Scrye 14 - 11 - X-Files CCG, NXT Games & Donruss: Mention - X-Files CCG
EXCLUSIVE
Report from the GAMA Tradeshow
Card Collector Confidential
FPG's Dark Age is a really awesome combat-oriented
game and the artwork is utterly amazing. Most of the
pieces we saw were Brom's. He is doing more than 25%
of the cards, and they're really tremendous. The Tim
Bradstreet stuff is outstanding... FPG has all kinds of sup-
port products on the way, including CD-BROM, a screen-
saver CD that also has interviews and more - can't wait until it hits
the stores this summer.
We got our first look at the X-Files prototype cards from NXT Games
and Donruss: WOW! Some of the people at the show thought they
were far and away the best-looking cards
this field has ever seen. The design of
the packaging and the prototype cards is
really innovative. How is the game
going to work? You have a team of investigators and you try to iden-
tify your opponent's conspiracy. Whoever succeeds first, wins!
Beyond seeing more of the awesome
The Dragons expansion art for Middle-
earth, a spy of ours got to demo
Dicemaster, coming in July from I.C.E.
To say he is excited about it is a huge
understatement. He warns, "Dice
lovers: save all your cash-you're going
to soon learn that you can't have too
many Dicemaster dice." The 40 different rare dice found in the
Boosters should be highly collectible. This game may create a new
obsession... I need MORE dice!
Report from the GAMA Tradeshow
Card Collector Confidential
FPG's Dark Age is a really awesome combat-oriented
game and the artwork is utterly amazing. Most of the
pieces we saw were Brom's. He is doing more than 25%
of the cards, and they're really tremendous. The Tim
Bradstreet stuff is outstanding... FPG has all kinds of sup-
port products on the way, including CD-BROM, a screen-
saver CD that also has interviews and more - can't wait until it hits
the stores this summer.
We got our first look at the X-Files prototype cards from NXT Games
and Donruss: WOW! Some of the people at the show thought they
were far and away the best-looking cards
this field has ever seen. The design of
the packaging and the prototype cards is
really innovative. How is the game
going to work? You have a team of investigators and you try to iden-
tify your opponent's conspiracy. Whoever succeeds first, wins!
Beyond seeing more of the awesome
The Dragons expansion art for Middle-
earth, a spy of ours got to demo
Dicemaster, coming in July from I.C.E.
To say he is excited about it is a huge
understatement. He warns, "Dice
lovers: save all your cash-you're going
to soon learn that you can't have too
many Dicemaster dice." The 40 different rare dice found in the
Boosters should be highly collectible. This game may create a new
obsession... I need MORE dice!
The big demo/preview of the show was WotC's Netrunner, pre-
sented by Jean Flynn of the Netrunner Team. Everyone we talked to
either liked it or loved it. Wizards of the Coast held a special
launch party for Netrunner. The event featured costumed
CyberPunk characters, a large video
screen showing their computer World
Wide Web contest, an introduction to
the game by Richard Garfield, and a
goodie bag, full of promo material, to
take home. Cards were finally available
to touch, feel and play with. WotC is
going all-out with promotional mater-
ial - posters, hanging signs, etc.
WotC announced
that they have ceased print-
ing Ice Age, but expect their
distributors to be able to get
the product from them for
another three months or so.
sented by Jean Flynn of the Netrunner Team. Everyone we talked to
either liked it or loved it. Wizards of the Coast held a special
launch party for Netrunner. The event featured costumed
CyberPunk characters, a large video
screen showing their computer World
Wide Web contest, an introduction to
the game by Richard Garfield, and a
goodie bag, full of promo material, to
take home. Cards were finally available
to touch, feel and play with. WotC is
going all-out with promotional mater-
ial - posters, hanging signs, etc.
WotC announced
that they have ceased print-
ing Ice Age, but expect their
distributors to be able to get
the product from them for
another three months or so.
WotC also
announced three new prod-
ucts. One is coming in
April: a $120 slip-cased
package of the top 8 New
York Pro-Tournament winners' decks. The cards will not have the
normal M:TG back. The surprise announcement (well actually we
saw it at NY Toy Fair but they swore us to secrecy...) was the Chess
Chaos game - a set of cards that turns chess into a wild and chaotic
game. You can blow up pieces, take three
moves in a row or even exchange pieces
with your opponent. Watch for it in the
fall. The Great Dalmuti holiday edition is
also coming this fall. It has new art by
Margaret-Organ-Kean at a higher resolu-
tion and comes in a tin. With drummers
'a drummin' and maids 'a dancing' - it's
way cool!
What WotC didn't announce is how much Alliances will
be printed... We'll have to wait and see...
Dragon Storm looked pretty cool. It's a totally new way of thinking
about card games. The art really impressed us too!
We saw Mythos color proofs. Some of the art was really cool and
weird. A few pieces threw me back to the days with the Addams
Family. The game seems to really capture the flavor of Cthulhu and
Chaosium have made a real statement by announcing that there
will be no Unlimited run of the first release or any of the following
releases - talk about collectible!
announced three new prod-
ucts. One is coming in
April: a $120 slip-cased
package of the top 8 New
York Pro-Tournament winners' decks. The cards will not have the
normal M:TG back. The surprise announcement (well actually we
saw it at NY Toy Fair but they swore us to secrecy...) was the Chess
Chaos game - a set of cards that turns chess into a wild and chaotic
game. You can blow up pieces, take three
moves in a row or even exchange pieces
with your opponent. Watch for it in the
fall. The Great Dalmuti holiday edition is
also coming this fall. It has new art by
Margaret-Organ-Kean at a higher resolu-
tion and comes in a tin. With drummers
'a drummin' and maids 'a dancing' - it's
way cool!
What WotC didn't announce is how much Alliances will
be printed... We'll have to wait and see...
Dragon Storm looked pretty cool. It's a totally new way of thinking
about card games. The art really impressed us too!
We saw Mythos color proofs. Some of the art was really cool and
weird. A few pieces threw me back to the days with the Addams
Family. The game seems to really capture the flavor of Cthulhu and
Chaosium have made a real statement by announcing that there
will be no Unlimited run of the first release or any of the following
releases - talk about collectible!
The surprise acquisition of the show was Thunder Castle Games
buying Mag Force 7. This means that Thunder Castle will be doing
the game design for Skybox's Star Trek: The Card Game.
mastyr magazine was introduced by all of us at SCRYE, with an
overwhelming reception. The industry
can't wait for the first issue of this
cutting-edge mag to hit stores in
April. mastyr will cover profes-
sional tournament play, advanced
strategy, and deck-building for hard-core players
of CCGs. Look for in-depth, no-holds-barred reviews and articles
by top-players and designers...
The Multimedia Group from the UK brought color proof sheets of
cards for Dr. Who (out in May) and Kenzer and Company intro-
duced Monty Python and the Holy Grail cards... There is so much
more we'll be writing about in the next issue - but I'll save it until
then...
Can't wait till Origins in July!
