THE HISTORY CHANNEL® and Slitherine Strategies are proud to announce the expansion of their licensing relationship. Plans call for the creation of a new product line, THE HISTORY CHANNEL® Pocket History, a new series of games developed for the Nintendo DS game platform.

These new titles will extend the mission and core legacy of both companies to bring history to a wider audience. THE HISTORY CHANNEL Pocket History product line will feature a specific historical period for each release. Iain McNeil, Director of Slitherine, said, “Our objective with the release of the Pocket History series is to bring creative and inventive gameplay, that is easy to pick up and learn, to the next generation of portable gaming platforms. As always we are concentrating our efforts on creating a product that is both historically accurate and innovative and will really suit the DS platform.”

The Pocket History series will begin with the release of THE HISTORY CHANNEL Pocket History: Rome in April 2008, with further products launching worldwide later in 2008.

“We are very pleased to join forces with Slitherine for THE HISTORY CHANNEL Pocket History series, the second product line we have developed together,” added Carrie Trimmer, Director of Licensing at A&E Television Networks, parent company of The History Channel. “Following the success of THE HISTORY CHANNEL Great Battles console series, we wanted to design a game specifically for the Nintendo DS that would take advantage of its unique features, especially its portability. We think gamers will respond favorably to this new series.”

THE HISTORY CHANNEL Pocket History: Rome puts the player in control of the Roman Empire, building and extending its cities, governing the population and exploiting its resources. The player must also manage the economy and of course take command of the Roman military machine. Through conflict, diplomacy, economic and social growth, the player will increase the power of the Empire following the path of the most successful military empire in history.

The title will also feature fun-to-play mini games inspired by Ancient Roman culture, as well as an embedded encyclopedia that enriches the playing experience with historical resources on the subject. “We strive to innovate, as always,” said Marco Minoli, Marketing Director of Slitherine. “The market keeps offering ‘me-too’ games and competing with the same kinds of products with the same old style of gameplay. At Slitherine we have always tried to offer a different approach and to create something entirely new. Our audience has always appreciated this. With THE HISTORY CHANNEL Pocket History series we are continuing along this path, inspired by the exceptional sales results of The History Channel Great Battles of Rome.”

[About Slitherine] – Slitherine Software UK Ltd. is a privately funded and independent UK developer and publisher. It launched the Slitherine Strategies brand in 2002. Through this brand Slitherine is dedicated to bringing highly playable and approachable strategy games to the mass market. Slitherine Software is uniquely placed to deliver due to its experience within the industry and also the wider gaming community.

GamesPress