As a game where only the body count matters, genocide-em-up DEFCON: Everybody Dies was ported over to the Mac, allowing Mac gamers to wreak nuclear havoc on PC DEFCON commanders on Windows and Linux. Ambrosia Software picked up Introversion's World War III title and brought the nuclear warfare fun over to Mac users everywhere.

 

The Beta version for the Mac started back in February, but now it's up to par with the PC version at v1.4 and a new demo has shipped out today. Also, Ambrosia recently announced a patch for Windows users that will allow cross-platform multiplayer ability against Mac users. The v1.4 patch is the latest patch for DEFCON: Everybody Dies for Windows and should allow PC users to challenge Mac players.

The patch also ships immersive "watch, feel and hear" AmBX support to PC gamers with AmBX gaming peripherals coming soon. It is not the same RC patch released just a week ago, so PC beta testers must download the patch immediately. Players over Steam get updated automatically, so no worries there.

In addition, a Linux patch is also underway, allowing PC and Mac gamers to play with Linux gamers. The Mac and Linux versions are being created in unison, so expect the final release of the Mac to also signify the final release of the Linux version, too.

If most of your bug issues for Introversion Software's DEFCON: Everybody Dies were resolved in patch v1.2, well, good for you. But for most users, they have been encountering some glitches that still need to be resolved.

Like a good dev company who's set on pleasing their users, Introversion set out to address these issues but this time, not with a patch. This update is actually for those who have the Steam version of the game, and all you have to do to integrate the following updates with Defcon is to restart your Steam client and these updates will work their way to the game by themselves. The updates and changes are as follows:

• Allies can now share a battle plan directly drawn on the world map
• In the lobby, the last game name is now remembered
• Additional option to change the player name directly from the option menu
• Restart Ambience and Music (if in a game) when applying a mod
• Fix the crash when applying a mod removing sounds
• It's now impossible to start a game with a empty name
• Fix start up crash involving missing game name in game-history.txt
• Don't advertise a new version on the main interface if the current version is higher than the latest version advertised bythe meta server
• The version update link on the main interface is no longer opened when clicked if there is a menu over it

There ya go, at least you wouldn't have to download nor install anything with this one. Just make sure you check back with us for more updates on your favorite PC games.

In an age of Cells and multi-cores, of 1080p graphics and motion-sensitivity, it's too easy to be blinded into forgetting what it's all about really. Being sucked into the gameplay until you and it are one and there is nothing else (Oh, that is so Zen). Of course, increased processing power and innovation in controls were the means to that end, but as it is in so many affairs of the world, the means obscured the end until the means was all that's left.

That's why it's nice to see a game that doesn't have all that, but still manages to do what games are supposed to do. In this case, it's DEFCON: Everybody Dies from UK-based Introversion Studios, self-proclaimed "last of the bedroom developers". It's a very simple game that could run on a Pentium III - TWO PC GENS AGO - but manages to deliver a gripping multiplayer experience like no other. Why? Thanks to some good gameplay design, and what turned out to be excellent inspiration, this practically emulates - if not simulates - nuclear strategy and warfare.

It's a lot more horrifying than you think when you're the practitioner of the craft. The premise is simple, but the strategic implications are huge. Up to six players, each with a fixed arsenal of bombers, fighters, ships, and most of all, nuclear weapons. On missiles, subs, and bombers. Your objective: use these assets to take out the enemy nukes - and his population. Before he uses his to take out yours. Classic nuclear strategy.

Nobody dies if you read on at the full article.

Christmas is now just four days away, and if you haven't caught the holiday bug yet, this just might change your mind. A lot of you guys have probably heard of the Defcon RTS, famous for its war-room like nuclear gameplay. Well, given how morbid this title is - "Everybody Dies" - somebody out there decided to mod his game just in time for the holidays.

The mod converts all those nasty ICBMs the world's nuclear powers have into gifts. The player's job is to coordinate the launches so that every kid in the world gets their gift on Christmas eve...sort of a reversal of the catch phrase "Everybody Dies" into "Everybody's Happy"

Kind of funny, because this reminds us of the famous Christmas truce that happened on the eve of December 24, 1914, among the British and German troops. It was short-lived, but it does add a whole new aspect the the human side of war. We'll treat this mod the same way. Good tidings, guys.

Introversion Software has just released patch v1.2 for DEFCON: Everybody Dies. For those who have been living in a basement under the control of terrorist dwarves, DEFCON is a real-time strategy game where you'll find yourself squat in the middle of a Global Thermonuclear War.

Now, you must manage a full-on global nuclear war exchange and attempt to minimize the casualties in a war that threatens to destroy the entire planet (inspired by the Cold War era, of course). Honestly, it seems doomed to fail, but if you're really THAT good, surely you can manage thermonuclear war, right? Hahaha.

The game has been out since September 29, and to keep the fire burning (so they say), Introversion has released patch v1.2 which introduces a major change: a new mod support system. Before you get all excited about giving DEFCON a total graphical overhaul, you should know that this patch is for the boxed version of DEFCON. So if you got the Steam release of the game, sorry folks but this patch wouldn't work for you.

Changelog:

• New MOD support system

More info on Patch v1.2 changes in the full article!

Download: [DEFCON: Everybody Dies patch v1.2]