2K community manager Elizabeth Tobey announced that different retailers will offer different ingame bonuses to the copies of Civilization Revolution they sell. You can click the link for specifics, but to sum up: People who buy from Best Buy will be more cultured. People who buy from Gamestop will be better at exploring the oceans and outer space. And people with PS3s who buy from Target will be stupid unless they get it from Best Buy or Gamestop.

Each retailer will include with the game a special download code, with the conspicuous exception of the PS3 versions purchased from Target, which get bupkis. "Later this month", according to Tobey's announcement, the code will allow you to download a unique Wonder & Artifact Pack, which includes four Wonders of the World (one for each age) and two relics, all available in single player games. The Wonders can be built by you or the AI civilizations, and the relics might randomly show up when certain mystical sites are discovered during exploration. Alternatively, you can just get Civilization Revolution from Circuit City to try to score one of the limited posters of Abraham Lincoln checking to be sure no one sees him chopping lumber in a graveyard (pictured above).

If you pre-ordered from, say, Amazon.com, let this be a lesson for what happens when you bypass the almighty brick & mortar. Lucky for you, all three Wonder & Artifact Packs will be available as downloadable content "in early fall". No official word about pricing yet.

I would normally gnash my teeth about this whole deal, but after playing a pre-release build for a few weeks, I have too much goodwill towards Revolution to work up much indignation. Furthermore, I love how this sort of integrated downloadable content adds replayability to a strategy game. For instance, see what Vic Davis is doing with his wonderful Armageddon Empires. He's making (free!) expansion packs that mix new content into the game, altering the balance and adding to the sense of discovery as you play.

But mostly, I find it hard to get my dander up because the battle for post-release paid content is over. As consumers, we've lost. Too many of us rolled over and accepted it too readily. This is the way it's going to be from now on, so instead of getting mad, just keep your credit card handy and be grateful 2K is giving you a free Statue of Liberty or Leaning Tower of Pisa for the time being.