RoN has gone gold

CygnusZ · April 24, 2003, 00:37

I'm surprised a thread hasn't popped up about this, but Rise of Nations has gone gold. Here's the press release:

Apr. 22, 2003 —

Microsoft Game Studios today announced that Rise of Nations has gone gold and is scheduled to ship to stores on May 20 in North America. Virtual field commanders will soon get the opportunity to "Conquer the World" in single player, or lead their troops into battle online with this revolutionary real-time strategy (RTS) game from Brian Reynolds. To celebrate this milestone, gamers will be able to chat live with Reynolds on Zone.com today, April 22, at 5pm PDT. For more information on the chat, visit http://zone.msn.com/zzzz/zzzzreynoldschat.asp.

Rise of Nations combines the epic scope of traditional turn-based strategy (TBS) games with the fast-paced action of RTS games. The game allows players to create new cities, improve their city infrastructure and expand national borders. Players have the option to win through military might using everything from slingshots to cannons to stealth bombers, corner the market on key commodities, and wheel and deal with a wide variety of Nations. Unlike other historical RTS games, Rise of Nations allows gamers to quickly play through eight historical epochs of time from the Ancient Age to the Information age, covering 6,000 years of history. Gamers can play a quick battle on any map as one of 18 nations, or play Conquer the World, the unique blending of TBS and RTS gameplay. This latest title from Big Huge Games Inc. founder Brian Reynolds (designer of Civilization 2 and Alpha Centauri) will be available for an estimated retail price of $49.95 U.S. For more information about Rise of Nations, visit the official site at http://www.riseofnations.com.

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Microsoft Game Studios is a leading worldwide publisher and developer of games for the PC, Xbox video game system and online platforms. Comprising a network of top developers, Microsoft Game Studios is committed to creating innovative and diverse game portfolios for the PC (http://www.microsoft.com/games/), including such franchises as Age of Empires, Flight Simulator and Zoo Tycoon; Xbox (http://www.xbox.com/), including such franchises as Halo, Project Gotham Racing and NFL Fever; and Zone.com (http://www.zone.com/), the official games channel for the MSN network and home to such hits as Bejeweled and OutSmart.

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http://www.bighugegames.com/news/03_04_22.html

FrustratedPoet · April 24, 2003, 04:29

A thread probably didn't appear because of the two-day site crash.

I saw this news on Gamespot yesterday and got rather excited!

Brian says that after a couple of days off the team are going to put a demo together and then begin some real work towards an expansion pack ... and the mysterious second BHG game (confirmed to be another RTS-type game).

HuangShang · April 25, 2003, 20:09

yeah, i noticed this from GameSpot too

FrostyBoy · April 28, 2003, 20:46

good

I hope this is good, coz this is prolly the last civ-like game we'll see for a long long time

alva · May 5, 2003, 22:47

Why?

FrostyBoy · May 5, 2003, 23:16

coz, ppl are getting less and less confident in those companies who make civ-like games and so in turn, I have to expect that those companies won't risk making another.

Rohag · May 6, 2003, 11:02

I'm not sure to what extent people would consider it a "Civ-like game," but Supreme Ruler 2010 in development by BattleGoat studios (publisher - Strategy First; expected 4th quarter 2003) has some Civ-like features. It's world-wide in scope but narrowly focused on the near future.

alva · May 6, 2003, 14:26

True Snoopy, on the other hand, as long as one company thinks there is a market for a civ game, someone will make one.