Against a wall in the lobby of the Firaxis office, there are two objects: An old leather desk chair, and an equally aged PC and CRT monitor in beautiful '90s beige. These obviously aren't just any old bits of retro junk. They're the kinds of relics game history archivists dream of, given how much has been lost over the years to bankruptcies, acquisitions, and carelessness.
Over 30 years ago, Sid Meier sat in that very chair and used that PC to create 1991's Civilization, the first game in a grand strategy series that's getting its 7th numbered release in February. The computer is a Compaq Deskpro 386 which, according to Firaxis learning and development manager Pete Murray, cost $10,000 when it was purchased. That's somewhere over $23,000 in today's dollars.
