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Magic: The Gathering Tactics to have PC/PS3 connectivity

by Griffin McElroy { Nov 4th 2009 at 3:15PM }

Relations between Sony Online Entertainment's John Smedley and the guys from Penny Arcade have clearly improved since the Donut Debacle of 2006. Smedley recently took a moment to talk to Jerry "Tycho" Holkins about Magic: The Gathering Tactics, revealing a few savory tidbits about the title -- the most delightful of which being the fact that the PS3 and PC versions of the game will be interconnected, allowing a player to use his account (and all his meticulously crafted decks) on both platforms.

Basically, if you've got a laptop, a PS3 and an unslakable hunger for thin, rectangular artifacts imbued with immeasurable power, then your social life and work ethic are about to be assaulted on all sides. Good luck with that!

Square Enix countdown reveals Final Fantasy/SaGa/Magic the Gathering crossover card RPG

by JC Fletcher { Aug 7th 2009 at 5:30PM }

The latest Square Enix teaser countdown displayed a big Roman numeral that counted down each day, causing a lot of excitement when it struck "VII." The countdown has elapsed, revealing that no, it's not the Final Fantasy VII remake, nor is it something remotely as exciting, though Lord of Vermilion II is at least interesting in its own right.

Lord of Vermilion II is the sequel to Square Enix's popular arcade collectible card game, which uses real trading cards to summon monsters, allies, and such in-game. The sequel is particularly noteworthy because, as the new site reveals, it includes characters from Final Fantasy IV, Romancing SaGa II, and even creatures from Magic: The Gathering.

Of course, since we don't really have card RPGs or arcades in North America, the chances of playing this ourselves are slim. Although, as Siliconera noted, Square Enix trademarked Lord of Arcana in the US. So, it's possible.

Interview: Magic the Gathering -- Duels of the Planeswalkers

by Kevin Kelly { Jul 29th 2009 at 1:45PM }

Duels of the Planeswalkers was released at the beginning of summer on Xbox Live Arcade, and it's a surprisingly competent take on the traditional Magic card game. The XBLA game is immediately familiar and also easy enough for first-timers to jump in and learn the ropes. There's a robust tutorial, all of the cards are real Magic cards, and the multiplayer features multiple modes of play, including four-on-four battles and "Two-Headed Giant," where a team of two faces off against another team of two. In short, it's addictive.

We recently spoke with Worth Wollpert, senior business manager for Magic Online, and Mark Purvis, associate brand manager, both at Wizards of the Coast. The subject at hand was all things Duels of the Planeswalkers: there's some DLC on the way, and possibly other changes to the game -- but no deck customization (boo!). For now, the team is happy to let the game bring lapsed players back into the fold, and to introduce new players to the tapping and shuffling of Magic: The Gathering. Continue reading for the full interview.

Gallery: Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers

Continued →

David Blaine gets his street magic all over iPhone

by Justin McElroy { Jun 29th 2009 at 11:00AM }

If there's one thing that's less mysterious than actual prestidigitation, it's prestidigitation that requires the use of an iPhone. But street magician and extreme thing doer David Blaine is hoping you'll forget that for long enough to drop $1.99 on his new iPhone collaboration with Partners 1993, which let's your replicate his "See A Card" trick.

Perhaps Blaine is thinking that his name and the promise of being like him will be enough to move digital units. See, through years of intense training, Blaine has managed to exceed human limitations in many areas, such as holding one's breath or deluding one's self.

Amazon makes most of Master of Illusion's price disappear

by JC Fletcher { Feb 18th 2009 at 1:00PM }

Amazon.com has pulled a Deal of the Day out of its hat, in the form of Nintendo's Master of Illusion. The magic trick sim, er, magic training game -- or whatever you want to call this weird software -- has had its price halved today, and today only, to an impulse-level $9.98. That's very cheap for a first-party Nintendo game -- or very expensive for a deck of cards, if you choose to look at it that way!

Much like Clubhouse Games and WarioWare: Touched, Nintendo of Japan plans to break out individual tricks from Master of Illusion for sale as DSi downloads. We figure that if you're into e-magic, you might as well grab the whole thing now instead of waiting for the DSiWare version that may not even appear in North America!

Gallery: Master of Illusion

Konami announces Little Magician's Magic Adventure, which is magical

by Jason Dobson { Nov 18th 2008 at 9:30PM }

Just to be clear, this is magic we're talking about people. Magician's magic! The sorcerers at Konami announced that this February they will wave their styli through the air, casting a spell on the Nintendo DS with Little Magician's Magic Adventure.

The upcoming title is described as a mix of adventure and simulation-style role-playing, where players attend a magic school, learn to cast spells, go on adventures and, yes, build relationships with other students. Little Magician's something or other also promises scads of customizable avatars and some 52 different adventures, as well as Wi-Fi connectivity for cooperative play and chatting using the game's "global magic alphabet." We imagine it's just like the regular alphabet, except it can't wear armor or use two-handed weapons.

PAX 2008 hands-on: Magic: Duels of the Planeswalkers

by Kevin Kelly { Sep 2nd 2008 at 3:00PM }

Wizards of the Coast has been very busy talking about the 4th edition of Dungeons and Dragons, which came out this year, as well as its Star Wars and D&D miniatures and the online version of Magic: The Gathering. So, we were really caught off guard when we stopped by the Wizards booth at PAX and happened across this new version of Magic for the Xbox Live Arcade. We did a double take, tapped our mana, and found out more. Find out about the long-titled Magic: The Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers after the break.

Gallery: Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers

Continued →

A lesson on how to diminish the glory of dragons

by Phil Larsen { Jul 21st 2008 at 2:45PM }

If you had a dragon, what would you do? The most amazing creature in existence in under your control, so you'll surely embark on epic adventures across the world, right? You wouldn't make it ... fly through rings, would you?

Apparently, that's the extent of Codemasters' creative efforts thus far on the upcoming Dragonology for the Wii. Based on the popular books chronicling and categorizing everything to do with the mystical world of dragons, Dragonology will let you create a character, hit the skies and undertake many ring-flying, egg-collecting and photo-taking adventures.

The above screen requests the player to fly through a set of rings "more challenging than the first," which implies more than one ring-flying course. Which is more than one too many. You can check out more screens from a promising IP here, but the end results is looking a bit flat already. It's just that .. ring games are usually lousy, sometimes average. Never superb.

Master of Price Cuts

by Chris Greenhough { May 5th 2008 at 6:00PM }

We're losing count of how many times we've brought you news of Master of Illusion being offered at a lower price, and now it's cheap again! Newegg.com has the quirky (and rather decent) magic trainer on sale for $15.99, plus $2.99 postage.

We know that this has been even cheaper in the past, but we also know that magic continues to be serious business. So buy Master of Illusion today, and no longer will your bungled card tricks be greeted by awkward, slightly pitiful silences at dinner parties; indeed, we expect you all to be sawing siblings in half by the end of the week.

Gallery: Master of Illusion

[Thanks, Ernest!]

Doodle Hex casts itself onto the Wii

by Candace Savino { Mar 18th 2008 at 4:00PM }

Tragnarion Studios just got approved by Nintendo as an official licensed Wii developer, so what are their plans? If you answered, "They're going to Disney World," you'd be wrong, but we appreciate the sentiment.

You may or may not have heard of the Spanish developer's DS game that's in the works, Doodle Hex, which will be coming to our favorite touchscreen handheld this May. The game's name is pretty self explanatory -- you cast magic and hexes on people by drawing them with a stylus. But Tragnarion thinks that the drawing gameplay would go well with a Wiimote, too. With the studio's newly acquired license, the Spanish developer therefore hopes to bring the Doodle Hex saga to the Wii. We're assuming they would make a new game in the series rather than remake the DS game, but details weren't specified.

Tragnarion also said they they've been planning some innovative projects that fully utilize the Wii's capabilities, but whether they mean new IPs or more Doodle Hex remains to be seen.

[Via GamesPress press release]

Doodle Hex casts first screenshots

by Chris Greenhough { Mar 6th 2008 at 3:00PM }

And it's about time, as well. We last heard about Tragnarion's spell-casting title way back in August 2007, if you can recall such a time, before the game seemingly disappeared in its own puff of smoke.

It's back now, however, along with a publisher (Pinnacle Software) and the first half-dozen screenshots. As described previously, the touchscreen is to be used for scribbling out your hexes (and contains all sorts of gauges and meters that we don't fully understand yet), while the top screen is reserved for the game's hand-drawn art. We like that pig, but some of the other examples look kinda janky.

The gallery below has the first six screens, each super-imposed onto a DS. It's almost like the game itself is in your hands! Or not.

Gallery: Doodle Hex

[Via press release]

Magic: The Gathering-based games coming to PC, Mac, Xbox Live

by Kyle Orland { Feb 18th 2008 at 3:45PM }

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]

Magic Made Fun conjures up screens, possible PAL release date

by Chris Greenhough { Feb 6th 2008 at 7:00PM }

Master of Illusion hit the U.S. back in November, but PAL gamers are still waiting on Tenyo's magic simulation, where it will carry the far more approachable moniker of Magic Made Fun. The mystery surrounding the game's European and Aussie release date may have been solved, however, as Jersey-based retailer Play.com now has the game listed for release in the UK on March 14th.

On a possibly related note, thirteen new screens of the game ~~appeared in a puff of white smoke~~ were distributed today by Nintendo, which makes us think that the official unveiling of a PAL release date is imminent. Rabbits and hats at the ready!

Gallery: Master of Illusion

[Via press release]

Finally, magic is fun

by JC Fletcher { Jan 30th 2008 at 7:00PM }

In the U.S., magic is serious business. The art of illusion is a skillset to be mastered, as evidenced by the North American title for Nintendo's magic trainer, Master of Illusion. But what if magic tricks could be a recreational activity? Something that people could do for entertainment?

That's the idea Nintendo of Europe came up with when they branded the game: much like Brain Age makes brain exercises fun and Flash Focus makes looking at stuff fun, Magic Made Fun takes magic, which is an important life skill, and makes it fun. No longer will you have to force your kids to practice their card tricks!

Gallery: Master of Illusion

[Via GamesPress]

DS tapped for Magic: The Gathering card viewer

by Eric Caoili { Dec 13th 2007 at 8:00PM }

Before you get carried away with fantasies of playing Magic: The Gathering matches with your Nintendo DS, try to remind yourself that this is only a simple homebrew application for viewing the game's cards. As far as we know, Wizards of the Coast has no plans for turning the king of collectible card games into an online-supported release for the DS, further confirming our suspicion that life isn't really worth living.

Even if you can't actually make a deck and play with the cards in this dressed-up GIF viewer, it's still a useful resource that allows you to look up artwork and information for over 1800 cards. Displaying everything book-style, the program fills the top screen with the selected card while icons on the touchscreen sort everything by color, type, set, and rarity. Developer Sylus101 promises to add more cards and features, but, at the moment, the card library is limited to sets from the Ravnica, Time Spiral, and Lorwyn blocks. Core sets and older sets have yet to be added, so you might not be able to find some of your favorite cards, including the best Magic: The Gathering creature of all time, Phelddagrif.

[Via Dev-fr]