What I saw from the Civilization Revolutions demo, I liked. Firaxis managed to simplify the entire world building experience for a console without losing the features that made Civilization what it was. The demo sucked me in as much as any full game on the PC ever did. I was sold but, unfortunately, knowing I was leaving the XBox 360 behind I knew I couldn’t get it.
There was, however, the scaled-back-but-still-Civ DS version. This was perfect. All the Civilization building that I wanted in portable form, without any of the time-sink guilt that you’d get on a computer[1]. I checked the release date: July 8th. Fuck. I was leaving on the 7th. Fine, I thought, I’d just buy it in London once I get there. I knew it’d be more expensive, because everything is more expensive here, but at least I’ll have it.
A few weeks later I found myself in a Game store on Camden High Street. I asked the dude there if he had Civilization Revolutions for the DS. No. I went down the street to another shop and asked the dude there. Also no. Then I realized, and later confirmed, that it hasn’t been released in Europe yet and that it won’t be released until the very end of August, nearly two months later. Frustration set in.
Now I know how you European gamers feel.
- Computers are for work and internet. Consoles (and portables) don’t carry this burden and are guilt-free.
It’s pretty bad. My first visit to the USA in Feb for GDC allowed me the pleasure of purchasing some games I wouldn’t otherwise see for a few months!
Imports are all the more useful over here, especially the price issue, but you’ll hit a few region locked problems :( (luckily, not for DS games).
Some publishers are better then others however. Keep an eye on Ubisoft games, they usually are much more global, since they are not American or Japanese.