Xbox 360, Playstation 3 to Get Civilized

2K games today announced Civilization Revolution, Sid Meier's first game built explicitly for next generation consoles. Read that again: not a Civilization 4 port, but Civilization crafted "from the ground up" for consoles and handhelds.

Excited? I am. Not because Sid Meier and 2K Games are banking where the money flows (though good for them -- Sid's supported the PC faithfully for years), but because a first class developer is willing to totally re-master its bread and butter franchise into something that caters more to an action-inclined audience. If anyone can pull that off and simultaneously keep the strategic components intact, it's the folks at Firaxis.

According to this morning's press release (with apologies for the superlatives), some of that re-mastering involves:

...an all new accessible, visually immersive, and action-packed world specifically designed for the console and handheld gamer. Delivering Civilization?s renowned epic single-player campaigns featuring vast re-playability and unmatched addictive gameplay as well as revolutionary features like real-time interaction with leaders and advisors, extensive multiplayer capabilities and integrated video and voice chat, it will completely transport the Civilization series to a level of gameplay that fans have never seen before.

Details we know so far:

- 16 civilizations

- Various famed historical leaders to play as or compete against.

- "Accessible" maps (not sure what this means...perhaps a reference to size?).

- Streamlined time scale for quicker games, combat, and "constant action."

- Online multiplayer (team play, head-to-head, free-for-all).

- Auto-matching, ranked games, leaderboards, achievements, downloadable extra content, integrated video and voice chat.

- Coming spring 2008 for next generation consoles and handhelds.

Per the last point, "next generation" probably precludes the Nintendo Wii, so assume Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 only (and no cross-platform play). A reasonably faithful Playstation Portable version sounds like a shoe-in, though whether we'll see a straight port for the DS or something altogether unique is anyone's guess.

The games are slated to debut publicy at the upcoming E3 media event on Thursday, July 12th.

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