The newest version of Braid is priced the same as its Xbox Live Arcade and PC counterparts ($14.95 USD) and is just as native to the Mac platform as previous releases. The port was handled by Hothead Games, the same folks responsible for Penny Arcade Adventures. For anyone who hasn't yet heard of the award-winning game, read our review of the XBLA version to see if it sounds like something you'd be into.

Currently, Braid for Mac is available at Greenhouse, but will soon be showing up at "a lot of places." Keep an eye on those places!

Braid [Greenhouse]

His case is largely for the indie community, and anyone seeking growth — so it's not a challenge to the top publishers to take us all back to the Gil Amelio days when they actually wrote more than one AAA title for the Mac in a year. Or five. But at first blush, one can see shared values in the indie and Linux communities (and to some extent in MacOS), so the idea that they represent an extremely profitable five percent, given the right game, is not a real stretch.

Rosen, in his company's official blog (picked up by Ars Technica) uses Wolfire's game Lugaru as the lesson. According to their sales stats, the game's Linux and MacOS versions account for 50 percent of its overall sales. "Not all five percents are created equal," he says. For the right game, hee has a point.

Developing for MacOS and Linux has a word-of-mouth effect disproportionate to what you get with a game written for Windows, Rosen says. Maybe the spread isn't as large, because of the numbers involved, but within those communities, that kind of endorsement can really drive sales. Lugaru's went up 122 percent thanks to his decision to develop for those languages, he says.

"Having a Linux build meant coverage on Slashdot," he says. "A lot of people heard about and supported Lugaru simply because we had a Linux build. ... A small minority of your users will go crazy with your game and spread it all over the place. On the Internet, all it takes is one thread on a popular forum, and you've literally got hundreds or thousands of new visitors. Basically, a small amount of your users can make a huge difference for you."

Two barriers stop the Linux/MacOS conversation before it gets started — the perception that it's harder to develop on those two platforms, and the idea that they're so unprofitable that only unusual up-front guarantees make it worthwhile.

"There is the famous case of Half-Life 2. Valve wanted a $1 million dollar advance on the Mac OS X version. No Mac developer has this kind of cash to front, and Apple decided not to foot the bill either, perhaps on principle of the unusual request. There is no technical reason that Mac users can't have Half-Life 2—it's simply messed up business development."

It's a reasonable argument if you keep it in its proper context — indie gaming, where developers with a good idea, their own agenda, and where Steam distribution serves their purposes just fine, can see some growth and throw Mac and Linux gamers a bone. No one's suggesting this overrides the financial prerogatives of a mammoth like Electronic Arts or Activision. But it is something to consider.

Indie Dev Suggests Peers Should Support OS X, Linux Gaming [Ars Technica]
Why You Should Support MacOS and Linux [Wolfire Blog]

Seems EVE Online likes to grab images of the Mac OS X CPU monitor occasionally and send them into space. That giant gas cloud is a pretty good indicator of what's going on in your Activity Monitor utility at any given time. Handy, maybe, but causes serious interference with suspension of disbelief.

my god, it's full of cpu meters [Flickr via del.icio.us]

EA, who shipped a number of PC games for the Mac last year, plans to have Spore on hand at MacWorld 08, going on right now.

Coming to the Mac in 2008: 'Spore' [News.com]

Apple stock was up 5.01 (4.28%) on news that probably had nothing to do with this at all. Full press release after the jump.

EA SHIPS FOUR GAMES FOR THE MAC

First EA-Published Titles Ever for Mac OS X

Redwood Shores, Calif., - August 17, 2007 - Electronic Arts Inc., (NASDAQ: ERTS) today announced that
Battlefield 2142TM, Need for SpeedTM Carbon, Harry Potter and the Order of the PhoenixTM and Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium WarsTM are now available to order for Mac users. These are the first games ever published by EA for Mac OS X, Apple's advanced operating system. Users can go to the Apple Store (www.apple.com) to purchase the games today.

All games will also be available at Apple's retail stores nationwide. Need for Speed Carbon and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will be available on Tuesday, August 21, and Battlefield 2142 and Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars will be available on Tuesday, August 28.

The first games from EA for the Mac are:

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, licensed by
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts is shaping up to be his most exciting yet. Fearing that Hogwarts' venerable Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, is lying about the return of Voldemort in order to undermine his power, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge appoints a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher to keep watch over Dumbledore and the students. But Professor Dolores Umbridge's ministry-approved course leaves the young wizards woefully unprepared, so Hermione, Ron and Harry form "Dumbledore's Army" with the goal of preparing themselves and other courageous young wizards for the extraordinary battle that looms against VoldemortTM and his Death Eaters.

Need for Speed Carbon - What starts in the city is settled in the canyons as Need for Speed Carbon
immerses you in the world's most dangerous and adrenaline-filled form of street racing. You and your crew must race in an all-out war for the city, risking everything to take over your rivals' neighborhoods one block at a time. As the police turn up the heat, the battle ultimately shifts to Carbon Canyon, where territories and reputations can be lost on every perilous curve.

Battlefield 2142 - Earth, 2142. As a new ice age depletes the planet's resources, two massive multinational coalitions wage a brutal war for the only cause that matters—survival. Armed with a devastating arsenal of futuristic weaponry and gear, including active camouflage, EMP grenades, and sentry guns, plus Battle Walkers and vast airborne bases called Titans, you must coordinate the efforts of your teammates to win the war for Earth's last fragile pieces of livable land. With extensive improvements to the groundbreaking Battlefield 2TM ranking and upgrade system and the new Titan gameplay mode, Battlefield 2142 brings the franchise's award-winning online warfare into a harsh and desperate future.

Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars - The year is 2047. A massive nuclear fireball explodes high in the
night sky, marking the dramatic beginning of the Third Tiberium War and the long-awaited return of the most groundbreaking Real-Time Strategy franchise of all time. Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars unveils the future of RTS gaming by bringing you back to where it all began: the Tiberium Universe. With the corrupt substance Tiberium blanketing most of the Earth, the infamous Kane is back to lead his Brotherhood of Nod in a massive global assault on the Global Defense Initiative (GDI) and the few remaining livable Blue Zones left on the planet. Only you can stop him. Featuring state-of-the-art next-generation graphics, an epic story, and truly innovative features such as the ability to transform online battles into a spectator sport, Command & Conquer is about to reinvent RTS gaming ... again. Welcome back, Commander.

Further rounding out EA's portfolio of Mac games is the release of Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 08 and
Madden NFL 08 in the September/October window.

In addition to these games, other EA titles available for Mac include The SimsTM 2, The Sims 2 Open for
Business, The Sims 2 Pets, The Sims 2 Nightlife, The Sims 2 University, The Sims 2 Family Fun Stuff, The
Sims 2 Seasons, The Sims 2 Life Stories and more.

Screenshots from the games can be found at http://www.info.ea.com.