If you're itching to play the newest expansion for Age of Empires III then Microsoft is willing to give gamers a taste of its not so forbidden fruit. The demo version for Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties has finally gone up on the official website giving you the chance to test run the game before its October 23 release date.

The demo features one of the three controllable Asian factions, the Japanese, in a new random map (Honshu). You can also get to try out one of the new game modes that will be introduced to the expansion, the King of the Hill. Much like other game modes of the same name, you need to capture and defend a particular fort up until a timer runs out against other players.

True to their word, the game promises a very immersive experience in this historical real-time strategy game. However, this is just a sneak peek at what the real game will be like. With the Indian and the Chinese faction still sitting on the sidelines, you can try out your hand playing the noble Japanese faction in the meantime. You can check out the demo through the Read link below.

Microsoft Game Studios and developers Big Huge Games along with Ensemble Studios have announced that Age of Empires III: Asian Dynasties has gone Gold and will be available in stores come October 23. This will be the second expansion to Age of Empires III.

For the price of US$ 29.99, players can upgrade to this new version of the game and explore lands they were not able to in previous iterations. Marvel at the rich and exotic cultures as you expand your domain to the world's largest continent.

If you don't like the idea of being a Western conqueror, Asian civilizations will also be playable. Also retained is the "Wonders" feature which has become a favorite among the game's install base.

Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties will not disappoint strategy fans with its ability to retain classic elements which has made the game franchise popular while adding new tweaks and innovations that will keep the series fresh. Watch out for this one because you'll be away in an expedition for a long time once you get your hands on it.

Most people find history as one of the most boring classes they can possibly take up at school. However, Big Huge Games inserts more than just historical factoids in their real-time strategy game, Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties, they support these little tidbits with good old fashioned RTS fun.

Andrew Auseon, lead writer and one of the associate producers for the game's expansion pack, explains the importance of how the history books influenced the development of Age of Empires III. He explains the process in detail:

From the very beginning, Big Huge Games knew it faced a significant challenge in balancing the element of historical accuracy with the element of fun. After all, we were making a game and not writing a doctoral thesis. That being said, however, we wanted to be sure Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties was built on a strong, solid foundation of authentic historical data. We poked our noses everywhere to find the coolest warriors that ever marched the Asian continent.

The majority of our armies consist of units that have had volumes written about them, such as the samurai, the workhorse of our Japanese army. But occasionally we discovered a strange or exotic military unit that didn’t have the same deep historical background as others did. If we felt its inclusion in the game would improve the final product, we made an exception. We always tried to maintain that balance between accuracy and enjoyment.

He sites an example in the game where the use of Indian Flail Elephants as an unorthodoxed tactic that never really caught on in the actual history books. However, the it gives the player a unique feel of what it's like using the elephant-based military the Indian faction offers and the novelty of destroying your opponent's Town Center with a giant, mace-wielding elephant.

The game also centers on three independent short stories, focusing on each of the playable Asian civilizations. The narrative takes the player literally into the history books as they relive famous moments in Asia's bygone times.

Age of Empires III: The Asian Empires is set to be released this October 23 for the PC. Check out more updates on the game as we get them.

Microsoft Game Studios, together with Ensemble Studios, has officially announced that their latest award winning Age of Empires title will be getting the "Asian touch" with a second expansion pack, loaded with content of the East. Entitled Age of Empires III: Asian Dynasties, the expansion pack will arrive on Windows XP and Vista by Fall of 2007 as stated by the press release.

Developed by Big Huge Games, makers of Rise of Nations and who are also teamed up with THQ for an as of yet unannounced RPG title, Asian Dynasties will be delivering authentic Asian civilizations present in other genre mimics, such as Sierra's Empire Earth series, while delivering new ways of gameplay plus additional content to Age of Empires III.

For Vista users, the game will be shipping as a Games for Windows title, so expect this content pack to reflect on your Games Explorer, with all the ease of installation and operating system compatibility. Brian Reynolds, CEO and creative director of Big Huge Games commented:

We're honored to have the opportunity to develop Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties with Ensemble Studios and confident that the innovation of both teams will deliver an exciting experience for fans of this franchise. We feel that the in-depth experience of Big Huge Games in the real-time strategy genre, combined with the solid reputation of the Age of Empires franchise, will result in something fresh and unique for gamers.

As of press time, it is unclear if the new expansion pack will affect the 2007 World Cyber Games current game line-up for the PC competitive bracket, running this October.

UK-based mobile game publisher Glu Mobile announced today that they've inked the deal with Microsoft to bring their hit RTS for the PC, Age of Empires III, to mobile phones as well.

This isn't the first time that the two companies have collaborated on a mobile game, withProject Gotham Racing Mobile being one of the earlier projects they've worked on. Jill Braff, General Manager of Glu North America, says “Age of Empires is one of the highest-rated and best-selling RTS franchises on the PC, and we look forward to working with Microsoft to replicate that success on mobile.”

Age of Empires III is the third installment in the series and has sold 16 million copies worldwide. Whether the mobile version will be able to have download rates comparable to the PC version's sales, we'll have to wait and see. No word yet on the mobile game's launch date, but as the GDC updates keep pouring in, we'll make sure to keep you constantly posted on the latest goings on in the event. Stay tuned!

International Cyber Marketing Inc. has just revealed the final roster of games that players will be able to compete in at the upcoming World Cyber Games 2007 to be held in Seattle this October. Last month, we gave you a brief update on three more games that were added to the list of playable games, namely FIFA 07 Soccer, Age of Empires III, and Age of Empires III: the War Chiefs.

So with no further ado, here's the full list of games to be featured in the upcoming WCG 2007:

PC:

• WarCraft III: Frozen Throne
• StarCraft: Brood War
• Half-Life: Counter-Strike
• FIFA Soccer 07
• Need For Speed: Carbon
• Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
• Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs

Xbox360:

• Gears of War
• Dead or Alive 4
• Project Gotham Racing 3
• Tony Hawk's Project 8
  

Since the release of Age of Empires 3: The WarChiefs expansion back in October, there have been nothing but good feedback for the game. But, as what usually happens with games, users have been reporting certain bugs and glitches they've encountered in the game. Not to fret though, Ensemble Studios is already hard at work to bring you patch v1.02, which will fix some of the errors you've been experiencing in The WarChiefs expansion.

Sadly though, no, the patch isn't out yet, but it will be out next month and you can rest assured that we will keep you posted once it comes out. So with that, we'll bring you the list of changes you can expect to get once patch v1.02 comes out:

CLIENT FIXES

• Fixed mercenary selection in Saloons for custom maps.
• Better anti-aliasing support for NVIDIA GeForce 8 series cards.
• A number of Windows Vista compatibility issues fixed.
• Several low level network optimizations have been added.

BALANCE CHANGES

• Reduced Rodelero building bonus.
• Reduced Spanish shipment bonus.
• Reduced Cetan Bowman hitpoints by 10.
• Increased Kanya Horsemen hitpoints by 20.
  

NETWORK AND ESO FIXES

• ESO statistics tab now defaults to show statistics for the game you are playing.
• Decks are now limited to 32 per home city.
• Quick Search - the civilizations of other players are no longer shown when the initial match is made.
• Quick Search - games no longer follow the two minute resign rule and will count toward your rating as soon as they begin.
• Power Rating values will now update more quickly after a game.

Don't fancy the whole primitive bow-and-arrow setting? Well, you can always check out other real-time strategy games like, say, Space Empires V or Arena Wars? But hey, that's just me. Anyway, we'll keep you posted for more developments so stay tuned.