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Electronic Arts has announced that the first four of its six announced new games for the Macintosh are finally shipping. The games now available for order on Apple's online store are Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Need for Speed Carbon, Battlefield 2142 and Command & Conquer Tiberium Wars.

Users can order the games from Apple’s online store today. Need for Speed Carbon and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix are both going to be available in Apple retail stores beginning Tuesday, August 21, while Battlefield 2142 and Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars will be available a week later, on the 28th.

“We’re thrilled that the world’s number one games company is making this major commitment to the Mac and game fans are going to love playing these new EA titles on a Mac,” said Apple spokesman Anuj Nayar.

Customers looking for the games will need to go specifically to Apple’s retail or online stores. The titles aren’t available anywhere else. Apple confirmed to Macworld that the games are exclusive to the Apple stores, at least for the moment.

Macworld: EA Ships Four Mac Games

Apple: EA Games

Electronic Arts

Battlefield 2142

Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix

Command and Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars

Need for Speed: Carbon

Buy Battlefield 2142

Buy Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix

Buy Command and Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars

Buy Need for Speed: Carbon

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Introversion Software and Ambrosia Software have announced plans for a DEFCON freeplay long-weekend in conjunction with the Penny Arcade Expo. DEFCON is an online, competitive, multiplayer strategy game simulating global thermonuclear war. The event will take place on Friday, August 24th at 18:00 GMT and run until Monday, August 27th  at 06:00 GMT. During this time, DEFCON will be free for all to play.

"DEFCON is a great game and this will be a fantastic opportunity for those who haven’t yet played it to have a go," said Vicky Arundel, Head of Marketing at Introversion.  "We’re really looking forward to welcoming some newcomers to the DEFCON community and hope that this taster will leave you wanting to come back again."

DEFCON Freeplay Weekend

Ambrosia Software

DEFCON

A new article from AppleInsider explores Electronic Arts' inability to deliver the promised simultaneous Mac releases of some of its planned Cider powered game lineup. An EA representative said Madden NFL 08 and Tiger Woods 08 would not reach their planned August release dates, instead coming sometime in September or October.

When pressed for an explanation, the EA spokesperson said there were no definitive reasons available for the delay but alluded to a possible lack of experience with Mac development. This was possibly prompted in part by the company's years-long absence from the platform.

In speaking to AppleInsider, the spokesperson nonetheless claimed that four ports of previously released titles -- Battlefield 2142, Command and Conquer 3, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and Need for Speed Carbon -- were already available in stores. As of press time, however, EA was unable to provide the name of a single store at which customers could purchase any of the titles.

A brief survey by AppleInsider of Apple's stores, as well as Amazon and several other leading online retailers, revealed that none had the games in stock while only a few outlets were offering pre-orders. Some online retailers known to carry Mac software, including Amazon, made no mention of the Mac version whatsoever while listing available copies for Windows and several video game consoles.

AppleInsider: EA Backtracking

Electronic Arts

Apple: EA Game Trailers

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The official community site for the upcoming Enemy Territory: Quake Wars is now hosting a new article exploring a less direct "Strollin' Soldier" approach to successfully completing objectives in the game. Quake Wars is an online multi-player, team-based shooter that will revolve around the forces of Earth facing off against the evil Strogg in a violent struggle for survival.

One vital aspect of the Strollin’ Soldier is how far away from melee distance we stay. Resist the urge to close with the enemy. We're going to hang back and make the most of the Rocket Launcher's effective range which keeps us safely out of range of Strogg Lacerators and that nasty looking infantry firefight in the distance. Press Mouse 2 to look through the Rocket Launcher’s sight. See the little rangefinder on the right, below the horizontal crosshair? You can lock on to targets up to 200 metres away. That’s way outside the range of enemy small arms. You’ll be wanting to keep about 100 metres away from your targets at all times. Anti-Personnel Turrets have a range of about 75 metres, so as long as we stay back at 100 metres, we have less to worry about and more time to make better decisions about how we can maximise the damage we do to the enemy.

If you really want to be thorough, go play as Strogg and see what infantry targets you’re just not bothering to shoot at because they’re too far away, at the extreme far end of your Lacerator’s effective range, and it's too much bother to spend time going prone and popping away at them. That’s at least how far away you want to be as Strollin’ Soldier, if not further. Our long sight lines are going to make it much easier to stay alive, spot targets and avoid fire – even incoming artillery (hopefully enemy artillery if it's incoming on our position!).

Unlocking Valley With Strollin' Soldier

Aspyr Media

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (don't use)

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Blizzard Entertainment recently updated its StarCraft II website with information on the returning Dark Templar unit, and unveiled a new Battle.net forum specifically for the upcoming RTS sequel. Blizzplanet is also offering some new SC II related info, in the form of over a hundred images from the recent BlizzCon 2007 event.

From Blizzplanet:

Psytech and five of his friends from Costa Rica are members of the Blizzplanet forum community. They went to Blizzcon 2007 and had a lot of fun playing Starcraft II. Psytech submited 107 screenshots of what he experienced at BlizzCon. You will see the World of Warcraft DC Action figures, Starcraft: The Board Game, and other things.

Blizzplanet: BlizzCon 07 Shots

Battle.net: SC II Forum

SC II: Dark Templar

Blizzard Entertainment

StarCraft II: Wings Of Liberty

Buy StarCraft II: Wings Of Liberty

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