Microsoft Game Studios is proud to announce the stunning, all-new successor to Rise of Nations, which won multiple awards for Real-Time Strategy Game of the Year in 2003. The new game, Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends , promises to reinvent the RTS genre once again with a game that immerses players in an epic fantasy war between the forces of Magic and Technology. Gamers fight through towering cities, flame-swept deserts and brutal ice plains in battles filled with mystical creatures, devastating machines and incredible acts of magic. Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends will raise the bar in the RTS genre with jaw-dropping graphics from an all-new 3-D engine, immersive in-game cinematics, integrated story-driven gameplay, a multiplayer mode for fast-paced games and clan support to build online communities.

Today Microsoft Game Studios is also announcing an exciting expansion to the wildly popular, award-winning Zoo Tycoon 2. Zoo Tycoon 2: Endangered Species will let zookeepers adopt and raise some of the world's rarest animals, such as the Giant Galapagos Tortoise and the Scimitar Horned Oryx. The upcoming expansion will bring zookeepers and their guests closer than ever to these amazing animals, thanks to new transportation options including sky trams and vehicle tours. With more than a dozen exotic new animals, innovative new people-movers and new challenges in the Campaign and Freeform modes, players and their families will have a huge variety of new options for building their dream zoo.

In addition to these titles, Microsoft Game Studios will showcase Age of Empires III, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes , Dungeon Siege II and Fable: The Lost Chapters at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). These breakthrough titles once again demonstrate that s ome of the best and most innovative gaming experiences are on the Windows platform. Today's announcement underscores Microsoft's continued commitment to delivering top-notch games for Windows - a platform that boasts an installed base of more than 81 million home computers in North America, which is larger than all three major gaming consoles combined. This killer lineup of Windows games means that 2005 and 2006 promise to be great years for Windows gamers.