Those who purchased Civilization Revolution know the game shipped with a pack-in card with a code to download exclusive content based on their retailer of choice. The only problem is, the content was not available when the game launched. A few days ago the 2K Games Code Redemption site updated to reveal pack-in cards can now be used to download the free pack via the Xbox Live Marketplace. Using the code found packed in with your copy of Civilization Revolution, gamers can get a Marketplace code good for a download of fresh content for the turn-based strategy game. What is the content? Well, that depends where you bought your copy of the game. Jump in to find out.

[Thanks, Frosty22]

History teaches that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (or "The Gandh" to his pals) was an influential spiritual and political leader of India, a man whose pacifist ways solved many political problems. According to textbooks, kissing babies, implementing civil disobedience for causes such as poverty, and being an all-around nice guy were Gandhi's favorite hobbies.

That's what history says. So there I was in 2024 A.D., trying to bring the Greeks to greatness while mostly minding my own business, and Gandhi decides to show his dark side. Let's be allies, he said. We'll share technologies, he said. Family barbecues, he said. Next thing I know, Gandhi and his lackeys have Sparta, my main science city, completely surrounded by tanks and bombers, the Americans took back New Orleans by overcoming my tank with a catapult (it was a really, really big rock) and Cleopatra decides to stab me in the back by taking the 1200 gold I paid her to attack the Indians for 10 turns and signing a peace treaty with The Gandh after only five turns!

All of that, and why? Because my trigger finger was slick with sweat and accidentally nuked India? Big deal! I said I was sorry!

If there's a video game that better demonstrates the medium's potential for non-authorial storytelling better than Sid Meier's Civilization, I've yet to play it. Rewriting history to my design always proves more fun than decapitating zombies or battling any number of demons. For years, the appeal of Sid Meier's "One more turn!" opus has been enjoyed primarily by PC gamers with ten-plus hours to kill if they want to experience a complete campaign.

Probably to the chagrin of significant others across the globe, Firaxis Games released Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution in early July, a Civ developed specifically for consoles that, while not as deep an experience as any PC version of Civilization, is more than enough to captivate couch-bound gamers looking for something more involved than the never-ending stream of FPS titles.

Wipe away those tears, sunken-eyed PC loyalists. We know you're upset that Firaxis appears to have turned their back on you in favor of the somewhat fairer console waters, but perhaps the latest edition of Big Versus on Joystiq's youngest sibling, Big Download, will mend your tattered hearts. The console-exclusive Civilization Revolution is measured against the PC-exclusive Civilization IV in this installment -- are PC gamers being robbed of an important chapter in the seminal turn-based strategy franchise, or are they dodging a dumbed-down, oversimplified bullet? You've got to read to find out -- but knowing you brainy PC types, that shouldn't be a problem.

Without a doubt, the biggest and best release of this week is Civilization Revolution. We're big fans of that Sid Meier guy, so his latest game immediately won us over. You can bet we'll be spending a large amount of time this weekend taking Abe Lincoln and the Americans to the top (their bonuses are just too awesome to ignore).

What about you all? Going to lead the revolution, as we are, or are you playing something else? How will you fill these last few days leading up to E3 2008?

What's better than a pin-up of Izuna? Well, a pin-up of Napoleon, for starters. Bow chicka wow wow.

In all seriousness, we do like this Civilzation Revolution DS poster better (although this blogger isn't exactly in hormone-crazy young male demographic that the Izuna pieces are meant to appeal to). Hormones aside, though, Napoleon is looking pretty badass here, and we're confident he could even conquer the Ziggy Pig looking like he does.

So, how do you get one? As with Izuna, this mini-poster comes as reversible cover art, so all you have to do is buy the game. We're starting to get spoiled here, though, and soon we're going to demand that every DS title comes with such an awesome feature.

[Thanks to ChristianBK for the tip and picture!]

We may have weighed in on the portable title, but what about the rest of the reviewers out there? Now that the title has been available for a little while now, many of the critics have put out their verdict. And, just as we enjoyed the game, the majority of them also found it to be a good time.

• Game Informer (85/100) gives it a good score: "Some few sacrifices have been made, notably the absence of the in-game Civilopedia, and the control is nowhere near as smooth as it is on a gamepad. However, you won't find a deeper or more replayable portable strategy experience anywhere. Civilization Revolution is a very worthwhile investment for any strategically minded DS owner."

• Gamespy (80/100) says it's barebones, but good: "While it won't be winning any beauty contests with its barebones 2D graphics, the play's the thing and the combination of solid controls and lots of content in the form of the technologies, units and variegated civilizations make Civ Rev an enjoyable and entertaining romp through the traditionally staid and somber realm of nation management."

• Nintendo Power (75/100) said the game lacks any competition: "If you're a fan of the genre, there are few better ways to get your fix on the go." [Aug 2008, p.89]

• GameZone (75/100) says the DS version loses a bit compared to the consoles, but is still a good choice for on-the-go action: "Civilization Revolution is a solid entry to the series, bringing the experience to a whole new audience. While the DS version loses a little bit in the translation, it's still worth a look from hardcore series fans looking for a portable version of their fix."

When you scan the new 360 releases this week, you may feel a sense of déjà vu. "Unreal Tournament III," you will say, "didn't that come out eight months ago?" Fear not, however, for your eyes do not deceive you. The Xbox 360 version of Unreal Tournament III has finally released, bereft of user created content though it may be. Presenting us with another trip back in time is Civilization Revolution, which has players building their ... civilizations from ancient times all the way into the space age. If you haven't given the demo a try, we suggest you do. It's good fun. Finally, we have Beijing Olympics 2008. We're guessing that one involves a lot of button mashing and stick twirling. You'd best prepare for the calluses now.

[Via Joystiq]

Few games have inspired as many different reactions -- all heated, all extreme -- in me as Civilization Revolution. There are few aspects of the game that are just "okay" for me; everything is either really awesome or really annoying, and in the end, it's difficult to condense all of those feelings into a simple yea or nay. The short version is that Civilization Revolution is a pretty good DS game. As a Civ game ... well, it's different.

Civilization is an intense experience. After all, you're starting with a few guys dressed in ill-fitting skins and attempting to conquer the world through a variety of strategies. The games are often enormous, sprawling across a map that can take up most of the globe (oceans be damned), and due to the sheer size of the games, they've just never worked well on consoles. This game changes that, but in a very intriguing way. Civilization Revolution isn't a port. It's not a remake, or even really a reimagining. It's a complete rebuild, with such radical changes in some areas that it hardly feels like the same game, and yet, the base gameplay of one of the world's best turn-based strategy franchises somehow manages to remain intact. It's not without flaws -- and some are pretty serious -- but Civilization Revolution does manage to accomplish a very simple goal, and that's stripping down Civ and making it a manageable (and fun!) portable experience.

It's something of an understatement to say that I like the Civilization franchise. I've been playing the games for a decade, and they rank highly on my list of all-time favorites. That means it's difficult for me to look at Civilization Revolution as something outside of the norm -- which it is -- because it looks and feels in many ways like Civ. Looks (and feelings) can be deceiving, however, because this isn't Civ, not really, and that works both for and against the simplified strategy game.

There have been other console Civ titles, and they've all been lacking. The mouse-and-keyboard setup is so integral to managing a huge game that taking it to the controller has just never worked, at least not for me, and attempts to streamline the game in the past simply haven't been terribly successful. That hasn't stopped them from trying, and trying again, and with Civilization Revolution, the result is a lot better than some of the past efforts.

Dying for details on Civilization: Revolution? Yearning to know just what the reward will be if you're the first to get Masonry? Wonder no more, for the (incomplete) tech tree from the PS3/Xbox 360 demo versions of the game is available after the break. The DS version, it is worth noting, features the same gameplay, so the tree will apply.

Some technologies are locked and unavailable in the demo, so everything isn't covered here, but thanks to Sigmakan at the 2K forums, we've got a pretty good idea of what we'll be racing for -- and how we'll use it -- then the game hits our beloved handheld early next month.

There will be a Civilization Revolution demo out this Thursday as part of this week's regularly scheduled PSN update. Since the title has been pushed back to July 8 instead of coming out on its original June 3 release, the folks at Firaxis and 2K Games thought it would be a good idea to give you something to play while waiting the extra month. The demo has two forces, Rome and Egypt. It also comes packed in with a tutorial for those new to the turn-based strategy game.

This demo sounds a lot like the one we've played previously, so perhaps you might want to read our hands-on impression to get ready for this Thursday. Also, if you're really interested in Civilization Revolution, then you better watch our video interview with the creator himself, Sid Meier.

Our friends at GameDaily BIZ have asked us to loop you all in on the latest in their ongoing user-submitted-questions interview series; with the console-oriented Civilization Revolutions ready to strategize on July 8th, their subject is civilized pirate-enthusiast, Sid Meier. Want to know why he's going all-in with the console release of Revolutions, skipping out on his massive PC audience. Maybe you want to know why his Firaxis Studios are located in the sleepy burg of Hunt Valley, MD as opposed to San Francisco or Seattle or Austin. Or maybe you're interested in what he thinks of a potential EA acquisition of Take-Two (who in turn own Firaxis). Whatever it is you want to know, ask it here and BIZ just may use one of your questions. Sound off.

It took us some time to get our footage from the New York Comic Con up onto the interwebs, but now that we have things running smooth as butter you'll be seeing more vids to come.

For starters, how about this interview with Sid Meier, the creator of the Civilization series. The man took time out of his busy schedule to give us an interview, answer our questions, and talk about the upcoming Civilization Revolution. We won't say much else, so we'll let Sid take it from here. Enjoy the interview!

If you're interested in more of Civilization Revolution, make sure you head on over to the official website.

Also at New York Comic Con this weekend, we headed over to 2K Games booth and tested out Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution. We went straight ahead into a single player game. Out of the 16 civilizations in the game, two were playable on the demo: Romans and Egyptians. We decided to take on the role of the powerful Roman Empire.

When we first kicked things off we noticed right away that the streamlined interface was an intuitive system; we easily shot straight into the natural flow of the game. Things go much faster in Civilization Revolution as compared to the traditional PC games as a lot of commands have been simplified. For example, workers are not controlled individually and automatically carry out preset commands. This is good as it cuts out tedious and repetitious actions within turns and lets you focus more on moving military units and defending your empire.