Sid Meier's 'Civilization' on consoles

Leading turn-based strategy game Civilization is to be released on both consoles and handheld gaming systems for the very first time.

The series, which sees each player take turns to move his or her units on a world map, build new cities and units and rage war on the opposition by eliminating their assets, has become a firm favourite with PC gamers.

Now publisher 2K Games has confirmed that Sid Meier's Firaxis team is working on a console and handheld version of the game for release Spring 2008.

The forthcoming title will be called Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution and promises a new control system, interface changes, voice and video chat for online multi play and 16 civilzations to deal with.

Meier said: "We are excited to take advantage of the power of next generation consoles and the ingenuity of handhelds, to create a great and unique strategy game for newcomers to the series, as well as the millions of fans around the world who enjoy Civilization on the PC."