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Civilization Revolution The next Civilization title is announced: Civilization Revolution. It is the first-ever Civilization game that is designed for consoles, namely the XBox360 and the PS3. There is a teaser trailer and some new concept art screenshots. More >
2nd Civilization IV Expansion Firaxis has produced the 2nd expansion for Civilization IV, called "Beyond the Sword," which focuses on the late-game period. It will be released in July 2007. More >
Guild Wars Trilogy Come and play the entire Guild Wars Trilogy FREE with a 14 day trial!
Vespasian, Civ IV, and Intro to Roman Culture A university teacher talks about how he used Civilization IV to teach Roman history.
Railroads Strategy Guide Railroads! strategy guide in several installments! Read parts one and two now!
Mod Update: The Ancient Mediterranean 4:37 PST | jvdc | Print News | Category: Civ News - Firaxis NewsThis is the first entry to our new series: mod updates. We wish to keep you up to date with which mods have been released and which have been updated. If you have a mod that you wish to promote here, email to news@planetcivilization.gamespy.com!
The Ancient Mediterranean mod for Civilization IV (vanilla) has published versin 2.01, the final version for the un-expanded game.
You might think that Sid Meier's opus is an innocuous enough strategy title, with the potential benefit of giving gamers a grand overview of the course of mankind's history on Earth and providing counterfactual historians with a sandbox in which to test their theories. You'd be wrong. Quite aside from the obvious ridiculousness of primitive warriors taking out tanks and gunships with little more than spears, the most idiotic thing about the game is the way it endorses a Whiggish view of history, in which progress is inevitable, and any sort of national difference in technology or culture is suppressed.
What's worse, that notion of history is modelled, as historian Matthew Kapell has noted (in "Civilization and its Discontents: American Monomythic Structure as Historical Simulacrum." Popular Culture Review Vol. XIII, No. 2 (Summer): 129-136, Wikipedia fans), on American myths of progress and the frontier. I mean, everybody knows that British progress is better than all the other kinds (well, except for Washington State University's Aaron Welchel, who complains that "Even Civ III, by far the most robust and historically correct program, forces progress through Ancient, Middle, and Industrial ages conceptualized through a Eurocentric lens."
While historical accuracy is certainlly a valid complaint for games that claim to be historically accurate, it's not quite right in this case. Civilization is a game of alternate history... that's the whole point of the game! Yes, the game's conception of history is based on a Euro-centric approach, and it is modeled on a very determinist and somewhat Hegelian view of history, but then that's exactly where this game is marketed: Americans and Europeans. It has nothing to do with the American Frontier...
Civilized Education: Vespasian[ Comment ] 2:13 PST | jvdc | Print News | Category: Civ NewsArchaeologist and university teacher Shawn Grahams has written an article on how he used Civilization to teach about Roman history. His experience is not only innovate, but also surprising in some parts.
Civilization IV now on Gametap[ Comment ] 10:31 PST | jvdc | Print News | Category: Civ NewsGametap, the online game distribution service, announced today the addition of their 1000th game: Sid Meier's Civilization IV. We congratulate Gametap on their extensive list of downloadable games and on their excellent choice for the 1000th addition.
Railroads goes Red Bull[ Comment ] 9:02 PST | jvdc | Print News | Category: Railroads NewsTom Symonds, a 24 year-old 3D artist for Firaxis Games has created real-world three-dimensional "art." Since he made train models for Sid Meier's Railroads, he made a train engine (maybe because he couldn't get trains out of his head?)... out of 50 Red Bull cans!
Civilization Revolution Preview 2:09 PST | jvdc | Print News | Category: Civ NewsPro-G has posted a preview of Civilization Revolution, the upcoming console version of the classic game. Revolution is described as "Civilization Light," a game that mirrors the same basic premise, but is built on much simpler rules. Also, the game appears to be far more tongue-in-cheek than the previous games have been.
The overall idea here is that the pace, if not the tone, is similar to a typical first hour of a traditional Civilization game throughout the entirety of a Revolution game. That idea is an enticing one, but just who will buy Revolution is unclear. For hardcore god gamers it may just be a little too basic, and for newcomers it may feel a touch too entrenched in the Civilization world.
01. BioShock�2K Games
02. The Sims 2: Bon Voyage*�EA
03. MediEval II Total War: Kingdoms Expansion Pack�Sega
04. Sid Meier�s Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword�2K Games
05. World of Warcraft�Blizzard
06. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Expansion Pack�Blizzard
07. Medal of Honor Airborne*�EA
08. Microsoft Flight Simulator X Deluxe DVD�Microsoft
09. Guild Wars: Eye of the North Expansion Pack�NCsoft
10. SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition�EA
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