fight your way through the heart of the Klingon Empire, with over 20 levels and 10 weapons, against some of your favorite Star Trek enemies .

For more information on Klingon Honor Guard, check the Microprose and MacSoft web sites.

Gift Certificates at Mac-O-Rama
ONLY 6 SHOPPING DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!! Still trying to shop for that Mac user who is difficult to please? Now, you can get them exactly what they want! A MAC-O-RAMA gift certificate!!! Certificates are available in increments of $25.

Check our website at <http://www.mac-o-rama.com> for details. Custom certificates are also available, call toll-free 1-877-622-6659.

Plus, each purchase of $25 earns an entry in our holiday drawing to win 12 free games, one every month for all of 1999! The contest began October 1, 1998 and ends December 31, 1998. No purchase necessary for entry. Some rules and restrictions may apply. Please see <http://www.mac-o-rama.com> and click on the link for complete rules and details.

More Updates on the National Mac Gaming Championship
Quick updates today:

1) Masque Publishing has entered Alley 19 Bowling at the last moment (literally an hour before the schedule went out!), so the National Championship is now 21 games in 27 tournaments. The FINAL round for Alley 19 Bowling is scheduled to end Thursday, at 3:00PM.

2) SEGA has shortened the length of the Yoot Tower tournament again; it will now be played in the normal 45 minute time slot. By the way, if this wasn't clear, the 45-minute time slot consists of 10 minutes prep time, 30 minutes playing time and 5 minutes wrap-up time.

3) Out of necessity, both Civilization II and Master of Orion II have been shortened to 3-hour time slots, consisting of 15 minutes prep time, 2 hours 40 minutes playing time and 5 minutes wrap-up time.

4) The schedule went out to all registered players last night, and replies are coming in hot and heavy as folks register for their tournaments.

5) Tonight, all of the schedule info will be posted to the web site and will replace the current registration process with a direct selection of slots. This will be a great indicator to all of you as to how the tournaments are filling up, because slots will be disabled from selection once they are full from this point on.

Wednesday, December 16

No Mac Starcraft till 99
Blizzard sent out this "stunner" yesterday afternoon:
IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 15, 1998 -- Blizzard Entertainment announced today that the Macintosh version of StarCraft will not be available before the end of the year. Although the single and multiplayer components are fully balanced and complete, Blizzard continues to work on the conversion of the campaign editor. Blizzard remains dedicated to the Macintosh community and is truly disappointed that the product's release date has been pushed into January 1999. The Macintosh StarCraft team will continue to work diligently through the holidays and is committed to finalizing the game as quickly as possible.

PC BroodWars goes Gold, Mac Version Later
This went out at the same time as the previous announcment:
IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 15, 1998 - For players ready for another dose of addictive real-time action, Blizzard Entertainment announced today that the highly anticipated StarCraft: Brood War has released to manufacturing. The official expansion set to 1998ís best-selling computer game, Brood War is expected to be available at retailers nationwide this weekend.

Players return to the StarCraft universe as three powerful species continue their struggle for galactic domination. As three all-new campaigns unfold, players must battle Kerrigan, an infested Terran vying for control of the Zerg as they attempt to reunite the surviving members of the Protoss race with the mighty Dark Templar. Players will also encounter new Terran adversaries as the United Earth Directorate unfold their plans to invade the universe.

The expansion enhances the StarCraft experience with 26 all-new Protoss, Terran and Zerg campaigns and over 100 multiplayer custom maps. StarCraft: Brood War also offers six new units including Lurkers, Valkyries and Dark Archons whose powers are unleashed amidst arid deserts, frozen wastes and the twilight worlds of the Dark Templar. Using the full version of the game, players can compete in head-to-head battles against as many as eight players.

StarCraft: Brood War is expected to be available this weekend in WindowsÆ 95/98/NT CD-ROM format at most computer retail stores and mass merchants nationwide for approximately $40. The game will also be offered directly through Blizzard at (800) 953-SNOW or www.blizzard.com. The Macintosh version of the game will release early next year. StarCraft: Brood Wars requires the full version of StarCraft to play.

MacSoft to announce new titles at MacWorld Expo
MacSoft, the leading Macintosh publisher of entertainment software, is planning to make several big announcements at the forthcoming Macworld Expo in San Francisco on new software games they plan to bring to the Mac platform in 1999. The announcements will be made following the keynote address on Tuesday, Jan. 5.

MacSoft will also debut several new titles at the Expo that it has coming out over the next six months, including Civilization II Gold Edition, Star Trek Klingon Honor Guard, Falcon 4.0 and Age of Empires.

Tuesday, December 15

Blaze of Glory Screenshots
Some screenshots from Matt Burch's (Creator of Escape Velocity) forthcoming turn-based strategy game Blaze of Glory are now available at: http://usa.pageplanet.com/freeverse/bog/bog.html

1999 National Mac Gaming Championship
For more information, please visit the official site here

1) We are pleased to announce the addition of BSG Laboratories to the list of companies exhibiting at the National Macintosh Gaming Championship and Exhibition. But hold onto your hats - BSG Laboratories is the manufacturer of the Intensor Sensory Gaming System, an incredible gaming accessory which packs 5 speakers and a massive subwoofer for over 108 decibels of sound RIGHT IN YOUR CHAIR. And BSG Laboratories will be providing ALL 24 CHAMPIONSHIP COMPUTERS WITH AN INTENSOR CHAIR!!!

Our players will be blown away, literally - the deep bass is so intense that every time they get hit and an explosion ensues, the chair literally rumbles underneath them!

2) Apple Computer has verified their role in the Grand Prize Package for the Championship, so the entire announcement now reads like this: ANY participant who wins three or more single-player tournaments (team tournaments excluded) at the 1999 National Macintosh Gaming Championship in San Francisco will win a $5,000 GIANT GRAND PRIZE PACKAGE, consisting of: A High-End Power Macintosh G3 Computer with a 17" Monitor, a Micro Conversions 12MB Game Wizard Voodoo2 Card, a BSG Laboratories Intensor Sensory Gaming System WITH Subwoofer, and an all-expenses paid trip (some restrictions apply) to MACWORLD Boston to compete in the second half of the National Championship, including airfare, hotel and admission to exhibits!

3) We welcome Mac 3D Dot Com to our list of press sponsors for the NMGC - They will be hosting a LIVE WEB SITE during the entirety of the Championship, complete with a webcam and scoring updates for all of the games. They will be webcasting from www.mac3d.com.

4) The complete schedule of events will be posted by this weekend - meanwhile, all registered players have been notified by eMail that they will receive the schedule Wednesday night and they will have the first opportunity to choose the time slots of the tournaments they want to participate in.

5) One timing correction: Yoot Tower will be played in 1-hour time slots, not 4-hour time slots as previously reported.