Others say...

"The Diehard Civ Fan's Lovechild"
This collection is a great one - it's like buying the trilogy of your favorite movie series or buying all the episodes for Star Wars.

That means that there are exactly two reasons why anybody would buy this package.

The first reason is the most obvious: you don't have any (or most) of the titles and/or you are looking to learn more about the history of this classic game.

In that light, this package offers everything you can possibly buy with the Civilization title on it except for the very latest expansion packs to Civ 4. (There are nine titles here!)

If you have never seen the roots of Civilization (there were versions released for game consoles, as well), you will get your chance here. And again, if you love Civ but don't have the "not for sale in stores" versions of older Civ titles, here you go.

The second reason somebody would buy this package is simply because they are a diehard fan of Civilization and want it all.

My comparison is to movie trilogies insomuch as they typically offer slightly upgraded versions of the products released many years ago, thus increasing both the nostalgia and the fervor. Some titles have essentially been patched to perform decently on newer computer systems - reminds me of the Atari Classic Games release a few years ago where they enabled the old games to play on Windows XP, for example.

This package meets your needs if you want it all as you get every Civilization title (expanded or not) to play on today's current computer systems. More importantly for the diehard fan are the collectible items inside.

There is also a DVD that is pretty cool, I think. It is essentially the "Making of..." feature that you find with movies, and because Civilization is a classic, this "Making of..." will appeal to those who have been with Civilization for a long time.

There is also the card game (which I never got into because I'd rather sit in front of my computer and have it do most of the work). This game is most exciting when you play it with your friends, in my opinion. My challenge was finding even one friend who loved Civ as much as I to play this with me, but all those online features really drew me away from the cards (if I wanted to play multi-player). The card game is still fun, though - it can let you interact with your friends more intimately.

And, of course, the book...

This is more than just a game manual or a strategy guide - this is the bible (as they tried to make it out to be). But it is basically the DVD documentary in written form, albeit nicely done. It is a great collector's item as it shows you a lot of the concepts (new and old) and some of the "mind of Sid," as well as the chronology/history of it all (like changes between the titles). Good content if you are into that sort of thing.

I really think that the collectors will appreciate this offering the most. I can't imagine turning people on to the Civilization culture by introducing them to the older titles and then having them work their ways up to Civ IV.

In reality, if you are a Civ history/culture buff, this is your $65 baby.

I also noticed that for about $91 you can get EVERY title ever made for Civilization - that means you just add the new Civ IV: Warlords expansion pack to the order.

For me, personally, I own Civs 1-4 on one format or another, and I have spent almost $200 so far. I thought Civ 3 was perfect for gamers like me (people without advanced computer degrees but who love to customize), but nowadays the Civ titles are increasing the gap between the yuppies and the computer geeks. (I am a computer geek, but on the lower end.)

Buy this if you want it all (in a nice box to boot). If you aren't that way, just buy Civilization 3 Complete - it's got everything you'd love about Civilization and the price is delectable.

"Highly recommended"
I haven't opened my package yet, because it's going to be a Christmas present; but two guys at Best Buy (one a former student of mine) highly recommended this game set. One of the guys knew the ins and outs of the set, telling me that One and Two were no longer available and only played on Windows 98. He says that Meier had them reformatted for Windows XP so that they're all playable again. He also said that there's a lot of history to be learned from the included Booklet.