Eagle Games, the manufacturer of the "Age of Mythology" Board Game, has a list of upcoming title on their website . Notice that a game called "Age of Discovery" is slated for release in Oct. 2005. (look in the column on the left; scroll down)

Actually AoE III

2300BC - Sargon I unifies Sumeria

Sargon was the founder of the Akkadian empire. He conquered the Southern Mesopotamian city states (Uruk, Lagash, etc) and unified them the North of Mesopotamia (where Akkad was). He also raided places like Elam (Iran), Ebla (Syria), etc, although they were never fully under Akkadian rule.
The Akkadian Empire was the worlds first empire, so basically Sargon was the worlds first emperor.
(...)
I don't think there ever was a Sumerian empire. Before Sargon, the cities of Southern Mesopotamia were independent from each other, sort of like Ancient Greece. This is known as the Early Dynastic Period. Then Sargon came from the North and unified them all into one empire; however, this only lasted for about 140 years. Then the cities of Southern Mesopotamia went back to being independent until the III Dynasty of Ur took control.

1200BC - The Trojan War

476AD - Fall of the Roman Empire

1096AD - The First Crusade

1521AD - Cortez defeats the Aztec empire

1997AD - Age of Empires

1998AD - Age of Empires: Rise of Rome

1999 AD - Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings

I think the first date, 2300 BC, was the start of AoE. First empire, so the wars can start.

Then the second date, destruction of Troy, was the start of RoR. Those of you with a classical education will know that Aeneas, the supposed founder of the dysnasty that later included Romulus, who created Rome, was a man who fled from Troy at the end of the war there.

Then the third date was the start of AoK. The Roman Empire has fallen, and the Dark Age begins.

The fourth date is the start of AoC, the first time Christian Europe starts to look beyond their borders. Before this, Europe was only busy with itsself and this is where they first start going out of the 'known' territory and start conquering stuff. Of course, they have GONE out before but now they first start fighting and conquering.

The date after this will be the announcing of AoD, the next game in the series.

By the way, AoM doesn't show up in this list because it wasn't part of the series that started with AoE.

I spoke with an employee at Microsoft today and he said that MS employees have both Christmas Eve and Christmas day off and that ES usually has the same days off. It wouldn't make much sense to start a marketing campaign on a day when employees are off work. Also, it doesn't make much sense since the majority of people will be occupied with either traveling, family or other holiday activities on that day, mitigating any marketing plans. Most likely, the announcement will come one day after Christmas.

I just got out of a market research study here in Chicago where we were given a preview of the upcoming AOE 3 game. They showed us screenshots and clips. They asked us what we liked about the game and what we didn't like, and what we would be interested in seeing implemented. It was pretty sweet, we got a sneak preview of an awesome game and were paid $125 each! Here are some specifics: The game will take place during the period of European settlement of the Americas. (Discovery of the Americas until just before the US civil war.)
It will feature 3D graphics and lots of detail. (Men getting blown across the battlefield by canons, trees falling on houses, etc.)
Currently, the civilizations are all European. You do not get to play as Native Americans, but you do get to interact with them through alliances. There are several different tribes you can ally with, all with their own units and abilities. We told them that they should make it so we actually get to play as the Native Americans, instead of only as the Europeans.
The game will have a much more global scope. A map of the Americas shows which specific territories you control, and you can attack from these territories to adjacent ones held by enemies. When you choose a territory to attack, it goes to that specific territory where you build buildings and control units just as in other RTS games.
You interact a lot with what is called your "Home City" back in Europe. You send resources back, and in return get better upgrades (like the ability to train new units). These upgrades carry over into subsequent games (i.e., when you go on to attack another territory). Basically, you don't have to research the whole tech tree each time you move to a different territory.
All of us critiquing the game agreed that it looks really good, but would be better with more civs and territories. The guy said the game will probably be released in about a year. He was not from Microsoft, but from a market research company that is doing field testing for Microsoft. Basically, they want gamers' opinions so they know what we want and how to make the games better.

First of all, this new opus will extend from discovered from America, to pass to its conquest (as well of the North as of the South) and should stop with the American Civil War. At the beginning, we will have the possibility of choosing between various colonizing nations of the time, like France and its Christophe Colomb, or even Spain and its Conquistadors. With us meetings with the Indians and another Incas.

In addition to the usual history mode, another solo mode will be born. It should offer a long-term challenge, since it will propose to us to entirely conquer each zone of the American continent. I will not go more into the details. Will know that the tactical aspect will be more thorough than before, with the management of naval cargo, etc. Indeed, you will have to sometimes export weapons of France, for example, to import them into America and to give them to your troops. But attention, your boats will be able to be made attack by the enemy fleets!

A dimension RPG will be also present. You will have, in addition to what it occurs on the New Continent, to manage your HomeCity. What is this? It is quite simply about the principal city of your nation. It is of over there that you will create certain innovations (weapons, etc...) and from which the orders will come. Once again, we will approach this point later, since the information presented at this subject was still very (too much) fuzzy.

With regard to the battles, they from now on less unmethodical and will be ordered better, as in American Conquest . There will be besides a very thorough system of formation, which will make it possible to adapt according to the unfavourable attack. The gameplay thus has undergoes some arrangements since Age of Mythology , and will appear more varied much, even if the bottom did not really change (collection of food...)

As for graphics, they are sublimes! Returned water is fabulous, the animation of the splendid units (see the bodies flying away after takehaving been caught a shooting of ball of gun was jouissif), the effects of shades perfect and the very worked physical engine. Lastly, the music is orchestral and sticks perfectly to the action.

In conclusion, this Age of Empires 3 is announced truly excel. However, there remain some interrogations and especially some concerns on the management of the relationship between its HomeCity, the New Continent and the other nations. Though it is, we will have to know some more from here a few times.

PS: Certain details should change, since the software was far from being finished and that certain ideas were not yet well established. For proof, the final name of the title was not found yet and the jacket absent.