The original demo was for a relatively modest, two player tactical game. MicroProse asked them to base the action on Earth and to expand on the original design to deliver something more in keeping with the other epic strategy games it already had on its roster. “That prompted me to add the strategic level, with the basic idea of an alien infiltration of earth and the need to capture and research the alien technology to defeat them. It was quite a radical design in many respects, but we were trying to create a grand scale that would rival that of Civilization. In fact the research and technology tree somewhat emulates the role of advances in Civilization, but it also helped to develop the storyline.”

GS: There's this nasty rumor going around that you've been working on the successor to X-Com, the classic sci-fi tactical game from Microprose. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?

KL: I personally own four copies of X-Com. I just bought the whole series again on Steam. I even spent a few hours last month playing (God forgive me) X- Com: Enforcer! Now that's love.

On a completely unprofessional side note, I'm going to name-drop and say I met Sid Meier at E3--one of the perks of working for Take-Two. He had this kind of Zen-master serenity thing going on about him, but I think I creeped him out with my nerdy, 1,000-yard fanboy stare.

Back to X-Com. I will say that I'm probably the world's biggest X-Com [fan]. I won't say I'm working on an X-Com game.

Retro goodness comes to Steam in the form of the entire X-COM collection. The individual titles are available for $4.99 each, or all together in the 'X-COM Complete Pack' for $14.99. To celebrate the launch, an additional 10% off these prices for one week until Sept 11. All games are available via Steam, a leading online platform for the delivery and management of PC games with over 15 million accounts worldwide. For more details, please visit www.steamgames.com

It's no secret that 2K Games acquired the X-COM license from Atari in June of 2005 and there's been speculation ever since that the publisher was looking for a studio to work on a sequel. After a few more rumors surfaced this week, we decided to do a little more digging of our own to find out if the rumors were true. Our inside source told us, "There's not much to tell, actually, other than that it's real." Now we still don't have official confirmation that the game is being developed by the former Irrational team or to what extent, if any, Ken Levine is connected. There was apparently, at some time, discussion of assigning the project to 2K Marin but since it is hard at work on BioShock 2, that doesn't seem likely.

So what would we like to see from this new sequel? Well, first and foremost, this is we're going to have to say we'd like to see another realistically modeled tactical strategy game. But even if the developers depart from that basic format, there are some key aspects of the design that we fell are necessary to maintain continuity with the franchise. First, the overall atmosphere of an alien invasion as an imminent global threat has to be maintained. While the original game definitely rode a wave of ET paranoia in the 1990s (thanks, Chris Carter), games where aliens invade the earth seem even more popular today than they were 15 years ago.

An inside source tells IGN that a new X-Com game is underway. Rumors of a new game have existed for quite some time due to the fact that 2K acquired the X-COM license from Infogrames back in 2007. (actually, it was acquired by Take 2 in 2005, as per USPTO; Gimli)

The latest Official Xbox Mag is running a rumour that's been quietly - oh so quietly - doing the rounds for a few months now. That rumour concerns just what, exactly, 2K Boston (and I presume 2K Australia as well) are up to these days. With 2K Marin confirmed as the team behind BioShock 2, what could Ken Levine and the rest of the guys behind BioShock 1 be working on? Maybe a new X-Com game. Yes, X-Com. 2K quietly bought the rights to the series in 2007, so the rumour's at least got a solid footing, though we're still going to recommend you increase your daily intake of salt. If only because the thought of a new, official X-Com game is too awesome to mess around with.

X-COM is a dense game. I have become used to firing up games without ever looking at the manual. In fact, I consider it a measure of a good game if I can find my way around the interface simply through playing the game. If, like Wind Waker or Portal, the game trains me how to play gradually, without resorting to lengthy and dull tutorial levels, it receives high marks in my books. But the tutorial for X-COM is the manual. Launching the game and expecting to successfully navigate every aspect of the gameplay without reading the manual simply isn’t reasonable. Today, this might spell the game’s doom. But in 1993, it was more the norm than the exception.

X-COM: UFO Defense (aka UFO: Enemy Unknown, or often just "X-Com") is regarded as one of the all-time classic videogames. IGN rated it as the best PC game of all time in their 2007 list of favorite games. Even so, the X-Com franchise as a whole is plagued with mediocre sales, tepid reviews and general apathy from gamers who continue to rave about the original almost 15 years after its release. This strange dynamic underscores one of the great mysteries in the modern gaming world: What is X-Com's secret to success?

Clancy: The X-Com Story is a singleplayer mod for Half-Life 2 that is currently under development. It is an original story set in the X-Com universe that will be available for free download once it is completed. The game will follow the story of Clancy, a police officer who later becomes an X-Com soldier.

Clancy is not a remake of X-Com, nor an attempt to emulate the gameplay, but rather, a new story set in the X-Com universe. It is a first-person shooter that will focus on story and setting.

Level design has begun, as well as weapon design and programming. While most of the design is based on the X-Com setting, we are developing some unique ideas to add additional depth to the game.