NEW
MAGIC EXPANSION ON THE WAY.
6/29/02
WIZARDS
OF THE COAST HAS RELEASED THE NEW LOGO AND
RELEASE DATE OF THEIR LATEST CARD SET FOR
MAGIC, "ONSLAUGHT". LOOK FOR
THIS NEW EXPANSION SOMETIME IN OCTOBER.
WIZARDS
ROCKED BY TURMOIL.
6/10/02
AS
REPORTED BY ICV2, WIZARDS CEO VINCE CALUORI
WILL TAKE AN EARLY RETIREMENT AND VP OF
PRODUCTION TOM FENDERLING QUALITY ASSURANCE
CONSULTANT GENE MADDOX HAVE BEEN
TERMINATED. NOT ONLY THAT HASBRO HAS
FILED LAWSUITS AGAINST FENDERLING AND MADDOX
FOR IMPROPER PURCHASING PRACTICES AND
FALSIFYING REPORTS. LOOK FOR MORE INFO
ON THIS STORY.
LUPIN
GETS ANOTHER VIDEO GAME.
5/9/02
"LUPIN
THE THIRD: LEGACY OF THE MAGIC
KNIGHT." HAS GOTTEN THE VIDEO GAME
TREATMENT RECENTLY. AS FAR AS WE KNOW
THE GAME WILL PLAY LIKE METAL GEAR SOLID WITH
YOU TRAVELING FROM PLACE TO PLACE STEALING
ITEMS. MORE TO COME.
NINTENDO
AND NAMCO TEAM UP.
5/9/02
NINTENDO
AND NAMCO HAVE JOINED FORCES TO BRING SOME
EXCITING GAMES OUT FOR THE GAMECUBE AND
GBA.
BANDAI
TO RELEASE NEW CARD GAME.
5/9/02
BANDAI
WILL RELEASE A NEW CARD BATTLE GAME CALLED
"X CARD OF FATE". NOT MUCH IS
KNOW ON THIS GAME YET BUT AS SOON AS WE HEAR
MORE WE WILL LET YOU KNOW.
VIDEO
GAME NETWORK LAUNCHES .
04/27/02
G4,
THE 24 HOUR VIDEO GAME CHANNEL LAUNCHES THIS
WEEK. AND OF COURSE WHAT IS A VIDEO GAME
NETWORK WITH OUT A WEEKLY NEWS SHOW. FOR
MORE INFORMATION ON THIS NETWORK VISIT G4.
HERO
CLIX ON THE WAY
4/26/02
THE
NEW WIZ KIDS MARVEL HERO CLIX GAME WILL BE OUT
IN STORES ON MAY 1ST. IF YOU LIKE THEIR
MAGE KNIGHT GAME THEN YOU WILL LOVE THIS GREAT
MARVEL VERSION.
STARWARS
CCG
4/11/02
WELL
IT LOOKS LIKE THE STARWARS CCG WILL BE HITTING
THE SHELVES ON APRIL 23 WITH THE REST OF THE
MERCHANDISE. SO FAR ON WHAT WE HAVE
PERSONALLY SEEN RIP-OFF CITY!!! AND WE
MEAN A 5 CARD BOOSTER PACK FOR 2.99!
SORRY FOLKS WE WON'T BE TOUCHING THIS GAME
UNLESS WE SEE A PRICE REDUCTION.
DBZ
FOR GAMEBOY ADVANCE.
04/06/02
LOOKS
LIKE WALMART WILL HAVE THE DRAGONBALL Z
GAME FOR 29.87.
WIZARDS
OF THE COAST LAY OFFS.
03/15/02
WIZARDS
OF THE COAST, THE PREMIER CCG PUBLISHING
COMPANY, HAS STARTED CUTTING THEIR HOME OFFICE
STAFF. WOTC LAID OFF 50 EMPLOYEES, EVEN
THOUGH THEY STATED THAT THIS WILL NOT EFFECT
THEIR RETAIL DIVISION, WE FIND THIS HARD TO
BELIEVE.
X-BOX
SALES HALTED IN JAPAN.
03/11/02
THATS RIGHT FOLKS TWO MAJOR
RETAILERS IN JAPAN HAVE HALTED SALES ON THE
X-BOX DUE TO COMPLAINTS THAT IT SCRATCHES THE
GAME DISKS, 590 COMPLAINTS TO DATE.
MAGIC
NOT RANDOM?
3/3/02
WE RAN ACCROSS THIS ARTICLE
FROM THOSE FINE FOLKS AT ICV.COM.
IN WHICH ALOT OF MAGIC SITES ARE SAYING THAT
ODYSSEY IS NOT RANDOM. READ ON.
SOURCE: ICV
Odyssey
Sequence on MTG Sites
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February 27, 2002
A flurry of
posts to at least two Magic: the
Gathering Websites (MTGNews.com
and Brainburst.com) has raised the
question of whether the sequence of
rare cards in boxes of Magic the
Gathering:
Odyssey Booster Packs is
truly random.
The posts indicate that based
on the location of packs containing
particular Odyssey rare cards,
the location of packs containing
subsequent rare cards is predictable.
Once the sequence was posted,
subsequent post-ers, for the most
part, reported finding identical
sequences, at least in the US (non-US
sequences appeared to be different).
However, since less than 100%
of the US post-ers reported finding
the same sequence, there appears to be
some question as to the ubiquity of
the pattern.
Other products
have been reported to have rare cards
appearing in predictable places within
a box, or in predictable places once
the location of one rare card is
known.
The Odyssey
situation seems to be more extreme
because specific cards (rather than
any rare card) can reportedly be found
once the location of a single specific
rare card is known.
Of
course, there are a couple of easy
solutions for retailers concerned
about customers cherry-picking packs
with rare cards.
One is to shuffle the packs in
the box before letting customers pick
which one they want.
Another is to keep the cards
behind the counter and pick the packs
for the customers, rather than letting
them pick the packs themselves.
Either is a good policy for all
card products sold in packs, and this
latest brouhaha is a good reminder to
consistently enforce such a policy.
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YAMAUCHI TO STEP DOWN?
SOURCE: ANIME NEWS
SERVICE
2/26/02
"According to a report on Japanese Web
site Manichi Interactive, Nintendo president
Hiroshi Yamauchi--who is now 74 years old--is
considering stepping down from his position
after the Nintendo shareholders meeting in
June. However, a replacement has not been
announced for Yamauchi, and he has continually
pushed back his retirement, as his initial
plan was to step down sometime in 2001.
Yamauchi originally took control of Nintendo
in 1949, when it was still actively involved
in the playing card business."
MEDABOTS
COMING TO CARD GAMING
02/18/02
UPPERDECK ENTERTAINMENT HAS
BEEN VERY ACTIVE AS OF LATELY, WITH THE
ANNOUNCEMENT OF YU-GI-OH! AND THE ANNOUNCEMENT
OF MEDABOTS. NOT MUCH IS KNOWN ABOUT THE
GAME PLAY YET BUT WE ARE EXCITED TO SEE WHAT
HAPPENS.
DRAGONBALL
Z CCG FOR GAMEBOY ADVANCE
02/18/02
ALSO ON THE WAY FOR GAMEBOY
ADVANCE IS THE HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL DBZ CARD GAME
FOR GAMEBOY ADVANCE. THE GAME WILL
INCLUDE TRUE TO THE CARD GAME PLAY AND
STRATEGY, ALONG WITH CARD IMAGES TO
BOOT. I HATE TO SAY IT WE ARE MORE
EXCITED ABOUT THIS GAME THAN ANY THEM, SORRY
BUT WE LOVE THE CARD GAME.
LEGACY
OF GOKU ON THE WAY
02/18/02
IN
SOME RECENT NEWS THAT WE ARE SURE YOU HAVE
ALREADY HEARD, THE FIRST DBZ GAME FOR THE
GAMEBOY ADVANCE IS COMING IN MAY. LEGACY
OF GOKU WILL BLEND RPG AND FIGHTING GENRES IN SLEEK
NEW GAME THAT WILL BE TRUE TO THE SERIES.
TOY FAIR
2002 HERE WE COME!
02/04/02
JUST LIKE THE HEADLINE READS,
WE ARE GOING TO TOY FAIR!!!! WE WILL BE
LEAVING THIS FRIDAY AND COMING BACK ON
SUNDAY. THE MAIN AREA WE WILL BE HITTING
IS THE IRWIN TOYS BOOTH. WHERE WE WILL
GET TO SEE THE NEW DBZ TOY LINE AND OTHER FUN
STUFF.
ROBOTECH
GAME ON THE WAY.
1/27/02
JUST ANNOUNCED, A ROBOTECH
GAME IS ON THE WAY TO THE GAMEBOY
ADVANCE. MORE TO COME.
JAFAX 7 HERE WE COME!!!
01/22/02
WE HAVE JUST CONFIRMED THAT
WE WILL BE ATTENDING JAFAX 7. JAFAX IS A
FREE ADMISSION ANIME CONVENTION LOCATED AT
GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY IN GRANDVILLE,
MI. WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO ATTENDING
AND HAVING FUN.
CARDS INC. GETS CLASSIC LICENSES FOR TCGS
01/22/02
CARDS INC. ANNOUNCED THAT THEY HAVE BEEN
AWARDED THE LICENSES TO THE CLASSIC TV
SHOWS THE SAINT, THE PRISONER, SPACE:
1999 AND UFO. THE FIRST RELEASE IS THE
PRISONER AND WILL HIT STORES IN MARCH OF 2002.
X-BOX USERS COMPLAIN ABOUT PROBLEMS
By ALLISON LINN, AP
Business Writer
SEATTLE (AP) - Hundreds of people who
bought Microsoft's hot new Xbox gaming
console over the holidays received defective
systems, and some said they had to wait weeks
and endure shoddy customer service before
their systems were fixed.
While analysts say the number of flawed
consoles is probably too small to spell
serious production troubles, they caution that
the long repair times may harm the software
giant in its first major foray into hardware.
John Kreis bought an Xbox the day it came
out. But the 31-year-old Chicago man's $300
system stopped working almost immediately.
Kreis said it took a month of aggravation with
Xbox customer service before he got a
replacement.
``The whole thing that was so frustrating
(was) just the fact that still to this day I'm
waiting for a call back just to explain to me
what happened,'' he said.
The Associated Press spoke with about a
dozen Xbox users who complained of a game
system that never worked or worked for a few
hours or days before freezing up. Most called
the customer service response poor.
``I'm taking my Christmas decorations down
and (my son) hasn't gotten to play with his
Christmas toys yet,'' Debbie Mason, of
Uniontown, Pa., said Thursday.
She had just been told in her ninth call to
customer service that, despite an earlier
promise that the system would be sent back
that day, it turned out to be broken again.
Microsoft sales and marketing director John
O'Rourke said fewer than 1 percent of the
Microsoft units - 10,000 units in this case -
have proven faulty. Analysts say that's in
line with the industry standard, and
competitor Nintendo reported a comparable rate
for its new GameCube.
But analyst Rob Enderle of Giga Information
Systems warned that a company's response to
those customers who do have problems often is
more important than how many units actually
break.
``If 200 people have a really bad
experience and they're vocal, then the
impression is the product's bad,'' he said.
During the Christmas season, Enderle added,
any return that takes more than a week is ``a
horribly long time.''
TAKARA
JOINS CARD GAME MARKET.
TOKYO, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Japan's
third-largest toymaker, Takara Co Ltd, said on
Thursday it would enter the card game market
next spring in collaboration with U.S. toy
giant Hasbro Inc.
Takara, which formed a broad alliance with
the U.S. toymaker in October, plans to start
selling in Japan a new children's card game
developed by Hasbro's card game unit, Wizards
of the Coast Inc, a Takara spokeswoman said.
Games in which players buy character cards
of varying value and play the characters off
each other have become a hit with Japanese
children.
Takara hopes to make a dent in the card
game market after the spectacular success of
the ``Pokemon'' card game, featuring
characters from the popular cartoon, and the
``YU-GI-OH!'' game, developed by Konami Co Ltd
.
``Entry into the card market, which is seen
worth tens of billions of yen, is part of our
effort to boost sales to 100 billion yen
($762.7 million),'' the spokeswoman said.
Takara has said that it aimed to increase
group sales to 100 billion yen in the 2003/04
business year, more than double the figure in
2000/01.
TOP
TEN GAME SALES IN DECEMBER. 01/13/02 THOSE
FANTASTIC FOLKS AT ICV
BRING THIS FANTASTIC LIST, FOR MORE INFO VISIT
THEIR WEBSITE
UPPER
DECK GETS YU-GI-OH! 01/13/02 EARLIER
THIS MONTH UPPER DECK ENTERTAINMENT PROUDLY
ANNOUNCED THAT THEY HAVE BEEN AWARDED THE U.S.
YU-GI-OH CARD GAME LICENSE. WE SHOULD
START TO SEE BOOSTERS AND STARTERS AROUND
MARCH.
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