Way back in 1991, PC publisher Microprose released Sid Meier's Civilization, and some fans still haven't slept since. The game is widely considered to be one of the greatest PC games of all time. Now with three sequels plus expansions for each, multiple ports, and even a rather fine board game under the series' belt, 2K and Firaxis are taking the franchise where no original Civ title has gone before - the console. Shoddy PC to console ports aside, Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution is the first game in the series to be built from the ground up with game consoles in mind.

Will this new direction bring all-night Civ sessions to the console crowd, or should it be put to bed early? Get the verdict from the reviewing public, after the jump.

We've got a winner! Reader Christopher G. is the two hundredth and thirty-second entry in our Civilization Revolution contest, bagging a copy of the game. So, Christopher G. shoot us an email at tipsATkotakuDOTdom to claim your loot. Everyone else, thank you for playing and hit the jump for Christopher G's answers:

Win A Copy of Civilization Revolution

Trying to shoehorn an RTS like Command & Conquer onto a console is one thing, but Civilization? The fanciest bottle of good booze on PC strategy gaming's top shelf? It's an impossible task, some will say. Or one that even if it is possible, just shouldn't be done. Under any circumstances. Lest the ensuing offspring (see Civ II on the PS1) be such a crime of nature, such an abomination, that the good Lord himself descend from the heavens and strike down all involved in its creation.

That's what die-hard, myopic fans of the PC series will tell you, at any rate. And as one of those myself - having lost what must be thousands of hours to the series over the years – when a copy of Civilization Revolution for the PlayStation 3 turned up at my door, I greeted it with not just a signature, but a healthy dose of scepticism.

The promised demo of Battlefield : Bad Company is now live on Xbox Live, alongside a demo of Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution, giving gamers a lovely choice between creating and destroying. The Bad Company demo comes in both single and multiplayer flavors, with the single player giving you a taste of story-driven sandbox gameplay, while the multiplayer portion lets the more competitive among us battle it out in the objective based Gold Rush mode of the game.

The Civilization Revolution demo also contains both multiplayer and single player gameplay, and while I am no expert I am going to go out on a limb and say there is some civilization building going on.

Both demos weigh in on the hefty side, with Battlefield at 1.5 GB and Civ at a slightly more modest 1.25 GB. Enjoy!

Demo: Battlefield: Bad Company [Xbox Live's Major Nelson]
Demo Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution [Same Guy]

Hey, You Get A Civilization Revolution Demo This Week

And for once, it's a demo I'm genuinely looking forward to. No, really! I've still no idea how this is actually going to play. The PC version of Civ, I can see it in my sleep, but the nuts and bolts of a console version intrigue me. And a ton of other people, which is probably why 2K have announced that they'll be releasing the demo on both PS3 and 360 this Thursday. The 360 version will roll out globally, while the PS3 one is North America-only for the moment.

Civ Revolution demo upends XBLA, PSN [GameSpot]

Sid Meier Appearing At New York Comic Con

Sid Meier's world building game Civilization is returning soon with a new title, Civilization: Revolution. CR is the first of the Civ franchise to be presented on now-gen consoles and it sports some fancy new graphics, closer cameras, new character models and more detailed maps and battles. After my time with the multiplayer mode a few weeks back, I'm really looking forward to checking it our when it hits on June 3.

For those interested in such micromanaging pursuits can check out everything the game has to offer on Civilization: Revolution's newly launched website. It's a nicely put together site and has a decent amount of places for you to explore including videos, screenshots, forums and all the information on Civilization: Revolution you could want.

Civilization: Revolution Official Site [2K]

Ladies and gentlemen, for your viewing pleasure, I present a slew of screens from my hands-on time with Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. There are some multiplayer shots in here as well as images from the single player mode including many of the character designs.

Civilization's first original foray onto consoles is just a few short month's away, as 2K Games announces the official release date for Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution. Beginning June 3rd, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Nintendo DS owners will finally get a taste of what PC gamers have been going crazy about for over 17 years. Designed from the ground up with consoles in mind, Revolution promises fast-paced action and easy to pick up gameplay while still maintaining the Sid Meier-style addictive feel of its PC predecessors. In honor of the release date, 2K has released a slew of screenshots in both DS and Xbox 360 flavors, and you know how much we love our slews.

2K dropped some new screens for Civilization Revolution on our doorstep this morning. I have to say, this game's looking less and less like the cheap Civ port I originally feared it was, and more and more like the "Civ experience on a console" Sid Meier was talking about when it was first announced. Some of these screens (all from the 360 build) get into the game's nitty gritty (building, diplomacy, movement, etc), showing that while the appearance of the game may be dumbed down, the structure of it still looks in tip-top shape.

Before Sid Meier goes massively multiplayer, he and the rest of the Civ team are bringing the Civilization series to the non-PC gaming masses. While the Wii version looks to have stalled, the Nintendo DS version is looking like a perfect it. 2K Games released a handful of new screens for the portable version of Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution and a singular piece of shiny artwork. This is the kind of handheld strategy gaming we can get behind.

Sid Meier Considering MMO

The man who brought you Civilization, Pirates!, and Railroads! is looking to capture a larger audience - all at once. Speaking to GamersGlobal, the legendary Sid Meier considers the possibility of stepping into the massively multiplayer realm of online gaming.

I enjoy the idea of doing something I haven't done before, so a MMO would fit perfectly, but I really can't say if that would be the next game we do or if it's still a couple of games down the road before we come to that. Because I have new single player games I want to do, as well.

Clip: Civilization Revolution