Adimittedly I missed the original announcement (hey, I'm doing this in my own time!!) but 1up.com have a new preview of the upcoming Pirate RTS game Plunder, coming to XBLA, PSN and PC from Certain Affinity - who's members previously worked with Bungie and are currently on the 360 port of Left 4 Dead.

[Max Hoberman's] description in simple terms does the game justice. You control a big red X and move it around the map to plot your path, deciding when to attack enemies and towns, when to attack areas on the map to earn resources, and when to chase after power-ups. The first team to capture a set number of towns wins.

You can track down three resources -- gold, lumber, and rum -- and earn town (defense) or ship (cannon/defense/speed) upgrades by combining them. For power-ups, you can find and use a Whirlpool to drown enemies, a bomb to cause area damage, etc. "It's all about moving your guy around, being in the right position at the right time," says software engineer Peter Carter. "That's really kind of the core of any good strategy game -- being in the right position at the right time...we just took out all the complexity."