The first part of my interview with Stardock CEO Brad Wardell covered his company's upcoming strategy game Elemental, but it wasn't long before the conversation turned toward topics of a more general PC gaming-nature.

What does the Sins of a Solar Empire publisher think about the long-term viability of PC strategy games? Do PC sales charts actually matter? Why isn't Microsoft doing more to help the platform? And who buys PC games these days, anyway? All of these questions--and more!--are answered inside.

Shack: Do you know why Microsoft isn't showing more leadership on the platform?

Brad Wardell: I don't know. I started out as a big Games for Windows Live advocate. I intended for Elemental to be on Games for Windows Live, but then as we got closer, the Xbox group took it over more and more. And they have things where, oh, if you want to use Games for Windows Live to update your game, you have to go through [their] certification. And if you do it more than X number of times, you have to pay money. It's like, "My friends, you can't do that on the PC." Read more..

I'd heard a lot about Stardock's new fantasy-strategy game Elemental before coming to PAX. It sounded interesting, but I wanted a closer look. I got one.

Elemental looks like the PC game of the 21st century. It draws its inspiration from the combined progress of decades worth of strategy gaming, but it does so in an elegant, approachable way. It takes the depth of a Galactic Civilization and melds it with a modern design sensibility. This is no more apparent than in its world map, or lack thereof.

From the furthest zoom, Elemental looks like a Tolkien illustration, a Total War-style map drawn in an elegant cloth-like style. Zooming in, the engine adjusts to a full 3D view akin to Civilization, icons shifting into tiny armies and sprawling landscapes. As the camera approaches the ground, forests separate into trees, individual units viewable from a near-third person angle. This is all done so smoothly that you can barely tell where one level of detail ends and the other begins.

But being a true PC game, there are also endless options hiding behind the simple interface. Have a slow system and want to play the game entirely... Read more

While the art style for Stardock's Elemental: War of Magic is pretty snazzy, screenshots are really only showing half of the story. During a live demonstration at PAX, the other half became immediately apparent: it's all about the zoom.

Elemental is like a cross between Civilization and Might and Magic. You're in charge of macro-managing large networks of cities and supplying them with resources, but also micromanaging individual avatars and armies.

When zoomed all the way in, the game looks like the above left shot; when scroll-wheeled back, the art style transitions to the clothy look of the right shot. Most importantly, it pulls off this transition so smoothly that I was left a bit awestruck--the engine has been much improved since this early May footage.

There's a lot more to Elemental, of course; the city management, avatar breeding, and impressive modding capabilities are all worth words. As such, we'll have more on the game in the coming days, including a lengthy interview with Stardock's Brad Wardell.

I don't like spiders very much, let alone those of the giant variety. However, I do love me some wizards, which puts this latest batch of Elemental screenshots in a tricky spot.

The latest 4X (exploration, expansion, exploitation, extermination) strategy game from Galactic Civilizations dev Stardock, Elemental: War of Magic (PC) is due in mid-2010.

Stardock has released new screenshots of its upcoming PC fantasy 4X strategy title Elemental: War of Magic.

"The best way I can describe the battles is that they're tactical with XCom being a major inspiration but designed to be relatively short," wrote Stardock CEO Brad Wardell. During the battles, players can zoom far down to the front lines (see below, left).

Wardell also noted that while city growth in the turn-based game is largely cosmetic, players will be able to zoom in to view their towns, and design roads that connect them.

Elemental is slated for release in February 2010. A beta test is scheduled to begin later this year.

Stardock has released a footage from "a very, very early alpha version" of its upcoming strategy game Elemental: War of Magic (PC). It's due out in February 2010, with a beta slated to kick off later this year. For more information, check out our past coverage.

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Sins of a Solar Empire (PC) publisher and The Political Machine 2008 (PC) developer Stardock today revealed its next major internal project, Elemental: War of Magic (PC).

A turn-based 4X strategy game focused on exploration, expansion, exploitation and extermination, Elemental sees players cast as the "only person in your kingdom with the ability to channel magic," allowing them to engage in traditional kingdom management, such as crafting new cities and spells, political negotiations, or exploring dungeons.

A variety of "ground-breaking" multiplayer modes will be included, such as a persistent universe mode in addition to the traditional skirmish modes.

Similar to EA Maxis' Spore (PC), Elemental includes integrated modding support, seamlessly delivering new maps, creatures, items, spells, and so forth to other players when they start the game and connect online.

Like all Stardock releases, Elemental: War of Magic will include no on-disc DRM when it arrives in Q1 2010 at $49.95, with a public beta beginning in spring 2009.