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.

Last month I had to choose between flying out to Paris to check out Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational and, it turns out, Diablo III or going on vacation. I sided with my sanity and decided to take a short leave from the site.

I've been spending my day or so back from vacation reading through all of the coverage that came out of the City of Lights. There's been quite a bit to read. If you missed out over the weekend here's the full run down.

Blizzard Announces Diablo III

Blizzard Worldwide Invitational: Diablo III In-Depth

Diablo III Webpage Filled With Trailers, Screens, Evil

Blizzard Worldwide Invitational: Counting Down

Epic Blizzard Swag Get!

Blizzard Worldwide Invitational: How Much Is Your Goody Bag Worth?

Blizzard Worldwide Invitational: Day One

Blizzard Worldwide Invitational: “There Is No Penguin Level.”

Blizzard Worldwide Invitational: The Blizzard Museum Show Diablo 3 Concept Art

Blizzard Worldwide Invitational: Level 70 Elite Tauren Chieftain Level Up

The Man Behind Diablo III Talks Plot, Lore and Battle.Net

Microsoft/Activision News Leak: The Round-Up

Just wake up? Boy, did you miss a ton of stuff! Marketing research firm Intellisponse forgot all about standard internet security protocols and left a whole bunch of secret, yet-to-be-announced game information accessible to the public (first spotted by MMaRsu@GAF). Stuff that, you should be made aware, is totally unconfirmed. But also stuff that, from the looks of it, may well have been due to appear as official E3 announcements (for Microsoft) or official same-time-as-E3 announcements (for Activision). If you were sleeping, or otherwise missed it, catch up on it all by hitting the links below.

Leak Seems to Confirm Xbox Live Avatars On the Way
Leaked Details On Lips, Microsoft's Answer To SingStar
More Leaks: Forza 3 and Call of Duty
Game Show Channel Coming To Xbox Live
Guitar Hero World Tour's New Guitar Control Revealed, Priced
Ultimate Band for Wii: Music Games in a More Casual Style
Spider-Man Wii Games To Use Wii Fit Balance Board, "Web Shooter" Controllers
Rumor: "Trioxide" To Allow Console Games To Be Played On PC?
Powers & Titans Probably Announced For 360, PS3, PC
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance II Details, Platforms
Microsoft Avatars Will Be Playable, Licensed?
New Tony Hawk Game To Employ Motion-Controlled Peripheral?
Racing Equity Probably Announced
You Don't Know Jack Probably Announced For The Wii

[Pic]

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is finally upon us. The game that launched a million PlayStation 3 consoles has reached the eager hands of gamers and reviewers all over the worlds. Solid Snake's swan song, Kojima's masterpiece...call it what you will, there's no doubt that MGS 4 is one of the most important titles in the PS3's short history, and will set the bar for action adventure games on the console for years to come.

Now, as millions of gamers all over the world immerse themselves in Snake's final adventures, we take a look at how the game fared in the hands of the reviewing public.

In case you stay gaming and Kotaku-free on weekends here's a run down of what you missed yesterday when the Grand Theft Auto IV embargo lifted. Chief among the posts was Mike McWhertor's review of the game, but we also wrote up a comparison of the PS3 and 360 versions, a bit of a rant on the failures of the SIXAXIS and a Q&A loaded FAQ for the curious.

The links are here for your perusal and we plan on running more original coverage this week starting with a look at multiplayer gaming by McMike later today.

Grand Theft Auto IV Review: Life, Liberty City And The Pursuit Of Happiness
SIXAXIS Brings Nothing to GTA IV (But Frustration And Burning Helicopter Chassis)
Which Version Of GTA IV Should You Buy? We Compare The PS3 and 360 Versions
Everything You Wanted To Know About GTA IV (So Stop Asking!)
GTA IV Reviews: An Exercise In Hyperbolism

Sierra Gamer's Day: Ghostbusters to 50 Cent

Man, lots of embargoes have been lifting lately. The latest? Early this morning Sierra lifted the embargo on their Gamers Day, held earlier this month in San Francisco. Our Flynn De Marco attended, churning out impressions of eight upcoming Sierra games, including Ghostbusters and 50 Cent's latest title.

The Bourne Conspiracy Impressions
Ghostbusters Impressions
Sierra Online's XBLA Offerings
The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon: Spyro Grows Up,
World in Conflict 360/PS3 Impressions
Crash Bandicoot: Mind Over Mutant Impressions
Prototype Impressions
50 Cent II Impressions

Earlier this week the folks at GameCock dumped a bunch of screenshots, fact sheets and videos on us for all of their upcoming titles. Here's a run down of everything, in case you missed the massive info dump:

Pirates Vs. Ninja Dodgeball Info Dump
Hail to the Chimp Info Dump
Stronghold Crusader Extreme Info Dump
Dungeon Hero Info Dump
Velvet Assassin Info Dump
Legendary Info Dump
Insecticide Info Dump
Section 8 Info Dump
Mushroom Men Info Dump

We're officially just one day into the Tokyo Game Show and already we have more content than anyone would ever want to read. For those of you trying to keep up or just into scanning headlines here's the list so far:

Leipzig Round-Up

We've been here for a chunk of the week covering the Games Convention in Leipzig, but for most of the public the show didn't really kick off until today, Saturday, when it was open to the public and attendance soared.

We'll bringing you coverage through-out the weekend and lots more on Monday but in case you missed it here's what we've done so far.

SCEA Gamers Day So Far

Bunch O Wii, PS3 Grades

Review Round-Up: God Hand

Review Round-Up: LocoRoco

Simon Says: Read This

Kotaku Originals

Review Round-Up: Chromehounds

Review Round-Up: Table Tennis

Review Round-Up: Field Commander