Click to enlarge

Introversion Software has released a demo of their upcoming retro strategy game Darwinia for the PC. While no Mac demo is yet mentioned, we do know Ambrosia will be bringing the full game to the Mac, and this news on the PC version indicates the game will likely hit its promised release date of early March.

Darwinia is a polygon-inspired world which brings to mind influences like Disney's cult sci-fi movie Tron. This real-time strategy game takes an interesting twist by having the player create units by drawing different shapes on the screen.

For more about Darwinia, visit the official website or read through IMG's Macworld impressions of the title. Stay tuned for any news regarding a possible Mac demo of the game as well in the near future.

MWSF: IMG Chats with Ambrosia's Welch

Darwinia (add to watch list)

Ambrosia Software (add to watch list)

Introversion Software (add to watch list)

Click to enlarge

The IMG Store has begun taking pre-orders for MacSoft's Close Combat: First To Fight. Scheduled to release in March, First To Fight is available for pre-order for $39.95.

Created with the help of more than 40 active-duty Marines fresh from firefights in the Middle East, First to Fight is a tactical first-person shooter so real, the Marine Corps will use it for training.

Lead a four-man Marine fire team in urban combat. Enter firefights with confidence, knowing that your fire team follows Marine Corps doctrine known as "Ready-Team-Fire-Assist," now used in Iraq and Afghanistan. When you cross an intersection, ascend a staircase, and engage the enemy, your team will do it the way Marines are doing it, right now, in the most dangerous places the world.

You and your fire team are not alone. You are part of the Marine Air Ground Task Force, the razor-sharp tip of America's military spear. Call in tanks, sniper teams, mortar, helicopter gunships, and more, to shock your enemy into surrender or retreat.

Devastate your enemy psychologically with an unexpected flanking maneuver. Combine arms, like Cobra gunships and your M203 grenade launcher, to channel the enemy where you want him to go, and employ a vast array of authentic Marine warfighting techniques to establish speed and tempo.

Close Combat: First to Fight is as close as you can get on a Macintosh to being a Marine Corps fire team leader in modern urban combat.

Preliminary System Requirements:
• Macintosh OSX v10.2.8 or higher
• 1 GHz or faster processor
• 256MB RAM
• GeForce 2MX/Radeon 7500 video card
• 3 GB free hard drive space

Atomic Games (add to watch list)

MacSoft (add to watch list)

Close Combat: First to Fight (add to watch list)

Buy Close Combat: First to Fight

Click to enlarge

Following an extended period of downtime on World of Warcraft on Thursday, Blizzard President Mike Morhaime made a post to the World of Warcraft forum on Friday to apologize for the recent downtimes and assured fans of the popular online game that Blizzard is working around the clock to fix the problems.

Here's a clip from his post:

I want to take this opportunity to say that we will do everything possible to ensure that unexpected downtime like this does not occur in the future and that if it is necessary, we will do everything possible to give you better warning and keep you informed. In the future, we will avoid doing maintenance during peak hours, unless no other alternative presents itself. When complications occur that could impact your playing time, we will provide that information as well. We failed to do this last night, and I assure you that we are making changes to ensure that we do a better job of communicating with our players next time.

I want to extend my personal and heartfelt apology for the problems that some of you have been experiencing on our servers. We remain committed to delivering the best possible service for you and will continue to work around the clock to ensure that we provide an experience that you and I have to come to expect from Blizzard games.

Blizzard Entertainment (add to watch list)

World of Warcraft (add to watch list)

Message From President of Blizzard

Buy World of Warcraft

Click to enlarge

Ubi Soft posted a news item to the Shadowbane website announcing that the first city in the new Shadowbane world of Wrath has been established.

They had this to say about the momentous occasion:

The new world of Wrath went online last week on January 13th.  Numerous guilds from other fragments have begun to make a name in this new world; guilds such as the Knights of Glory and Beer, Societas Daemonica, and The Destroyer's Legion.  The first to make an actual claim was the Crime Syndicate when the planted the very first Tree of Life!  Crime Central, the name of the first city, is located in the Ulward Territory near the corrupted Elven Lands known as Aeran Belendor.

Shadowbane: First City on Wrath

Ubisoft (add to watch list)

Wolfpack Studios (add to watch list)

Shadowbane (add to watch list)

Search for other Mac games news stories or browse our Mac Games News Archive.