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October, 2001 READ RIGHT |
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Microsoft Encarta Reference Library DVD 2002 Betting On Rich Multimedia The graphics are excellent and the tedium of swapping disks is gone.
Recall the browser war. The way the software giant matched Netscape and finally managed to take away the browser market lead. Now it's planning the same with Encarta. While IBM, Britanica or Hutchison are mostly sticking to their usual fare, Encarta is improving on all fronts. It has interactive atlases; 3-D virtual tours, live media, Microsoft Fact Finder and a Research Organiser. The DVD format means no more tedious disk swapping. As it is set in DVD format, the graphics of the video clips also look great and picture rendition is exquisite. The universal search engine is another helpful addition. The only drawback of the new Encarta is that the programs are all bundled together in a single package. The disadvantage is that you can't open an article on, let's say, Carthage, while having the encyclopaedia article on Carthage open simultaneously. The dictionary is also incorporated and opens in a small dialogue box that can't be resized. The style guide is among the features not included in the new Microsoft Encarta. Civilization III
Civilization III, expected to be released in the market this month, updates the graphics of the game, but things will still look familiar to old-school Civilization fans. The city screen is gone, replaced with better-organised information that you can access from the map itself. Combat is similar to that of Alpha Centauri, as stacks of troops aren't destroyed if one of them loses; instead, stacked units suffer collateral damage. Diplomacy is far deeper this time around, with more options and more enemy responses. A wider range of diplomatic treaties is also allowed. There are new pathways to explore, strategies to employ, and more powerful tools with which to build and manage your empire. Trade is automatic, so you don't have to move caravans around space by space. You can attack enemy routes at will, but this will affect other civilisations' willingness to trade with you. The result is an easier-to-use and much deeper gameplay component. A completely new graphics engine provides stunning maps, animations and graphics. |
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Microsoft
Encarta has never been considered the best encyclopaedia on CD-ROM. Not
only was IBM's Worldbook Multimedia far superior in the spread and depth
of its content, even the CD-ROM edition of Encyclopaedia Britanica offered
a stiff challenge as far as the number of articles were concerned. The
2001 edition of Worldbook by sheer volume, rivalled, if not eclipsed,
Encarta.
Civilization
and the much improved Civilization II still cast long shadows over strategy
gaming, shadows that Activision's competing Call to Power series just
couldn't quite overcome. Civilization is synonymous with deep, compelling
historical gameplay, which is why there's so much excitement over Sid
Meier's Civilization III. Experience a game of epic proportions, where
players can match wits against the greatest leaders of the world in an
all-out quest to build the ultimate empire.
