A Bevy of Business Sims

Monte Cristo Multimedia visited the GameSpot offices today to show off a few of its upcoming management games. We spent some time playing Airline Tycoon, which lets you start an airline from the ground up. You'll purchase planes and hire pilots, engineers, and advisors. If your funds are depleted too quickly, you can negotiate with employees to get cheaper labor, or - as is typical of such strategy games - you can get a loan from the bank. Planes can be extensively customized: You can change the quality of food, types of luxury amenities, and seating arrangements to fit your budget and business strategy. To keep your airline in the black, you can also sign up to carry cargo orders on your planes.

Other games in the Monte Cristo lineup include Wall Street Trader, Star Peace, and Start-up 2000. A more detailed sim than Airline Tycoon, Start-up 2000 lets you start a high-tech business from scratch. It will be on store shelves in a few weeks. Airline Tycoon and Wall Street Trader are both due out in October, while Star Peace, an online strategy game, is currently slated for a November release.