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In the first of many Macworld Expo San Francisco announcements to come, MacSoft just released the news that their port of Civilization III is currently shipping to stores, just a few short months behind the PC version. This strategy/sim title further refines and expands the legendary series of games from Sid Meier and should keep strategy fans riveted until Macworld New York in July. Here's the press release:

MacSoft, an Infogrames, Inc. (IFGM) label, announced today that one of the most eagerly anticipated Macintosh games has begun to ship to stores this week: Sid Meier's Civilization III. The third and most advanced game in the series that has been called "the greatest computer game of all time," challenges players to build a civilization that will stand the test of time through trade, diplomacy, cultural excellence and military might.

"We are thrilled to be able to offer this tremendous title to Mac gamers," said Paul Rinde, Senior Vice President of Infogrames. "We anticipate that the excitement shown by the Mac community in the first Civilization games will prove true with Civilization III."

The Civilization series has become a four-million-game seller since it was introduced in 1991. Series creator, world-renowned, hall-of-fame game designer Sid Meier and the team at FIRAXIS Games were persuaded to revisit Civilization by their desire to take the game to the next level and create the ultimate Civilization experience.

"I felt that technology and game design had advanced to the point where I could give form to the vision I've had for Civilization for some time," said Meier. "The game has always been called 'Civilization,' but the most common path to victory was war—hardly a very civilized activity. With the power of modern systems we can better model aspects like trade, culture and diplomacy and make them viable paths to victory too. This makes the gameplay much more dynamic and varied."

Developed by FIRAXIS Games, Inc., Sid Meier's Civilization III for the Macintosh is available at retail stores for the suggested selling price of $49.99 and has an ESRB rating of 'E' for Everyone.

Preview: Civilization III

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Civilization III

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