AOE III enters platinum age

Microsoft Game Studios and Ensemble Studios have revealed that Age of Empires III for the PC has gone platinum. No official numbers were released, but both companies tout the strategy game as the fastest-selling chapter of the franchise since being released in October.

To celebrate the game's success, Ensemble is hosting a contest for fans of the game. The company is looking for would-be conquerors to compete against each other to see who can reach the Industrial Age the fastest. Through the game's Web site, contestants can upload recorded games and track the competition.

The fastest fascist will receive a pimped-out computer courtesy of Intel, and the second and third place finishers will be awarded Nvidia 7800GTX and 7800GT graphics cards, respectively.

For more details on Age of Empires III, check out GameSpot's review.