Destineer offers AOE II, Links 2002 release dates

Destineer indicated today that two of the three games it announced for the Mac will be released in October. The company will publish the games under its Bold label. Age of Empires II is coming in early October and Links 2002 is coming in late October.

Minneapolis, Mn.-based Destineer is the brainchild of MacSoft founder and former Bungie and Apple exec Peter Tamte, who broke off to start his own game development and publishing company following Bungie Software’s acquisition by Microsoft last summer. Although Tamte’s plans to start a new game publisher have been public knowledge since last summer’s Macworld Expo, it was only a week and a half ago that the company’s name was revealed. Destineer has plans to publish originally developed games for Mac, PC and game consoles under the Destineer Studios brand, while Bold will be handling the Macintosh game conversion business.

Destineer indicated that the Macintosh port of Age of Empires II is being handled by Westlake Interactive, the well-known Mac game conversion studio that has worked with MacSoft, Aspyr, Gathering of Developers and others to bring A-list games to the Mac. Links 2002 is being brought to the Mac by Green Dragon Creations, a Mac game conversion studio and independent Mac game publisher which has worked on several Mac versions of Links games. Destineer said that both conversions have been worked on for several months already.

Destineer president Peter Tamte said that his company has been “overwhelmed by the enthusiasm” Mac users have shown for the two games.

“We chose Westlake and Green Dragon to do these conversions because we want to ensure people in the Mac community will be even more excited by these games once they actually get to play them on their Macs this fall,” said Tamte.

Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings is a strategy game that spans a millennium. Players must lead their kingdoms — one of thirteen civilizations — from the time of the fall of Rome through the Middle Ages as they seek to obtain greatness. Players must exercise economic and diplomatic prowess as they lead their legions into battle. Already released for the PC, Microsoft counts Age of Empires II as selling more than 3 million copies so far.

Links 2002 is the latest edition of the popular golf simulator. The game features a new graphics engine, improved physics, new golfers, new courses and other features. The game hasn’t been released for the PC yet — more details are expected to be revealed later this year.

One thing that’s missing from this announcement is any mention of Flight Simulator 2002. That title is the last remaining game in the initial trio of titles that Tamte first indicated his then-unnamed company would bring to the Mac when it was first announced last year.

Destineer’s Web site isn’t online yet — look for it to appear sometime in July.