I'm pretty far behind the times on PC games. I'm getting ready to purchase one since I got a new laptop. Something to keep me occupied while i'm at home.

I love strategy games and real time games. I've played both AoE and Civ many years ago. Liked them both in their original versions.

If you guys were to make a suggestion, which would you get now?

AoE3 or Civ4?

I played AoE3 and really enjoyed it. I couldn't get into CIV4. Civ4 is really deep whereas AoE is better for fast play.

Civ4 is fantastic. If you are a fan of the earlier ones, its a great choice.

I personally enjoyed CivIV a lot more, I love the 20-30 hour games.

Comparing Age of Empires to Civilization is like comparing Dumb and Dumber to The Godfather.

Okay, they are both good, but they are as different as night and day.

I have always personally preferred Civ because I enjoy deeper games. I also prefer turn-based (which Civ is) to real time action like AoE.

Just be warned though that Civ is VERY addicting. Civ 4 even has a built-in alarm clock that you can set so that you don't play too much. I admit I have had to use that feature more than once....

Civ 4. And kiss your family and friends goodbye.

i always preferred the game play on aoe3
luckily so did my friends and coworkers, so it made it easy to find groups to play in

Thanks guys. I went ahead and purchased AoE3