Vanquishing a strange alien race on a distant ring-shaped world, battling against the end of creation as a Norse immortal, rewriting the world’s past by prolonging Roman rule another thousand years, or re-creating Orville and Wilbur Wright’s first flight: Microsoft® Game Studios takes gamers on a gripping journey through the history of the world to distant lands with its PC games lineup at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) next week in Los Angeles, May 14–16.

E3 attendees will have a first look at both the highly anticipated PC version of "Halo®" and the recently announced "Mythica™," which uses cutting-edge technology to make massively multiplayer online gaming a more personalized experience than ever before. Microsoft’s PC lineup also features new titles in the "Age of Mythology®" and world-renowned "Flight Simulator" franchises, as well as the highly anticipated "Rise of Nations®."

Microsoft’s E3 PC games lineup is a combination of titles that will hit store shelves this summer and holiday, as well as games that will be available next year. As 2003 marks the centennial of the Wright Brothers’ first powered flight and the 20th anniversary of Microsoft’s "Flight Simulator" line, Microsoft plans a July debut of the new "Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight." The soon-to-be-released "Rise of Nations," a historical real-time strategy game accessible to all levels of players, is expected to be a popular choice when it becomes available nationwide on May 20.