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Civilization III was released in October 2001 by Infogrames Interactive. In May 2003 Infogrames officially renamed Infogrames Interactive to Atari Interactive.<ref>[http://www.secinfo.com/dsvr4.28Z7.htm SEC Info - Atari Inc - 10-KT - For 3/31/03<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> [[Civilization III]] was developed by [[Firaxis]] and had [[Jeff Briggs]] as game designer.
Civilization III was released in October 2001 by Infogrames Interactive. In May 2003 Infogrames officially renamed Infogrames Interactive to Atari Interactive.<ref>[http://www.secinfo.com/dsvr4.28Z7.htm SEC Info - Atari Inc - 10-KT - For 3/31/03<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> [[Civilization III]] was developed by [[Firaxis]] and had [[Jeff Briggs]] as game designer.


===The Take Take-Two Years===
===The Take-Two Years===


[[Take-Two]] bought the rights to the Civilization franchise from Infogrames in 2004 for $22.3 million.<ref>[http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/civilization2/news.html?sid=6113971&mode=all Civilization sold off to mystery buyer - PC News at GameSpot<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/civilizationiv/news.html?sid=6117117 Take-Two takes over Civilization - PC News at GameSpot<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
[[Take-Two]] bought the rights to the Civilization franchise from Infogrames in 2004 for $22.3 million.<ref>[http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/civilization2/news.html?sid=6113971&mode=all Civilization sold off to mystery buyer - PC News at GameSpot<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/civilizationiv/news.html?sid=6117117 Take-Two takes over Civilization - PC News at GameSpot<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

Revision as of 03:28, 13 September 2009

"Civ" redirects here. For other uses, see CIV.
Conducting negotiations with Stalin of the Russians in the original Civilization.

Civilization is a series of turn-based strategy video games produced by Sid Meier. Basic gameplay functions are similar throughout the series, namely, guiding a civilization on a macro-scale from prehistory to the present day. As of March 12 2008, the Civilization franchise has sold over 8 million copies according to Take-Two Interactive.[1][2]

All the titles in the series share a similar gameplay method. Each turn allows the player to move any of his or her units on the world map, build new cities and units, and/or initiate negotiations with the computer-controlled players. In-between turns, computer players can do the same. The human player will also be asked which technology is to be researched in the background for the next set of turns, consuming points generated from, among other things, each city.

Technologies usually allow the player to build new units or to improve their cities in new ways, ultimately increasing that city's "happiness rating." Technologies can also be traded to the computer players in exchange for having them sign a treaty or similar. Before being able to order his/her units to attack those of another player, the player must first declare war more or less formally on the other.

Most Civilization games have a victory through conquest option (destroying all the other players' cities), building an interstellar space ship option (each part being built as a unit) and winning by score. Civilization III added the possibility of winning by domination (having two-thirds of the world's landmass within their borders), diplomacy (the computer players like the human player so much that, after any city is improved with the wonder "The United Nations", they elect them Secretary-General of the United Nations, then promote them to Leader of a World Government), and culture (when the game considers the sum of all the player's cities' culture points makes the player's culture a worldwide influence).

History

The main game screen in Civilization II.

MicroProse

In Template:Vgy, after acquiring the rights to the name "Civilization" from Avalon Hill,[3] MicroProse, founded by Sid Meier and Bill Stealey, published Civilization.[3] Sid Meier was the game's designer.[3] In 1993, MicroProse was bought by Spectrum Holobyte,[4] but the two companies remained separate. In 1996, MicroProse released the lauded[5] Civilization II, designed by Brian Reynolds;[3] also in 1996 Spectrum Holobyte consolidated the company under the name MicroProse, but, in a reaction to Spectrum Holobyte's decision to fire the majority of MicroProse's staff, Brian Reynolds, Jeff Briggs and Sid Meier left MicroProse and founded Firaxis.[6]

Although Firaxis didn't own the rights to brand name "Civilization", the company still went on to design the acclaimed[7] Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, which is a "space-based Civilization-style game"[8] released in 1998.[9] This game uses an game engine that's similar to the one used in Civilization II[10] and its storyline continues from where the Civilization franchise ended, namely the colonization of a planet in Alpha Centauri.

Court battle over brand name

In 1980, Francis Tresham designed the Civilization board game and published it through his company Hartland Trefoil, and in 1981, Avalon Hill obtained from Hartland Trefoil a license to sell the Civilization board game in the US.[11] In April 1997 Activision acquired from Avalon Hill the rights to the name "Civilization" on its PC games, and seven months later Avalon Hill and Activision sued MicroProse over copyright infringement because of the name "Civilization".[11]

In response to the lawsuit, in December 1997 MicroProse bought Hartland Trefoil, which was the original designer and manufacturer of the Civilization board game. This move sought to establish "MicroProse as the preeminent holder of worldwide computer game and board game rights under the CIVILIZATION brand".[12] Then MicroProse in January the following year sued both Avalon Hill and Activision for false advertising, unfair competition, trademark infringement, and unfair business practices as a result of Activision's decision to develop and publish Civilization computer games.[13]

In July Template:Vgy Avalon Hill and Activision decided to settle the case against MicroProse out of court. Under the terms of the settlement, MicroProse kept all the rights to the Civilization brand, Avalon Hill had to pay MicroProse $411,000, and Activision acquired a license from MicroProse to publish Civilization: Call to Power, released in March 1999.[11][14]

The reason Avalon Hill accepted the unfavorable settlement was because Hasbro was already negotiating the acquisition of both Avalon Hill and MicroProse. Less than one month after the settlement on August 1998, Avalon Hill was bought by Hasbro.[11] In the same month, Hasbro bought MicroProse for $70 million.[15] This meant that at the end of 1998, the Civilization franchise belonged to Hasbro.

Infogrames and Firaxis

Configuring city resources in Civilization III.

In January 2001, the French company Infogrames bought the Hasbro subsidiary Hasbro Interactive for $100 million,[16] which included the rights to the Civilization franchise, the rights to the Atari brand[17] and Hasbro's Game.com handheld game console.[17][18]

Hasbro Interactive was renamed to Infogrames Interactive, Inc.[19]

Civilization III was released in October 2001 by Infogrames Interactive. In May 2003 Infogrames officially renamed Infogrames Interactive to Atari Interactive.[20] Civilization III was developed by Firaxis and had Jeff Briggs as game designer.

The Take-Two Years

Take-Two bought the rights to the Civilization franchise from Infogrames in 2004 for $22.3 million.[21][22]

In October 2005, 2K Games, a Take-Two subsidiary, published Civilization IV, which was developed by Firaxis and had Soren Johnson as game designer.[23]

Take Two bought Firaxis for $26.7 million including possible performance bonuses in November 2005.[24] So as of 2008, Take Two owns both the developer and the publisher of the Civilization franchise.

Main series

Compilations

  • The Explorer (1997), includes Civilization and the Spin-Off Colonization.
  • Civilization II: Multiplayer Gold Edition (1998), includes Civilization II and its two expansions: Conflicts in Civilization and Fantastic Worlds.
  • Civilization III: Gold Edition (2003), includes Civilization III and the first expansion, Play the World.
  • Civilization III: Complete (2005), includes Civilization III and its two expansions: Play the World and Conquests.
  • Civilization Chronicles (2006), includes all the games from the main series from the first Civilization to Civilization IV.
  • Civilization IV: Gold Edition (2007), includes Civilization IV and its first expansion Warlords.
  • Civilization IV: Complete (2007), includes Civilization IV and its two expansions: Warlords and Beyond the Sword.
  • Civilization IV: The Complete Edition (2009), includes Civilization IV, its two expansions, Warlords and Beyond the Sword, and Civilization IV: Colonization.

Other games

When Sid Meier left MicroProse in 1996, the Civilization series was still part of MicroProse's portfolio, leading to a period of legal limbo that included the following games:

Fan games

Scottish science fiction author Iain M. Banks has noted that he spent much time playing the game (appearing to refer to the first version) and that it was one of the inspirations for the concept of the 'Outside Context Problem' central to his Excession novel - the appearance of invaders or travelers which are so advanced that they are totally outside the society's frame of reference. In an interview, Banks specifically compares this to having a Civilization battleship arrive while the player is still using wooden sailing ships.[27]

References

  1. ^ Matt Martin (2008-03-12). "Grand Theft Auto series has sold 66 million units to date". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2008-04-01.
  2. ^ "Recommendation of the Board of Directors to Reject Electronic Arts Inc.'s Tender Offer" (PDF). Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. 2008-03-26. p. 16. Retrieved 2008-04-01.
  3. ^ a b c d http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/1523/the_history_of_civilization.php?print=1
  4. ^ Company News; Microprose Plans Merger With Spectrum Holobyte - New York Times
  5. ^ http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/civilization2?q=civilization
  6. ^ History for MicroProse Software, Inc
  7. ^ http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/sidmeiersalphacentauri
  8. ^ http://www.forbes.com/1997/07/25/sid.html
  9. ^ http://pc.ign.com/objects/009/009941.html
  10. ^ http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/games/alpha_centauri.html
  11. ^ a b c d The Fall of Avalon Hill
  12. ^ MicroProse Buys out Hartland Trefoil
  13. ^ Hasbro Takes Over The Hill and Others
  14. ^ SEC Info - Monarch Services Inc - 10KSB40 - For 4/30/98
  15. ^ Hasbro Buying Alameda's MicroProse / Computer games-maker sells out for $70 million
  16. ^ Company News; Hasbro Completes Sale Of Interactive Business - New York Times
  17. ^ a b Press Release
  18. ^ SEC Info - Hasbro Inc - 10-K405 - For 12/31/00 - EX-13
  19. ^ Civilization III: Home
  20. ^ SEC Info - Atari Inc - 10-KT - For 3/31/03
  21. ^ Civilization sold off to mystery buyer - PC News at GameSpot
  22. ^ Take-Two takes over Civilization - PC News at GameSpot
  23. ^ Firaxis Games: Games: Sid Meier's Civilization Chronicles
  24. ^ Take-Two reveals acquisition prices, hints at future lawsuits - PlayStation 2 News at GameSpot
  25. ^ "New 'Civilization' Title Detailed". Totalgaming.net. 2007-03-28. Retrieved 2007-04-04. {{cite news}}: |first= missing |last= (help)
  26. ^ Geryk, Bruce (2000). "Call to Power II for PC Review". GameSpot PC Games p. 1. CNET Networks Entertainment. Retrieved March 1 2007. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |year= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  27. ^ Excession: A Conversation with Iain Banks (interview originally published in SFX magazine, via 'sandm.co.uk' website. Accessed 2009-01-04.)
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