City of Heroes to get Mac Special Edition

NCsoft just announced that City of Heroes will soon have a Mac client, joining the likes of World of Warcraft and EVE Online as MMOs that can played on OS X. It'll be made possible through partnership with Transgaming, the creators of the Cider portability engine, which acts as a 'wrapper' for the standard PC client, allowing it to run within OS X on an Intel Mac.

While Blizzard's Mac client for World of Warcraft was written from the ground up, NCsoft's newest City of Heroes 'Good vs. Evil edition' client will be playable through Transgaming's Cider, and thus will be the same client gamers are accustomed to on the PC. This method of bringing the PC client to Mac without porting or rewriting is the same avenue CCP Games took with their EVE Online client for OS X. The City of Heroes Mac Special Edition includes two exclusive items:

• Mission Teleporter Power - Players can save time and get right into the action by teleporting directly to their active mission.

• Exclusive Valkyrie Costume set - Costume pieces include two varieties of wings, a cape, a skirt/kilt, pants, boots, shoulders, chest, gloves, belts, and helmet with multiple details. (Available to both Heroes and Villains.)

The Mac client for City of Heroes will go into public beta testing with the game's next Fall expansion, Issue 13: Power and Responsibility. NCsoft also states that the Mac version is slated to officially launch shortly after the expansion release, 'via a special digital-only edition'. It's possible to pre-order the Mac version of City of Heroes at Gametree Online but for those who can't wait, NCsoft is currently accepting open beta testers for the Mac Special Edition.