In November 2004, Atari revealed that it had sold the popular Civilization series to a mystery buyer for $22.3 million. Two months later, Take-Two revealed that it was the buyer and had signed a deal with the game's developer, Firaxis, to publish multiple Civilization games, beginning with the critically lauded Civilization IV.

Though it would end up buying Firaxis outright in November 2005, Take-Two made a separate deal six months prior to acquire all Civilization games released prior to Civ IV. Those games included Civilization, Civilization II, Civilization II: Fantastic Worlds, Civilization II: Conflicts in Civilization, Civilization II: Test of Time, Civilization III, Civilization III: Play the World, Civilization III: Conquests, and Civilization IV.

Today, Take-Two subsidiary 2K announced that it will rerelease almost every Civilization--in a single package. In October, nostalgic PC gamers will be able to pick up Sid Meier's Civilization Chronicles, a boxed set of all the aforementioned titles, for $69.99. In fact, the only non-Game-of-the-Year-Edition Civilizations not in the collection are the new expansion Civilization IV: Warlords and the much-maligned, Activision-developed 1999 title Civilization: Call to Power.

While it covers the same real-life era as other recent retro boxed sets like Command & Conquer: The First Decade, Sid Meier's Civilization Chronicles is not a bare-bones compilation. It will contain a bevy of extras like Civilization: The Card Game, an original tabletop card game based on Civilization IV rules. The game, which sports more than 250 cards, was designed by Civ IV lead designer Soren Johnson.

Also included in the set is the book The Chronicles of Civilization. Weighing in at 96 pages, the tome outlines the history of the franchise via interviews with its creator, Walk of Game member Sid Meier, and prominent designers such as Johnson. Also included is an essay on Civilization's importance in the game industry in general and the PC game sector in particular.

Sid Meier's Civilization Chronicles will also contain a DVD that will sport a video featurette outlining the making of Civilization IV, hosted by--you guessed it--Johnson again. The disc will also contain gameplay footage from and trailers of almost every Civilization game.

Sep 7, 2006