Sid Meier's next game! YARRRR!

[Urban Ranger]

Colonization is kinda cheesy. I much prefer Seven Cities of Gold.

[Mahdimael]

Gamespot has confirmed that the game is an update to Pirates!

[Kropotkin]

So that's that then. Ship o'hoj, captain! Sail on the horizont...

[Spiffor]

From Gamespot :

At an E3 press conference today, Atari and Firaxis announced that the developer will create a new game: Sid Meier's Pirates! Firaxis' decision to revisit the classic game was inspired by, as Meier put it, "the many requests we've gotten from game players." According to Meier, Firaxis has received more requests to revisit Pirates! than for any of his other previous games in the more than 15 years since the original game's release.

According to Meier, Pirates! helped players feel as though they were undertaking buccaneering as "a career"--many players wrote in and explained how they enjoyed the classic game's unique combination of action, role-playing, and strategy elements. "We're at a point where it makes sense to reimagine the game for the 21st century," said Meier, who suggested parallels between the open-ended exploration of games like Grand Theft Auto III and the original Pirates!, since the original game encouraged players to explore the high seas in search of adventure. However, according to Firaxis president Jeff Briggs, the new game may put more emphasis on role-playing elements. Specifically, players will be able to truly decide to be noble sea captains in service to the king, or dastardly, scurvy pirates in search of innocent vessels to plunder.

Sid Meier's Pirates! will be released next year. According to Meier and Briggs, the game will be made available to members of the press "sometime before the game is released next year." We'll have more information on the game as soon as we can possibly get it.

By Andrew Park, GameSpot [POSTED: 05/14/03 07:05 PM]

[Spiffor]

From IGN :

May 14, 2003 - "Pirates! is really a game that crosses a lot of genres," says Sid Meier. It's no surprise then that he's finally decided to try his hand at recreating the magic that made the game so popular. The first game's open-ended adventures and combination of sea battles, town assaults and shipboard sword fighting filled the hours between trading, searching for treasure and the endless search for a wife.

The new game will adhere to the open model of the first game, letting the player make their own story and seek their own content. But this time around Pirates! will feature a full 3D engine. The game is being designed as a single player game. As far as multiplayer options go, Jeff Briggs explains, "We think Pirates! is essentially a single player game." The team's not completely ruling out multiplayer entirely, but it won't be a part of the upcoming release, at least off the shelf.

"The main reason we decided to bring pirates back to life was because of the game players," Sid explains. "Every time we talked to gamers over 25 years of age, they asked when are we going to do another Pirates!" While the new game isn't due out until next year, you can bet we'll beg, steal and yes, even ask for more details on this game.
-- Steve Butts

[Jamski]

Better break out the grog then. I imagine we'll soon be seeing a Pirates 2 forum on 'poly....

-Jam

[Kropotkin]

...the new game may put more emphasis on role-playing elements. Specifically, players will be able to truly decide to be noble sea captains in service to the king, or dastardly, scurvy pirates in search of innocent vessels to plunder.

And you couldn't do that before? Seems like the idea of some kind of incorporated decision in the game that will hamper the freedom of the player. That's a bad thing.

Of cource, it might be an idea that the captain in service woun't be able to keep all the money in the same way as the pirate does. Some sort of income tax. That might be a good thing to make the decision more vital for the development of the career.

[Steve Clark]

As long as they keep it open-ended instead of forcing the gamer into a linear gameplay (like Civ3 and SeaDogs).

[Kropotkin]

Maybe we'll get more micro-management. Like making decisions over what parts of the ship to repair first, what your seamen should or shouldn't do when in harbour and decorate your own cabin in the latest 1640's fashion.

[FrostyBoy]

Is Atari making a come-back or has Atari always been alive and kicking?

[Buck Birdseed]

Nah, Infogrames just rebranded themselves "Atari" because (a) they own the rights to the classic, recognisable name (after buying Hasbro Interactive, who had it before, who bought it off Warner, who...) and (b) everyone always thought they were called "Infogames".

[Cruddy]

I'm fairly certain Atari died as a hardware manufacturer back in the 90s. Since then it's been a handy badge to stick on a box to raise sales.

[Carolus Rex]

Sorry to be the one to break the bad news, but here it is...

You're all going to be screaming of disappointment in a year's time... The special Pirates II forum, that no doubt will be created as part of the hype, will be a flaming pit...

Do Call to Power I and II, Test of Time, Civ 3 ring a bell? And from what I have gathered from reading the fora, can you spell MOO3?

The anticipation, the hype, the anticlimax, the disappointment? The vows never to spend another nickel on these franchises?

I'll be the first to dig this thread out of the archives a year and a half from now, to show you all where you read it first...

Sorry, but I couldn't resist this one...

Carolus

[Kropotkin]

You're such an optimist Kalle, it woun't be out in one year. People will get their hopes up for two years before the fall into complete disappointment.

[Arrian]

Colonization is kinda cheesy. I much prefer Seven Cities of Gold.

Another game I had on my old C64. But I was so young I don't think I really played that one right. I'd love to find a copy of it so I could play it now.

As for Pirates!, well, cool. I hope it's good. I'm sure there will be the usual hype and resulting flaming after release. I remember the CivIII general forum.

-Arrian