MAY 23, 2002

Gamer Faces Legendary Designer in E3 Rise of Nations Challenge

Eric “Zuik” Wackerfuss of Chicago, Illinois, achieved a strategy gamer's dream -- or perhaps it was a cold-sweat nightmare -- Thursday afternoon when he sat down for a quick game of Rise of Nations with legendary designer Brian Reynolds. Ultimately, Wackerfuss was defeated, but walked away with a $500 gift certificate to shop.microsoft.com.  

Wackerfuss scored the honor of challenging Reynolds at his own game when he won Microsoft Game Studios' "Lunch Hour Challenge." The challenge was simple enough: E3 attendees were invited to sign up for the tournament Thursday morning, and four contestants were randomly selected from that pool. Wackerfuss and Francis "Angel Draco" Cermak, also of Chicago, Illinois, defeated their opponents in the first round of competition, going on to face each other in the second round. Wackerfuss soundly defeated Cermak to take the grand prize and square off with Reynolds.

Reynolds is a founding member of developer Big Huge Games and has a formidable background in strategy gaming, including working with Sid Meier on such masterpieces as Civilization II and Alpha Centauri *. Rise of Nations is an ideal first project for Big Huge Games, combining the epic scope of turn-based classics like Civilization with the faced-paced action of real-time strategy games. Players can take multiple paths to victory, using everything from military might to economic finesse to expand their national borders as their civilizations quickly progress from the stone age to the information age. More information can be found at www.bighugegames.com  or www.microsoft.com/games/riseofnations.asp. 

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 PC (http://www.microsoft.com/games/), including such franchises as "Age of Empires®," "Flight Simulatorä" and "Zoo Tycoonä"; Xbox (http://www.xbox.com/), including such franchises as "Haloä," "Project Gotham Racingä" and "NFL Fever"; and Zone.com ( http://zone.msn.com/ ), the official games channel for the MSN® network and home to such hits as "Bejeweled" and "Outsmartä."

* Although actually designed by Brian Reynolds, the games Civilization II and Alpha Centauri were originally marketed under the "Sid Meier" brand, e.g. as Sid Meier's Civilization II and Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. CIVILIZATION is a registered trademark of Infogrames Entertainment. ALPHA CENTAURI is a registered trademark of Firaxis Games. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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