same here, i think its probably one of the only franchises where i have played all of the sequels. playing Civ 5 a bit now until beyond earth comes out. Alpha Centauri was really fun and had some really cool features, i hope beyond earth really is a "spiritual successor" as they claim..
Civ Rev has been my most played game on Xbox 360 and Pirates was my most played game on original Xbox.
Even for these so called "stripped down / dumbed down" versions of the games, "one more turn" was very much still in effect!
I'd love to buy Sid a beer some time.
It's awesome to see such a good writeup.