NEWS BITES

• Mayfair Games laid off eight
of its 20 staffers in December 1996.
"We just realized that the industry was
going down a little bit," said
spokeswoman Faith Price, adding that
sales of Mayfair's core product, board
games, were fine. Fantasy Adventures
has been held up by approvals, but the
German-language SimCity: Vienna is due
April. Other game-industry firings are
covered on pages 13 and 15.

• Wizards of the Coast is adding a
new Magic: The Gathering tourna-
ment circuit, the Grand Prix, which ranks
a step below the Pro Tour. The first Grand
Prix, which awards cash prizes and Pro
Tour invitations, will be held March 22-23
in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Hong Kong will host three Magic
tournaments Feb. 14-16. The Asian
Pacific Championships are formatted like
the world championships. The Hong Kong
Open offers big prizes, including an auto-
mobile. There's also the Duelist Invita-
tional, a sort of Magic All-Star game.
Sixteen top players chosen by a commit-
tee will compete in round-robin action
with a variety of deck types. The winner
gets to design a Magic card.

• Iron Crown Enterprises' Middle-
earth: Dark Minions players guide
is due in February 1996. The 96-page
softcover features black-and-white pic-
tures and strategy tips for every card in
the set ($10).

• William C. Dietz wrote Star
Wars: Dark Forces - Soldier for
the Empire, the first of three Dark Horse
Comics illustrated novels based on the
Dark Forces computer game (February,
128 pages, $24.95). Dark Horse's other
February releases include A New
Hope - the Special Edition #2 ($2.95),
Tales of the Jedi - The Golden Age of
the Sith #5 ($2.95), The Empire Strikes
Back Special Edition trade paperback
($9.95) and X-Wing Rogue Squadron-
The Warrior Princess #4 ($2.95).

Del Rey is re-releasing the three Art
of Star Wars trade paperbacks. Each
runs 176 to 192 pages, features 16 pages

of brand-new material and costs $18.95.