Type of Article: MacMinute Web Site

Bold Games has released Age of Empires II 1.0.3, an update to its popular real-time strategy game for Mac OS 8/9 and Mac OS X. The new version fixes multiplayer synchronization issues and a random crash that usually occurred late in the game.

Memora today announced the release of Memora Photo, a personal photo server intended for home users. The software, available for Mac OS X, allows users to easily serve photos and videos from their Mac. As such, a high-speed Internet connection is preferred.

A new report from Morgan Stanley analyst Gillian Munson suggests that Apple may introduce a redesigned iMac—possibly the long-rumored flat-panel iMac—at Macworld Expo San Francisco next month. “This product could generate a lot of excitement. Our reseller contacts have been reporting for some time that iMac demand is weak, mainly as a result of the dated form factor.”

Aspyr Media is now shipping Otto Matic, a new 3D action game featuring a robot on a mission to save humanity from the Evil Brain Aliens from Planet X, according to MacCentral. Developed by Pangea Software exclusively for Mac OS 8/9 and Mac OS X 10.1, Otto Matic is inspired by sci-fi b-movies from the 1950s. The game features 10 levels across several exotic worlds, seven different weapons, and more than two dozen types of alien creatures to destroy.

Not A Number has released an alpha version of Blender Creator, an integrated 3D creation suite for Mac OS X 10.1, as noted by Macworld UK. The software supports environment and texture mapping, radiosity, particle systems, distributed network rendering and much more. The current release includes a number of known bugs, including incompatibility with earlier versions of Mac OS X and the appearance of screen artifacts when maximizing windows.