All Big Fish Games only $6.99!

Big Fish Games has just reduced the price of ALL their games (well over 100 for Mac and PC) from $19.99 to $6.99! The way this works is that you sign up for the Big Fish Games Club, and get 1 credit each month for $6.99. However, if you don't want recurring charges, you can easily deactivate your subscription and then reactivate it again when you want to buy another game. You can also buy additional credits each month for $6.99 if you would like to buy more games. Enjoy! :)

The Count of Monte Cristo for 99c

You can get The Count of Monte Cristo for 99c from Big Fish Games until 27 April. To get your discount, just follow these steps: - Sign-In or create a new account - Click the 'BUY' button on the game page (Mac or PC) - Select the $19.99 price option - Cut and paste this coupon code into the box: COUNT99

Enjoy! ;)

MacHeist is back!

The MacHeist Bundle is back! It costs $39 and contains 10 applications plus an extra 3 that will be unlocked when a certain amount of money is raised for charity (25% of each sale goes to charity). Furthermore, if you refer a friend you will get an extra game, and if you refer 2 friends you will get the Koingo Utility Package which contains another 13 applications! There are only 5 days left, so don't miss out ;)

Get Spa Mania for 99 cents!

I have another coupon for you all from Big Fish Games! To get Spa Mania for only 99c, just follow these steps: - Sign-In or create a new account - Click the 'BUY' button on the game page (Mac or PC) - Select the $19.99 price option - Cut and paste this coupon code into the box: SPA99MANIA

The coupon expires on 30 March, so hurry or you'll be too late! ;)

50% off all Big Fish Games

Use the coupon springfever at checkout to get 50% off all Big Fish Games. Expires March 23rd, 2009. Enjoy! :)

Get 10+ commercial games FREE for Mac and Windows

Big Fish Games is a website that has many games for both Mac and Windows users, with an optional subscription service that lets you pay as little as $6.99 per game! At the moment they have quite a few sponsored promotions in which they are giving away games and giving 50% discounts on others. I got the following 9 games free for my Mac: Fairies, Magic Vines, Atlantis, Build-a-lot, Mahjong Towers Eternity, Mystic Inn, Mystery Case Files: Huntsville, Mystery Case Files: Madame Fate, and Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst. Some of the promotions let you choose from a selection of games, so you can get the games you like best (try the demos first if you're undecided).

HOW TO REDEEM YOUR FREE GAMES

1. Sign up for a free account and make sure you are logged in
2. Enter your info on the following Game Redemption Centers:
   - Verbatim (2 free games from a selection of 5)
   - Borders or 6pm (free Huntsville and Mahjong Towers)
   - Roush Fenway (1 free game from a selection of 4)
   - Barnes & Noble (free Haunted Hotel)
   
3. Send a Hallmark card: 1, 2, or 3 (free Sudoku and 1 game from selection of 3)
4. Complete this quiz (2 free games from a selection of 5)
5. Add your chosen games to your cart
6. Add Build-a-lot and Ravenhearst to your cart
7. In your cart, deselect the checkbox next to the backup CD that has been added (unless you want it of course, but it's not free)
8. Insert your coupon codes (check your email for them)
9. Coupons for Build-a-lot and Ravenhearst are FREEBUILD and HOLIDAYRAVEN
10. Once the total is $0, complete your order

Before completing your order you could also add any other games you would like to get, for example the discounted games that you received coupons for - the sequel to Ravenhearst is among them.
Once you have completed your order, you will receive an email with your registration licenses and download links. Enjoy!

P.S. Once you have signed up you can become an affiliate and earn rewards for referring friends and family! I think right now they only offer cash rewards, but soon there will also be an option to get free games if you prefer ;)

Free Games from Mac Games Arcade

Mac Games Arcade is giving away a game for free each day until Tuesday! Yesterday they gave away "Pangea Arcade", today they are giving away "Bullet Candy", and over the next 3 days they will be giving away "Rocket Bowl", "Platypus", and "Nanny Mania". Read this post for instructions, and enjoy your free games! :D

Free Mac apps from the Mac Giving Tree

The Mac Giving Tree is giving away several commercial apps for free this Christmas! Right now only 2 apps are available for download - Synergy and Enigmo 2 - but 2 more will be unlocked on Christmas, and another 2 can be unlocked by referring your friends. I'm really excited about getting Enigmo 2, and I can't wait to start playing! I think Synergy will also be very useful - the addition of global hot keys to iTunes means I will probably be using it much more often. I'm also looking forward to finding out what the other apps are going to be! :D Hop on over to the Mac Giving Tree to get your free gifts too! ;)

Cooliris finally available for Safari!

Cooliris, formerly known as PicLens, is finally available again for Safari users! Cooliris is a browser plugin (currently available for Safari, Firefox and Internet Explorer) that enables you to browse or search for images and video via a beautiful interface. The results are shown on a 3D wall that you can scroll around on and zoom-in on.

Supported sites include Amazon, YouTube, Flickr, SmugMug, Google, Yahoo, deviantART, Photobucket, Picasa, Facebook, and MySpace. For the full list click here. It is also possible to enable Cooliris on your own website or blog.

I have been waiting a long time for Cooliris to be compatible with the new version of Safari, and now that it has been released I am suitably impressed. The images don't completely load until you click on them, so when you select an image to enlarge it's a bit blurry at first, but the loading time is quite fast - and I have a terrible connection! It also considerably speeds up image browsing and searching, as there's no need to load a new page after every few images, and it only fully loads the images that you are interested in.

To see everything Cooliris can do, just hop over to Cooliris.com, and watch the introductory video. You need to see it in action to fully understand how great it is! ;)

ZeusDraw review

ZeusDraw is a vector application that I found a few days ago on MacZot. At first glance it didn't seem interesting, but I took the time to watch the demonstration videos and was blown away by the simplicity and intuitiveness of it's brush and color controls. I'm no expert with graphic applications, but brush capabilities are something even I have found sorely lacking in the cheaper (i.e. not made by Adobe) graphic applications for Mac. They all allow you to paint with a brush, but usually the only things you can customize are the size, color, and softness. With ZeusDraw, on the other hand, it's a different story entirely.

ZeusDraw on MacZot

ZeusDraw, a vector drawing application, is on special this weekend at MacZot. At first glance it didn't interest me much, but after watching the videos I was blown away by it's brush and colour controls! Stay tuned for a full review ;)

Interview with VectorDesigner developer Marco Pifferi

Marco Pifferi of TweakerSoft is the developer of VectorDesigner, a vector application for the Mac and winner of the Macworld Best of Show Award in January 2008. In this interview we will find out how VectorDesigner was born, and where it's going in the future.

Pixelmator 1.2 Draftsman released

It seems today is the day for graphic application releases - earlier today VectorDesigner was updated, and now the much-awaited Pixelmator 1.2 Draftsman has been released too! The updates include curves, grids and rulers, a masks palette, a polygonal lasso tool, a more in-depth help file, and many more Automator actions.

The masks palette makes working with selections and masks much easier, and the help file is great for beginners or for finding out the use or shortcuts of a tool. The images illustrating the effects of the filters and other tools are a very useful learning aid, enabling you to see what effects they will have without having to test each one. Unfortunately there aren't previews for the Quartz Composer filters, but I guess we can't have everything ;)

All in all I'm very pleased with Pixelmator Draftsman, and the regular updates give me confidence that Pixelmator will keep improving steadily. Keep up the good work, Pixelmator team!

VectorDesigner updated to version 1.2.0

Today VectorDesigner was updated to version 1.2.0. The core updates are:
- Smart snap on elements, points and intersections
- Export selection
New video tutorials have also been added to their website.

Unfortunately the Path Tips that pop up now every time you put your cursor over a line, point or intersection can get quite annoying and distracting - hopefully they will soon add an option to turn them off.

Update:
The option to disable Path Tips has been added. Thanks Marco for the super-fast addition!

$10 discount on VectorDesigner for Mac

Tweakersoft is offering a $10 discount on VectorDesigner for all ScreenCastsOnline readers, subscribed or not. Just click here to got to the ScreenCastsOnline VectorDesigner page, and follow the link. The offer ends on 23rd May.

Free Mac utility apps that make life easier

I thought I'd share a list and short description of Mac utility applications I use that have made my Mac experience a little easier. Feel free to add your own favorites in the comments ;)