While there were a number of video games available at New York Comic Con, one game stood out as the most fun thing we played at the show floor. It was a Call of Duty game, yes -- but it wasn't a video game. The Call of Duty card game is a nice surprise, especially for someone that's grown tired of the repetitive (and expensive!) CCG market.

You can read Stephen Totilo's excellent write-up at MTV Multiplayer to understand how the game is played -- but needless to say, this is an easy game to pick up and understand. It's a bit daunting at first, especially with its radically different design. The "real time" card engine forced players to be quick of mind, as a constant barrage of attacks can overwhelm the opponent, and lead to victory. Players can continue drawing and using cards until one of two cards is played: Pause and Nightfall. Pause cards will simply don players a special power, such as laying a mine, or throwing a grenade. However, Nightfall is where all your actions are tallied up, and casualties can accumulate.

In order to recreate the chaotic feel of the Call of Duty games, the card game is designed to make players throw down as many cards down as possible. However, no card takes effect until Nightfall. For example, I may have a soldier at risk of dying, as a Fire card is thrown on him. However, if I get a Move card, I can move him out of the way. If by Nightfall, the soldier is clear of any fatal cards, he'll survive for the next bout. It's a fascinating concept that forces very quick, strategic use of each card.

If a hit computer game can turn into a hit collectible card game, then why can't a hit CCG become a hit computer game? That seems to be the thinking behind today's announcement that Wizards of the Coast has licensed video game use of its Magic: The Gathering IP to Stainless Games (which will make Xbox Live and PC versions) and Mind Control Software (which will make a Mac edition).

Today's bare-bones announcement includes absolutely no information about how the license will be used or what form the games will take, but it's probably safe to say they won't be direct conversions of the popular card game (WotC's Magic: The Gathering Online already fills that role quite well). More likely, the games will probably follow Acclaim and Atari's leads in using characters and locations from the card game for a new type of experience. We can only pray that these newest efforts will improve on those somewhat disastrous past efforts, because the Magic Universe definitely contains a lot of potential for a good video game.

[Thanks Ross]

By all accounts Omiya Soft's Culdcept franchise has no business being as fun as it is. An admittedly bizarre meshing of board and collectible card game antics, the resulting gameplay potpourri comes across as one big happy accident, but one that has endured since well before the Saturn was pushing up daises. With iterations released in Japan for Sega's final console pair as well as the original PlayStation, North American gamers got their first taste of this unique hybrid in 2003 when NEC released Culdcept for the PlayStation 2 to modest critical acclaim.

Since that time, however, the franchise has faded into obscurity, but will soon be given another chance, this time under the banner of Namco Bandai for the Xbox 360. Culdcept Saga, which has been available for some time in Japan, marks a decidedly different sort of experience for Xbox 360 owners, one usually associated with XBLA downloads rather than a full-on retail release, though even trepidatious players may find the $39.99 price difficult to pass up, especially those looking for something different to play during their FPS downtime.

In advance of the game's early February release we managed to corner Namco Bandai's Nobu Taguchi, who is spearheading Culdcept Saga's localization here in North America. Taguchi was more than willing to set us straight on a number of topics, from the title's multiplayer gameplay to changes made regarding how DLC will be handled...and more.

Check out the full interview after the jump.

It's not uncommon for video games to feature gameplay dependent upon gimmicks and peripherals, from early 8-bit examples like Gyromite to more modern releases such as Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution, each of which changed the gaming experience by altering how we interact with the games we play.

In this way, Sony and SCE Studios Japan's The Eye of Judgment is one of the most ambitious experiments with game design to date, and in leveraging off of the considerable card game experience of Hasbro and its Wizards of the Coast subsidiary, best known for the Magic: The Gathering and Star Wars collectible card games, The Eye of Judgment's pedigree is certainly not one to be taken lightly. Marrying a tabletop card game with the PlayStation 3 has created an experience that is if nothing else unique; unfortunately the lynchpin in this union, the newly launched PlayStation Eye camera, is also the game's Achilles' heel, oftentimes bringing an unwelcome sense of frustration to players gaming in anything but the most ideal settings, something which we covered in much greater detail previously.