Kotaku: magic the gathering

BattleForge: EA's Answer To Magic: The Gathering

Mike Fahey — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 09:40:00 MDT

Here's a train I'm surprised EA hadn't hopped on sooner. BattleForge is an online collectible card game fantasy RTS under development at EA Phenomic in Germany that will see players assembling an army out of virtual trading cards and using them to battle against other players, form guilds, and engage in tournaments using cards bought and sold via a robust online marketplace.

"BattleForge is the next step in compelling RTS gameplay by taking the battles completely online," stated Executive Producer & Vice President Richard Leinfellner. "With co-op play, challenging tournaments, Guilds, chat rooms and a robust marketplace for trading and buying your cards; BattleForge is the first RTS to add integral social and community components to an exciting fantasy RTS."

You'll be able to play the game out of the box with the cards provided, but like Magic: The Gathering, the cards provided will most likely keep you competitive for about 5 seconds before someone with the means to purchase the ultimate custom deck sends you home crying. People will buy a lot of nothing if it means their nothing is better that someone else's. Get ready to build your nothing when BattleForge is released this fall.

EA's BattleForge Catapults PC Gamers into Multiplayer Online Melees Build Unique Armies and Team Up for Epic Battles in a New Fantasy RTS Game
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced that the multi award-winning EA Phenomic Studio based in Germany is developing BattleForgeTM, a new fantasy online real-time strategy game where you assemble your own army with collectible trading cards. Win, trade and buy your cards online to create your ultimate deck.1 Mix and match the elements of your cards to play with your friends online and conquer massive online battlegrounds.

For mortals caught in a clash between insane gods and ancient giants, standing together is the only option. Using the forces of Fire, Frost, Nature and Shadow a mysterious Forge which makes legends come to life, is their single hope to create armies powerful enough to overcome these impossible odds. It is now time to set out and reclaim an epic fantasy world which has been overthrown by sinister powers in the twilight of a dying sun.

"BattleForge is the next step in compelling RTS gameplay by taking the battles completely online," stated Executive Producer & Vice President Richard Leinfellner. "With co-op play, challenging tournaments, Guilds, chat rooms and a robust marketplace for trading and buying your cards; BattleForge is the first RTS to add integral social and community components to an exciting fantasy RTS."

Under development at EA Phenomic, BattleForge is expected to ship in Fall 2008 for the PC. This product is not yet rated by PEGI or ESRB.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS™, EA™, EA SPORTS BIG™ and POGO™. In fiscal 2007, EA posted revenue of $3.09 billion and had 24 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.

EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS BIG, POGO and BattleForge are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

1 Disclaimer: Complete game available with box copy purchase. Microtransactions not required to play game, only for new cards

Thanks to the FalseBlue Magic: the Gathering Card Generator

Magic Online III Launches With Mediocrity

Mark Wilson — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:20:00 MDT

In what may be news only interesting to me and my occasional pilgrimage of interest to Magic the Gathering, Magic Online III has launched, allowing players all over the world to duke it out with virtual cards in the virtual world. Unfortunately, only 1,300 players caused the servers to crash on launch day. Since then, there have been frequent reports of lag...a disappointment for a bandwidth-light card game.

But IGN says that the worst part of it all is a crumby, poorly-designed interface that doesn't like to save your settings. They give the game a 5.5 but assure us, "The good news is, it can only get better." Too bad. I guess I'll be waiting a bit longer before re-injecting that needle.

Magic Online III [IGN]

Hasbro Signs Film Deal - Monopoly The Movie?

Mike Fahey — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:40:19 MST

Hasbro and Universal pictures today annouced the formation of a six-year strategic partnership to produce movies based on the toy company's most popular brands. You know what? Just read it yourself. It's pretty short.

Hasbro Inc. (HAS) and Universal Pictures formed a six-year strategic partnership to produce at least four motion pictures based on brands such as Monopoly, Candy Land, Ouija, Battleship, Magic, the Gathering and Stretch Armstrong.

I'd say I was completely shitting you if not for the fact that I just blockquoted their official release right there. Stretch Armstrong? Magic the Gathering? Monopoly the Movie? I can already hear the actors viciously fighting over who gets to be the race car. We're so doomed. Luckily the first film won't be released until 2010 or 2011, which is plenty of time for us to dig very large holes to hide in.

Magic: The Gathering Coming To XBLA

Mike Fahey — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 15:30:31 MST

Back in December Wizards of the Coast announced a partnership with Stainless Games for an unannounced downloadable game on an unannounced platform, and while I called it with Magic: The Gathering for Xbox Live Arcade, it really was too much of a no-brainer for me to feel all uppity about. While still remaining characteristically vague, WotC has announced plans to extend the M:tG franchise, with Stainless doing a game for Xbox Live Arcade and PC and Mind Control Software doing one for the PC and Mac.

"We're excited to bring the Magic brand to new platforms and give our fans new ways to experience this great property," said Jared Gustafson, Brand Director for Magic: The Gathering at Wizards of the Coast.

As to what exactly the games are going to be...well that's anyone's guess, though I am leaning strongly towards card, and not a rehash of the crappy Xbox title Magic: The Gathering - Battlegrounds.

WIZARDS OF THE COAST EXTENDS ITS MAGIC: THE GATHERING IP TO MULTIPLE PLATFORMS Industry Leading Partnerships Enhance Strategy Fantasy Gaming Options for all Gamers
RENTON, Wash.—February 18, 2008 — Wizards of the Coast (WotC), the leader in strategy hobby collectible trading card, board and role playing games, and a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS), today announced its plans to extend the Magic: The Gathering® franchise to gamers on Microsoft's Xbox 360 Xbox LIVE® Arcade and the PC through partnerships with Stainless Games, Ltd. and Mind Control Software, Inc. Stainless Games will develop a game using the Magic: The Gathering IP for both Xbox LIVE Arcade and the PC, while Mind Control will develop a game for the PC and Mac.

"We're excited to bring the Magic brand to new platforms and give our fans new ways to experience this great property," said Jared Gustafson, Brand Director for Magic: The Gathering at Wizards of the Coast. "It's partnerships like these that will advance the strategy games category and transform it to meet the needs and desires of today's digital gamers."

Magic: The Gathering, introduced in 1993, is the premier and original trading card game that inspired an entirely new game genre. Combining the dynamics of a card game with the excitement of trading and collecting, MagicTM offers fun for casual play, as well as the option of highly competitive tournaments. Magic: The Gathering currently has a thriving online edition (Magic Online®) made up of more than 350,000 active accounts. The game allows gamers to collect and trade virtual cards, build the perfect deck, get help from mentors, find opponents at all skill levels, and compete for prizes every day without ever leaving the comforts of home.

Specific details on the games Stainless Games and Mind Control will develop using the Magic: The Gathering IP will be announced at a later date.

PoxNora: A CCG Open Beta With $50 Worth Of Free Cards

brownlee — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 07:40:13 MDT

I don't really like CCG games. If I wanted another open money sink as a pastime outside of beer guzzling, I'd start going to prostitutes, not game companies. These games are structured to reward the person with the most disposable income; as a professional blogger, that person is not me.

Still, my interest has been piqued by PoxNora, a Magic: The Gathering style browser-based CCG game that has an open beta currently going down. And why is my interest piqued? Simple: not only is the game itself fairly cool and the art attractive and fun to look at, but they are giving everyone who signs up for the open beta $50 worth of free cards to get started.

That's 150 cards to get the ball rolling. Of course, I still suck at the game, but I'm pretty sure I suck a lot less than if I had zero dollars worth of free cards in my stack. If you've got an account, why not jump to the comments and try to organize some matches? Florian Eckhardt

PoxNora [Official Site]

E306 Justify Your Game: Magic The Gathering

kotaku.com — Thu, 11 May 2006 16:07:56 MDT

Can Magic the Gathering actually ever be justified? We have our doubts, but we gave the game's creators fifteen seconds to talk about it anyway.