GameTap Expands, Launches Lite Mac Client

As Turner's GameTap service announces the arrival of a 'lite' OSX player giving Mac owners access to its 'all-you-can-eat' download catalog, company officials have also announced the opening of a West Coast office, to be headed by company content VP and creative director Ricardo Sanchez. The new office, located in San Francisco, will see Sanchez and a team of GameTap employees focusing primarily on licensing and content, which Turner executive VP and COO of animation says is a "natural progression for our business and will enable our company to work closely with the local prominent gaming community, plus, help us continue to maintain greater relationships with our partners." First announced in late June, the new Mac-based GameTap client utilizes TransGaming's Cider technology to give Intel-based Macs access to some 500 titles currently on the GameTap service. The company is still planning a late summer launch for the Mac version of the full deluxe player, which will offer a richer game environment, with full-screen gameplay, customizable control settings, and the ability to download games while playing another. Said TransGaming CEO Vikas Gupta of the player launch, “The availability of GameTap on Mac represents an amazing inflection point for Mac gamers. GameTap is a great boon to the gaming world and it’s wonderful that GameTap is making their content available to the thriving Mac community. We worked with GameTap to bring Myst Online: Uru Live to Mac players and we’re pleased to be working with GameTap on a larger scale to bring some of the greatest video games to the Mac.”