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To: Da Zipstah who wrote (1241)	12/3/1997 2:33:00 AM
From: Coy Lynn Gullett	Respond to of 2319

MicroProse, Inc. Announces Acquisition of Creator of Civilization(TM) Board Game ALAMEDA, Calif. -- MicroProse, Inc. (Nasdaq: MPRS), a worldwide interactive entertainment company, today announced the acquisition of Hartland Trefoil, Ltd., the original creator and publisher of the CIVILIZATION(TM) board game. The acquisition further establishes MicroProse, the publisher of the award-winning and best-selling SID MEIER'S CIVILIZATION(R) family of computer-game products, as the pre-eminent holder of worldwide computer game and board game rights under the CIVILIZATION brand. Founded in 1971 by game designer Francis Tresham, Hartland Trefoil published the original CIVILIZATION board game in 1980 and has marketed the game worldwide through licensing relationships with distributors and third-party publishers of board game products. Since approximately 1982, the Hartland Trefoil board game has been distributed outside Europe by Avalon Hill Game Company. Hartland Trefoil has also developed and published other popular strategy board game products such as 1829 and SPANISH MAIN. Francis Tresham, creator of the CIVILIZATION board game and General Director of Hartland Trefoil, will continue to design games as a consultant for MicroProse. "As publisher of the internationally well-known CIVILIZATION family of computer games, we are delighted to be joining forces with the creative mind behind the outstanding CIVILIZATION board game," said Derek McLeish, Senior Vice President of Marketing for MicroProse. "The combination of our computer game products and Hartland Trefoil's board game products further strengthens one of the most recognized brand names in the industry." To date, MicroProse's CIVILIZATION(TM) computer game products have generated sales of more than two million computer games worldwide and rank as one of the most critically-acclaimed series in computer gaming history. With the original game already inducted into the Computer Gaming World Hall of Fame, SID MEIER'S CIVILIZATION(R) II was hailed as the "Game of the Year" in 1996 by Time Magazine, PC Gamer and Computer Retail Week and "Strategy Game of the Year" by Computer Gaming World. More than a year after its initial release, it remains one of the top 20 best-selling games in the United States. MicroProse recently released its CIV II(TM) FANTASTIC WORLDS(TM) expansion CD-ROM which features science fiction and fantasy-based scenarios and an advanced scenario construction kit. Where past CIVILIZATION games focused on historical occurrences, CIV II FANTASTIC WORLDS gives strategy enthusiasts and gamers alike the chance to explore 19 new, incredible science fiction and fantasy scenarios where anything can happen -- and does. In mind-boggling, alternate worlds, players can meet up with everything from dinosaurs to aliens, as well as create their own worlds using the scenario construction kit. Other CIVILIZATION products are currently in development including the recently announced ULTIMATE CIVILIZATION II(TM), a multiplayer version of the best-selling, award-winning SID MEIER'S CIVILIZATION II. Microprose, Inc. is a leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software for use on CD-ROM-based personal computers. The company is also developing software for use on next-generation 32/64-bit console machines, the Internet and online gaming services. The company has five development studios located in Alameda, California; Hunt Valley, Maryland; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Austin, Texas; and Chipping Sodbury, England. Products are available nationally and internationally and are sold through major distributors, retailers and mass merchants. Product and company information is available for download from the MicroProse(R) Web site at www.microprose.com. NOTE: SID MEIER'S CIVILIZATION and MICROPROSE are registered trademarks and CIVILIZATION, CIV, CIV II, CIV II FANTASTIC WORLDS and ULTIMATE CIVILIZATION II are trademarks of MicroProse, Inc. or its affiliated companies. /CONTACT: Kathy Sanguinetti, PR Manager of MicroProse, Inc., 510-864-4474, or ksanguin@holobyte.com/ Coy

To: Da Zipstah who wrote (1241)	12/3/1997 2:38:00 AM
From: Coy Lynn Gullett	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2319

What's in a Name? Fight Over Civilization Property Continues MicroProse has bought Hartland Trefoil, a small board game company that created the original Civilization way back in 1980. The acquisition's main purpose -- to defend the Civilization name from Activision. Earlier this year Activision licensed the name Civilization from Avalon Hill (the distributors of the board game version), and Activision said at the time they intended to release computer games based on the name Civilization. But Avalon Hill doesn't own the rights to Civilization, says MicroProse. Hartland Trefoil, now a MicroProse subsidiary, does. "Hartland Trefoil is the original creator," says Derek McLeish, MicroProse's senior vice president of marketing. "They own all of the intellectual property and worldwide rights." McLeish says that MicroProse has filed a trademark action to cancel Avalon Hill's registration. And so Activision's licensing of the Civilization name from Avalon Hill is invalid, according to McLeish. The next Civilization product from MicroProse will be called Ultimate Civilization, and it will include Civilization II, the first Civ II expansion pack, and a new multi-player package for the game. It's due out next quarter. But both Activision and Avalon Hill have said that MicroProse's earlier use of the Civilization name was a one-time agreement, extending only to the first Sid Meier Civilization game, implying that Civilization II violated that agreement. "Our understanding is that MicroProse was granted a limited license to make a game, which they licensed from Avalon Hill," Mitch Lasky, a senior vice president at Activision, told PC Gamer in August. "That product was called Sid Meier's Civilization - Build an Empire to Stand the Test of Time [the full title of the first Sid Meier Civ game]. It's our current understanding that those were the only rights granted to MicroProse, and that they don't have any additional rights." With the license from Avalon Hill, Activision has been planning a Civilization game of its own. "Activision's production experience and technical expertise will help ensure that Civilization will remain a benchmark for computer gaming into the future," Activision's CEO, Bobby Kotick, said in August. No one from Activision was available to comment on the matter today. MicroProse's two Civ games -- Sid Meier's Civilization and Sid Meier's Civilization II -- have reaped numerous awards (including PC Gamer's 1996 Game of the Year for Civ II), and have sold an excess of a million copies. That's why both companies are fighting so hard to get this valuable name. "It's a $60 million brand name," says McLeish. "We're going to assert our rights." "I think it's an important name," says James Lin, an analyst at Wedbush Morgan who closely follows both companies. "It's a quality franchise property," he says, "but it's probably not a back-breaker" if either company loses the rights to it. He believes both companies are large enough and have enough franchises to weather the loss of the trademark. "They're going to court on this," predicts Lin. Hartland Trefoil was founded in 1971 by veteran game designer Francis Tresham, who is still with the company. The acquisition of Hartland Trefoil makes MicroProse a board game developer as well, and Hartland's many board games and wargames are available to be developed as computer games. Ironically Sid Meier, who created the first Civilization computer game, is no longer with MicroProse. His new company, Firaxis, is at work on a new Civilization-type game with a science fiction theme, called Alpha Centauri. GT Interactive bought MicroProse earlier this year, but MicroProse's McLeish tells us that talks between MicroProse and Hartland Trefoil were well under way long before the buy-out. pcgamer.com Coy

To: Da Zipstah who wrote (1241)	12/3/1997 7:07:00 PM
From: RJC2006	Respond to of 2319

Zipstah, Actually I would probably believe Merrill as well as anyone else. I agree with you--it's hard to believe there are significant reorders and yet the games are barely on the charts but let's see what the Nov. charts bring. My observations from store surveys--TA doing decently, Abe's PC version is almost irrelevant, XCOM not too bad, Duke still makes a sale or two, Civilization II not too bad. Just what I have noticed and I try to hit them every couple of days. If Electronics Boutique has empty slots then the game is selling. They usually don't restock the floor during the day. I'll keep my fingers crossed but it doesn't matter; I'm in forever.