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.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!

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.

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.

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.


[Thanks, Ernest!]

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]

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.


[Via press release]

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]

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!


[Via press release]

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!



[Via GamesPress]

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]

Joys be thine, amateur magicians! If you thought that twenty-buck bargain from earlier this week was the best deal Amazon could conjure up for Master of Illusion, prepare to be amazed -- the online shop has sawed the magic kit's original price in half, bringing it down to a mere $14.99 only two weeks after its release in the US! This deal won't last long, however, as it's scheduled to end at the stroke of midnight (or whenever Amazon's stock runs out), so grab this one before it disappears in a puff of smoke.

See also: Metareview: Master of Illusion

Since it popped up on Amazon's sale yesterday, and since it's an intriguing title (at least, to this blogger), even though it's been out for a while, we thought we would take a critical look at Master of Illusion -- or at least, a look at what the critics are saying.

Game Informer: 80% -- At GI, they dig the freebies and the attention. "You might think the Wii is perfect for parties at your house, but this game and its magic tricks will make you and your DS the center of attention. Master of Illusion not only shows you how to perform tricks of various stripes, but also has practice exercises and performs some of its own magic tricks on you (the game also comes with a specialty deck of cards)."

IGN: 70% -- At IGN, they see Master of Illusion as the new magic kit: "Visit any toy shop and you're faced with a few "magic kits" that will teach kids how to perform feats of illusions using the props that are included in the box. That's exactly what Master of Illusion is: this generation's magic kit. But instead of the trick hankies, cup and balls, and collapsible wands, you use the Nintendo DS as the tricks' "prop." Master of Illusion is easily one of the most unexpected products on the Nintendo DS. Use your Nintendo DS to perform magic tricks? All right! It's certainly unique, and there's entertainment value in Master of Illusion, but keep in mind it's not a game; most of what you get out of this product is what you put into it."

Game Daily: 70% -- At Game Daily, it's all about performance. "The most enjoyable mode is Magic Show. Here, you can take your practice and tricks on the road, so to speak. While a lot of these tricks are pretty nifty, especially the ones where you pretend to be psychic, most verge on a tad obvious. Luckily, Master of Illusion's manual instructs you on how to deal with mistakes you might make or problems you might have with your illusions without spoiling the atmosphere or the show. Your deck of cards will soon become your best friend."

Turn on your PSP ... with the power of your hands! Okay, so you always need your hands to turn on your system. But can you turn it on without even touching it? l0rdnic0 from Acidmods can, thanks to some modding and the clever use of magnets. With a simple wave of the hand, you'll be able to turn on and off your PSP like magic.