From HandWiki - Reading time: 7 min
| Romance of the Three Kingdoms IX | |
|---|---|
North American game cover | |
| Developer(s) | Koei |
| Publisher(s) | Koei |
| Designer(s) | Hisatsugu Ishikawa Masahiko Sugahara Daichi Akiyama Sotaro Kuroda Norimitsu Komine |
| Series | Romance of the Three Kingdoms |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows PlayStation 2 |
| Release | Windows PlayStation 2 |
| Genre(s) | Role-playing, turn-based strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, Multiplayer |
Romance of the Three Kingdoms IX, also known as Sangokushi IX (三國志IX) in Japan, is the ninth installment in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Sangokushi) strategy game series by Koei. The game chronicles the events of 2nd and 3rd century China based on the writings of the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Players are able to play through various historical, challenge, or "if" scenarios with the automatic rank of ruler.
The game is set in the Three Kingdoms period in China and is based on the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Unlike its two immediate predecessors, Sangokushi IX always casts the player as a ruler. The player's goal is to bring every city on the map under his or her command; this is achieved by hiring other historical figures from the book, referred to as officers, and using them to cultivate cities, recruit armies, and fight or plot against enemy forces.
Power up kit adds the following:
PlayStation 2 Power up kit adds following:
The game received an aggregate score of 74/100 on Metacritic, based on 17 critic reviews.[1]
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MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]
In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]
On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]
In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]
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