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Wednesday, November 17, 2004
We’re not going to the town, we’re going to…
This Carcassonne-related report features a distinctly erotic, if lo-res, photo of the wooden bits from the soon-to-ship Carcassonne: The City. Yes, you will be building actual little walls and towers, instead of just wondering what the hell the walls around all the cities have to do with anything besides the back-cover copy. Neat.
Amazon.com: your source for WotC product info
As EN World reported, several WotC products were added to Amazon’s catalog. Among the items listed was the July ‘05 release of an Angelfire Booster Pack for D&D Miniatures, confirming our earlier suspicions, as well as the Legends Huge Pack, which has already been denied by WotC staff as incorrect information. Other products mentioned on Amazon included Dungeon Master’s Guide II : Race Builders Series, Battlefield Adventures : A Genre Series Supplement, another City of Splendors: Waterdeep book, Weapons of Legacy : A Magic Series Supplement, Maelstrom : An Environment Series Supplement, and Deluxe Eberron Player Character Sheets for the Warforged gamer in your posse.
City of Heroes tells Marvel to step off
The smallest dog in the brewing legal fight over the future of the City of Heroes MMORPG has spoken out. Marvel Comics has threatened legal action against NCsoft and Cryptic Studios, the companies behind CoH, and now Cryptic has a reply posted on its website:
As reported by The Associated Press, Marvel Enterprises Inc. and Marvel Characters, Inc. have sued NCsoft Corporation and Cryptic Studios. The complaint is meritless. Cryptic Studios is confident that the District Court will reject all of Marvel’s claims and fully vindicate Cryptic Studios in all respects.
Guess it’s time to lawyer up or shut up. Considering Marvel’s monetary power, some may see this as a brave stance by Cryptic. Others will just agree that Marvel needs to go have a seat in the time-out chair.
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Marvel sues over City of Heroes
Comic book company Marvel has brought suit against NCSoft and Cryptic Studios Inc. over their MMORPG City of Heroes. Essssssentially, Marvel is claiming that City of Heroes provides players the tools needed to nearly duplicate certain Marvel characters, such as the Hulk or Wolverine. Extending the logic of the complaint, tabletop RPGs could theoretically be affected, as they too provide the tools. As does a #2 pencil.
Thursday, November 11, 2004
Possible Firefly RPG in the works
According to a post made on the official fan site for Serenity (the Firefly movie due next April), the recently established company Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd is looking for playtesters for a new RPG. Why post about it there? Good question, but I’m sure you can figure it out.
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Grimm leaves D20 System, ventures into scary forest instead
Fantasy Flight’s acclaimed mini-d20 setting Grimm from last year is getting the standalone treatment next month (supposedly next month, at least), with its own system and a greatly expanded page count. Grimm was one of the better-realized entries in the ooohh-childhood-is-scary RPG boomlet we had a while back, so it’s good to see this; nonetheless, I have my fingers crossed that the system gets stripped down substantially. I can’t think of many settings better suited to role-playing’s insurgent development ethos of making rules for, and out of, storytelling… rather than just injecting numbers and dice into the middle of story, like cream filling in a Twinkie.
Oh, hey: this year’s GAMES 100 is out
Sid Sackson’s BuyWord is the Game of the Year (but, curiously, not Best Word Game) according to GAMES Magazine. Also notable is Memoir ‘44 in the Historical Simulation category I didn’t know they had, and a tie for Best Abstract Strategy Game. Our men at Funagain have the whole, absurdly long list.
Beat cheeks, Stimpy! It’s M:tG Unhinged!
Yes, the only Magic expansion I ever bought more than five boosters from is getting its sequel, and it streets next week. Here is a preview of the chaos that results from an average card, and here’s that logo to look for again. Since the only Magic play I’m interested in is casual play, and since Pack Wars only goes so far, Magic is pretty feast-and-famine for me… with Unhinged, I get to feast again. ON HUMAN BLOOD - *ahem* sorry.
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
Next MLB SportsClix set bred for speed
The next set for MLB SportsClix has been announced, and Wiz Kids appears to be retooling the game a bit (see the press release below). Maybe if it weren’t as slow as real baseball games, and a single package contained enough pieces to actually play, gamers would play it more. I guess we’ll find out.
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Saturday, November 6, 2004
If Cthulhu were on Park Place, would he pay rent?
The website doesn’t reveal much, but the idea’s intriguing: Necronomonopoly. Yep, it appears to be a twist on the family game of real estate hoarding, with the goal of grabbing land being overshadowed by the goal of staying sane. For $10, you can download the satirical horror boardgame and get a look at components the website doesn’t show… like the game board, or a sample card, or something. C’mon, give us a taste. [EDIT: Oops. The tastes are there, I just missed ‘em.]
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