2K Games have announced that Sid Meier is spreading his evil talents of time destruction and lost productivity even further. Civilization Revolution will be landing next year for "next generation consoles and handhelds" - probably safe to assume Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 at this point.

Some of the key features that will resonate with fans of strategy games and the Civilization franchise include 16 civilizations to master and lead to victory, an array of famous historical leaders to play as or compete against, and accessible maps and streamlined time scale for quicker games, intense combat, and constant action. In online multiplayer mode, players will compete for world conquest and glory among their peers as they battle in teams, head-to-head or epic free-for-all matches. In addition, auto-matching, ranked games, leaderboards, achievements, downloadable extra content and integrated video and voice chat make the online play more versatile and fun than any previous version of Civilization and will allow players to see where they stand against the competition. Finally, the position of ruler of the world can be settled online.

Some imagery is available yonder.

New Alpha Centauri please, Sid's best game by a mile.

Handheld version though, I would buy that no questions asked.

I can't imagine what would happen with a handheld version of Civilization. I don't play handheld games much, but something like this would prolly tip me over the edge and make me buy a DS or something. Except then I could probably kiss goodbye to my reading habits.