If you enjoy games that feature massive spaceships set against brightly lit planets in deep space, your Christmas wishes have come true. Virtual Programming has announced the release of X3: Albion Prelude. X3: Albion Prelude is the third installment in the epic X3 Universe series, following X3: Terran Conflict and X3: Reunion. Set in a time between the old and the new X Universe, it shows a universe in flux, and prepares players for things to come.

Virtual Programming showed some guts by bringing X3: Terran Conflict to the Mac. Are there any Mac gamers left willing to give up the time required to get into a space combat sim? Aren’t we all playing Diner Dash or those hidden object games? I hope not. In fact, games like this give me further reason to quit covering the casual games, because I want to spend more time with this one. And so I shall.

It’s been a fairly encouraging week for Mac gamers. Yesterday, we saw the release of Bullet Candy Perfect and The Secrets of Da Vinci: The Forbidden Manuscript. Today, Virtual Programming has announced X3: Terran Conflict for Mac OS X, the final chapter in the X Universe story. X3: Terran Conflict features “stunning graphics and spine-tingling audio that make players feel as if they’re really exploring deep space. They’ll undertake dangerous missions, become economic powerhouses, and engage in conflicts ranging from dogfights between small spacecraft to massive battles involving fleets of ships.”