Version 1.6 of Myth II, for which a public beta was available last summer, has now finally been officially released for Mac OS, Mac OS X, and Windows. It's available in the Myth II Updates section of the recently-launched The Tain, an archive for Myth-related files.

From ProjectMagma.net:

Myth II version 1.6, adds native MacOS X map making tools along with a Universal Binary for OS X. Not to be left out the Windows version received some modernization that drastically cut down startup times, allows the game to be played in a window, and shares the CPU better with other tasks.

This update will be of specific interest to Myth fans running Mac OS X as this update makes the game a Universal Binary, good for play on PPC and Intel machines.

Registration will open February 12 for the 5x5 Proelium Standards Myth vTFL tournament, part of the events scheduled this year to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Bungie's Mac and PC RTS game, Myth: The Fallen Lords.

Thanks to Zandervix at Myth.Bungie.Org for the news.

The Power Of Ten is a simple idea: make a Myth map using only ten monster tags. Check their site for official rules. Thanks to PlayMyth for the announcement.

Okay, this is a little obscure, but I thought it worth posting anyway.

Mumbo Jumbo is a company that does so-called "casual games". Mobile phone games, Flash games, puzzle games, game show conversions, card games. Some of it's on Xbox Live Arcade. However, the name "Mumbo Jumbo" wasn't always associated with such games. At one point, they were chosen by Take Two, who used to own 19.9% of Bungie Software, to develop Myth 3: The Wolf Age, the sequel to Bungie's accolade-adorned series of real-time strategy (or real-time tactics, for purists) games on the Mac and PC. When Microsoft bought Bungie, Take Two got the Myth and Oni franchises as part of the compensation; Microsoft and Bungie held on to Marathon and Halo.

Oni, it seems, has been left on the shelf. Mumbo Jumbo tapped members of the active Myth development community to make their game, and updated the Myth 2 engine to use fully 3D models. However, the game was received poorly by the Bungie faithful, and shortly after release, the team that developed it was let go. Today, Bungie's earlier Myth games are still more popular and better-supported than the orphaned Myth 3.

It was after this that Mumbo Jumbo, now just a name, became associated with casual gaming. Still, it's interesting to note that MJ has now acquired Ritual Entertainment, developer of shooters. Mumbo Jumbo itself was founded by a Ritual alum, and was formed by employees split off from 3D Realms. They developed mission packs for Quake, and most recently worked on SiN Episodes.

In 2001, Mumbo Jumbo split off from Ritual, at the same time announcing that their first title would be Myth 3.

MJ's website contains no reference whatsoever to Myth 3, or to its prior incarnation before the focus on casual and mobile gaming.

Project Magma, the guys who keep Myth multiplayer alive and provide patches so the game keeps running on updated operating systems, have launched a new website, Myth Vault, intended to be a catch-all archive for Myth-related files, including films, artworks, and even maps.

Project Magma has announced the availability of a public beta of version 1.6 of Myth II. The update makes Myth II on the Mac a Universal application, running natively on PPC or Intel hardware, allows it to run in a window on Windows 2000 or XP, and many other new features and bug fixes. This is a final quality-testing release before the final release. The team is offering the beta for download at The Tain and requesting feedback in the Project Magma forums.

MBO pointed out an unusual Gamasutra postmortem article from last summer which I don't remember seeing before. It's not on a game itself, but of an update to a game. In this case, the 1.5 and 1.5.1 updates to Myth II produced by Project Magma. It's a two-parter; one details what went right and the other what went wrong. Don't know what Myth is? Head to Get Myth and get the updated demo for Windows or Mac OS X.

On Monday May 8, registration for the Myth World Cup 2006 tournament opened up. Check their site for details on rules and teams.

PMA Blades at PlayMyth.net has put up a thoughtful piece on the future of the Myth franchise, looking forward to PlayMyth's fourth anniversary coming up near the end of this month, and the ten year anniversary of Myth: The Fallen Lords next year-- hopefully to be marked by a tournament.

For those who have copies of these classic games, you owe it to yourself to brush the dust off and get online, either through PlayMyth.net or Marius.net; the latter's gameserver is running, even though the website seems to have had a meltdown. MariusNet can't create new accounts anymore, but the username "guest" doesn't require a password and will let you in to play.

If you haven't played Myth before, you're missing out on a big part of the Bungie Experience (despite the fact that they don't own the franchise anymore) which is a lot more than cyborgs and AI constructs.