We haven’t commented yet on the recently-announced corporate merger between newish German-games reprinter Uberplay and conquest-gaming stalwarts Eagle Games. Both brands are going to continue as they’ve been, intact, although Uberplay is pushing more into straight family party games and Eagle is now publishing PC games that don’t have anything to do with their board gaming line (the timely Texas Hold’em No Limit Tournament being the first example). I don’t think the effect of this on the industry is gonna be too big – both companies will use the efficiencies that a shared infrastructure make possible to further their very distinct goals. So, sure, it’ll be helpful, but I think whether Uberplay can kick it into high gear and whether Eagle can turn their PC-gaming connections into something larger (oh: they have the board game deal for the new remake of the classic Sid Meier’s Pirates, it will allegedly hit in November) depend on a lot of other factors. Still neat, though, and we will certainly be seeing a lot more of both brands soon.